No room for nuclear: AGL says flexibility is key as it plans to dump coal in a decade
Australia’s biggest supplier of coal generation and baseload power has again said there is no room for nuclear in Australia’s transition to renewables.
Two of AGL’s coal sites have been identified by the federal Opposition for its nuclear plans, which it says could see seven or more reactors start construction sometime in the 2030s or 2040s.
At a talk this week, AGL CEO Damien Nicks was forced to re-clarify that nuclear was not a part of AGL's strategy for the future.
AGL have no intention of giving up their assets for nuclear power plants, despite the threats of compulsory acquisition, because they have their own plans.
The recently shuttered Liddell coal site will become the Hunter hub, hosting a giant battery, solar manufacturing, panel recycling, a link to a pumped hydro facility and multiple green industries.
Thanks to the Hunter hub's multi-billion dollar investment plans, there is no spare capacity for the sort of big nuclear projects the Coalition wants to build - or even small ones.
The nuclear plan also makes little sense for Australia’s solar dominated grid, as so many energy experts have pointed out.
A grid dominated by wind and solar needs flexibility rather than the “always-on” base-load design relied on by nuclear.
AGL intends to shutter the last of its coal generators by 2035, and is working to make them more flexible in the meantime so they can respond to the generation patterns and “solar duck curves” created by rooftop PV.