Leaving fusion aside , we will never see nuclear power in Australia.
Renewables are replacing fossil too quickly .
As we have seen with SA, they have gone from zero to well over 70% renewables in just 15 years . With relatively old tech by today's standards. All achieved with next to no energy storage .
To repeat that effort somewhere else today with today's technology and knowledge would probably just take 5 years. Grid batteries , grid forming inverters, big turbines and smart software , none of which was invented when SA started it's journey , have changed the game.
Renewables are happening today. Not " one day ".
The grid is expected to be 83% renewable by 2030. Just 6 years away. Long before any SMRs will be commercially available.
Given the proven progress of SA, we already know what a renewable grid looks like. We have decades of real load data. We have decades of real weather data. We have excellent modelling from the likes of Dave Osmond at Windlab. We know that we can achieve 100% renewables with the technology that exists today . One can only imagine how much easier it will be with new solar, battery and green hydrogen tech coming over the next few years.
Nuclear has simply missed it's window. Waiting a decade for little pointless SMRs that will be dwarfed by grid batteries is a joke.
Fossil peaker plants are being made redundant today. ln 2024. And you're hoping that SMRs will be viable in a decade ?
lt won't matter when SMRs come to market . They will already be redundant for Australia.
Renewables will be so established and cheap that nuclear power won't get a look in. lt can't compete with today's prices . How is it going to compete with future renewables that are cheaper ?
