Ann: Latrobe Magnesium Community Presentation, page-22

To add a little substance to the above fluff piece, the two major complications with renewable and the grid in general is the cost and time involved in getting a grid study done (paid for by the new entity). These studies must analyse ALL of the grid, not just the eensy weensy bit you connect to. It takes months and months to get your model up and running and writing reports, then have the clots in Canberra do a review.

Oh Oh!! First problem - someone somewhere on the grid have their connection approved and are now connected, so so sorry - go back and do yours again WITH the new connected to grid entity included - and thanks for the fee payment received. Please include payment with next lodgement.

Funny hey..even more funny when you have to do three times.Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars is involved. If finally you get through you get a Connection and Access Agreement with all the T&C and payment schedules.

The second issue for renewables - where they want to be is not where the electricity demand is. The cheap low cost energy renewables then bleat that the transmission line they need should be paid by the government. Hidden code here - we want the public to pay for our line. For example Genex in Queenslad 184 km from nearest possible connection point, but HEY! it is a great project. Drunk on its own Kool-aide the Queensland Govt, through Directive to Powerlink, pays for the major chunk.

Genex said project construction costs are expected to total $583 million while the company will contribute $111 million towards the construction of the transmission line with the Queensland Government to contribute $147 million. Genex said $83 million had been set aside for financing costs and project contingency.

Why Govt contribute anything? Because the banks smell a rat - i.e. unbankable economics. Govt puts the State in debt using it's AAA rating - let repayment be someone else's task in the future deal with it.

..why did QLD Govt pay? Oops I mean ultimately the great unwashed .. it makes Govt look like they are doing something regardless of everything, meaning "look busy" - (Another similar one will be Snowy 2.0 going into receivership. Bad project, always was and will be, full of hype, nationalism puffery and grossly inflated ego by Snowy and SMEC-. So who is holding the bag? You are, after - the Feds see an empty bag. You know - same as the NBN fiasco and behind it all - the numbskulls / so called (fifth and sixth generation) expert bureaucrats in Canberra.)

To recap- LMG was in a position to assist the nearby PV project. The project could have been a "Behind the meter" connection i.e. PV to LMG only and LMG connects to grid. It avoids a mass of costs such a MLF Marginal Loss Factors i.e the transmission line shipping costs. I can only surmise that the PV probably wanted more than LMG demand or could make more cash in the short term (<4h battery) market which is getting chock full of contenders.

Knowing more than D.P. knows about electricity, initial announcements about PV disappointed - glad to see D.P. is realistic and pragmatic.