Originally posted by seaforth1:
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Cant help but suspect that gas usage is going to be very very relevant again very quickly as the ongoing energy crisis keeps escalating across Australia.Industry, jobs on hold as Tasmania ‘runs out of power’ and Marinus Link stalls major Tasmanian factories are being told there is no further power available for upgrades and expansions .being forced to run an old gas-fired power plant. Tasmania’s Economic Regulator’s latest market watch report revealed no extra energy would be available before the third quarter of 2024, a situation described as overly optimistic by industry. The Boyer Norske Skog paper mill, northwest of Hobart, on Wednesday said Hydro Tasmania had declined to supply 50MW to run proposed new electric boilers, intended to replace the plant’s coal-fired boilers. that they do not have any spare capacity, but they would be willing to firm supply – at a cost – if the mill could source the power from other generators, such as wind or solar power from either Tasmania or the mainland,” a Boyer spokesman said. “The company is continuing to examine these options, albeit they would involve substantially higher operating costs.”said the state was in “another energy crisis”. “We have businesses asking the government for more power to expand and create more jobs, yet today we’ve heard that the government is turning them away because we simply do not have enough generation to meet demand,” Mr Bailey said. “If that’s not the definition of a crisis, then what is? Even the Economic Regulator has said … there is no ‘head room’ in the Tasmanian grid, which confirms the business community’s worst fears.“If the government doesn’t commit to Marinus Link, the result will be a recession, increasing power prices and an increasingly unreliable grid.”Some in the business and energy sectors believe Marinus, thought to have blown out from $3.1bn to $5.5bn, is unviable and would simply export expanded renewable power – and jobs – to Victoria. They believe the government put “all its eggs in the Marinus basket”. With the project stalled, there was no “plan B” to expand on-island generation. A letter from the state to Anthony Albanese, released on Wednesday, said cost blowouts meant Marinus was “not able to be effectively managed within the fiscal capacity of the Tasmanian budget”. “We are concerned the project may not remain in the long-term interests of Tasmanian consumers or the state, and as such the Tasmanian government is not in a position to continue to take this project forward,” wrote Treasurer Michael Ferguson and Energy Minister Guy Barnett.State Labor said the energy shortage was forcing the government to run a gas-fired power plant i n the state’s north.Premier Jeremy Rockliff conceded “a power supply challenge”, which he was attributing to strong economic growth.
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Suspect the prospect for more gas supply is rather strong, it just isn't happening fast enough - for short-term stop gap supply, what's going to beat gas?"Since 2003, natural gas has been supplied toTasmania through an underwater pipeline from Victoria. The TasmanianGas Pipeline (TGP) is the only transmission pipeline operating andtransporting gas to Tasmania. The pipeline runs from Longford in Victoria to FiveMile Bluff (near Bell Bay), then west to Port Latta and south to Bridgewater.
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TASMANIAN FUTURE GAS STRATEGY DISCUSSION PAPER
recfit.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/317446/Tasmanian_Future_Gas_Strat"
(20min delay)
