It's coal that's unreliable not renewables and the latest coal power stations are the most unreliable of the lot.
118 breakdowns last year, that's one every 3 days and their biggest problem is they can't handle hot weather, which is so ironic!
Key findings:
- The Australia Institute’s Gas & Coal Watch found 135 breakdowns at gas and coal plants in 2018, equivalent to one breakdown every 2.7 days
- 118 breakdowns of coal power plants, equivalent to one breakdown every 3.1 days
- Per gigawatt capacity, brown coal plants suffered more than twice as many breakdowns as black coal plants.
- New technology black coal plants (so-called “HELE” plants) suffered more breakdowns per gigawatt than their ageing black coal counterparts.
“Our research demonstrates the threat to the reliability of electricity supply in the NEM. As we’ve seen this Summer, extreme heat events are increasing as our already antiquated coal fleet continues to age,” said Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor at The Australia Institute.
“It is clear Australia’s gas and coal power fleet, some of which pre-dates colour television, failed to deliver ‘reliable fair dinkum’ electricity in 2018.
“Our research showed, however, that it is not just the age of Australia’s coal fleet that is causing it to fail. In fact, per gigawatt capacity it was the new so-called “HELE” coal plants which broke down more often than their ageing black coal counterparts – coal-fired power is simply unreliable in the heat.
“Solar power has consistently stepped up as gas and coal plants failed. While fossil fuel generation becomes less reliable in the heat, on hot days Australians can count solar power for a consistent supply of electricity.
https://www.tai.org.au/content/gas-coal-power-plants-135-breakdowns-2018
