Dutton’s plan to nuke Australia’s renewable energy transition explained in full, page-84

Federal authorities have approved 51 renewable energy projects since the last election to add to the electricity grid and prepare for the closure of coal-fired power stations amid a growing political row about the need for new capacity to avoid future shortages.

The new projects are expected to add 8.4 gigawatts of clean energy to the grid, almost three times the capacity of the country’s biggest coal-fired power stations, and will be accompanied by storage to deal with intermittent supply from wind and solar farms.

But Labor is confronting rising concern from renewable companies about obstacles to their investments despite the urgent need for additional supply even after state decisions to extend the lives of the Eraring coal-fired power station in NSW and the Loy Yang A power station in Victoria.

The new figures heighten the dispute over energy policy after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealed this week he would not set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and would instead propose building nuclear power stations to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

(David Crowe SMH)