Investor group slams ESB as too slow on transmission access reform

Rachel Williamson 7 October 2022

A renewable energy investor group has expressed its frustration with the Energy Security Board’s progress on electricity network transmission access reform, saying it is ignoring ideas that could spur new investment and being difficult to work with.

In a submission to the ESB, the Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) questions the body’s focus on timeframes and ideas, such as using Location Marginal Pricing (LMP) as a market signal, that do nothing to spur the kind of investment Australia needs in crucial renewables projects.

Australia has a very large development pipeline of proposed renewable energy projects – more than is needed for the country’s energy transition from coal and gas – but is facing a challenge to get them financed and converted to final investment.

This is largely because of problems with grid congestion and the lack of reforms to help unblock this congestion, says CEIG chair and CEO Simon Corbell.

More investment is critical

“The pipeline for final investment projects remains below what we need it to be. We need many more of those projects proceeding to construction,” Corbell told RenewEconomy.

“What this means at the moment is we continue to see not enough projects coming on to replace the thermal generation that is going to continue to exit and exit more quickly. That’s the risk of not incentivising new investment sufficiently.

“We think the ESB is looking at this issue through the lens of dispatch efficiency and not enough through the lens of incentivising new investment,” Corbell said.

“As an investor body, we would say that getting more investment into the sector is critical if we’re going to have the new generation that we need over the next 10-15 years as the NEM decarbonises because we’re just not getting sufficient investment at this time.”

https://reneweconomy.com.au/investor-group-slams-esb-as-too-slow-on-transmission-access-reform/