Well it's probably 50-50... they shut down their last coal generator in 2016, and the need for gas "firming" is costing heaps. from the AFR
SA’s power system, which has had no baseload electricity generation since May 2016, is frequently the subject of orders by the Australian Energy Market Operator, which often must step in to direct gas plants to start up to keep the system stable amid surging renewable energy generation. The analysis for SACOME found that such direction charges, which are largely borne by commercial and industrial energy users, have jumped from an average of $6.15 million in the December quarter of 2019 to almost $20 million in the fourth quarter last year. On top of that are costs for frequency control, reliably between $1 million and $3 million per quarter, but now escalating and commonly in the tens of millions of dollars. “These costs are increasing and it’s beyond our control,” said Greg McCarron, chief executive at Central Irrigation Trust, which paid about $870,000 in energy market support and transition costs last financial year out of its $4.5 million energy bill. “The concern we have is that it’s becoming a reasonably fixed part of business, and the concern is that as the transition to renewables occurs... it is increasing costs for all users on the system and at this stage there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.” SA’s wholesale power prices are among the highest in the National Electricity Market, averaging $124 per megawatt-hour in the June quarter, compared to $89/MWh in Victoria. The state also accounted for almost all the $21.7 million power system management costs in the NEM in the quarter, due to AEMO directions to keep the system secure. AEMO directions were in place in the state for 36 per cent of the time in the quarter, almost twice as often as a year earlier, while the costs of directions almost trebled to $21.7 million, according to AEMO’s June quarter report. Ms Knol said the SA government’s target of net 100 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030 sets an important decarbonisation goal but is silent on how government and heavy industry can work collaboratively to meet those while also achieving economic ambitions.
