Originally I was in favor of new replacement of Hazelwood . Use the existing mine , electrical connection to the grid etc . There is a huge resource of brown coal right there .
I also felt it would have made for a smoother transition from the old power station .
However , my view is starting to change . Thanks to the Turnbull government getting involved , pricing has stabilised , suppliers have made commitments of supply , AEMO now has a plan for the future , etc .
Unlike previous governments ( Abbott and Labor ) where nothing was done .
The other thing to note is we didn't run out of power last summer and given the sheer amount of renewables that are being installed , we shouldn't run short going forward . I imagine it will only be a year or two where we won't need to have industries back off in extreme peak periods . In fact , it may well swing the other way that in very hot sunny periods the price of power might go negative as has been experienced overseas .
Now there are proper plans in place to replace power stations like Liddell well before they are shut down . Something that should have been done in SA .
It has taken a Turnbull government to get that done .
So it will be interesting to see the business case for a new Hazelwood . Will we actually need the power ? How long will we have to wait to get it ? How will it affect power prices ? How long will it be before it will redundant ?
