The Liberal-National Coalition has released its energy plan, including the construction of seven nuclear power plants.
The Coalition said it will lift the moratorium on nuclear technology and establish a civil nuclear programme in Australia, which would consist of two phases, starting with two establishment projects in the mid 2030s followed by a buildout of projects though to 2050.
Under the plan, the Federal Coalition Government said it would initially develop two establishment projects using either small modular reactors or modern larger plants such as the AP1000 or APR1400. The plants would start producing electricity by 2035 (with small modular reactors) or 2037 (if modern larger plants are found to be the best option).
The plan identifies seven locations for the proposed plants, with all others ruled out by the Coalition:
- Liddell Power Station, New South Wales
- Mount Piper Power Station, New South Wales
- Loy Yang Power Stations, Victoria
- Tarong Power Station, Queensland
- Callide Power Station, Queensland
- Northern Power Station, South Australia (SMR only)
- Muja Power Station, Western Australia (SMR only)
The Coalition said every location is a site of former or current coal plant with the technical attributes needed for a nuclear plant, including transmission infrastructure, cooling water capacity and a skilled workforce.
The Coalition also said each mainland state would be granted an opportunity to benefit from cheaper energy by hosting a zero-emissions nuclear plant.
Under the plan, the Coalition would undertake two workstreams in parallel at each location during its first term of government.
Firstly, a comprehensive site study would be undertaken including detailed technical and economic assessments. A location may be removed from consideration if the study deemed it unsuitable on technical grounds, however, regardless of the outcome of technical assessments, the Coalition said that no new locations would be added.
Secondly, the Coalition said it would undertake a community engagement process, which would aim to allow communities to have their questions answered by experts while a Community Partnership, consisting of experienced local representatives, negotiates a benefits package for the region’s economic future.
The Coalition said nuclear has a longer operating life than renewables, with a modern zero emission nuclear power plant’s expected service life of up to 80 years, compared to solar and wind plants, which it said need to be replaced approximately every 25 years.
Industry response
While the Coalition said the energy plan would save Australians up to $263 billion compared to the Federal Government’s renewables-only approach, the Australian energy sector has raised questions on the plan – which follows the latest GenCost report, finding that renewables remain the cheapest new-build electricity generation to 2050, even if they were to be rebuilt every 25 or 30 years.
Australian Energy Council (AEC) Chief Executive, Louisa Kinnear said the AEC is concerned about the assumed lack of investment in new and replacement generation over the next ten years.
“We acknowledge both consumers and industry have become concerned with the cost and deliverability of the transition, but slowing investment while we assess technologies only available in the future creates a significant risk for the stability of the energy system,” she said.
Ms Kinnear said the Coalition energy mix and approach would mark a significant departure from the current energy transition trajectory, with far reaching consequences for market design decisions, investment decisions for the sector and the emissions trajectory Australia can achieve.
“Given the approach would remain speculative for a number of years as social licence and other hurdles are overcome, the AEC believes the responsible path in the next ten years is to continue with the rollout of available technologies like wind, firmed by gas, pumped hydro and other forms of long duration storage as we assess other alternatives.”
Clean Energy Council CEO, Kane Thornton, also raised concerns about the slowdown in the installation and investment of renewable energy across Australia.
“Australia has been a world leader in rooftop solar with over four million systems installed on homes and small businesses and an additional 300,000 plus systems being installed every year. The Coalition’s plan means millions of Australians would miss out on the chance to install solar.”
Mr Thornton said although nuclear might play a role in other countries, it can’t compete against Australia’s world leading wind and sun.
“The fact that we don’t have an existing nuclear power industry means it would take decades for the first plant to be built and time is not on our side.”
RE-Alliance found in a recent poll that those living within renewable energy zones were not supportive of nuclear energy being built near them.
RE-Alliance National Director, Andrew Bray, said nuclear was ranked last in terms of energy infrastructure people living in renewable energy zones would be comfortable living near.
For those living in the areas of the seven proposed nuclear power stations, the poll found:
- 59 per cent of respondents in Central Queensland, which takes in the Coalition’s proposed Callide nuclear site, said they’d reject living near a nuclear power station.
- 54 per cent of respondents in the Hunter, which takes in the Coalition’s proposed Liddell nuclear site, said they’d reject living near a nuclear power station.
- 49 per cent of respondents in Gippsland, which takes in the Coalition’s proposed Loy Yang nuclear site, said they’d reject living near a nuclear power station.
“There is little appetite for living near nuclear,” Mr Bray said.
“We know nuclear power isn’t compatible with rooftop solar because you have to turn solar off to make the nuclear power plant more viable during the day. What happens to the four million households with rooftop solar in Australia?”