After years of battling the filthy fossil fuel status quo, Australia’s renewable energy revolutionaries are now really starting to see the changes they dreamed of.
Due to a reduction in electricity demand, the carbon tax and Australia’s Renewable Energy Target putting downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices; coal fired power generation is increasingly falling by the wayside.
As previously reported, South Australia’s Playford B plants have been shut down for good and Stanwell will soon take two units at its Tarong facility in Queensland offline. In New South Wales, the end of coal fired generation at Munmorah power station has been confirmed.
Yesterday it was announced the majority of Victoria’s Yallourn Power Station’s generation capacity would be mothballed - only three of the four units at Yallourn will generate electricity.
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu had a curious reaction to the announcement according to a report on the ABC:
“This is an unfortunate signal to the future if the carbon tax is having an impact in this way,” he said.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green said shifts in the way electricity was generated were to be expected if Australia was serious about shifting to clean energy.
“Six weeks ago renewable energy was wrongly criticised in some quarters for not reducing emissions, and now Australia’s 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target has been criticised for being too effective,” Mr Green said.
“The fact is, the Renewable Energy Target is doing exactly what it is supposed to: aiding Australia’s transition to a cleaner energy system and hunting out the least-cost ways of doing this.”
According to an article on WA Today, based on analysis of figures compiled by the Australian Energy Market Operator, electricity sold into the east coast market since the carbon tax was introduced had 7.6 per cent less carbon dioxide associated with it.
To paraphrase Gandhi; thanks in part to over 858,000 households installing solar panels, Australians are being the change they want to see in the world.
