State Energy Plan

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Can the minister outline to the house the growing role for gas-fired electricity generation as an important transition fuel as the state and the world seek to meet the commitments made last year in Paris to tackle climate change?

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland is warned for the second and final time. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:45): I thank the member for his question and his keen interest in South Australia's—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert will depart under the sessional order for the next hour, his being a recidivist in this respect.

The honourable member for Schubert having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I thank the member for the question and the recognition that South Australia as a major gas producer has a key role to play to ensure that our nation meets its obligations under the Paris Agreement signed by Prime Minister Turnbull to tackle climate change.

Our energy plan is a comprehensive strategy that responds to the needs to secure reliable, affordable electricity for all South Australians, and I do note that as we speak South Australia is exporting electricity to Victoria. Support for natural gas is an essential element of the plan. We want to see South Australian gas play a key role in partnering with emerging technologies and breakthroughs in battery storage to progress South Australia toward a low carbon future.

Tackling climate change is a global imperative, and a clean energy future does not have a place for coal. I have spoken in this place about the incentives the government has put in place to encourage greater gas exploration production so that local gas electricity generators can be assured of suppliers to source from our state's abundant gas fields.

Today, I can inform members that Origin Energy, one of the country's major gas producers and investors in South Australia in the Cooper Basin, and a gas provider, ENGIE, have today announced two agreements that will ensure greater certainty and security to the South Australian energy market. The first of these arrangements will allow Pelican Point, one of the most modern, efficient and environmentally friendly gas-fired turbines in the country to return to full capacity backed by natural gas supplied by Origin Energy—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —that is, 479 megawatts of power, a quarter of this state's average electricity needs, available from 1 July. This agreement has also enabled ENGIE the certainty it needs to invest $40 million into South Australia to upgrade, of course, that second unit's turbine. This three-year agreement means that Pelican Point will be at full capacity to help meet South Australia's peak summer demand, not just this summer, not just the summer after, but ongoing. And how much government money is in Pelican Point? Silence.

Origin has agreed to sell eight petajoules of natural gas to ENGIE to meet the demands of its customers through its domestic gas retailer, Simply Energy, for 2018 and 2019. This gas will be made available to Simply Energy's residential and commercial customers across south-eastern Australia. This comes as the last unit at Hazelwood coal-fired power station is switched off this afternoon. ENGIE'S Chief Executive Officer, Alex Keisser, points out that as a result of these agreements the company now has a flexible and sound commercial base on which to run its energy portfolio in South Australia.

Frank Calabria, the Chief Executive of Origin, in announcing these arrangements, highlighted the importance of understanding the NEM and understanding that this means more competition, more contracts in the market, more electrons generated here in South Australia for South Australian industry so that we can be more self-reliant, with fewer imports from Victoria and brown coal, and take charge of our own electricity future. It is no coincidence that it starts on exactly the same day as our energy plan's major aspect is implemented, the energy security target.