Integrated System Plan

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (17:00): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister advise the house about any new reports on the transition of the electricity system and possible investments in South Australia?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (17:01): I can. I thank the member for Giles for his interest in this matter, which underpins the economy, the amenity of our homes and our contribution to the worldwide campaign to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. That is the important part that the decarbonisation of our electricity system means.

On Wednesday, AEMO published its biennial Integrated System Plan, the ISP. I am pleased to say that the ISP acknowledges a likelihood of increased industrial demand in the Upper Spencer Gulf as the State Prosperity Project unlocks economic opportunities, and that is on the back of decades of electricity demand dropping across Australia. What we are seeing for the first time under this government is industrial demand for power growing. These opportunities include mining projects on Eyre Peninsula and in the eastern flank of the state's Braemar region. There is also expected growth in the Stuart Shelf copper province. At the same time, industrial load on power supply will grow as the state's Green Iron and Steel Strategy develops and decarbonised processes and smelting of a range of minerals increases.

The ISP foreshadows more renewable energy projects coming online in the near future to meet this new industrial demand to strengthen energy supply routes to Adelaide. AEMO says that there is a need to 'alleviate congestion on renewables from the Mid North to the rest of the NEM', therefore it is classified as an 'actionable' project, Electranet's proposal to build a transmission line expansion running approximately between Robertstown and Port Augusta. Being 'actionable' gives Electranet the go ahead to proceed with a Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission, or what most of us would call a detailed business case.

The ISP is not some back-of-the-envelope estimate such as the nuclear fantasy being peddled by members opposite. The ISP is the result of a two-year consultation, analysis and review involving 2,100 stakeholders, 85 presentations and reports, and consideration of 220 formal submissions. The conclusion of the ISP is, and I quote:

As coal-fired power stations retire, renewable energy connected with transmission and distribution, firmed with storage, and backed up by gas-powered generation is the lowest-cost way to supply electricity to homes and businesses through Australia's transition to a net zero economy.

The debate is over. We are going to choose the lowest cost option to decarbonise, not the most expensive. AEMO's optimal development path requires an estimated capital investment of $122 billion in the NEM—investment in generation, storage, firming, and transmission.

Of course, there are alternatives to AEMO's plans. This is the Australian Energy Market Operator, the experts, but there are alternatives. There is the nuclear option, the option being proposed by those opposite and their colleagues in Canberra who thrive on causing chaos and division. The seven sites picked by the Liberals have had coal-fired generation capacity totalling 7,410 megawatts. If we take the average real-world cost of the most recent nuclear plants in the US, UK, France and Finland, that cost would be $133 billion. That is not anywhere close enough. Their plans do not add up.