HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-17 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

PORT AUGUSTA POWER STATIONS

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (11:03): I move:

That this house establish a select committee to investigate into and report upon the effects of the proposal by national group Beyond Zero Emissions and local group Repowering Port Augusta that the Northern and the Playford coal-fired power stations at Port Augusta (which are owned and operated by Alinta Energy) be replaced by a concentrated solar thermal power station when the coal supply from the Leigh Creek mine is no longer viable and in particular, consider—

(a) the full cost of implementation of this proposal and how it may be met;

(b) the impact on household and business electricity prices;

(c) the impact on employment in the region;

(d) the ability of solar thermal technology to provide a reliable power supply;

(e) comparable other mainstream technologies; and

(f) any other relevant matters.

This is a very important matter for Port Augusta, our state and potentially our nation. I say at the outset that I acknowledge Alinta's role as the owner and operator of the two power stations at Port Augusta and the Leigh Creek coal mine, and everything I say from hereon includes recognition of the fact that they are a key player and what they would like to do is vital to this whole issue.

But, of course, it is also vital to the government, and the government, both state and federal, has a very important role to play in this. Funding for any potential solar thermal power generating facility would be very expensive and would include contributions, I am sure, from both state and federal governments.

I also acknowledge that the Minister for Energy has had meetings on this issue with various people, including myself, the Mayor of Port Augusta and the CEO of Port Augusta Council, and I understand that he has met with other interested parties and that he has also been to Nevada to look at one of these power plants firsthand.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: California.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: California, thank you minister. So I thank him for the work that he has done already to look into this issue. I also thank all members and staff who attended the briefing held here in Parliament House several months ago, and it was terrific that they turned up. There is some knowledge of this issue among members already, particularly in the minister's office.

I also acknowledge that many responsible organisations are advocating on behalf of solar thermal, including Doctors for the Environment Australia, Beyond Zero Emissions, and Repower Port Augusta, which is a local Port Augusta group with a very broad cross-section of people supporting them. This is not just one section of the Port Augusta community getting behind this issue, and they have worked very hard and very responsibly to put this issue forward, and certainly so have others.

I would also like to make very clear to this house that this proposal is in no way in conflict with the operation of the existing power stations in Port Augusta. The power stations in Port Augusta are incredibly important. They employ about 500 people between the power stations and the coal mine at Leigh Creek in our region in the north of the state—so, they are very important—and those jobs are vital. Leigh Creek, as well as being a very important community in its own right which needs employment in the coal mine to survive, is also a very important community that supports the whole of the north-east of outback South Australia. In much the same way as Coober Pedy is a focal hub for the north-west, Leigh Creek is a focal hub for the north-east and so plays a very important role.

The coal at Leigh Creek is going to run out. None of us knows exactly when and, like all mining operations, the coal will deteriorate in quality and become more expensive to access over time. At some point in time the mining company will decide that it is not economically viable to continue to use that coal and send it to Port Augusta. It is going to run out, and there are estimates anywhere from five to 25 years (my estimate is that there is 10 to 15 years worth of viable coal there), but it is a fact that the coal will run out and that we will come to a day when we do not have coal for the Port Augusta power stations.

I am not suggesting for a second that we would generate electricity in Port Augusta in any other way before the coal runs out, but we have to start thinking today about what the solution to the problem is going to be when the coal runs out. We have to pick a solution and we have to start to work towards it straightaway, otherwise it will not be up and running and in place and be useful in 10 to 15 years' time, or whenever the coal is not available; we need to start that transition now. This is a statewide issue, not just a Port Augusta and north of the state issue, because the Port Augusta power stations supply 30 to 40 per cent of our state's electricity at the moment, so this is an issue for the whole state.

In regard to my position on this issue, I have been very clear with everybody I have met. I cannot tell you and I do not stand here to say that solar thermal technology is the right idea, but I do stand here to say very firmly that it must be investigated and that it must be given every opportunity to find out whether it is as good as people honestly believe it is, and I take that role very seriously—to really push that it gets the opportunity to do that.

I have also said to strong proponents of solar thermal that the three key issues for me are, obviously: the jobs that come out of any proposal like this, as we need to know that there will be good, strong employment in the north of the state, in Port Augusta; we need to know what the cost is, and there are a lot of varying cost estimates and they are all very high, and we need to know whether it is economically viable; and, very importantly, we need to know about the reliability. We need to know whether this technology is really as reliable as people believe it is and, if so, I am fully behind it—I am absolutely behind it if those three things can be established.

This is a proposal that I think would be irresponsible not to fully investigate. It cannot be ruled out. I know there are other options like gas that should also be considered, but you cannot rule out that this new technology might be the one that we should replace the power stations with in approximately 10 years up at Port Augusta.

There are enormous potential opportunities here. One is the fact that, as I have said, when the coal runs out, when the existing power stations are forced to stop operating, we are going to need to do something. We cannot avoid that fact, but this solar thermal seems to provide an exceptional opportunity for our state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce pollution. Regardless of where anybody's views are with regard to greenhouse emissions and climate change and all of that sort of thing, I am confident that every single member here believes that reducing pollution is a good thing. It is incontrovertible, and this proposal would do that.

Health issues are extremely important. It is a fact that Port Augusta has a higher incidence of smoking than most other towns in South Australia, but it is also a fact that it has an even higher incidence of lung cancer than other towns in South Australia. Doctors tell me that there should be a direct linear relationship between increase in smoking and increase in the incidence of lung cancer. In Port Augusta there is more lung cancer than we should have and many people believe that that is directly linked to emissions from the power station. Reducing pollution and improving people's health are very important.

Is this technology right? Is it affordable? That is what we need to look at, but what we know already is that Port Augusta is the perfect place to locate this technology, if it is just right. We already have transmission lines in place from Port Augusta supplying electricity. We have an abundance of solar energy through the sun; we have an abundance of land. We already have a very highly-skilled workforce in place at the existing power stations which could be transitioned over years. Today they are all working in coal and coal-fired electricity generation. Perhaps over 10 to 15 years there could be a steady change, so that those people all end up working in solar thermal. We have the workforce there, they are already skilled and, over time, their skills could be transitioned into this new form of energy.

There would be significant employment generated in Port Augusta during the building of any new power station, so it is exceptionally important to me as the member for Stuart that this new power station is in Port Augusta. A gigantic employment opportunity will be generated by solar thermal when the plant is built—if it is built—and of course there will be many jobs in running, maintaining and operating the plant from then on, which is very important.

Potentially there will even be a new manufacturing industry for our state. If this technology is proven and if it is worth doing in Port Augusta, it will be worth doing in many other places around our state, so it is a very important opportunity for a new manufacturing industry in our state. I know that all members of parliament from both sides of this chamber would certainly welcome that.

The terms of reference that I have suggested are flexible. I am certainly willing to discuss potential changes with members if they think that is warranted. I think they are appropriate. I would also like to just address one opinion that has been put to me and that is that the terms of reference in my motion were set up so that an investigation would fail. I put very clearly on the record that that is not the case. There are some very serious tests that this technology would have to pass before it could be taken seriously into a full proposal phase, but I would be as happy as anybody else if it succeeds. I think that would be absolutely wonderful.

What we have here is a tremendous concept. We need to know whether it is workable. We need to know whether it can actually be put into practice and we need to answer the questions that I have put in my motion. I think that is a very important process and I suggest that all members of parliament would be pleased if any new non-polluting technology could jump those hurdles and be proven to be effective. That would be a very important thing.

Something else that is important to say is that we need a bipartisan position on whatever we are going to do with future electricity generation in our state. We need that for several reasons. We need a bipartisan approach because there will be an enormous cost involved, a gigantic cost, so of course it is going to be something that we all need to agree on. There will also be many years of building and many years of operation. If solar thermal is the way to go in Port Augusta and the way to go in South Australia, then we would be setting ourselves up for the way that we will generate electricity into the middle of this century. Any decision that big of course requires both sides of parliament and both sides of politics to come to an agreement on it.

I think a select committee is the best way to do that. There have been suggestions that one of parliament's standing committees could look into this issue; I do not think that is appropriate. I know from personal experience that getting a select committee and getting the government to agree to a select committee to look into an issue can take years before it actually happens. Ten years down the track seems like a long time, but if we do not get working on this now we will not get a solution in place in 10 years' time, and waiting for a standing committee to look into this in a year or two, or potentially more, is not soon enough. This is a big enough issue on its own that I believe this house should establish a select committee to look into it now.

Let me say again that, in principle, I think everyone would agree that this is exceptionally attractive technology. What we need to know is: is it viable, what is the cost, can we afford it, how can we fund it, is it an economically viable way to produce electricity, is there job security for the region in this form of electricity and, very importantly, is it reliable enough, is it as good as people believe? We really need to do a very thorough investigation. If those issues are not dealt with then we certainly cannot move ahead

I think a select committee is the way to go to find out if this technology is the right one, if it jumps those hurdles, and I certainly hope it does, and I urge the government to support this motion and establish a select committee, on behalf of this house, to investigate this very important proposal.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (11:17): I just point out to the house that at no stage has the member for Stuart approached the government seeking support for this motion other than his motion today in the parliament. That is his right, but generally there is usually a bit of wheeling and dealing going on in the parliament: 'Let's have a bipartisan committee. Let's try to work out the problem. This is very important for Port Augusta,' the general relationship I used to have with the member for Goyder, a very good working relationship. We worked well together, we got compromises, we had an inquiry in the Economic and Finance Committee and the outcome of that was the Small Business Commissioner, something I know he is very proud of. It is just a shame that he got booted out of the ministry by Steven Marshall.

However, the government supports the establishment of a select committee. The government will be supporting this motion; the government wants to have this committee established today. We are ready to go, our members are ready to go, and I hope that the opposition has its members ready to go so that we can establish this committee to operate immediately.

This is a good idea, and I am very pleased to finally hear a member of the opposition talking about the importance of renewable energy. I consistently hear the shadow energy minister talking about the evils of renewable energy and how they are pushing power prices up. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition said recently that she did not care if investments in turbines and such things fell over, because they were highly inefficient and a waste of money. Finally we have a member of the opposition who is standing up in favour of renewable energy, a member of the opposition who is saying, 'I disagree with my party.' It is the flavour of the month, I think; it is the term de jour. The future is renewable energy and one member of the opposition understands that.

Solar thermal has captured the imagination of the people of Port Augusta, captured the imagination of their hardworking mayor, captured the imagination of the young people in Port Augusta and, I think, captured the imagination of the member for Stuart—and I congratulate him. I met up with the Walk for Solar volunteers, who were a cross-section of young people and older Australians walking from Port Augusta to Adelaide to make their point and show their commitment for solar thermal in Port Augusta. I met with them, I spoke with them, I thanked them for their labour, I thanked them for their efforts, I thanked them for making the journey, and I met with them after they arrived in Adelaide.

I think this is a good idea. The government thinks this is a good idea, and I commend the member for Stuart for moving this motion. I commend him because the usual path is that the government would move its own motion not to give the member for Stuart any credit, but I want to give him all the credit in the world for this. What a good idea supporting renewable energy! He is going to become my new pin-up boy. He is the poster boy for renewable energy in the Liberal Party.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, Madam Speaker. I am particularly concerned that I might become the poster pin-up boy for the Minister for Energy.

The SPEAKER: I am not sure that there is a point of order there.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Trust me, it's probably not the same way that you are thinking about it that I am thinking about it because we come from very different points of view on these matters. I want to make the member for Stuart famous because, quite frankly, given the comments made by his leader, his deputy leader and members of the opposition about the evils of renewable energy, he is what I think you can call a star in the making, someone who is shining brighter than the naysayers, someone who is standing up and saying no to the voices of doom, someone who is saying, 'I disagree,' someone who is saying, 'Yes, we can.' Perhaps he is a potential leader, perhaps a potential aspirant, perhaps someone who wants to make a difference to change their community.

While we support what Alinta is doing, we support the people of Port Augusta, and we support what Beyond Zero is talking about, I did fly to California to see a solar thermal plant. I have to say they are remarkable structures. It is a relatively new technology, and the interesting thing about new technologies is that they often transform: they start off in one aspect of development, then they transform and evolve over time into different forms of technology. Even while they are constructing a new solar thermal plant, there are learnings from that plant that will improve the construction of future solar thermal plants.

I think it is important to note that what Alinta is asking for and looking for is a demonstrator, to prove up that demonstrator and then obviously try to scale it up. Ultimately, what we are looking at here is a breakthrough technology. Breakthrough technologies are the way we are going to find new advances in electricity, not because we are going to run out of coal or gas but because we are going to look for cheaper and new forms of energy.

This breakthrough technology could be in solar, it could be in a form of hybrid technology or it could be geothermal. What we do know is that in the last decade of this state's history this state has led the nation, if not the world, in the development of its renewable energy, and for the first time in that decade a member of the opposition has stood up and said, 'I want to be a part of that revolution. I want to join the renewables revolution that is taking over South Australia.'

I notice with great eagerness the member for Newland's support for renewable energy. Indeed, I understand he is one of the fathers of our feed-in tariff, so I congratulate him on his forward thinking while an adviser for the Hon. Paul Holloway. If South Australia were a nation in its own right, we would be No. 2 to Denmark in terms of our capability to generate electricity from wind. In fact, the amount of wind energy has lessened the impact of the carbon tax in South Australia. That is a good thing for South Australia. Indeed, on some days the majority of electricity generated in this state can come from wind. These are good things. The next step, of course, is solar, perhaps with a form of storage, perhaps some sort of hybrid—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What's wrong, mate? Are you in a bit of a hurry, are you? Beware an old man in a hurry; that is what I have always said. The breakthrough technology could be solar or some sort of hybrid technology, but ultimately what a lot of proponents are asking for today are feed-in tariffs and government subsidies. The government's view is that the people of South Australia have done their bit in terms of feed-in tariffs.

This committee, which will be established today, will have the members for Little Para, Port Adelaide and Ramsay representing the government, and hopefully two members of the opposition. I am hoping it will be the member for Stuart and, for a bit of sensible policy development, the member for Goyder, who is a very experienced, thoughtful thinker in the Liberal Party who has unfortunately been replaced by the shouters in the Liberal Party. However, as I said to him, whenever the shouters replace the thinkers it always leads to disaster, and the thinkers always make a comeback because the party needs thinkers—long-term thinking—so he will be back.

We support this select committee. I urge the opposition not to attempt to adjourn the motion. The state government will not let the motion be adjourned today; we want it to be established here and now. Our members are clear. We want a five-person committee to be made up of Labor members for Little Para, Ramsay and Port Adelaide. I hope the member for Stuart will be on the committee as the local member. Obviously, it is up to the opposition as to who it will put on there—that is its choice—but I would like to see a good bipartisan committee. This is bipartisanship at its best. Establishing the committee quickly after two speeches is a good idea, an idea whose time has come, and I am glad that the member for Stuart has seen the light.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:25): I have enjoyed listening to both contributions, especially the one from the minister, and I thank him for his relatively kind words. This is a key issue so I am exceptionally pleased that the government has indicated its preparedness to establish the committee today.

I attended the briefing that the member for Stuart convened in Parliament House, and I have also had an individual meeting with, I think, a university student associated with it who is a proponent behind options such as this. I must admit that I am attracted to innovation and, clearly, this is an opportunity for South Australia to be innovative, to bring in a level of investment that will be significant in providing a surety of employment opportunity for regional areas and, as a regional MP, that is a key issue for me.

Importantly, it allows us to ensure that we have a security of electricity supply. There are many challenges facing South Australia and the world in the future. We have an opportunity as a parliament and as a chamber to establish a committee that will look very seriously at the issue to ensure that it is flushed out, so that full costs are known and that other options that might exist are also developed. Importantly, we can get people involved—and I know that they will; I am impressed by the members that the Labor Party has announced will be members of the committee and I will be very pleased indeed when the member for Stuart stands up to confirm the nominees from the Liberal Party—people who will work cooperatively to ensure that we get a positive outcome and that the chamber and the parliament is better informed and, as a state, therefore, we can hopefully drive some investment opportunities and move forward on this absolutely most critical of issues.

Water is the other one, and there is no doubt about that—it has been debated many times in this chamber and will continue to be talked about—but electricity is a most basic need of our society and it is important that our state look at all options. I look forward to the passage of this notice of motion and the establishment of the committee. Indeed, I hope that its work, which I have no doubt will take some time, is presented before the rising of the parliament in late November of 2013.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (11:27): I rise to thank the minister and thank the government for supporting this motion, and I thank those who have spoken to it. The community of Port Augusta and many people far more broadly around the state and our nation appreciate the support that the government has given to this motion.

Motion carried.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I move:

That a committee be appointed consisting of Ms Bettison, Dr Close, Mr Whetstone, Mr Odenwalder and the mover.

Motion carried.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I move:

That the committee have power to send for persons, papers and records and to adjourn from place to place and to report on 28 November 2012.

Motion carried.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I move:

That standing order 339 be and remain so far suspended as to enable the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication as it thinks fit of any evidence presented to the committee prior to such evidence being reported to the house.

The SPEAKER: There not being an absolute majority present ring the bells.

A quorum having been formed:

The SPEAKER: There being an absolute majority present I accept the motion.

Motion carried.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT