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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-03-01 Daily Xml
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Electricity Generation

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): Supplementary: given that South Australia is currently utilising the full 800-megawatt capacity coming across the border from Victoria, what is the Premier's alternative when Hazelwood closes at the end of this month?

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is on two warnings already.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:19): First, the interconnector between Victoria and South Australia does not have 800 megawatts, but why let the facts get in the way of the story?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland and the Premier are both called to order. They will not assist the minister in his answer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you, sir.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yelling at us doesn't change the facts—

Mr Marshall: Just answer the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am answering the question, and if you sit quietly I will give you the answer.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: If Hazelwood closes, the biggest impact will be on the Victorian market. The Victorian market will be the one that is impacted the most.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for the second and final time. I give the leader every scope to be the locomotive for the opposition, but if he utters a sound outside standing orders he will depart.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: When Hazelwood closes and they take their megawatts out of the Victorian system, there are a number of responses that will occur in the market. The first one is that the opposition are claiming there will be no generational response in Victoria; that is, the other gas-fired generation in Victoria will not come on. They are also saying there will be no renewable energy in Victoria either.

Mr Bell interjecting:

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

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They are also hoping against hope that the second unit at Pelican Point won't come on because they prefer interstate coal to South Australian gas. When Hazelwood closes, it is going to be a very difficult situation for the Victorian market to face, but we have surplus generation capability in this state.

The idea that every single Victorian generator is operating at capacity 365 days a year, and when Hazelwood comes out there is no spare capacity to be traded across the interconnector, is false. If you had a small amount of literacy in this area you would know that. But we are not hearing that from members of the opposition. They assume—

The SPEAKER: The minister has not been asked to run a commentary on the opposition. He has been asked about what are the scenarios after a certain power station in Victoria closes.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The idea that Victoria is running all its generation at 100 per cent capacity all the time is wrong, so the idea that when Hazelwood leaves there is no surplus capacity in Victoria is wrong. It is also wrong to say that all 3,000 megawatts of our thermal generation is on all the time: it is not.

Our average demand in this state is 1,200 megawatts, and we have over 2,900 megawatts of installed thermal capacity. We have 1,700 megawatts of wind and about 700 megawatts of sun. So the problem we have in the market is an oversupply of generation and its dispatch order.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Fake laughing won't change that, and not understanding the way the dispatch system works is ridiculous. The idea that somehow when Hazelwood closes the world will stop spinning on its axis is ridiculous.

When Hazelwood closes, the shocks to that system will be in the Victorian system. We have surplus capacity here owned by the same company that owns Hazelwood. If I were a betting man—and I am not—I would have to say that I reckon that second unit is going to come on about the same time they close the Hazelwood generation. It makes complete sense.

Mr Pederick: They're going to lose money.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We hear members interjecting that they will lose money. That is because—

The SPEAKER: Alas, the minister's time has expired.

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