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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-11-27 Daily Xml
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Grid Scale Storage Fund

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:25): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's plans to deliver increased grid-scale storage across the state?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:25): Yes, I can. Thank you to the member for King, who understands how important our Grid Scale Storage Fund is to helping make electricity more affordable for all South Australians, including the people she represents in the electorate of King.

Mr Speaker, you would be aware that we went to the last election with a very clear energy policy. You would also be aware that for a couple of years at least before the last election the Premier, then opposition leader, and I did everything we could to encourage the previous state government to support grid-scale storage, to make—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is called to order.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: They're kidding themselves.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is warned.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —our often overabundant renewable energy in South Australia affordable, reliable, usable and dispatchable on demand when consumers want it. There are a few people opposite—I know not all of them—who try to make fun of this, but they would only have to turn to page 9 of our energy policy to see this written down. They would only have to refer to the dream factory and ask the dream factory to bring back the dozens and dozens of quotes from the previous years.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Let those opposite scoff, but pay—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Waite is warned.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —them no attention whatsoever. We have announced that part of our $50 million Grid Scale Storage Fund will be used to double the capacity of the Hornsdale battery near Jamestown, happily in my electorate of Stuart. But more than doubling the capacity of the battery, what we will also do is increase the breadth of services that it provides to the electricity grid. A lot of people think of grid-scale storage just as somewhere that you store your energy, and then when you don't have enough you take it out. While there can be a component of that, far more importantly these batteries—and we actually now have four of them in the state, in large part thanks to the Marshall Liberal government's energy policy—can be used—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned, as is the member for Lee.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: These batteries can be used for frequency control, for voltage control, for inertia delivery.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is on two warnings.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, you would also know that, when the previous government installed the 100-megawatt battery at Hornsdale, we said, 'Well done. About time you followed our advice.' They deserve credit for that.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: We are increasing the capacity of the battery by 50 per cent, but as well as frequency control, adding voltage control—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —and adding inertia capacity as well. We need this inertia because the previous government let the Port Augusta power station close. They were given an offer—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Cheltenham is warned.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —to keep the Port Augusta power station open for an additional three years—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is on two warnings.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —and they chose not to do it. The Port Augusta power station used to provide that inertia. We will do everything we can, in partnership with industry, to bring that inertia capacity back into the state. This is a very positive announcement for our state. Importantly, this is not grant funding either. This is actually going to be funding for service: $15 million, $3 million per year over five years if and when Neoen delivers the services to the grid, which we believe this increase in capacity will deliver to us. We will not be spending money unless taxpayers get benefits.

The SPEAKER: If the level of interjections continues on my left, members will be departing. The member for Kaurna.

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