Energy in focus: C4EM chair Dean Oberin, 1circle director and co-founder Dr Iain Jennings, C4EM CEO Chris Janson and John Mawson of Mawson Quarries.
Photo by
Michael Lloyd
Rising electricity prices and the challenges of renewables in an ever-evolving energy market were on the menu at a business breakfast last week.
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Radcliffes in Echuca hosted the C4EM breakfast on Wednesday, September 6, headlined by a speech from 1circle director Dr Iain Jennings.
Dr Jennings is regarded as an experienced leader of change in the electricity industry and spoke of the current landscape north of the Victorian border.
“Eraring (Power Station) is at the end of its life, meaning it costs a lot to maintain and to keep operational,” he said.
“NSW has been working hard to get a lot of renewables into the grid and replace the capacity that coal-powered stations once generated as we move to sustainable energy.”
Fascinating: Director and co-founder of 1circle Dr Iain Jennigs addresses the attendees at the renewables breakfast at Radcliffes.
Photo by
Michael Lloyd
He was asked about the NSW Government’s potential gaps in supplying electricity to its customers.
“The NSW Government is looking to extend the life of the power plant with the owner, Origin, whether it’s going to be needed or not, or the type of risk management strategies that you need because ultimately, you have to keep the power on,” Dr Jennings said.
“The consequences of not having enough power is easily more than $3 billion, not just to NSW but also to the national economy.
“There are new power generation facilities being built all around NSW, but the challenge in having adequate electricity generated for the (power) grid is the inability to connect those plants to the power grid.”
Tough times: John Mawson of Mawson quarries speaks of the challenges facing businesses.
Photo by
Michael Lloyd
Mawson Quarries chief executive officer John Mawson shared insights into what changes his company has made in the renewable space.
“Our business is looking to overcome increasing energy costs and responding to the need to reduce global warming,” Mr Mawson said.
“Since September 2020, all of our electricity from the grid is supplied entirely by renewable energy.”
“Under our large-scale electricity supply agreement, for up to 12 days each summer, our electricity supplier can ask us to shut down our processing plants when the temperature is over 38 degrees at 3pm.
“This frees up renewable power for other users, reduces the load on the grid and saves us money. Sometimes our staff knock off when this happens or undertake other tasks indoors such as training.”
Informative: Attendees at the renewables breakfast at Radcliffes.
Photo by
Michael Lloyd
Moama Riverside Caravan Park owner Geoff Collins asked about bottlenecks and the issues overcoming them.
Rochester resident and Rochester Business Network member Wayne Park had a question about charging EVs when energy producers offloaded excess electricity into the grid, where the price of the electricity to the customer was negative.
Dr Jennings discussed the aspects of how regions would best be able to overcome specific shortfalls in the local network.
“In a suburb like Northcote, there could potentially be 20 per cent of residents owning electric vehicles. When those cars are charged in the evening, the capacity to charge those EVs would need to increase by twice or even triple to meet that need,” Dr Jennings said.
“I would liken it to a thirsty person drinking from a large jug or drinking from a firehose for a split-second. You would receive the same volume, but the second option is much quicker than the first one.”
Dr Jennings discussed the future of Australia’s power generation.
“Transitioning to renewables is part of maintaining a reliable and modern energy grid that’s cost-practical and cost-effective,” he said.
“So, we have to remind ourselves that we’re not in a world where you have 15 to 20 large coal power stations that do the job.
“That’s different from how it’s done now. Power generation will be dispersed on a small scale in the future.
“We’re more connected to what’s happening in energy, whereas, post World War II it just provides power and gets power to places such as homes and factories. Now, we’re looking at how we can do it better.”
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