Lights out and nobody’s home when it comes to Labor’s renewables
Labor’s hapless Energy Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio loves to claim credit for bringing more renewable energy generation into the Victorian energy system.
The problem is, her spin doesn’t translate into these projects actually delivering renewable energy to Victorians.
The Department of Planning’s database lists all of Victoria’s large-scale solar projects and their operating status.
This database shows that just 13 of the 82 solar projects listed are actually operational.
So, while the Minister trumpets a renewable generation capacity of 6,526 MN, the stark reality is that just 550 MW of large-scale solar electricity is actually being produced.
This is just 8.4 per cent of all Victoria’s announced large-scale solar power generation actually going into the grid today.
The government website only provides information about the projects’ “maximum” capacity. Much less power is going into the grid when the sun isn’t shining.
The same is true of wind power.
Of 55 announced projects, just 28 are actually operational, translating to just 37 per cent of their reported capacity. That is, unrealistically assuming the wind is always blowing and they are always operating at their maximum capacity.
As stated by Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables, Ryan Smith:
“As is the case with so many of Labor announcements, it is worth looking behind the spin. Potential capacity is one thing, actually providing cheap, reliable energy into the grid is another matter altogether.
“Instead of focussing on delivering electricity that is actually available for transmission to Victorian homes, Labor’s Energy Minister is more interested in issuing a steady stream of glossy press releases about her renewable energy utopia.”
