The South Australian Political Landscape

[Grenville]

I've been on the end of a Chapman spray. It was delightful.

Dentist by trade Dogwatcher?

[Q.]

From Big Steve Marshall via facebook:

Electricity in South Australia is a divisive issue. It shouldn’t be.

My priority is delivering affordable and reliable electricity. Labor didn't consider the consequences of its ideological crusade which has led to massive price hikes and blackouts.

We are abolishing Labor’s dangerous plan to rapidly increase the volume of unreliable and intermittent renewable energy in South Australia. A national target is a sensible way of transitioning towards renewable energy.

Until intermittent renewable energy can be stored and dispatched when required, we need to slow the transition to renewables so that South Australian households and businesses are protected from further price hikes and instability.

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An opportunistic grub. Renewables hasn't been to blame.

[Psyber]

From Big Steve Marshall via facebook:

Electricity in South Australia is a divisive issue. It shouldn’t be.

My priority is delivering affordable and reliable electricity. Labor didn't consider the consequences of its ideological crusade which has led to massive price hikes and blackouts.

We are abolishing Labor’s dangerous plan to rapidly increase the volume of unreliable and intermittent renewable energy in South Australia. A national target is a sensible way of transitioning towards renewable energy.

Until intermittent renewable energy can be stored and dispatched when required, we need to slow the transition to renewables so that South Australian households and businesses are protected from further price hikes and instability.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

An opportunistic grub. Renewables hasn't been to blame.

Agreed in general - it has mostly been the weather.

However, the shedding load action and the connector damage would not have been as big a problem if we had enough home based sources of stable base load in SA to not be reliant on the cooperation of outside sources. Even renewable energy champion Denmark retains enough coal fired supply to prevent such reliance on other sources they can't control.

I was never a fan of selling of ETSA, but it was driven not only by the state bank debt but by the fact the Bannon government had spend the state superannuation reserves too. Perhaps an SA owned power station may have been more useful than a desalination plant - but hindsight is not much use in either case.

[Gozu]

Something's got to be done about the electricity problem in this state and even though it was the Libs that sold it off rightly or wrongly it's Labor that will get the kicking for it if it's still an issue this time next year.

[stan]

From Big Steve Marshall via facebook:

Electricity in South Australia is a divisive issue. It shouldn’t be.

My priority is delivering affordable and reliable electricity. Labor didn't consider the consequences of its ideological crusade which has led to massive price hikes and blackouts.

We are abolishing Labor’s dangerous plan to rapidly increase the volume of unreliable and intermittent renewable energy in South Australia. A national target is a sensible way of transitioning towards renewable energy.

Until intermittent renewable energy can be stored and dispatched when required, we need to slow the transition to renewables so that South Australian households and businesses are protected from further price hikes and instability.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

An opportunistic grub. Renewables hasn't been to blame.

Agreed in general - it has mostly been the weather.

However, the shedding load action and the connector damage would not have been as big a problem if we had enough home based sources of stable base load in SA to not be reliant on the cooperation of outside sources. Even renewable energy champion Denmark retains enough coal fired supply to prevent such reliance on other sources they can't control.

I was never a fan of selling of ETSA, but it was driven not only by the state bank debt but by the fact the Bannon government had spend the state superannuation reserves too. Perhaps an SA owned power station may have been more useful than a desalination plant - but hindsight is not much use in either case.

It has been recommended that operating Northern as a state government operation woukd stabilize the grid and provide tha peak relief and reliability.

However the government did not want to get back into generation again.

[stan]

Something's got to be done about the electricity problem in this state and even though it was the Libs that sold it off rightly or wrongly it's Labor that will get the kicking for it if it's still an issue this time next year.

One more generation source and also the AEMO tightening the guidelines for when and how generation companies are required to act and operate.

[Booney]

http://www.theleadsouthaustralia.com.au ... roduction/?

ONE of the most abundant elements on earth is being used to create an energy storage system that can heat homes as well as store electricity.

South Australian company 1414 Degrees has developed technology to store electricity as thermal energy by heating and melting containers full of silicon at a cost estimated to be up to 10 times cheaper than lithium batteries.

Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust after oxygen.

A tonne of silicon can store enough energy to power 28 houses for a day.

Its high latent heat capacity and high melting temperature of 1414 C – make it ideal for the storage of large amounts of energy.

The process also generates large amounts of clean useable heat, which can easily be utilised for district heating or industrial purposes.

1414 Degrees has created a full prototype ready for commercialisation in Adelaide, South Australia, of its patented thermal energy storage system (TESS).

The company completed its first trials in September with a small prototype test system using about 300kg of silicon to store about 150kw of energy.

It is now scaling up its technology to grid scale thermal energy storage systems with potential to dramatically improve the efficiency of wind and solar farms and will launch the first commercial machines this year.

1414 Degrees Chairman Dr Kevin Moriarty said the company was waiting for AusIndustry, a division of the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, to sign-off on the 10MWh project in February so manufacture could begin.

He said the company has two target markets: a device capable of storing 10MWh of energy a targeted at industry while the second 200MWh device was suitable for a wind farm, large solar array or gas-fired power station.

As well as its ability to stabilise South Australia’s electricity supply, which relies heavily on wind power, the system is likely to appeal to northern European countries because of its ability to store the wind energy of a cold Scandinavian night while keeping residents warm and running their computers the next day.

“It’s low cost for very large energy storage,” Dr Moriarty said.

“We’re not really competing with batteries, we’re going to be working in the space of district heating, major industry, electricity producers and suburb scale residential developments.

“The big problem with renewables is this need to shift the peak – we’ve got wind turbines roaring away at 3am in South Australia when nobody needs the power.

“That problem is huge in Europe as well – you need to match the demand to the generation and that’s not going to be met by lithium, it’s too expensive and you just need vast quantities to handle it.”

The TESS device stores electricity as thermal energy by heating and melting containers full of silicon at a cost estimated to be up to 10 times cheaper than lithium batteries. The high latent heat capacity and melting temperature of silicon – 1414 C – make it ideal for the storage of large amounts of energy.

1414 Degrees has calculated that it can install sufficient storage, capable of supplying hundreds of MW of electricity, at just $70,000 per MWh to provide for a reliable electricity supply with up to 90 per cent renewable sources.

Dr Moriarty said a site had been chosen in South Australia for the first 10MWh system. He said the systems also produced a lot of useable, clean heat, making them ideal for industry, district heating in the northern hemisphere and food processors.

“The idea will be to position these things near industry or get industry to move near to the very big units because it will be able to offer very clean, cheap heat.

“We don’t have any dirty emissions like you do from gas or coal so basically the heat comes out as hot air and can be used for all sorts of things.

“Also, you can keep using the silicon, it’s pretty much unlimited.”

The company, previously known as Latent Heat Storage, has been developing the technology for the past decade in partnership with Adelaide-based engineering consultancy ammjohn, and the University of Adelaide.

It aims to initially assemble the units at the Tonsley Innovation Hub in Adelaide and have its first 10MWh system operating by mid-year.

[Psyber]

Molten salt has also been being kicked around for a long time without being taken up in any substantial way.

Here is another option.
It will be interesting to see which system wins the storage race.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-08/v ... ge/8094376
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery

However modern safe fission offers unlimited capacity and ongoing supply when storage may run out after several days of poor input from renewable sources.

[Jimmy_041]

From Big Steve Marshall via facebook:

Electricity in South Australia is a divisive issue. It shouldn’t be.

My priority is delivering affordable and reliable electricity. Labor didn't consider the consequences of its ideological crusade which has led to massive price hikes and blackouts.

We are abolishing Labor’s dangerous plan to rapidly increase the volume of unreliable and intermittent renewable energy in South Australia. A national target is a sensible way of transitioning towards renewable energy.

Until intermittent renewable energy can be stored and dispatched when required, we need to slow the transition to renewables so that South Australian households and businesses are protected from further price hikes and instability.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

An opportunistic grub. Renewables hasn't been to blame.

What happens if the wind doesn't blow and the sun stops shining?

[Q.]

Think this sums it up nicely

https://newmatilda.com/2017/02/16/power-games-unlike-malcolm-the-truth-is-in-the-middle/

[Jimmy_041]

Think this sums it up nicely

https://newmatilda.com/2017/02/16/power-games-unlike-malcolm-the-truth-is-in-the-middle/

I was expecting some left wing crap from New Matilda and wasn't disappointed when I first read their snide remarks, but I totally agree with him
It was a combination of factors & events including:

When the wind farms died, the suck on Heywood surged to 850 MW and it turned itself off to prevent catastrophic damage. The rest is history; a cascade of failures.

Was the SA generation mix a factor in the blackout? Of course. Are there generation mixes which would have prevented it? Of course; I just gave one.

Same as last week. Yes AEMO screwed up by not being on the ball, BUT, the proximate cause was the drop in wind and sun (so early) and they didn't expect it or react fast enough. As this picture shows, it wasn't sudden. It was dropping all afternoon

The best comment is:

A better answer still is to actually plan our electricity system. How often do markets have to screw up before people wake up that the method used all over the planets by large and small corporations to solve problems actually works; it’s called planning.

Our so called Minister for Energy has not planned anything. He's purely trying to avoid any responsibility and blame everyone else. Where's the energy plan for SA?

[stan]

Sa also has approximately 70MW of generarion in Port Lincoln to add to the network that again was needed and couldn't be used. I think ts diesel but not 100% sure, either way Engie get your shit together.

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[Psyber]

Another couple of energy storage options to add to the growing list of ideas:
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/ice-b ... 00366.html

[Jimmy_041]

He's at it again

[Jimmy_041]

Here's the other best funny one:

[stan]

I love the DPRK twitter feed as well. Its a parody account obviously but still its funny.

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[wild dog]

Yep 60,000 homes denied power for 40 minutes due to SAPN software and incorrect handling on the national market.
The weeklys take on it.

[wild dog]

NSW lucky to avoid load shedding.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy/insecure-state-gas-generator-failures-in-heatwave-pushed-nsw-to-the-brink-20170222-guigsd.html

[stan]

NSW lucky to avoid load shedding.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy/insecure-state-gas-generator-failures-in-heatwave-pushed-nsw-to-the-brink-20170222-guigsd.html

Nah they were fine. Apparently a few vic towns might needed to have been shed so that NSW all had power......

Im sure that would gone down well.

This national energy market is working well.

[Magellan]

NSW lucky to avoid load shedding.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy/insecure-state-gas-generator-failures-in-heatwave-pushed-nsw-to-the-brink-20170222-guigsd.html

Nah they were fine. Apparently a few vic towns might needed to have been shed so that NSW all had power......

Im sure that would gone down well.

This national energy market is working well.

Can't have NSW suffering, everything important in Australia happens there.