2 December 2018

Monaro has massive potential for renewable hydro energy

| Genevieve Jacobs
Join the conversation
4

Professor Andrew Blakers believes the Snowy 2 pumped hydro scheme could be the first of many. Photo: Snowy Hydro.

One of Australia’s leading renewable energy experts says the Monaro region’s pumped hydro potential could help to establish base-load power for a wholly renewable energy system within the next decade.

Professor Andrew Blakers, director of the ANU’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, believes that in addition to Snowy Hydro 2, there are “plenty of other opportunities” for pumped hydro in the region, including Brown Mountain, Cathcart and Araluen.

As politicians argue over how the transition to renewables will affect our power supply, Professor Blakers says that pumped hydro can provide reliable, continuous backup power that alleviates concerns about the reliability of solar and wind energy. He was speaking at a recent renewable energy forum in Queanbeyan, organised by Repower Monaro and Climate Action Monaro, and also attended by the former Federal Liberal leader and economist Dr John Hewson.

Unreliability is often used as a reason for continuing to run coal-fired power stations, but Professor Blakers is confident that pumped hydro schemes will drive coal out of business by the 2020s, and that the Monaro could be at the forefront of the new industry. Professor Blakers said that he and his team at the ANU have identified 22,000 sites in Australia where pumped-hydro could be effective, though in practice only a few of these will be needed.

1800 of them are south of Canberra, and Professor Blakers says that the combination of wind and relatively good sunshine means the Monaro is “blessed” with excellent renewable energy potential. “Only the best 0.1 per cent of the sites are needed, so we can be very choosy in site selection,” he said.

A pumped hydro site requires a minimum head of 300 metres and a slope between reservoirs and dams, but Professor Blakers said that the vast majority of sites are closed loops not situated on river systems. National parks and urban areas would also be excluded.

How pumped hydro storage works (most systems are closed loops, and would not necessarily be oceanside). Image: Energy Australia.

Professor Blakers believes that the future of energy production lies in photovoltaic cells combined with sophisticated storage systems, provided by pumped hydro. He says it’s a misunderstanding of the technology to think that the renewables transition demands a like-for-like replacement for coal-powered electricity. Pumped hydro would primarily operate at times when solar and wind availability is low because of weather conditions. It’s also very quick: power can be dispatched to the grid in less than a minute.

The existing Snowy Scheme, particularly Tumut 3, already makes use of pumped-hydro technology. If Australia proceeds using existing technology and know-how, Professor Blakers says we would easily reach the emissions targets set by the Paris Accords. “Solar photovoltaic and wind are being installed at a combined rate of five Gigawatts per year which is fast enough to reach 50 per cent renewable electricity by 2024. We could reach 100 per cent renewable electricity in 2032 at zero net cost.”

Professor Blakers said that his calculations about a completely renewably-powered future had not been made using “heroic assumptions”. Instead, he focused on technologies already in mass production with a deployment capacity of greater than 100 GW.

He was emphatic in his support for Snowy 2.0, saying that any conservation issues will be far outweighed by the benefits, adding that he believes both Araluen and Brown Mountain would have few environmental impacts.

The final decision on Snowy 2.0 is due this month, and Professor Blakers said that the Federal government’s energy policy decisions are critical. And in the end, he said, “Politics determines whether we stay on track”.

Join the conversation

4
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
Queanbeyanite7:05 pm 06 Dec 18

“And they call it riding the gravy train, yeah….”

$4 billion, added to the $600 billion C’wealth debt, including the $60 billion squandered in subsidies by 2030. You do realise ‘the rich’ and ‘big business’ aren’t paying through the subsidies you’ve foisted upon them, they just put their prices up.

It’s going to cost $4 billion to run a tram from Gungahlin to Woden, you think several kilometres of hard rock tunneling, pumps, substations and high tension power lines will cost the same?

justin heywood9:27 am 04 Dec 18

Energy storage is the Missing Link between renewable energy and a reliable power source. This project would silence the ‘renewables are unreliable’ argument, and if the good Professor is to be believed, it stacks up financially as well.

Ideas like this SHOULD be political winners (jobs, sustainability, technology etc). I wish the Greens were still actually ‘green’; they should be all over sensible, scientifically literate ideas like this, instead of chasing hard-left rainbows.

Capital Retro10:37 am 03 Dec 18

It has been suggested that the Snowy 2.0 project will cost in excess of $4 billion which is twice the original estimate.

Without funding and environmental approval nothing will happen. Also, other academics have claimed that rainfall will reduce as their version of climate change takes hold so let’s all have a Bex, cup of tea and a good lie down.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.