Mothballed power station is evidence of the RET’s success, CEC claims

The mothballing of part of the coal-fired Yallourn Power Station is evidence that renewable power sources are replacing high-pollution power generation, the Clean Energy Council (CEC) claims.

David Green, CEC Chief Executive, said that if Australia is serious about transitioning to a clean energy future, then such shifts in the way energy is generated are to be expected.

“Six weeks ago renewable energy was wrongly criticised in some quarters for not reducing emissions, and now Australia’s 20% Renewable Energy Target has been criticised for being too effective,” Green said.

“The fact is, the Renewable Energy Target is doing exactly what it is supposed to: aiding Australia’s transition to a cleaner energy system and hunting out the least-cost ways of doing this.”

Green said the Renewable Energy Target (RET) has also delivered billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs. He says the RET will continue to deliver if it is left unchanged.

The policy is, however, currently under review by the Climate Change Authority. Green says this review was prompted by some energy companies “who want it scaled back in order to maintain their dominance of the market”.

“People are using less fossil-fuelled electricity because of the increased contribution of large-scale clean energy such as wind, rising power prices, mild weather and better energy efficiency at home as well as through technologies like solar power,” said Green. “Contrary to the predictions of some doomsayers, the lights are still on and our energy sources are still secure.

“It’s not surprising the impact of all this is being felt by some of the big fossil-fuelled power generators,” said Green.

“But it is too early to say whether any forecast reduction in demand for energy will be a long-term trend or whether it will increase again if we all turn the air conditioning on over a few hot summers, or the exchange rate changes and manufacturing picks up.”