Heresy: The government’s lack of electricity energy policy is probably a good thing

The lack of coherent Federal policy on electricity is probably a good thing, and any new federal policies are likely to be costly, out of date long before they are introduced and actually counterproductive.

Tasmania’s ‘Battery of the Nation’ is an expensive boondoggle in the age of distributed resources

While pumped-hydro storage can play a role close to existing transmission infrastructure or centres of demand, the process remains expensive and inefficient. Investment in more renewable generation on the mainland would therefore be far more effective than Tasmania’s proposed ‘Battery of the Nation’ scheme.

Why we need far less storage than you think

The perennial question for renewables is: What do you do when the wind doesn’t blow, and the sun doesn’t shine? However most of the demand occurs when the sun is shining, the wind is always blowing somewhere and Australia’s hydro-power outstrips many other countries.

Is massive transmission investment required to support a renewable grid?

Victorian engineer Peter Farley argues that distributed renewable power production and local storage will reduce the need for expensive long distance transmission infrastructure to meet Australia’s long term energy needs.

Do we even need Snowy II?

Victorian engineer Peter Farley crunches the numbers to show the proposed Snowy II hydro-power scheme would be surplus to requirements, given the growth in distributed storage capacity and alternative sources of generation.