Politicians MUST not pay their own electric bill or they would see how much electricity has risen since the climate scam scare. Here in Australia we have our ‘…former PM, Malcolm Turnbull to thank for its largest and most expensive renewable energy boondoggle, the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project.
Touted by the patrician and aloof Turnbull and his hapless sidekick, Josh Frydenberg as the Nation’s mega-battery, the heavily-hyped pumped hydro scheme (shelved in the 1970s because it was uneconomic then) has been heralded as the saviour for the Australian wind and large-scale solar ‘industries’.
The line goes something like this: if we use 3 MWh of wind or solar power to pump water through 27 km of tunnels, over an elevation of 900m, later, when power consumers actually need it, Snowy Hydro could return 2 MWh to the grid.
Never mind squandering 1/3 of the electricity originally generated; never mind that with the inclusion of the $85 per MWh REC the cost of the wind or solar power involved exceeds $110 per MWh; never mind that the owners of Snowy 2.0 will charge a further $150-300 per MWh to re-deliver power to the grid; never mind that, in reality, the power used to pump the water uphill will largely come from coal-fired power plants, delivered overnight when it’s cheapest. For a break down of the costs and engineering of what’s proposed see our post: Turnbull Plays ‘The Man from Snowy River’ in Uncosted Pumped Hydro Plan
Whether or not Turnbull was simply out to protect his son, Alex’s investment in Australia’s most notorious wind power outfit, Infigen is a moot point: Born Lucky: Stars Align Perfectly for PM’s Son with Mammoth Bet on Wind Power Outfit Infigen
But one thing is for certain, the numbers on Snowy 2.0 simply don’t stack up.
And, according to a group of scientists and renewable energy boffins, nor do its environmental credentials.’https://stopthesethings.com/2020/09/30/all-uphill-australia-squanders-10billion-on-giant-pumped-hydro-power-white-elephant/
Now that Turnbull is gone the present government isn’t doing much better when it comes to energy. The so-called conservative Coalition government continues down the path to destruction via so-called renewables. The citizens only hope is at the next election there will be a real change for the better.
