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Stormy Weather: Grid-connected Solar and Wind Energy in Victoria
Abstract
This article deals with the treatment of grid-connected solar and wind energy in the Australian state of Victoria during the period from the mid-1970s to 1994. Traditionally, electricity authorities and governments tend to dismiss these options claiming that they are too expensive and only produce intermittent power. Proponents of solar and wind energy dispute this, arguing that such assessments ignore the significant environmental benefits of renewable energy. In this article it is argued that an explanation for the treatment of renewable energy needs to start from an analysis of the structure and development of the electricity supply industry, and the political processes which have shaped the industry. This history shows that the neglect of solar and wind energy in Victoria was influenced more by electricity planning considerations and the political agenda of the Victorian ALP government than by economic and technical criteria.
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Author and article information
Notes and References
Michael Grubb, ‘The Cinderella options: a study of modernized renewable energy technologies’, Energy Policy, 18, 6, 1990, pp. 525–542.
Hence the term ‘renewable energy’ will here be used mainly to refer to solar and wind energy. Apart from where it is specifically mentioned, I do not include hydro energy.
Australia has six states and two territories. With a population of about 4.5 million, Victoria is Australia's second most populous state. It is not as sparsely populated as Australia's other states, so there are very few communities isolated from the main grid.
The term ‘grid’ is used to describe the electricity distribution network. The term is sometimes used to describe the high voltage electricity transmission system, and later when describing the national electricity grid I have used the term grid in this second sense. Apart from this instance, the term is always used in the first sense.
For a discussion on this see Michael Grubb, ‘The integration of renewable electricity sources’, Energy Policy, 19, 7, 1991, pp. 670–688.
The recent restructuring of Australia's electricity market does not fall within the period of this case study.
Australia, Department of National Development, Australian Energy Policy: A Review, AGPS, Canberra, 1979.
National Energy Advisory Committee, Renewable Energy Resources in Australia, AGPS, Canberra, 1981, p. 1.
Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Energy, and Centre for Technology and Social Change: University of Wollongong, Evaluation of National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Program, AGPS, Canberra, 1990. In the late 1980s additional programme funds were made available for renewable energy and energy conservation projects, but this did not include grid-connected solar or wind energy.
Interview with Alan Pears, September 1996. This point was also made in Victoria, Department of Minerals and Energy. Annual Report, 1980–81.
Victoria, Department of Minerals and Energy, Annual Report, 1978–79.
The Victorian Solar Energy Council is often referred to by its acronym VSEC. This is very similar to the acronym SECV, so to avoid confusion I have used the term ‘Solar Council’.
Victoria, Department of Minerals and Energy, Energy Policy for Victoria, 1979.
Patricia Whately, The Restructuring of the Victorian Industry and Energy Portfolios Under the Cain Labor Government and its Effect Particularly on the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, MA thesis, University of Melbourne, 1992; and Centre for Urban Research and Action, A Review of Commonwealth and Victorian Government Energy Policies, Centre for Urban Research and Action, Fitzroy, 1982.
Interview with Alan Pears, September 1996.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Proposed Driffield Project: Planning and Approval Processes, 1982. In this report, renewable energy was dismissed with the sole explanation of ‘not meet[ing] the needs’, p. 3.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Planning Department, Latrobe Valley Power Station Sitting. Task Force Report, Vol. 1, 1980.
In this period, the federal government was expecting a resources boom and the states were vying to attract aluminium smelters.
Victoria's brown coal reserves and power stations are located in the Latrobe Valley, near the town of Morwell. Open-cut mining is used.
Brown Coal Study Group, Fuel for Unrest: People, Power and Planning in the Latrobe Valley, Conservation Council of Victoria, Melbourne,? 1981.
Electricity demand varies significantly during each day with peak demands occurring in the morning and early evening. Brown coal power stations are best operated continuously and at full load, so they are suitable for supplying base load. Peak load can be met using hydroelectric stations or gas turbines; these can be started and stopped quickly and are suitable for operation at part load.
Victoria, Newport Review Panel, Final Report to the Government and the Trades Hall Council, Government Printer, Melbourne, April 1977, p. 17.
Whately, op. cit., Ref. 14.
Anti-Newport Power Station Coalition, Newport: Abuse of Power, 1974, pp. 40–45. However, the SECV was also promoting the use of off-peak appliances, such as water heaters. In 1975 the government directed the GFCV and the SECV to cease competition.
Victoria, Newport Review Panel, Report to the Government and the Trades Hall Council, Government Printer, Melbourne, March 1977, p. 26.
Ibid., p. 14.
C. Edwards, Brown Power: A Jubilee History of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Melbourne, 1969.
Victoria, State Electricity Commission Act 1958, s 20.
Hugh Saddler, Energy in Australia: Politics and Economics, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1981, pp. 116–117.
Phillip Gleeson, The Technological Society: Experts, Government and People: A Study of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, M. Env. Sci. thesis, Monash University, 1980.
Aynsley Kellow, Transforming Power: The Politics of Electricity Planning, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.
Australian Labor Party, Labor Profile: Minerals and Energy, Labor Resource Centre, Melbourne, 1982.
For a discussion of this development see Leigh Glover, The Victorian Energy Plan, M. Env. Sci. thesis, University of Melbourne, 1984.
Victoria: The Next Step was the cover title of Victoria, Department of Management and Budget, The Economic Strategy for Victoria, 1984.
Australian Labor Party, op. cit., Ref. 32.
‘The need for energy planning: an interview with the Minister for Minerals and Energy, David White’, Energy Forum, 1, 1, 1984, pp. 4–5.
Victoria, Department of Minerals and Energy, Victorian Energy Plan. Progress Report on Energy Planning, Department of Minerals and Energy, Melbourne, 1984.
Victorian Energy Planning Program, Government Energy Polity Statement: Renewable Energy Strategy, Department of Industry, Technology and Resources, Melbourne, 1985.
Victorian Energy Planning Program, Victoria's Energy: Strategy and Policy Options, Department of Industry, Technology and Resources, Melbourne, 1985.
Victoria, State Electricity Commission (Amendment) Act 1982, s 4.
Victorian Energy Planning Program, op. cit., Ref. 39, p. 45.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Annual Report, 1980–81, p. 9.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Electricity Supply and Demand to the Mid 1990s: Draft Government Energy Policy, 1984.
See for example the state government's marketing package: Victoria, Department of Industry, Technology and Resources, Victoria: A Powerful Business Partner, n.d.
Deni Greene, Congeneration in Victoria, State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Melbourne, 1984.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, op. cit., Ref. 43, p. 28.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Energy Conservation in Victoria: SEC Objectives, Policies and Programs, An Update Paper, 1984.
This and other criticisms of the SECV's estimates of conservation were included in the document: Conservation Council of Victoria, Energy Conservation in Victoria: SEC Objectives, Policies and Programs. Comments by the Conservation Council of Victoria, November 1984.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, op. cit., Ref. 43, p. 29.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Planning Investigations Department, Wind Generation for Victoria, Vol. 1, 1983, pp. 1–2.
Ibid., pp. 8–9. The SECV's lack of enthusiasm for wind energy was also evident in its State Electricity Commission of Victoria, op. cit., Ref. 47.
Victorian Energy Planning Program, op. cit., Ref. 38, p. 16.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Annual Report, 1984–85, p. 66; State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Annual Report, 1985–86, p. 86; Victorian Solar Energy Council, Annual Report, 1984–85, p. 14; Victorian Energy Planning Program, op. cit., Ref. 38, p. 16.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Annual Report, 1986–87, p. 85.
This package was originally proposed by the government as a cogeneration package only. Victorian Government, Victoria: The Next Decade, F. D. Atkinson Government Printer, Melbourne, 1987. In reality, this ‘incentives’ scheme represented an amendment of the SECV's standby and buy-back tariffs to arguably more appropriate levels. In an inquiry on future power options, it was recommended that after reviewing the effects of this incentives package, the SECV might further restructure its standby and buy-back tariff to increase the number of small-scale power supply options. See Victoria, Parliament, Natural Resources and Environment Committee, Report on Electricity Supply and Demand Beyond the Mid 1990s, 1988, p. 81.
Richard Hoy, ‘Review of renewable energy projects within the SEC cogeneration and renewable energy incentives package’, Solar ‘88 Conference, Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society, Melbourne, 17–19 November 1988.
Ibid.
Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Energy, Energy 2000: A National Energy Policy Paper, AGPS, Canberra, 1988.
National Energy Advisory Committee, op. cit., Ref. 8.
Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Energy, op. cit., Ref. 58, p. 12.8.
Conference Statement, The Changing Atmosphere: Implications for Global Security, Toronto, Canada, 27–30 June 1988.
Cited in Michael Grubb, Energy Policies and the Greenhouse Effect. Vol. 1: Policy Appraisal, The Royal Institute of International Affairs and Dartmouth, Aldershot, 1990, pp. 8–9.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change: The IPCC Response Strategies, Island Press, Washington, 1991, p. 69.
Australian Government, National Greenhouse Response Strategy, AGPS, Canberra, 1992, p. 8. Note that the target set by the Australian government was not the same as the Toronto target. The Toronto target referred specifically to carbon dioxide emissions, whereas the Australian target included carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. (Restrictions to emissions of chlorofluorocarbons were covered by the Montreal Protocol of 1987.) Methane and nitrous oxide are in much smaller concentrations in the atmosphere, but molecule for molecule they are both far more effective at trapping heat than is carbon dioxide. It is unclear whether the Australian government made this subtle change to lessen the impact on fossil fuel use.
Australia, Industry Commission, Costs and Benefits of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Vol. 1: Report; Vol. 2: Appendixes, AGPS, Canberra, 1991.
The Ecologically Sustainable Development Working Groups had been set up to study how ecologically sustainable development could be applied in different industry sectors. There were nine groups, including Energy Use and Energy Production.
Australia, Ecologically Sustainable Development Working Group Chairs, Greenhouse Report, AGPS, Canberra, 1992.
Andrew Blakers, Tom Crawford, Mark Diesendorf, Geoff Hill & Hugh Outhred, The Role of Wind Energy in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Opportunities and Benefits for the Australian Wind Energy Industry, Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, Canberra, 1991; Andrew Blakers, Martin Green, Tony Leo, Hugh Outhred & Bruce Robins, The Role of Photovoltaics in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Opportunities and Benefits for the Australian Photovoltaic Industry, Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, Canberra, 1991; David L. Hagen & Stephen Kaneff, Application of Solar Thermal Technologies in Reducing Greenhouse Gases, Opportunities and Benefits for Australian Industry, Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, Canberra, 1991.
Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Energy, Issues in Energy Policy: An Agenda for the 1990s, AGPS, Canberra, 1991, pp. 6–17.
For a description of the various mechanisms see Catherine Mitchell, ‘A survey of European Renewable Energy Support Mechanisms’, DOE/EPRI Green Pricing Workshop, Denver, Colorado, 1996.
See the discussion of each government's response in Australian Minerals and Energy Council, Energy and the Greenhouse Effect, AGPS, Canberra, 1990.
During 1988–89, the Energy Intensive Industries Facilitation Unit in the DITR received a funding injection of $1 million. See Victoria, Department of Industry, Technology and Resources, Annual Report, 1988–89, p. 43.
Victoria, Ministry for Planning and Environment, The Greenhouse Challenge: The Victorian Government's Response, A Draft Strategy for Public Comment, 1989, p. 27.
Ibid., p. 32.
Victoria, Department of Industry, Technology and Resources, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation: Green Paper, 1990. The ‘White Paper’ was released the following year: Victoria, Department of Manufacturing and Industry Development, Victoria's Energy Efficiency Strategy, Parts I and II, 1991.
Victoria, Department of Industry, Technology and Resources, op. cit., Ref. 75, p. 29.
Ibid., p. 23.
See the SECV's statement about the project in State Electricity Commission of Victoria, The SEC and the Greenhouse Effect: A Discussion Paper, 1989, p. 6.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Annual Report, 1989–90, p. 72.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Environmental Management, 10 MW Windfarm Project: Statement of Need and Related Information, October 1991.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, op. cit., Ref. 78. In its later greenhouse document, the SECV stated that 600 MW was the maximum amount that could be generated at sites that had been identified as having wind speeds of 7 m/s or more. State Electricity Commission of Victoria, The SECV and the Greenhouse Effect: Discussion Paper Number 2, 1992, p. 31.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Environmental Management, op. cit., Ref. 80.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, and Loder & Bayly Consulting Group, Windfarm Planning and Environmental Study, Vol. 1, 1992, Appendix 2. Wind speeds are usually quoted at a standard height of 10 metres. The wind speed increases with height, and can be estimated using the one-seventh power law.
Most of California's wind generators are located at Tehachapi Pass, average wind speed 8 to 8.5 m/s, and Altamont Pass, average wind speed 6 to 8 m/s. See Paul Gipe, Wind Energy Comes of Age, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1995.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, and Loder & Bayly Consulting Group, op. cit., Ref. 83, pp. 4, 65.
Interview with Renzo Negrelli, July 1996.
Iain Henderson, ‘Local blow to wind farm’, The Weekly Times, 12 September 1990, p. 12.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, and Loder & Bayly Consulting Group, op. cit., Ref. 83, p. 53.
Interview with Richard Hoy. Note that Toora is located near Wilsons Promontory, a popular tourist destination.
‘Wind win’, Herald Sun (Melb), 1st edn, 4 June 1993, p. 26.
Australia, Industry Commission, Energy Generation and Distribution, Vols I and II, AGPS, Canberra, 1991.
Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Energy, National Electricity Strategy: A Discussion Paper, AGPS, Canberra, 1992.
State Electricity Commission of Victoria, SECV Submission to Industry Commission Inquiry into Energy Generation and Distribution, August 1990.
Victoria, Public Bodies Review Committee, Report to the Parliament on the Appropriate Model for Corporatisation of the State Electricity Commission, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1992.
Victoria, Department of the Treasury, Office of State Owned Enterprises, The Electricity Supply Industry in Victoria: A Competitive Future—Electricity: Summary, 1993. Victoria, Department of the Treasury, Office of State Owned Enterprises, Reforming Victoria's Electricity Industry: Stage Two: A Competitive Future—Electricity, 1994.
Hugo Kelly, ‘Fatal blow ends wind farm deal’, The Age, 3 June 1994, p. 5.
There is also a smaller grid-connected solar and wind energy system (rated at about 14 kW) in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. Dubbed ‘Project Aurora’, it was built in 1993 as an initiative of the Brunswick Electricity Supply Department (BESD). Until 1994, BESD was one of Victoria's 11 Municipal Electricity Undertaking distributing electricity within a local council area. Project Aurora was funded by a federal government local capital works grant and by the local community. There was little, if any, input from the SECV, the state government or the Solar Council.
Each unit of Loy Yang was rated 500 MW. With a total installed plant capacity of about 6000 MW (1983 data), each unit of Loy Yang represented about an 8% increase in capacity. Loy Yang A and B was intended to comprise eight units, i.e. 4000 MW.
Aynsley Kellow, op. cit., Ref. 31, p. 4. Kellow makes this point about nonconventional electricity supply sources in general. Utilities which adopted least-cost utility planning, an approach which incorporates the cost of uncertainty, gave greater prominence to nonconventional sources of supply.