Well, Renew Economy will only ever publish favourable parts of the story, won't they?? Even the ABC managed to get to the truth of the matter - Subsidies.
"The truth is, the reason it is closing is it couldn't make money in this market. The reason it can't make money in this market is even though it does pour in relatively cheap power into the grid, renewable energy is cheaper [due to subsidies]".
Another consequence will be reliance on dirty, less efficient brown coal generated power from Victoria. "Australian Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said due to the power station's closure the state would have less back-up energy available on days of peak demand. He said the state would have a greater reliance on renewable energy and on the inter-connector from Victoria for base-load power. "The reality for South Australians is that we're in uncharted waters," he said. "There's an increased level of risk that we really haven't seen before anywhere in the world, so it doesn't mean we'll have more blackouts, hopefully if we're smart we can sort out solutions so power supply can be the same as usual, but it's an increased risk."
Electricity prices will probably rise in SA unless offset by MORE subsidies. "Frontier Economics energy market analyst Danny Price said the closure would push up electricity prices. "The market contracts are now trading in South Australia, the base-load generator contracts they've jumped 80 per cent. That's the wholesale component. The retail component would be roughly about 25 to 40 per cent," Mr Price said. He said gas generation could fill the gap and push prices down. "If they didn't expect the Government to provide a handout or some sort of assistance those gas generators would probably come online but the problem is the more the Government talks about some form of intervention the less likely it is that these generators will offer that capacity willingly," he said."
Finally, shutting down a 60 year old coal plant is not bad news in itself but there needs to be a balance between economics and rabid green ideology.
