From Fairfax:
Alinta Energy has decided to close its two coal-fired power stations in Port Augusta in South Australia with the loss of about 440 jobs after suffering about $100 million of operating losses amid a glut in power supply exacerbated by growth in renewable energy.
…The power plants were widely seen by analysts as potentially vulnerable to closure in a market plagued by oversupply and weak wholesale power prices, a situation that is expected to continue for several years as the Renewable Energy Target forces more wind energy into production. The plants, that have historically provided up to 40 per cent of South Australia’s baseload generation, had already been operating less regularly in recent years.
Alinta chief executive Jeff Dimery blamed the closure on the decline in demand for energy as households became more efficient and the number of industrial customers shrank, combined with policies to drive growth in renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the PM is on the case:
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described wind farms as “visually awful” and boasted slashing the Renewable Energy Target will restrict growth in the industry.
Mr Abbott also said the Howard government would never have introduced the clean energy policy if it had its time over again.
In a wide-ranging interview on Sydney radio station 2GB, Mr Abbott said he was prevented by the Senate in his desire to further cut the growth of new wind farms.
Not that aesthetics has ever rated terribly highly when it comes to power policy but the belching smokestack is hardly more attractive than the whirring turbine!
