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Bernard Hickey laments the LNG decision, asks a question we've been asking, and speaks with energy analyst Larry Blair.
The decision didn’t include the option of using that $2.7 billion up-front to pay for grid-scale, residential and commercial solar panel and battery capacity that would allow the lakes to remain full in a dry year. That amount would buy the equivalent of 2 Gigawatts worth of generation and storage, which is the equivalent of about four Benmore Dams worth and enough to power 2.5 million households for a year.
Instead, the LNG terminal may never be used but will have to be paid for annually, and the benefits in the counterfactual put forward by the Government in its fact sheet are dependent on lower wholesale prices (than would otherwise be the case) being passed on by gentailers to consumers.
Mike Casey said the Government couldn’t create cheap electricity with expensive fuel.“The Government is basically forcing New Zealanders to invest in an LNG terminal and hoping prices might go down eventually. You cannot make cheap electricity with expensive fuels and LNG is one of the most expensive fuels there is. We don’t like burning Indonesian coal. So why replace it with expensive Australian gas? This decision just locks us into another expensive overseas dependency.” Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey via a statement
A very cool 'floatovoltaics' project makes use of unproductive pond space and also helps those struggling with their energy bills; renewables push down the price of electricity to nothing (or less than nothing) in Scandinavia and South Australia and New Zealand has an opportunity to follow suit; France goes hard on electrification, while the UK builds better; Aussie truckies reckon electrification will take decades but much bigger electric machines are here now, including some from Volvo; hydrogen generators are an innovation we do not need; the Speight's brewery gets off the gas with a $7.2 million electric boiler; and a bit of 'solarcasm' demonstrates how going off-grid is now an option for some.
Read moreDownloadA big part of our New Zealand-made energy plan is helping gas users get off the pipes and onto the electrons. Now Business NZ has added its voice to the debate, suggesting that the $200 million set aside to help the oil and gas industry is instead used as loans to help businesses electrify. The rare call for support came after it released a report showing that the businesses reliant on gas were struggling with increasing prices and their closure would have a massive impact on jobs and the economy.
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