South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill MP (right) and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis have unveiled their energy plan. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill announced a $550 million, six-point plan during a press conference this morning to secure the state’s power supply.

It involves the state government building Australia’s largest battery facility to store renewable energy and a new 250 megawatt gas-fired power plant.

Senator Hanson-Young said it was a missed opportunity.

“The gas industry has received a huge payday today,” the senator told news.com.au in a statement.

“Subsidising gas extraction in the age of climate change is reckless and will do nothing to drive down power prices.

“The Greens will fight any attempt to open up new areas to gas exploration. More gas will not lower prices because the international market is setting Australia’s gas price and driving up electricity prices. This won’t change.”

She said residents would be devastated that solar thermal wasn’t part of the announcement.

“The State Government has backed the wrong horse,” she said.

“The rules boost the profits of the big fossil fuel generators and lock out solar and battery storage, which is the only way to secure the country’s future.”

But Energy giant AGL said the plan was likely to improve the security and reliability of power in the state.

The company praised the plan as a “considered and comprehensive approach” to challenges in the market, and recognised the need to secure more gas to assist with a transition to renewable energy generation.

“Increased gas supply is a key way of improving energy competitiveness for South Australian business and households,” AGL said in a statement. “Energy security and reliability are likely to be enhanced as a result of this package.”

Mr Weatherill gave details of the plan this morning.

“We have expert advice that this will reduce the price of electricity when competitive pressures are returned to the market, which this plans to achieve,” he said.

He said the events of February 8 were a powerful indication of a broken national electricity market.

“On that occasion, we had a private national electricity market that chose to black-out South Australians rather than turn on a power station,” Mr Weatherill said. “This is a totally unacceptable state of affairs.”

According to The Advertiser, the new power plant is expected to cost $360 million and would deliver close to 10 per cent of the state’s peak demand.

Mr Weatherill said the government would own the plant but it had not just established who would run and maintain it. The plant would be there to provide for peak demand and emergency responses.

“The private sector is not building new generation. That is why government is stepping up and taking control of our energy future by investing in new generation,” he said.

The battery storage would be funded as part of a new $150 million renewable technology fund.

Mr Weatherill said he had been speaking to a range of providers about the construction of a battery farm including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who would be directly invited to participate in the state’s tender for a 100 megawatt facility.

“A battery could be delivered quickly, we are advised,” he said, adding that it would also be economical as would pay for itself to some degree.

But he said the government also wanted multiple sources of redundancy to make the electricity system more efficient and secure.

The government would also encourage the construction of a new privately-owned power station using a government bulk buy power contract.

Other elements of the strategy include legislation to give the Energy Minister direct power to intervene in the electricity market and force power stations to fire up in times of need.

The government will also set an “energy security target” starting on July 1, to force electricity retailers to buy 36 per cent of their power from locally-generated baseload sources in SA.

Mr Weatherill said he wanted to reduce the state’s reliance on importing electricity from Victoria by putting South Australian gas ahead of Victorian coal, and to ensure South Australian power was reserved for South Australians.

“What we have at the moment is a circumstance where the national electricity market has punished some of the most efficient gas-fired generators like Pelican Point and sterilised any new investment in gas-fired generators,” he said.

“We have a situation where we are reliant on Victorian coal instead of SA gas.”

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill MP (right) and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis today. Picture: David Mariuz/AAPSource:AAP

Mr Weatherill said he couldn’t guarantee that South Australia would never be blacked out again but expert advice said the plan would help reduce the risk.

“I can’t guarantee what happens with the weather. If a tree falls on a power line it will black-out a suburb. I can’t guarantee that won’t happen,” he said.

“Without this, we are at risk of increased blackouts and load shedding. That is why this plan is essential.”

When asked whether it would have been cheaper to pay the Port Augusta coal-fired power station to fire up, Mr Weatherill said it didn’t offer what the state needed.

“What we have here is an ageing coal-fired power station that couldn’t guarantee its capacity to gain the fuel necessary at an economic price to secure its future,” he said. “That is the past. We are talking about the future.”

Mr Weatherill said his government was recommitting to a 50 per cent renewable energy target and the state was close to achieving that.

He said he hadn’t told Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yet about the state’s plan but hoped to do so soon.

MIXED RESPONSE TO PLAN

The Australian Services Union, which represents workers in the energy industry, has backed the plan saying it would deliver security for South Australia but also for the state’s energy workforce.

“ASU members working in energy welcome this plan which will bring an end to the insecurity of their current employment — whilst continuing the growth of cleaner energy generation in SA,” ASU secretary Joseph Scales said. “Workers in the energy sector never supported its privatisation.”

GetUp has welcomed the government’s decision to build battery storage but said subsidising new gas exploration would be a waste of public money.

Environmental Justice Director Miriam Lyons said solar and storage prices had been plummeting while greedy gas companies had been ripping off South Australians, making the new $150 million renewable technology fund the Premier’s biggest no-brainer.

“But the Premier’s leadership on renewable energy is undermined by his even bigger bet on expensive and polluting gas — a whopping $360 million for a single gas plant and public subsidies for damaging gas extraction,” she said.

The Climate Institute said the plan highlighted the need for a better national approach to energy security, affordability and decarbonisation.

“It’s understandable that SA is stepping into the vacuum to solve its immediate problems, but it’s not the best way to run an energy system,” the institute’s head of policy Olivia Kember said.

She said it was encouraging the SA government was supporting a range of technologies to deliver reliable and cleaner power but was concerned about its announcement before the recommendations of the independent Finkel Review into energy security were known.

“Ensuring that these state-specific rules don’t create distortions for the national electricity market as it evolves will be very important,” she said.

Jay Weatherill speaks at the energy plan conference in Adelaide on Tuesday. Picture: David Mariuz/AAPSource:AAP

BILLIONAIRES’ BET TO FIX STATE’S POWER PROBLEMS

The state’s energy woes have captured the attention of people around the country and even the interest of tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has said he can fix the problem in 100 days by installing a huge battery farm.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, who is helping to get the project off the ground, told ABC there was a good chance of getting funding and a political commitment for the large-scale battery storage facility.

“It’s been extremely surprising ... the number of people who have reached out,” Mr Cannon-Brookes said.

He said he had been approached by high net worth individuals, a few crowdfunding projects and corporate groups. But while it may be possible to get the facility built “altruistically”, he said it would be better to prove the commercial viability of the project so that it could then be a model for more projects around Australia.

“I’m just trying to change the conversation so we talk about something other than coal and gas as a potential solution going forward for the country,” Mr Cannon-Brookes said.

“It’s a little embarrassing as to how fast and how far it has gone.”

Mr Weatherill has spoken with Mr Musk about the project but it’s unclear whether it will be part of the state’s new energy strategy.

Other options could include building a new interconnector to NSW, building pumped hydro storage, opening up more gas power or even the state government buying back South Australia’s privatised electricity grid.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes is trying to help solve SA’s energy problems. Picture: Hollie Adams/The AustralianSource:News Corp Australia

Mr Koutsantonis said the state government would be using “every aspect of our arsenal” to tackle the problem, and intended to have its solution in place for next summer.

The state currently gets about 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar, with the rest coming from gas generation and through the Heywood connector that provides electricity from Victoria.

It follows a statewide blackout in September last year when freak storms brought down major transmission lines in the state’s north. The state also experienced a summer of significant strain on the state’s energy network when heatwave conditions frequently raised the possibility of power cuts.

— With AAP

[email protected]