Coal and gas-fired power plants will stay open for longer under the Coalition’s $330billion nuclear transition plan.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to build seven publicly-owned nuclear power plants Australia, with predictions the first will come online from the mid-to-late 2030s – a timeline rubbished by the CSIRO.
‘This is a plan that will underpin the economic success of our country for the next century,’ he told reporters on Friday.
Labor’s plan is to have the grid firmed with 82 renewable energy by 2030, rising to 98 per cent by 2040 based on solar and wind.
Both sides of politics support a net zero by 2050 goal, but the Coalition sees nuclear power and gas making up 40 per cent of Australia’s energy needs to achieve that goal.
‘We just can’t pretend that we can have part-time power running a full-time economy,’ Mr Dutton said.
‘Australians are smarter than what the prime minister credits and Australians are well read, they understand what is happening internationally.’
Mr Dutton was confident Labor would support the Coalition’s policies should Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lose next year’s election, arguing it was hypocritical for the ALP to support nuclear-power submarines as part of the AUKUS deal but be opposed to domestic nuclear power.
‘We have the situation here where I think it will be post-Anthony Albanese’s leadership – which I don’t think is too far away – in that scenario I think there can be bipartisan position in relation to the vision we put to the Australian people today,’ he said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to build seven publicly-owned nuclear power plants across the country
The Coalition’s plan was modelled by Frontier Economics, which cost Labor’s transition at $595billion, versus $331billion for the coalition’s nuclear plan – marking a difference of $264billion.
‘This means reduced power bills for households, lower operating costs for small businesses, and a stronger, more resilient economy,’ Mr Dutton said.
‘We’ve got a well thought-out plan here – we have the independent costings that provide that validation.’
Nationals leader David Littleproud said no major advanced economy had embraced a renewables only policy.
‘Understand the burden that you are asking us to bear. There is another way to achieve it,’ he said.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has rubbished this number, saying the government’s renewable energy plan would cost $122billion, citing a forecast made by the national energy grid operator.
‘They’re making it up as they go along,’ Mr Bowen told ABC TV of the Coalition’s costings on Friday.
Mr Bowen said preliminary reports of the coalition’s plan ahead of Friday’s full announcement that nuclear would need fewer transmission lines – therefore bringing down the estimated cost – was incorrect.
The Coalition’s proposal favours nuclear reactors across the nation
‘I’m not sure how they’ll get the nuclear power into the grid, maybe by carrier pigeon if they’re going to assert if somehow you’ll need less transmission,’ he said.
‘They have had to make some very heroic assumptions here and they have had to really stretch the truth to try to get some very dodgy figures.’
Keeping coal-fired power plants open beyond their lifespan was a threat to energy reliability, with outages and breakdowns happening on a daily basis, Mr Bowen said.
‘It’s a recipe for blackouts to keep ageing coal-fired power stations in the grid for longer,’ he said.
The Coalition is pushing for an end to Australia’s nuclear ban but has faced opposition from states, which had legislated bans on nuclear energy.
