The dispute highlights a key challenge for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton after he,with Liberals insisting they wanted more renewables while the Nationals said the country already had too many wind and solar farms.
Nationals leader David Littleproud (right) stepped up his campaign against big wind and solar projects this week.Alex Ellinghausen
In a separate alert about the electricity grid,regulators escalated their warnings about gas shortages this winter and the impact on household heating as well as the gas-fired power stations that help sustain the grid when wind and solar farms cannot meet demand.
The shortage of gas from Bass Strait appears likely to increase prices this winter and heighten a broader debate about whether the country will have enough gas-fired electricity to make up for closures of coal-fired power stations over the next 15 years.
The Australian Energy Market Operator predicts more than 80 per cent of coal power will shut by 2032 and all will be gone by 2038,while political leaders cannot agree on whether renewables,gas or nuclear should be used to fill the gap.
The Coalition division on renewables came as Labor mocked Dutton’s nuclear plan with “memes” on social media to raise fears of radiation,while the opposition leader insisted his plan would deliver more reliable electricity and lower power bills over decades.
Nationals leader David Littleproud stepped up his campaign against big wind and solar projects this week,sparking concerns from Liberals who fear they will lose support from voters who favour renewables as a way to replace fossil fuels.
Former resources minister Keith Pitt,a key Nationals backbencher from Queensland,stepped up the argument on Friday by saying subsidies for renewables had to be scaled back to maximise the use of nuclear power stations as part of the new policy plan.
“It seems to me that if taxpayers invest tens of billions of dollars in nuclear electricity generation,then you would maximise the use of those plants and have them running at 100 per cent capacity,24/7,as often as possible,” he said.
“To do anything else would be like saving your pocket money for a pushbike,buying one and then leaving it in the shed,never to be ridden.
Peter Dutton has defended the Coalition's controversial energy policy.
“Clearly,if you have energy generation that works 100 per cent of the time,you would always use that before intermittent wind and solar,which are currently heavily subsidised.
“Why would those subsidies need to continue?”
Other Nationals believe the nuclear policy requires a rethink on support for renewable projects in the current system,including exemptions from reliability requirements that are imposed on coal and gas power stations.
“I’m not against renewables,but clearly we’ve got too much of them now,so it’s just a question of balance,” said Nationals senator Matt Canavan,also a former resources minister in the previous government.
“What we really need is a greater priority given to electricity that can be provided all the time.
“To run a functioning system,you’ve got to recognise the value of energy that is available all the time,and our current market structure does not do that.”
Major investors began for renewable energy after the opposition named the seven nuclear sites,given that taxpayer support for big new power plants would undercut the economic case for renewable projects.
A key issue is the proven capacity for wind and solar farms to offer cheaper electricity at peak periods when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing,setting a pricing challenge for nuclear power plants that offer constant energy supply at a relatively fixed cost.
Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham,who was a cabinet minister in the previous government,spoke out strongly in favour of renewables this week after Littleproud visited Wollongong in the NSW Illawarra region on Monday to criticise plans for offshore wind turbines.
“There is absolutely a place for large-scale renewables as part of a technology-neutral approach in Australia,” Birmingham told Sky News on Tuesday.
“It’s an important part of the mix that will help us to reduce our emissions over time. And we’ve then got to be clear that there will be difficult discussions and decisions on that journey to net zero. We’ve been having them in relation to nuclear energy.”
Birmingham said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government had their “head in the sand” on the role of nuclear energy in driving down greenhouse gas emissions,but he also emphasised the place for renewables in the new Coalition.
NSW Liberal senator Andrew Bragg is also backing the case for more renewables in the system.
“I’m chairing an inquiry into household electrification that will report later this year and that will have more support for renewable energy,” Bragg said.
“That’s because we think there will be more renewables in the future,not less. We’re going for all the options.”
Littleproud has not proposed a ban on renewables but said they would not be needed as much in the shift to nuclear energy.
“The Coalition’s plan for nuclear reduces the need for large-scale renewable developments,” he said.
“Projects should be based on merit,rather than Labor’s ideology of 82 per cent renewables by 2030.
“The Nationals support renewables but it requires common sense,where it can’t destroy agricultural land and remnant vegetation,such as solar panels on rooftops.”
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