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Gas has a future but will be used less often – Bowen

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The Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has put forward what he called the government’s ‘sensible (and) pragmatic’ approach to tne future of gas in Australia’s electricity grid.

Answering questions at the National Press Club, Bowen said that on the one extreme there was the Coalition with what he called ‘a gas bin fire’ of a policy, and at the other the Greens who say gas has no role to play in the system going forward.

Bowen said: “I disagree with both of those. And the government disagrees with both of those extreme arguments. And they’re equally unhelpful.”

Bowen said gas would play an important role in the system in three ways as firstly, gas-fired peaking and firming of renewables

“I think the ISP (Integrated System Plan) sums it up.

“They see gas capacity going up to 15 gigawatts by 2050, but total dispatch coming down.

“Because we need more support for renewables, but it will be dispatched less and less often as we build the renewables and the storage.

“And that’s the key, because gas is zero emissions when it’s not being used, when it’s not turned on.”

The ISP works on the basis that Australia will need 15 gigawatts of gas capacity in 2050, but that dispatch will fall from 10 terawatt hours a year to around six terawatt hours.

“But those six terawatt hours are still going to be important. I see it as like life insurance – you don’t need it very often but when you need it, you really need it. That’s the underpinning role of gas in the system.”

Bowen said that was why gas-fired power was an important complement to renewables.

Unlike coal and unlike nuclear, which are inflexible, gas’s virtue is its flexible.

“And as we’re building the storage, as we’re building the system, we’re going to need gas in the system for that.

“It’s also going to play a role to continuing – to continue to heat the five million Australian homes that rely on it, and for industry while we are developing green hydrogen.”

Bowen said green hydrogen was being developed ‘at pace’ for cement making, steelmaking and plastics making.

“So that’s the role of gas, I think, a pragmatic approach to gas.”

Picture: Chris Bowen



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