The green alternatives to Origin keeping Eraring open for longer
As the state government prepares to negotiate with Eraring's owner Origin Energy to keep the plant open, experts are urging it to consider alternatives.
The prospect of Eraring Energy - the 2880 MW coal-belching behemoth near Newcastle - closing in less than two years’ time and risking the reliability of the grid is rightfully sending shivers up the spines of New South Wales politicians.
But as the state government prepares to negotiate with Eraring's owner Origin Energy to keep the plant open, experts are urging it consider alternatives. And one such option would be to look to the smaller end of town for distributed energy, or behind-the-meter solutions.
The Eraring extension has added a twist to Canadian investment firm Brookfield's $18.7 billion bid for Origin. Brokers and now institutional investors are getting louder about their concerns that the deal price is too low. But if the NSW government wants to avoid a potential costly negotiation process, there could be viable alternatives.
Hundreds of thousands of Australian homes already have rooftop solar, but uptake has not been nearly as rapid in the commercial and industrial sectors. Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis lead electricity research analyst Johanna Bowyer, pointed out that the C&I sector alone is a potential 28 GW energy resource - if all businesses installed solar and battery systems.
