Aidan,

I see that once again your complete ignorance of a subject has not slowed your posting in any way.

Here are some facts:
1 Germany's % coal fired generation has increased to cover the decrease in nuclear,
2 Germany's power is one of the most expensive in Europe due to renewables (nearly twice that of France who is mostly nuclear)
3 South Australia's network reliability is entirely due to its strong connection to Victoria's coal generation,
4 Rolling blackouts are far more economically damaging than even the high cost of renewables.

Either you are a greenie or you ought to be.

Shadow,

I see that your prejudice has led to you dismissing my comments as complete ignorance despite my clearly knowing things you don't.

1. I suggest you recheck the figures: last time I looked it showed a lower % from coal. Still too high and I think they'd be better off retaining nuclear power, but the increase from renewables exceeds the decrease from nuclear. Not that that's of any relevance to SA.

2. Feedin tariffs do have that effect, and I oppose them. I think we should use concessional loans to fund renewables. BTW I think your figures for France are out of date.

3. No, not entirely, though it certainly helps.

4. Of course they are, and a reliable electricity supply is needed. My point is that brownouts are even worse.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Taswegian,

That empirical evidence is based on short term data, and does not take into account the closure of SA's coal fired power stations.

AIUI the Tasmanian figure is now above 90% but it does vary with rainfall. And they import power when it's cheap and export it when it's expensive.

"Baseload is not what's needed" is the cry of the supremely ignorant, and is so dumb that anyone with even the faintest understanding of power would be embarrassed. The holy grail of the renewable industry is to find a source of renewable baseload. Are they all wasting their time?

Supplying a country without baseload would result in rolling blackouts, the closure of businesses and industry on overcast windless days and poverty for all.

FYI SA's grid stability is due solely to the secure connection to the Victorian coal fired network.

You're demonstrating your own supreme ignorance there, Shadow!

"Supplying a country without baseload would result in rolling blackouts"
To understand how stupid that statement is, consider Tasmania: no supply problems even though none of its electricity generators are dedicated to baseload.

What's needed is sufficient dispatchable power. At the base, providing that is no problem; the peaks are when the challenge is. Baseload is not the holy grail; it's a red herring spruiked by the coal industry. I doubt many in the renewable industry are wasting their time on it, though some of the geothermal people may be.

FYI SA's grid stability is due to several different factors including:
The Heywood connector to Victoria,
The Murraylink HVDC connector to northern Victoria,
Gas turbines to handle peak loads,
Electricity market reform to ensure there's always an incentive to generate more in the peaks,
Solar and wind power being produced at the times when demand has traditionally been strongest.

Aidan,

I see that whilst you can google, it is a pity that you can't even do that properly. Tasmania has a connection to the coal fired network via the bass strait cable which recently has been providing 40% of Tasmania's power, without which Tasmania would be suffering from rolling blackouts or brown outs.

Notably Tasmania has the largest proportion of renewable base load i.e. hydro electrical power, and if the morons such as bob brown had not opposed the Franklyn Hydro project, Tasmania would have been exporting power.

Similarly, SA's power stability has relied on its connection to the Victorian power grid.

Shadow,

As this has been an unusually dry year, Tasmania has been a net importer of electricity this year. However I'm very suspicious about that 40% figure – I think that's much more likely to be the maximum proportion imported (at night) than the overall proportion.

If Tasmania didn't have the connection to Victoria, they'd still maintain a reliable supply by making much more use of their gas turbines. Indeed now a fault in Basslink has been detected, they'll almost certainly be doing that until it's remedied. But with Basslink operational and no carbon tax, it was cheaper to import electricity from Victoria than to make it from gas in Tasmania.

Bob Brown was many things, but he was never a moron. Some ecosystems are worth more than dams, and Tasmania has been exporting power even though it's a net importer this year.

"Similarly, SA's power stability has relied on its connection to the Victorian power grid."
Indeed it has, though that's not the only factor.