Hot air is cheap but wind power isn't. It is nothing but a subsidised shibboleth of the Left that, as has been seen in Adelaide has huge on costs not accounted for. Closure of Whyalla, death of Port Pirie, Loss of the Submarine contract and anything else that is manufacture.

There is no upside to closing down a cheap source of power. In a failing economy, it is sheer madness.

ttbn,
When the cost of the respiratory problems it causes are factored un, is it really so cheap?

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McCackie,
Everything is expensive when you include the cost of things that didn't happen.

Iser presents this statement, "However, experience in other regions such as the ACT, in countries such as Germany, and assessments by multiple analysts show that power demands can be fully met by a combination of wind and solar using interconnected networks, with power boosts being supplied by hydro sources, concentrated solar thermal and gas-fired turbines using biofuels."

But he does not justify it and it can now be shown to be completely wrong. Just look at all the trouble the isolated island of El Hierro in the Spanish canaries has been having trying to go all renewable. http://euanmearns.com/el-hierro-september-2016-performance-update/
Euros 80 million was spent on a pumped hydro system plus wind farms and they're still under 50 per cent average use for the year (rest is diesel). King Island in Bass Strait? It uses, wind solar and a very big battery. Look for yourself http://www.kingislandrenewableenergy.com.au/
Its an excellent system and can get to 100 per cent renewable at times, like El Hierro, but the average is around 60 per cent, after a capital investment of $18 million.. Kodiak Island of Alaska has gone 100 per cent renewable, but it was at 80 per cent hydro (which counts as a renewable) before the green energy craze..

As for Germany and Denmark, their stories are the result of being part of a larger network. When Germany's wind and solar plants kick in, for example, the grid managers don't shut down the country's brown coal plants they just dump the excess energy on their neighbours, who have complained to the EU.

As for the claim that the La Trobe valley has noticeable worse health outcomes than other parts of the state does anyone have a source on that? Its the first time I've seen anyone claim this.

On the daily cycle peak electrical demand is in the early evening when solar PV has retired for the day. On an annual cycle peak demand is in heatwaves when wind power is often useless. That's why we need dispatchable power, the cheapest being to work the remaining coal stations a bit harder and inefficiently or to fire up increasingly expensive gas power plant. Solar thermal, biofuel or gigawatt-hours of batteries are not only astronomically expensive but may never scale up to the desired level.

While Hazelwood provides 25% of Victoria's electricity combined Latrobe Valley power seem necessary to stabilise the SA grid and help Tasmania during droughts. The inverter-rectifier station for Basslink cable is next to Loy Yang A and B power stations. The losers from the closure of Hazelwood will be Vic ratepayers and to some extent SA and Tas. Emissions savings won't be that great when other coal and gas picks up the slack.

Ad hoc piecemeal decision-making.

Vic baseload to be replaced by intermittent renewables relying on interconnection to NSW and Qld baseload. SA now relying on thermal baseload from NSW/Qld when Vic can't help. So what if NSW or Qld decide to dump baseload for the green dream, or will they be constrained by the need of Vic and SA for baseload?

Meanwhile the Federation thinks it should have a censuring hand on anything nuclear, such as a dump in SA.

Before things get completely stupid and out of hand a national summit on where all this is going is needed and the nuclear option has to be on the table.

What's underpinning the general ad hoc direction being taken is the nonsense of ultimate goal of despatchable renewables without thermal baseload. Preposterously massive investment in this mirage, with all its required storage and backup redundancies, will land us short on carbon mitigation, with blackouts.

Every dollar spent on this chimera on the grid (renewables' place is off-grid) is wasted. The Green Pied-Pipers must be strongly opposed.