Really, John.
If nuclear is such a failure why is Germany restarting their nuclear
power stations ?
Answer simple, they got sucked in like Bowen etc.
Germany got hit as did the rest of Europe with a wind drought.
Nothing will change here till one night we will spend sitting in the dark.
Then another part of Eastern Australia will sit in the dark as it will
be their turn.
That is when the average person who let our arguments go over their
heads will then ask what was all that argument about ?

We already have a wind farm that is not connected to the grid because
the miles of towers have not been built across farmland.
The 22,000 solar panels a day plus 40 wind turbines a month for
8 years was a monster project from the start and no politician or
public servant picked up a hand calculator to get an idea of the scope
of support facilities needed to get it built.
Last I heard it will reach about 30% in the 8 years period.
I would like the government to produce a report on the project status.
I am not holding my breath.

Bezza,

There are several major problems with what you’ve said. You really should stop seeking out denialist talking points.

First, Germany isn’t restarting its nuclear plants. They shut the last three down in 2023, and that was after a lot of public debate during the energy crisis. Some politicians floated keeping them running a bit longer, but in the end, they stuck to the plan. So the whole idea that Germany is “going back” to nuclear is just wrong.

Second, the energy issues in Europe weren’t because "the wind stopped blowing." They were mainly caused by the loss of Russian gas supplies after the invasion of Ukraine. Renewables actually helped cushion the impact - they weren’t the cause of the crisis.

Third, the idea that we’ll all be sitting in the dark is a bit dramatic. AEMO has already mapped out how the transition can work, and yes, there are risks and challenges, but they’re not pretending otherwise. Managing a grid through a major energy shift isn’t easy, but it’s not a blind leap either. Planning is happening - whether politicians move fast enough is another story.

Fourth, the issue with the wind farm sitting idle isn’t because wind power doesn’t work - it’s because the transmission upgrades aren’t finished. That’s a bottleneck with infrastructure, not generation. It’s like blaming a car for being stuck because the highway hasn’t been built yet.

And about no one picking up a calculator - AEMO, CSIRO and others have done loads of modelling on this. It’s not perfect, but it’s a bit much to suggest no one's done the numbers when whole reports have been written about exactly that.

Lastly, the grid is already running at over 35% renewable power. That’s not some distant dream. It’s already here.

You’re right that there are big challenges ahead. But a lot of what you’ve said doesn’t match the facts.