The US is powering along despite a similar wind drought to the recent Australian experience. Why? Gas.
U.S. natural gas-fired power generation jumped this week amid the lowest wind power output in 33 months seen on Monday while demand for cooling is rising in the summer.
The US coal-to-gas switching strategy, which has converted rather than shuttered over 100 power plants, continues to obliterate Australia’s decarbonisation efforts:
Meanwhile, Downunder, the East Coast Gas Cartel continues to plot a rort for every feature of the economy:
Australia is one of the top five data centre hubs in the world.
There are 214 data centres spread across the country, according to the Australian Information Industry Association.
With the explosion of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the industry is expected to grow exponentially.
…Data centres are already big power users in Australia.
…Morgan Stanley estimates that data centres are currently using 5 per cent (1,050 MW) of the electricity on Australia’s power grid and that is expected to grow to 8 per cent (2,500 MW) by 2030.
Some estimates even suggest they could require up to 15 per cent of the power on the grid by then.
So, what to do? The ABC stupidly asks the gas cartel in the form of the industry-captured Grattan Insitute:
The director of the Energy Program at Grattan Institute, Tony Wood, agreed that the sector presents a unique challenge to the grid.
“That means putting pressure on our electricity grid. It means even putting pressure on our greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
“If you add a lot more demand, and you don’t add more supply, then prices go up.
Only if we don’t have enough gas to support the grid. We don’t, thanks in part to Tony Wood’s 2013 recommendation that it all be sent offshore without domestic reservation.
Tony Wood is a former Origin executive, and Origin still sponsors the Grattan.
Origin is a founding member of the East Coast Gas Cartel, which over-exports gas to keep local energy prices high.
So high that the local gas price is 400% more expensive than in the US, for no reason at all:
Next, the ABC goes straight to the kernel of evil to ask it for advice:
…Energy retailer and generator Origin supplies power to about a third of all data centres in Australia.
The man in charge of these accounts said the company was looking at a range of options to meet their needs.
“Typically, we will look at solutions like distributed generation, so wind or solar at site, storage solutions and backup generation, and using energy from the grid as well,” James Magill, head of Origin Zero, told The Business.
We all know what it will do: nothing. That’s how it keeps power prices high while sending all of the cheap local gas to China.
WTF is reporter Samuel Yang at the ABC thinking with this vested interest tripe?
Do some research, mate.
