<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>335203</docID> <postdate>2024-12-13 11:14:50</postdate> <headline>Libs pledge cheaper power bills with $330b nuclear plan</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-335204" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20240609181567504592-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="547" /></p> <caption>The political battle over Australia's energy future is expected to heat up on Friday. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Dominic Giannini</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Australians are being promised cheaper power bills under a $330 billion nuclear energy plan unveiled by the federal coalition.</strong></p> <p>Wind and solar would make up 49 per cent of Australia's energy grid by 2050, with nuclear accounting for 38 per cent.</p> <p>"This will make electricity reliable, it will make it more consistent (and) cheaper for Australians and it will help us decarbonise as a trading economy as we must," Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told reporters in Brisbane.</p> <p>Coal and gas-fired power plants will stay open for longer under the plan, a move criticised by Labor as being bad for Australia's carbon emissions and unreliable for the energy grid.</p> <p>Ageing coal-fired plants were already facing daily outages and extending them was "a recipe for blackouts", Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.</p> <p>The first of the seven publicly-owned nuclear plants would come into operation by the mid-2030s, Mr Dutton said, but this timeline has been rubbished by some experts.</p> <p>Labor's plan is to have the grid firmed by just over 80 per cent renewable energy by 2030.</p> <p>This will increase to more than 90 per cent by 2050 with the rest made up of storage and gas.</p> <p>An excessive reliance on renewables "is going to cause a lot of grief to the country", Mr Dutton said.</p> <p>Nuclear energy would provide the "always-on" power to back up renewables and lead to cheaper power bills in the long run, he claimed.</p> <p>But nuclear energy does not offer a good deal for Australia, a report released ahead of Mr Dutton unveiling his costings found, while postponing coal power station closures would heighten Australia's carbon emissions in the medium term.</p> <p>For the seventh straight year, the GenCost 2024-25 Report found renewable energy sources are the lowest-cost of any new-build electricity-generating technology.</p> <p>Nuclear energy generation would be 1.5 to two times more expensive than large-scale solar, according to the analysis by the national science agency CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator.</p> <p>Energy market operators would also need to establish new connection points to safely supply the national electricity grid, experts have said.</p> <p>The coalition's plan was modelled by private sector consultancy Frontier Economics, which also cost Labor's transition around $600 billion.</p> <p>Mr Bowen dismissed this number, saying the government's plan would cost $122 billion, citing a forecast made by the national energy grid operator.</p> <p>The coalition is pushing for an end to Australia's nuclear ban but has faced opposition from states.</p> <p>Nuclear power doesn't stack up for Australian families or businesses, Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest said on Friday.</p> <p>"As our national science agency has shown, 'firmed' solar and wind are the cheapest new electricity options for all Australians," he said in a statement.</p> <p>"The cost of electricity generated on a grid dominated by firmed renewable energy in 2030 will be half what you would have to pay if it came from nuclear, CSIRO found."</p> <p>Mr Forrest, who's a big player in the non-fossil fuels energy market, said that without continued action on "low-cost, high-efficiency renewable energy" Australians will be left with "pricier power and crumbling coal stations".</p> </body>