The nation’s largest coal-fired electricity suppliers have rejected Coalition leader Peter Dutton’s argument that Australia should abandon its 2030 climate target, as the federal opposition prepares to unveil the sites of future nuclear power plants on Wednesday.
Instead, he is pushing to unwind Australia’s ban on nuclear energy and build up to seven nuclear reactors across the nation to achieve the longer-term 2050 target of net zero emissions. According to the CSIRO and the energy market operator, a nuclear generator in Australia could not be builtPeak power-industry group the Australian Energy Council intervened in the debate to insist the nation must retain the target to provide certainty for investors.
But opposition frontbencher Simon Birmingham seemingly contradicted Littleproud on Tuesday, saying: “There is absolutely a place for large-scale renewables.”Both major power generators and investors in renewable energy have warned for more than a decade that policy uncertainty has hamstrung investment needed to compensate for the closure of coal-fired power stations.
Dutton has said the opposition remains committed to net zero emissions by 2050 but will not reveal its interim climate targets until after the federal election, due by May next year. “It’s critical that we continue to work towards reducing our emissions as quickly as is possible and affordable.”