Billions of dollars will be pumped into a massive hydro-electric project in Australia, the prime minister said Thursday, as the country faces a growing power crisis after a huge blackout and heatwave strained supplies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in New South Wales state could provide electricity to 500,000 homes, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described as an \u201celectricity game-changer\u201d.<\/p>\n
The project, involving new tunnels and power stations, would boost the capacity of the 4,100-megawatt hydro-electric plant by 50 percent and is estimated by local media to cost up to Aus$2 billion (US$1.5 billion).<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery Australian should be confident that they can turn the lights on when they need them,\u201d Turnbull said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Although Australia is one of the world\u2019s largest producers of coal and gas, there are question marks about its energy security after South Australia suffered a statewide blackout in September and record-high temperatures in recent months put pressure on supplies in the country\u2019s east.<\/p>\n
The closure of several ageing coal-fired power plants, strong demand for gas exports and a rise in onshore gas drilling bans have fuelled concerns of a looming domestic energy shortage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unprecedented expansion will help make renewables reliable, filling in holes caused by intermittent supply and generator outages,\u201d Turnbull said.<\/p>\n
But Danny Price, a former energy adviser to Turnbull, said while the hydro technology was robust and viable, it would not fix current power woes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would describe it as a thought bubble, it will be years before anything happens,\u201d he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a quick fix, this is a much longer-term plan, people should not get carried away because… it\u2019s a complicated system (and) a long way off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turnbull on Sunday spoke to US technology star Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind electric carmaker Tesla, after he offered to fix South Australia\u2019s power crisis with a battery farm.<\/p>\n
Musk earlier said on Twitter he could to get the system installed and working in 100 days, or it would be supplied free.<\/p>\n
The South Australian government on Tuesday unveiled a Aus$550 million plan that included building a new gas-fired power plant and the country\u2019s largest battery to store energy from the wind and sun.\u2014AFP<\/p>\n
Image: Alamy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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