2017-07-20
Australian Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young has called on Malcolm Turnbull to intervene to end the delay in fixing energy market rules, including the 5-minute rule, to allow battery storage to compete fairly.
Senator Hanson-Young made the call while visiting the world’s largest battery storage facility in Southern California today.
"The Prime Minister should use his authority to fix the energy market rules before next summer to ensure stability and fairness which would also push electricity priced down," Senator Hanson-Young said.
“Like South Australia, San Diego was experiencing rolling blackouts in summer. The AES battery storage facility I visited today was the missing link in securing power supply for San Diego, and similar facilities in South Australia can do the same for us.
“A key benefit to batteries is the flexible capacity, so whenever you need power, it is there. It’s not the silver bullet to the State’s energy problems, but it is a tool that can bring everything together to maximise power security. With a facility like this, we wouldn’t have experienced those blackouts in February.
“In order to make this work, we need to fix the market rules that were written for the old fossil fuel companies, who now use it to drive up profits above supplying electricity to our homes and businesses.
“Along with Tesla’s project in Jamestown, and AES’s partnership with Lion Energy to build solar and battery storage facilities in Roxby Downs and the Riverland, it’s clear the battery boom is well and truly here. If we want it to stay, Malcolm Turnbull needs to stand up to the big power companies and fix the market rules.”