Labor to attack Coalition Plan on Economic Growth (The Age – 27 Dec 2024)

The suggestion that the Coalition Nuclear Energy Plan would cause a loss of economic growth of $4 trillion by 2050 is at odds with any reason, as cheaper and more reliable nuclear energy will help to stimulate growth, compared with more costly renewables, with batteries and peaking gas plants.

Dr. Jim Chalmers criticised Peter Dutton for not adopting the “Step Change” model, rather than the “Progressive” model, both produced by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

What Chalmers fails to point out, is the Frontier Economics Report 2, shows that renewables with nuclear is around 25% cheaper than renewables with batteries and peaking gas for both models. So irrespective of growth assumptions, nuclear provides significant cost savings.

The Frontier Economics Report also highlights problems with the “Step Change” model not being realistic, for instance it assumes 98% of vehicles in Australia will be EVs by 2050. This is despite Australian Automobile Association (AAA) Q3 2024 figures showing EV sales at their lowest level since 2022, at 6.57%. By comparison Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) sales were 74.2%, hybrid sales 16.7% and plug-In hybrids were 2.53%.

What Chalmers failed to point out is that electricity used for EVs doesn’t generate economic growth in Australia. What generates economic growth is cheaper and more reliable electricity, that can be scaled up with projected increases in demand together with flexibility. Australia has this flexibility by managing coal power station closures and transitioning to a new energy mix.

Nuclear reactors are also far more easily scaled than a system that relies on a much greater capacity in renewables, batteries, peaking gas and expanded transmission lines.