Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Energy spokesperson
According to the Government’s Energy Supply Plan and recent public comments by hapless Minister Groom, 100MW of diesel generation were to be installed and operational by the end of March.
At 8:20am today, only 47MW was being used and the Minister couldn't outline where the missing 53MW of diesel generation was.
The Minister also told us that the 58MW Rolls Royce ‘Trent’ gas unit had been successfully re-installed and is operating at full output with no concerns or issues. If it's operational, the Tamar Valley Power Station should be producing the full 386MW. This morning only 306MW was being used.
The National Energy Market’s live electricity generation data for Tasmania tells a very different story to the information coming from the Minister, but he was unable to dispute these numbers in Parliament.
Has Minister Groom decided to completely run down Hydro’s water storages instead of using the extra 100MW and 58MW of generation he says are in operation, or aren’t they actually in place?
Time and time again, Minister Groom has justified the additional generation, refusing to ask government organisations, businesses and households to reduce their electricity use. Right now, these users make up close to half of Tasmania's electricity users, and it’s past time for Minister Groom to look at all options for reducing energy.
Minister Groom's prayers might just come true and it may rain enough to fill the dams in time, but it is not good leadership to play Russian roulette with our energy supply.
The Minister's response to the energy crisis is still as clear as the mud at the bottom of our hydro dams.