SA business ramps up nuclear plea amid spiralling power surcharges
The face of South Australian business says nuclear is a “logical solution” and could be introduced in little more than five years, after being collectively slugged hundreds of millions of dollars from the energy market operator’s interventions to keep the lights on.
The South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy, whose biggest member is uranium miner BHP, has told the SA government it needs to put immediate effort into developing an energy transition road map for the state.
Rising energy surcharges for South Australian businesses are hitting companies hard. Joe Armao
“Given the scale of the energy transition challenge, nuclear provides a ready solution to the problem of decarbonising while preserving key industrial sectors, subject to the exercise of necessary political will,” SACOME said.
SA holds about 23 per cent of the world’s uranium resources, including at BHP’s Olympic Dam. However, all its uranium output is shipped overseas due to Australia’s ban on nuclear energy, a prohibition that is now increasingly under debate amid the country’s faltering transition to low-carbon energy.
Australia’s commitment in March to a nuclear submarine program has further fuelled the discussion, despite pushback from the Albanese government, which argues nuclear power is too expensive.
Extra charges to cover intervention needed to keep SA’s power grid stable have more than tripled in three years and now account for up to 30 per cent of some industrial companies’ bills, according to analysis carried out for SACOME to be released on Monday.
The spiralling prices are causing some to consider offshoring operations, sources say.
The experience in SA – at the forefront of Australia’s energy transition since it switched off its last baseload
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