Community groups, activists and politicians rallied on the lawns of Parliament House on Tuesday in opposition to the federal government’s plan for the energy grid to run on 82% renewable energy by 2030.
Dubbed the “Reckless Renewables Rally”, the protest saw familiar opponents of action on climate change, including the Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, One Nation’s leader, Pauline Hanson, the Nationals senator Matt Canavan and the former Liberal MP Craig Kelly.
The anti-renewables movement has already been caught spreading misinformation. Guardian Australia reported in November how a false claim about wind turbines killing whales had ripped through the group’s discussions on social media.
Here are some of the key claims made throughout the rally and the facts behind them.
Claim: renewables don’t produce reliable energy
A common myth spread by renewable energy opponents is solar and windfarms are unreliable because they can only generate electricity when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing.
Solar and wind energy are known as variable sources of electricity, because they vary depending on the weather conditions. But that does not mean these sources are unreliable.
Energy system experts point out these issues are overcome by connecting many sources of wind and solar that are geographically spread around the country to the grid.
Excess electricity generated by wind and solar will also be stored in batteries, or used to pump water uphill at hydroelectric plants. That energy can be released later when it is needed, such as during times of peak demand.
The Australian Energy Market Operator consults with the energy industry to produce a plan for the most reliable electricity system that will meet climate targets.
The latest draft of that plan says the electricity grid will need very large increases in storage – such as batteries and hydroelectric projects. But there will also be an increase in gas-fired plants that will sit as backup.
Dr Dylan McConnell, an energy systems expert at UNSW, says focusing on the reliability of a single generating technology is “missing the point”.
He said: “Coal power is sometimes unreliable too and [power plants] trip out often. Reliability is actually a characteristic of the entire system. The idea is that we are building a system that’s reliable.”
Claim: decommissioned windfarms will end up in landfill
Some rally attenders expressed concern over how windfarms would be decommissioned, with some speakers evoking imagery of Mad Max-like wastelands filled with rusting machinery. Others have said wind turbines and blades will end up in landfill.
According to a Clean Energy Council report released last year, around 85% to 94% of a wind turbine’s mass is recyclable.
The report also discusses alternative options for windfarms due for decommissioning after an expected 25-year lifespan, including an extension of life or upgrading parts.
Major global windfarm operator Acciona runs five windfarms in Australia and is building a sixth, with about 400 turbines and 1,200 blades under its portfolio. An Acciona spokesperson said: “The argument that projects would be abandoned and left to rust is an invention.”
They said rather than energy producers abandoning sites, in Europe – where the industry is mature – operators were “repowering sites” and replacing turbines to continue to generate electricity.
In Spain, Acciona is building a recycling facility for turbine blades which is expected to open next year.
“We’re looking at options here in Australia to set up similar capability for us and the industry,” the spokesperson added.
Claim: more than 60% of your power bill is transmission power line costs which will increase substantially with renewables
A common claim, including by Joyce, was that 60% of a power bill’s costs is due to the transmission between a power generator and homes or businesses.
The claim then suggests thousands of kilometres of transmission towers and power lines will need to be built to connect wind and solar farms to consumers.
But the claim appears to be exaggerated, according to fact sheets and reports by the Australian Energy Regulator.
In November 2023 it found that around 8% of a retail electricity bill’s cost is transmission while 35% is related to distribution expenses. Together, the costs are less than half of the average national energy bill.
McConnell said it was possible that the proportion of bills related to transmission costs may rise slightly, but he added: “The flip side is that you will allow more lower-cost renewables into the system.”
Claim: the renewables rollout is a $121bn threat to the economy
Another claim focused on “excessive” economic costs associated with the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. In a rally press release, it was claimed the rollout is “posing a threat to our economy, costing over $121bn”.
The figure comes from a December report from the Australian Energy Market Operator, which stated the annualised capital cost of all generation, storage, firming and transmission infrastructure under the “optimal development path” to decarbonise the electricity system had a present value of $121bn.
Those figures relate to the National Electricity Market covering all states and territories except WA and the NT.
About $16.4bn of that amount was related to transmission projects, which AEMO said would “pay themselves back and deliver the additional $17bn net market benefit noted above.”
But Alison Reeve, an energy expert at the Grattan Institute, said claiming the $121bn was a “cost” was a misrepresentation.
“It’s actually $121bn of economic activity,” she said. “That’s jobs and materials. It’s not a threat to the economy. It is part of the economy. The much bigger threat would be an electricity system that doesn’t work.”
Even if there was no need to decarbonise the electricity grid, Reeve said there would still have to be major investments in the electricity system.
“We would still have to replace coal fired power stations – which are not cheap – and would probably be replaced with renewables and gas anyway. Avoiding spending money would mean accepting the lights would go out more often and would mean we can’t use any more electricity than we do now.”
Claim: Australians will pay more for renewables rather than just sticking with fossil fuels
Another repeated claim was that there would be an increase in bills because of the commitment to 82% renewable energy by 2030. For example, transmission lines and batteries would need to be built over the next six years, costing more than just sticking with coal and gas power.
But the latest figures in CSIRO’s GenCost report counter those claims. The report has found that even when the costs of integrating renewables into the system are accounted for, solar and wind remain the cheapest form of electricity.
CSIRO’s report found the cheapest form of electricity for 2023 is still a mix of wind and solar power coming in at between $94 and $134 per megawatt hour. It forecasts the price to fall between $69 and $101 per megawatt hour by 2030.
In comparison, black coal in 2023 is between $110 and $217 per megawatt hour and forecasted to drop to $86 to $137 per megawatt hour by 2030.
Black coal power, using carbon capture and storage techniques, in 2023 was costed between $193 and $364 per megawatt hour. In 2030, it drops to between $161 and $256.
Small modular nuclear reactors are yet to be developed commercially but are advocated by the Coalition and were promoted at the anti-renewables rally. The GenCost report found even if they were to become commercially available, they would likely be the most expensive form of electricity.
Claim: renewables will take up prime agricultural land
Some farmers at the rally complained that renewables were taking away “prime agricultural land”, threatening food production.
This is a variation on a claim promoted by mining magnate Gina Rinehart and the Institute for Public Affairs that up to one-third of agricultural land in Australia was under threat from renewables.
But renewable energy supporters have said this is a gross exaggeration. The NSW agriculture commissioner has said the total area of rural land to be converted to renewable energy production was likely to be about 55,000ha – or 0.1% of rural land in the state.
The Clean Energy Council has said if you were to theoretically replace all the country’s coal fired power plants with solar farms, this would require about 0.016% of the country’s land area, equivalent to 0.027% of agricultural land.
In a statement, Acciona said its projects were on farm properties “with the agreement and support of the host landowner” and typically only about 3% of a property was actually used, mostly by access roads.
The spokesperson said: “Farmers freely and happily use the access roads to traverse the property and muster livestock. Our landowners have welcomed our projects to diversify their incomes and get better yields from their property.
“We’ve never had complaints from turbine hosts that the windfarm has compromised their existing farming operations.”
