Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen is seeking urgent briefings from his department as the government seeks to limit the fallout from the collapse of engineering contractor Clough, amid a threat to almost $10 billion of projects critical to Australia’s energy transition.
…
Industry observers warned that Clough’s administration, which occurred after a $350 million sale deal with Italy’s Webuild fell through, would delay and could drive up costs of the Perth-based contractor’s projects.
These include some of Australia’s biggest projects, such as the $5.9 billion Snowy 2.0 storage venture and the $3.3 billion Project EnergyConnect electricity interconnector between South Australia and NSW, as well as one of the few gas power plants being built in the National Electricity Market.
Like a chronic gambler, sometimes everything comes up snake-eyes.
If only someone could have warned them?
There’s been talk of electric farming in some circles, usually idiot circles, making electric tractors and whatnot. So, I just crunched some back of the envelope numbers. Modify numbers as you see fit, the conclusion is obvious to a logical person.
Sask has about 35 million acres of arable land.
For both seeding and harvest, assume 25-50 acres per hour per machine (tractor or combine)
So, need a total of 1.4 to 2.8 millions hours each season (seeding or harvest), say 2 million hours, that is conservative and allows that some land isn’t cropped every year.
Typically, the window for either season (seeding or harvest) is 3-4 weeks.
So, there is 2 million hours of work to be done in 4 weeks. Assume 18 hour days with 6 hours for charging.
2,000,000/ (18*28) = 4000 tractors/combines needed (yes, there are more than that, but this is the perfect paper farming scenario).
Both air seeders and combines are in the 700 – 800 hp range, so about 500-600 KW. Say 500KW.
Average electrical consumption when working is then 4000*500 = 2 GW, consumed per day = 18 hours x 2GW = 36 GWh /day
Charge load on the grid for 6 hours is then 6 GW per hour.
That is 6 GW needed from midnight til 6 am, for a month, twice a year at least.
Does not include ancillary equipment, like trucks, support equipment, augers, etc, etc.
Add another GW at least for ancillary. Don’t even ask about grain drying…..
7 GW would be needed, just for farming, with infrastructure directly at the field (no losses included).
Currently, Sask power average total load is around 2.6 GW, record peak load was 4 GW.
Claim is max gen capacity of 4.5 to 5.6 GW, but that is questionable as they use nameplate solar and wind which is patently false.
So, we already need 4, now we’d need another 7GW. That is with the perfect paper farm, reality of course would probably multiple that by 2.
We would need 3x (or 4x or 5x or 6x?) our actual reliable current generation capacity to make this feasible.
What would just the cost of new generation capability be?
Now, how do we distribute that power to charge points nearly every few miles to even remotely make this feasible?
I guess the good thing is: if we switch to fully renewable we would not have to worry about cropping the land. It would all be taken up just to charge the cars of the green trolls so they could come out to the fields and circle jerk themselves around the solar/wind farms they love so much.
It is impossible physically and financially to move to all electric transportation (and also add electric heat since the feds want to get rid of natgas heating). Everyone who can do simple math and isn’t living in a fantasy land understands this. There isn’t enough money, material or manpower for carbon zero.
As for farming, my cynical nature tells me that the plan will go something like this :
– make farming expensive through expensive energy, chemical and other costs via federal green policies and regulations.
-drive farmers into bankruptcy
– big corporations scoop up the land
-big corporations then successfully lobby the federal government to repeal carbon zero policies for agriculture.
The provincial governments will probably have to intervene, once again, to stop the federal government destructive force.
Unfortunately you are correct. You can already see this with all the ‘correct’ investors, guided by the likes of Mark Carney (who either consult for them or is part of their board). Guys like Carney push gov’ts to enact legislation to drive certain sectors out of business, driving down their value, such that when the inevitable rebound happens they just happened to be there to invest.
It is corruption on a hugely massive scale and they aren’t even hiding it, in fact they are bragging about it.
They’ve done it to oil, doing it to mining, and getting rolling with agricultural. Hell, the dutch gov’t is kicking farmers off their farms so they can invest in more residential units under the guise of protecting the environment.
Frenchie…The one thing everyone ignores is that none of it is renewable without fossil fuels, when they are gone, the “renewable” energy is gone. Hell of joke eh. The stupid is very difficult to over come these days.
Very much less land area will be available for farming once the necessary solar and wind subsidy farms are installed. So in theory not as much energy will be required. As far as reduced farm output, the coming population decrease will take care of that.
By the power of grayskull!!!
Well, this is interesting. But as every Australian knows: nothing bad can ever happen under a labor/greens government; and if it does, it’s never their fault…
I know at least some of this may truthfully be due to the previous government and other factors. But if you think labor/greens will make anything better, well, to quote an iconic Aussie movie, ‘You’re dreamin’…”!
But But But But… I voted Teal!!!!
Green projects are foundational to the cloward and pivening of the West
Funny isn’t it?
A Government Minister looks around like a deer in the headlights.
Why wasn’t I told?
When the real response should have been ….. Why didn’t I ask about this?
If I was a Government Minister and didn’t do ….. everything I could to find out about how renewable power just cannot deliver, I could never live with myself.
These people have allowed ideology to rule the way they do things, without ever trying to find out the truth, and now, just wait till the truth really hits home.
Ummmm! Evidently, we really can’t do without that coal fired power, so I’m now being told.
Imagine the embarrassment, and while it could have happened to every one who ever came before, it’s just great that it’s Bowen who is going to be the one to have to make this admission.
Tony.
The deputy minister’s job is to insure that the Minister is unaware of any facts that might get in the way of the desired political outcome
The deputy ministers job is to ensure that the deep state bureaucracy survives and that its preferred policies eventually get implemented in spite of meddlesome reformer politicians until more amenable ones are elected. We’ve seen that time and time again.
Hey Tony, Good to see you.
The ALP/Teal government defy logic. They didn’t nail their ‘Zero’ colours to the mast before the election and got into power not on a wave of Zero Zero Zero, but more the second hand apathy of people thinking Morrison was a bit of a loser.
To me the smart thing to do would be to spend the next couple of years making vague non binding statements (possibly blaming Tony Abbott here and there) and then come the next election see which way the wind is blowing.
But nope. Jump in with both feet.
If I didn’t live here I would be deeply amused by the coming train wreak.
Having to import stuff you used to manufacture because energy is so expensive…
And who you import it from is using coal energy.
When you pass the buck, the other guy just spends it.
They still haven’t figured out that unicorns do not exist.
I’d rather they figured out that Liberals are Communists.
The Climate Scam is a Communism Scam.
Keep an eye on this
If you think things are stupid in Canada you have good company in Australia. Bowen is plunging Australia off the “RE” cliff with no significant Hydro, no neighbours to interconnect to and no clue what he is dealing with beyond posturing and wishful thinking. He thinks its a build problem at the moment, he has no idea his plans impractical and doomed to failure anyway.
All this despite sitting on many hundreds of year of gas, coal and uranium resources. Saving the planet from imaginary hobgoblins.