South Australia’s Roxby Downs should be monitored by state EPA, argues MP

The Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982 represented a deal between mining company interests and the government of the day; but what was considered appropriate then was not necessarily appropriate today, argued Independent Kris Hanna in the South Australian House of Assembly on 12 September 2007. Environmental monitoring excluded: “There is a general background to the introduction of this motion,” said Hanna, “and that is the boom in the uranium market world wide. Clearly, South Australia is playing a significant role in that. There is a lot of uranium oxide to be mined at the Olympic Dam site, otherwise known as Roxby Downs. When Roxby Downs was first established, it was approved by means of an indenture act. The Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982 represented a deal between mining company interests and the government and, of course, part of that deal concerned what would happen with the waste products of the mining that took place there. It was understood then that there would be material which could be rendered into uranium through the relevant processing. It was considered at that time that it was appropriate to keep the monitoring of mining of radioactive materials out of the usual environmental process; therefore, section 7 of the Environment Protection Act 1993 specifically provides that the act is subject to the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982. Section 7 specifically states that the act does not apply in relation to wastes produced in the course of an activity authorised by lease or licence under the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act. The foremost environmental monitoring agency in South Australia basically has no right to go up to Roxby Downs and see what they are doing with the waste products which arise from mining radioactive materials.”

Some protections in place: “There is a national system for monitoring radioactive substances, including waste products,” said Hanna. “I note that, in the indenture ratification act itself, the schedule insists that certain minor matters at Roxby Downs be subject to relevant codes of practice. The relevant codes of practice are:

• the Code of Practice on Radiation Protection in the Mining and Milling of Radioactive Ores;

• the Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Substances 1990; and

• the Code of Practice on the Management of Radioactive Wastes from the Mining and Milling of Radioactive Ores;

and, of course, there may be recommendations from time to time from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the International Commission on Radiological Protection, or the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Inadequate supervision: “My concern is that these codes, which are overseen by a national agency, will not be able to pay sufficient attention to what is going on at Roxby Downs, especially with the huge expansion that is proposed for that mine,” Hanna said. “We are already shipping radioactive materials out of there and there is going to be a lot more of it. The other new factor, or relatively new factor, that has come into play in the last couple of years is the threat of terrorism. Clearly, the Prime Minister and the national government have expressed concern about the risk of a terrorist attack in Australia. I am as concerned as anyone else about that prospect, and I do not think I am giving anything away to suggest that the seizure of radioactive materials could be a part of some terrorist act because of the threat that could then be made in relation to how that radioactive material might be disposed of. At any rate, I think we need a South Australian agency to examine closely just what safeguards are in place at Roxby Downs. It is a thriving community of some thousands of people and, of course, there are many hundreds of workers involved. Occasionally we do hear of accidents or in some way people being exposed to radioactive waste.”

State agency supervision proposed: Hanna said: “I think it is entirely appropriate for there to be a state agency to ensure the health of South Australians. With the prospect of increasing transport of radioactive waste out of the Olympic Dam region, we need a South Australian agency to examine whether all appropriate safeguards are being used, hence, the suggestion that the waste arising from uranium mining should be subject to the Environment Protection Act 1993. At least that way the state government gets a responsibility to make sure that we as the South Australian community know how much waste is being produced in general terms, where it is going, and that all possible safeguards are put in place.”

Reference: Kris Hanna, Member for Mitchell, Political Party, Independent, House of Assembly, South Australia, 12 September 2007.

Erisk Net, 16/9/2007

South Australian domestic customers to get 44c/kWh of electricity generated, and fed back into grid, by small solar photovoltaic systems

The “feed-in scheme” for residential electricity customers would provide a strong incentive to manage demand, South Australian Minister for Energy P.F. Conlon said in the House of Assembly on 12 September 2007. 44c/kWh fixed incentive: Conlon said: “The intent of the Bill is to introduce amendments to the Electricity Act 1996 to create a ‘feed-in scheme’ for residential electricity customers who operate a small-scale grid-connected photovoltaic electricity system. The Bill will allow domestic customers to receive 44 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated, and fed back into the grid, by their small solar photovoltaic systems. This is a fixed guaranteed incentive, which reflects double the price of electricity standing contract tariffs projected to apply over the time of the feed-in scheme, including an allowance for normal increases in retail prices.”

Strong incentive to manage demand: “The premium will be paid on the ‘net exported’ energy from the PV systems — that is, the energy returned to the electricity grid after supplying the household’s own consumption needs at any point in time,” explained Conlon. “This will have the effect of valuing every reduction of one kilowatt-hour of energy consumption by a household during the day at a minimum of 44 cents — a strong incentive to manage demand.”

System requirements: “For the purposes of this Bill,” Conlon said, “the qualifying small solar photovoltaic generator is defined as a grid-connected photovoltaic system with capacity up to 10 kilovolt-amperes for a single-phase connection and up to 30 kilovolt-amperes for a three-phase connection. Therefore, there are three essential requirements to a solar photovoltaic system under this Bill:

• it should be operated by a domestic customer;

• its capacity should be up to 10 kilovolt-amperes for a single-phase connection and up to 30 kilovolt-amperes for a three-phase connection; and

• it should be grid-connected and should comply with standard requirements.”

Retailers must pass incentive on: “The Bill puts an obligation on distribution service network providers to credit eligible customers against the distribution charges otherwise payable for the supply of electricity,” Conlon said. “The Bill makes it a condition of electricity retail licenses to pass the full amount of the incentive on to customers and reflect these reduced charges in the customer’s invoice. It is also hoped that at least some retailers will choose to add to this minimum value of 44 cents. Should the customer be in credit, this credit will be carried over to the next billing period. The customer will be entitled to be issued a payment if the customer is still in credit by the expiration of 12 months.”

Small suppliers exempted: “The Bill also makes a provision for reporting requirements to the distribution service network providers,” said Conlon. “It is envisaged that the distributor will provide the Government with information required to evaluate the operation of the scheme. Currently, ETSA Utilities serves the vast majority of electricity customers and is a monopoly operating under a regulated regime. The Bill exempts electricity distributors that supply electricity to less than 10,000 domestic customers from participating in the scheme in consideration of the fact that distribution network providers in remote areas often service smaller customer groups where the costs of the feed-in scheme may exceed its value.”

Reference: P.F. Conlon, Minister for Energy, House of Assembly, South Australia, 12 September 2007.

Erisk Net, 16/9/2007

Revolution: South Australian Bill follows Victoria: small consumer may sell-back solar to the grid

South Australia’s Energy Minister P.F. Conlon in the second reading debate on the Electricity (Feed in Scheme—Residential Solar Systems) Amendment Bill in the South Australian House of Assembly on 12 September 2007 explained the new policy which was to allow small consumers to sell-back solar, to the grid. Who gave the advice:Adelaide Thinkers in Residence such as Professors Stephen Schneider and Herbert Girardet supported the introduction of a “feed-in-tariff” — a premium price paid to those who are prepared to invest in solar panels. Also, the Chairman of Green Cross International, Mikhail Gorbachev, wrote to the Government and recommended the introduction of the feed-in scheme.”

Academic and international support: “South Australia remains in the vanguard with its climate change legislation, and its strengths in centralised and decentralised renewable energy generation,” Conlon said. “The [Bill] represents another step in the development of a coherent and purposeful strategy to keep South Australia at the forefront of governments facing the momentous challenge of climate change.

Growing support for comparable schemes: “Feed-in schemes have been implemented in many jurisdictions internationally as a means of promoting renewable power generation,” Conlon said. “By 2005, at least 32 countries and 5 States or Provinces had adopted such policies, more than half of which have been enacted since 2002. However, this legislation, which stipulates a premium feed-in tariff, is a first for our part of the world in providing a specific bonus for owners of solar panels. In Europe, at least sixteen EU states have introduced feed-in mechanisms to support renewable energy sources including solar electricity.”

Home-grown scheme for competitive market: “The Government has investigated similar schemes around the world but has not found one that could be directly implemented in the context of Australia’s National Electricity Market,” said Conlon. “By consulting the electricity and renewables industries, regulators and energy officials, a scheme has been developed that is suited to the competitive electricity market that exists in South Australia. Other jurisdictions are following our lead. The Victorian Government has introduced an amendment to its Electricity Act to guarantee small renewable energy generators a ‘fair price’ for any excess electricity they produce. The form it might take is yet to be specified and it is our hope that the lessons learnt from South Australia going first with the specific scheme will be disseminated widely around Australia and South East Asia.”

Reference: P.F. Conlon, Minister for Energy, House of Assembly, South Australia, 12 September 2007.

Erisk Net, 16/9/2007

August 30: hottest August day on record in SA eclipses 96-year record, creates havoc with strong winds and emergency callouts

Soaring temperatures and strong winds caused chaos across South Australia on 30 August – the hottest August day on record, reported The Advertiser (31/8/2007, p. 9).

110 emergency callouts, 17 blackouts, crops destroyed: The winter heatwave pushed temperatures into the 30s at six locations, including Adelaide, the newspaper said. Strong winds, which averaged 50km/h in some areas, destroyed farmers’ hopes of a good crop this season. Adelaide’s top of 30.4C at 1.30pm was the hottest August maximum on record and eclipsed the previous maximum in 1911 of 29.1C. The hottest temperature in South Australia was 33.6C, at Cenduna, where winds averaged 54km/h. The strongest gust of 93km/h was recorded at Cleve on the Eyre Peninsula. In Adelaide, State Emergency Service volunteers were called to more than 110 jobs between 2pm and 7pm last night. Meanwhile, ETSA crews were called to 17 blackouts in the same period, most of which affected between 20 and 50 homes.

The Advertiser, 31/8/2007, p. 9