Electricity Generation

Dr JOHN KAYE: My question is directed to the Minister for Energy. Has the Minister received a letter from the Premier requesting that he "develop a comprehensive energy policy with a strong emphasis on clean energy"? Can the Minister confirm that either or both of the new baseload power generator proposals at Mount Piper and Bayswater B are now to be restricted to be gas-fired only and not coal?

The Hon. JOHN ROBERTSON: It is true; the Premier did write to me about a clean energy policy. I can advise the House—I do not think it is a State secret because it was in the Sydney Morning Herald—that the Premier has written asking me to develop a clean energy policy. It is worth making the point that this Government is the first in the country to put the portfolios of energy and climate change and the environment into one office. That presents significant opportunities to develop policies that deal with, in particular, clean energy and how we deal with energy in an environment where we will operate with a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. A Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will be introduced at some point, and climate change will continue to have an impact.

As part of the Government's reform strategy, a number of generation development sites identified by the existing government-owned generators will be made available to the private sector. The private sector, not the government, will decide where new investment in generation will occur and what fuel will be used for that generation. The following sites have been identified as gas only: Bamarang, Marulan and Tomago. The State has a fuel neutral policy for Bayswater B in the Upper Hunter and Mount Piper 3 and 4 in the Central West. Ultimately, any private sector investors that make a decision about fuel type and technology must do so in the knowledge that any new power station will be participating in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. What I will say is that gas is obviously a more competitive source of fuel for a prospective power station due to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme—which is another reason why the Government supports it.