Media release – Doctors for the Environment Australia, 5 February 2024
Doctors urge speedy transition to clean energy for the health of all Australians
Doctors are strongly urging the Federal and State Governments to get behind renewable energy such as wind and solar, as clean energy will save lives and improve the health of all Australians.
Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), which represents medical doctors and students across Australia, is making the call ahead of an anti-renewable rally at Parliament House in Canberra on the first Parliamentary sitting day on Tuesday 6 Feb 2024.
Getting out of dirty unhealthy fossil fuels, like coal and gas, will improve health outcomes for Australians, by limiting global heating and reducing air pollution.
Says DEA’s spokesperson, Dr Ben Ewald, “We must replace coal with clean renewable solar and wind energy.
“Phasing out coal is the single-most important thing that we can do to limit climate change, which is driving hotter and more prolonged heatwaves and devastating wild weather that we are seeing in large parts of Australia.
“The burning of fossil fuels is also causing air pollution with multiple detrimental health impacts, including heart and lung conditions and some cancers.”
DEA supports renewables for the following reasons:
Global heating is a direct threat to human health through the lethal effect of heat waves, extreme weather, and disruption of stable ecosystems. Limiting global heating is preventative health care at the most fundamental level.
The main driver of global heating is the burning of fossil fuels, and in Australia the biggest user of fossil fuels is electricity generation. Coal burning causes additional harm to human health due to the air pollution released.
The threat to human health from burning fossil fuels is occurring now and will become more urgent over time. We do not as a country have the luxury of waiting to see what other generation technology might be developed in coming decades. Large-scale construction of wind and solar generation is required now, and might be supplemented in future with other zero-carbon technologies.
Failure to rapidly build sufficient renewable energy will commit Australia to a future with more expensive and less reliable electricity. Affordable and reliable energy is a prerequisite for running the health services in which our members work.
Currently Australia’s fleet of coal generators are nearing retirement age, and most will be gone by the end of the decade. The economics of electricity generation have changed so that wind and solar now deliver the cheapest energy, even with firming and distribution costs included.
The health of people in rural areas will be enhanced by the economic security of jobs in renewable energy, and the diversity of farm income for farmers hosting energy projects or transmission lines. This will reduce the number of people with mental health problems due to financial stress during droughts and other adverse weather events.
There is strong scientific evidence that exposure to low-frequency sound from wind farms does not cause adverse health effects such as the fictitious wind farm syndrome.
Media release – Pacific Green, 5 February 2024
Pacific Green to Develop one of Australia’s Largest Grid-Scale Battery Energy Parks
Pacific Green, a global leader in renewable energysolutions, is proposing to develop one of Australia’s largest grid-scale battery energy parks. The planned development in Portland, Victoria follows the company’s first Australian battery project in South Australia, which was announced in November 2023.
Once operational, the 2.5GWh Portland Energy Park will provide critical support for existing and proposed renewable energy projects within Victoria’s Southwest Renewable Energy Zone. More broadly, it will strengthen energy supply and price stability for households across Victoria and support the state’s net-zero transition.
By accelerating the shift to renewable energy usage in the evening peak, displacing more expensive gas generation, the Portland Energy Park will result in an estimated 3.8% reduction in total wholesale energy costs for Victorian households. The discharging of energy from the park will also enable the avoidance of approximately 66,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Joel Alexander, Pacific Green Managing Director, Australia commented: “We are thrilled to announce our second battery energy storage project in Australia. Our mission is to deliver critical storage infrastructure to support the grid network and enable the decarbonisation of the energy market. The Portland Energy Park will significantly reduce Victoria’s wholesale market volatility and in turn lower prices, during the transition towards net-zero.
Strategically positioned within the Portland industrial zone, the Energy Park is in close proximity to the Portland aluminium smelter and the Portland Water Treatment Plant, enabling the development to seamlessly co-exist with the existing electrical infrastructure positioned across the proposed project location.
Pacific Green will develop approximately 30 hectares for the proposed energy park. The site will include four 250MW battery energy parks, a 500/33kV collector, and a 500kV terminal station and grid connection to the existing 500kV transmission line. No new infrastructure is required outside of the project boundaries, with impacts on local residents expected to be minimal both during both construction and once the park is operational.
The Portland Energy Park is currently going through its regulatory approval process and is scheduled to be constructed in the first half of 2025. The development is the latest step in Pacific Green’s expansion into Australia after the announcement in 2023 of plans for a 0.5GW/1.5GWh battery energy park in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. By leveraging its significant experience of delivering storage capacity in the UK, the company is aiming to help accelerate Australia’s transition to renewables by building a multi-gigawatt platform that will be deployed across the country.
