11-05-2025
Energy experts warn about energy dependence after European power outages as Labor Left pushes for more demanding climate targets
Concerns have mounted in Australia about the risks of over-relying on renewable energy, following power outages across Europe that have been blamed on grid instability and a lack of baseload power.
Recent blackouts in Spain, Portugal and France left more than 55 million without energy and forced the government to declare a national emergency.
Spanish businesses, households, mobile networks, roads, trains, airports, schools and healthcare facilities had power shut down for hours.
The traffic lights went black as traffic jams stretched out for kilometres, and pedestrians had to wave down cars to safely cross the street.
Residents could not search for what went wrong online, nor send text messages or make phone calls to loved ones.
As Spanish President Pedro Sanchez struggles to avoid taking responsibility for his decision to phase out nuclear energy in favour of renewables, the ramifications of the energy transition have become increasingly clear.
Senior Policy Analyst at the Centre for Independent Studies Zoe Hilton said that while it was not yet certain what went wrong, it was clear what made the grid vulnerable in the first place - the high penetration of intermittent renewables.
'Only a few weeks ago, Spain reached 100 per cent wind and solar generation for the first time,' Ms Hilton told Sky News.
'As coal has been phased out over the past several years, wind and solar accounted for 43 per cent of Spain's annual generation in 2024.
'The remaining electricity supply is provided by nuclear, gas and hydro—but not enough to maintain the same level of stability enjoyed by grids without intermittent renewables.'
Ms Hilton explained that electricity grids rely on dispatchable baseload power - such as coal, gas, hydro and nuclear, all of which have big spinning turbines.
These spinning turbines help to maintain what is called 'grid inertia' as a byproduct of their generation, which helps to ensure the grid's stability.
In contrast, dispatchable power - especially photovoltaic solar - cannot supply the kind of inertia that is needed, leaving the energy grid more vulnerable.
The CIS energy expert used the analogy of a Jenga Tower.
'Replacing a dispatchable generator with intermittent renewables is like taking a block out of the Jenga tower—you can only take so many before the whole thing is vulnerable to collapse,' she said.
'Just like Spain, we're playing a game of Jenga with our electricity grid … even the tiniest nudge can send the whole thing tumbling.
The developments come as the Labor Environment Action Network has demanded the Albanese government increase its climate targets for 2035.
The demands call for the government to cut emissions by 70 per cent from 2005 levels, and would effectively require the grid to reach more than 90 per cent renewable energy in 10 years.
Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs Scott Hargreaves, another energy expert, warned about the consequences of relentlessly pursuing such high dependence on renewables.
'The lesson for Australia is simple—the Spanish blackouts are the new normal under net zero,' he told Sky News.
'All over the world energy security and particularly grid stability has been overlooked in the rush to renewables.'
'The Spanish blackouts have again proved that you cannot run an advanced nation without secure and reliable energy, yet this is the future facing Australians.
'We have been testing Australia's electricity market to the point of destruction for over a decade. Well-informed observers increasingly agree that physical system failure is now looming.'
Mr Hargreaves pointed to the fact that state governments have had to begin extending the lifespans of coal-fired power stations, including in Yallourn, Victoria and Eraring, NSW.
'The federal government has set a target of 82 per cent (by 2030). This target is not realistic or achievable and reality will hit well before then,' he said.
Despite this, federal Labor has re-committed to its renewables efforts, as it pursues its goals of an energy grid powered by about 95 per cent renewables by 2050.
So far, the government's intermediate 2035 target has not been set, as Mr Albanese awaits advice from the independent Climate Change Authority.
Figures of the Labor Left, including those sponsored by Labor's Environment Action Network, continue to demand the government set higher targets, and faster.
'I'd like to see (targets) as strong as possible. I'm not going to give you a number because we need to see that advice,' Labor MP Jerome Laxale told Sky News last week.
'It's huge to be given another three years on this and to continue the renewable energy rollout is something that's really important for certainty, particularly for energy transition.
'We've done an enormous amount in three years, got renewable energy up to 40 per cent of the grid, approved 80 projects, grid scale renewable energy projects.
'There's more in the pipeline that will see renewable energy go up, which is what has popular support amongst Australians and we need to make it work.'
The experts, and federal opposition, warn that doing so without sufficient baseload power would place Australia at similar risks to Spain.
Liberal MP Melissa Price, whose electorate of Durack spans vast parts of WA, expressed concern about imminent energy shortfalls in the next decade.
"The Australian Energy Market Operator... forecasts an energy shortfall in WA of 391 MW in 2027-28, growing to 2880 by 2033-34,' she told Sky News.
"This is serious. That is why we must be clear eyed about the limitations of some proposals.
'The so-called 'green hydrogen solution' – which is being promoted heavily across the Midwest region here in WA – simply won't cut it.
'Much of the hydrogen energy proposed in WA is destined for export and will do nothing to support or stabilise our own grid."
Liberal Senator Dave Sharma also told Sky News that the opposition needed to offer a 'realistic energy policy' as his party recovers from its election loss.
He said that energy policy should 'not be so headstrong or ideologically blinkered that it's going to introduce volatility or price uncertainty' into the power system.
Key members of the Coalition have begun steeling themselves for a fight over nuclear power, insisting its credentials will become 'even more compelling' by the 2028 election.
There have been calls inside the party to dump the nuclear proposal following the election defeat, but many argue it remains the most viable option for Australia.
'We need to be very careful about making rash decisions,' Nationals leader David Littleproud said of the forthcoming debate.
'Regional Australia should have a future that isn't littered with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines.'
He maintains the Coalition must be technologically agnostic.
