A TRILLION DOLLARS WASTED ON RENEWABLES FOR ZERO BENEFIT – A UTURN TO COAL MUST HAPPEN NOW
These are excerpts from an article by Robert Gottliebsen in The Australian 28 April 2026.
It is time Australia’s opposition leaders – the Liberals’ Angus Taylor, the Nationals’ Matt Canavan and One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce – to demand the government accurately cost the Victoria-NSW renewables scheme.
As I explain below, we are looking at a scandal of unprecedented proportions.
Properly informed Australians would discover that while good renewable systems might deliver economic power costs, Australia’s bloated $1 trillion cost renewables system will not.
This week two leading Australians, Ted Woodley and Bruce Mountain, called for a royal commission into the Snowy 2.0 part of the renewables scheme. Woodley is the former managing director of PowerNet, GasNet and EnergyAustralia and Bruce Mountain is energy policy director at Victoria University.
Former ALP MP and ACTU president Jennie George emphasised the contrast between renewables’ non-disclosure with the NDIS. In the NDIS, the cost is public via the budget papers whereas in renewables it is hidden.
Last February, in collaboration with Aidan Morrison of the Centre for Independent Studies, I estimated that Snowy 2.0 was set to cost $40bn – 20 times the original estimate. I am very grateful to Mountain and Woodley for taking the time to confirm my calculations. But Snowy 2.0 is only the prelude to the disaster. It does not generate power but in fact is a massive battery.
Back in 2020, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) estimated the total costs of the transmission line project at $8.5bn. Since then, at least one of the projects has been completed and another has undertaken detailed engineering. On my estimates (calculated with Morrison) the final transmission cost now looks like being $200bn – almost exactly the 20-fold increase seen in Snowy 2.0.
The actual generators were estimated by the CSIRO to cost about $160bn. Thanks to Chinese imports these estimates have not changed greatly. We are looking at a total project cost of close to $400bn.
When a project cost explodes 20-fold the financial jackals usually strike.
The developers of the transmission lines (often overseas owned) and to a lesser extent the solar panels and wind farms were guaranteed high rates of return.
The government is closing the information gate because the finance deals have become a potential $600bn scam.
We don’t know what returns have been guaranteed. From market discussions sometimes it is 6 per cent, but in transmission towers the guarantees are at least 8 per cent and market rumours believe that in some cases the government handed out 9 to 10 per cent guarantees.
Whether it be 8 per cent or 10 per cent these are scandalous rates of return. Measured over the 35-year contract involved in the transmission lines, the population of Australia faces a bill of about $600bn.
With physical costs of about $400bn we are looking at a total outlay approaching $1 trillion. I am the first to admit that these are rough calculations, but the order of magnitude is so great that the nation has never seen a disaster of this proportion.
To read the full article: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/nationals-and-liberals-urged-to-expose-snowy-hydro-and-1tn-cost-of-renewables/news-story/8e036debad0ff1352f13b068ea5a5514
A TRILLION DOLLARS, SPENT FOR VERY SMALL BENEFIT, THAT WILL DRIVE HIGH ELECTRICITY BILLS FOR THIRTY YEARS OR MORE TO COME. THE SCAM MUST BE STOPPED NOW WITH A PIVOT TO COAL AND THEN NUCLEAR GENERATED ELECTRICITY.
In the meantime our petition is extremely important: TO STOP THE CLOSURE OF ALL THE AUSTRALIAN COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS AND TO KEEP THEM RUNNING IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE.
This includes Eraring NOW 2029, Yallourn NOW 2032), Bayswater in 2033, with Loyang A in 2045 and all other coal fired power stations.
And no consideration of them being closed be considered until assured supplies of base load electricity 24/7 is available from coal, gas or uranium powered generators. Even if this requires the coal fired generators be compulsory acquired by the relevant Government, in the National interest and to maintain the supply of base load electricity 24/7 that is essential to STOP the Grid from collapsing.
OUR PETITION TO KEEP OUR COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS RUNNING. Is educating everyone of how important coal fired power stations are to keeping the Grid from crashing.
https://www.change.org/p/blackouts-will-be-devastating-they-must-be-avoided-at-all-costs
YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR PETITION WITH DONATIONS WILL BE REPAID WITH BASELOAD ELECTRICITY FOR THE NEXT CRITICAL FIFTEEN TO TWENTY YEARS. Be it $10, $20, $50 or $100 please make a donation and keep our petition in the public eye. AND KEEP THE BLACKOUTS AT BAY. The more signatures we get the more wins will keep coming and the coal fired power stations will be kept running. Promote the petition on Change.org and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp or Email.
KEEP INFORMED BY DAILY MONITORING THE AEMO DATA DASHBOARD. And alert your friends to watch the AEMO dashboard, the more know what's happening the better.
Particularly at 7pm and 7am (Or a time that suits you?) watch (and record) the mix of coal, gas hydro, batteries, solar and wind generation and the prices per MWh for each State on the AEMO dashboard.
Example: Eastern States 28/3/26 8.10pm AESDST.. Batteries 8%, Biomass 0%, Black Coal 46% Brown Coal 19%, Gas 3%, Hydro 10% Diesel 0% Solar 0%, Wind 11%. 8.10pm a time when solar is well into its average 17 hour, sunshine drought and wind might join it (as it is doing in NSW and QLD, only on 1% wind), in having a wind drought.
Meanwhile our coal fired generators are the backbone of the Grid. 28/3/26 8.10pm AESDST. In NSW coal is producing 78% Solar 0%, Wind 4%, Qld coal 73%, solar 0% wind 4% Vic Brown coal 69%, solar 0%, wind 27%. SA batteries 33%, gas 44%, solar 0%, wind 23% and Tas hydro 88%, wind 12%.
WITHOUT COAL AUSTRALIA WOULD BE BLACKED OUT.
AND AT THE SAME TIME SOME GENERATROS ARE BEING RUN AT A LOSS. As shown by these statistics what the generators are receiving for their Grid electricity. 28/3/26 8.10pm AESDST. In Qld the generators are only receiving $0.70centsMWh. NSW is being paid $37.89Mwh. SA is paying minus $4.00MWh (the generator is paying the Grid to take the power) Vic is paying minus $4.75MWh (the generator is paying the Grid to take the power) and Tas is paying $72.24MWh.
WHO WOULD WANT TO RUN AN ELECTRICITY GENERATOR AT A LOSS!
STOP PRESS: WHAT CAN HAPPEN. South Australia 4th June 2024 9.05pm EST. Batteries 0%, Gas 97%, Diesel 3% Solar 0%, Wind 0%.
SA RENEWABLES CAPITAL OF AUSTRALIA WITH BATTERIES, SOLAR AND WIND PRODUCING NO ELECTRICITY, ZERO, NOTHING
In the current fuel crisis our petition is getting traction, we are up to 4,664 signatures, let’s increase it by many more, everyone’s future depends on it. Continue to spread the word, to all family, friends, anyone you meet, particularly discuss it with shop and business owners. Ask the question, “How do you plan to cope when the blackouts come? The possibility is too awful to contemplate.
WE MUST KEEP THOSE COAL FIRED GENERATORS GOING, TO KEEP OUR SOCIETY FROM HAVING BLACKOUTS, POWER RATIONING AND EXHORBITENT ENERGY PRICES