Our Electricity Crisis !

 An upgrade of power generation in New South Wales remains uncertain. Keeping the lights on still relies on a clutch of unreliable coal fired generators and there are plans to boost the Snowy Mountains scheme, but this will  be a major project that will take years to complete.

The government has promised that the Snowy will provide a gas fired power generator at Kurri Kurri if the private sector fails to replace those worn out coal fired old plants, but no provision was made to fund this in the recent budget.

Now a new player has thrown his hat into the ring.  Billionaire Andrew Forrest has promised to collaborate with the state and Federal governments to develop a new  650 megawatt power station at Port Kembla, near Wollongong.

Forrest's " Squadron Energy " company has interests in the development of a new hydrogen production unit which is also expected to be sited at Port Kembla.  Hydrogen ticks all the boxes when it comes to relieving our use of fossil fuels to stop global warming.

When  water is subjected to electricity it divides into two elements - oxygen and hydrogen.  This hydrogen is a gas that burns without leaving  pollution and is even more efficient than natural gas. Many scientists believe that developing a new hydrogen industry will be the answer to our global heating problem because water is the most plentiful element on this planet.

Just as the world is turning to battery powered cars to replace the internal combustion engine, science is looking to hydrogen as a power cell to replace petrol and now it is also is being promoted as the replacement for natural gas .  It is an idea that could shake world economics and some very serious players are putting their money where there mouth is.

We are facing a natural gas shortfall here in New South Wales and if a hydrogen plant at Port Kembla proves to be successful it will be as game changer, but it is a bit like the chicken and the egg conundrum.

To turn water into hydrogen and oxygen takes electricity.  It all depends if using hydrogen as a fuel can generate enough electricity to power the state.  That seems to be an equation that relies on the over supply of electricity  generated by rooftop solar being used to provide a surplus of hydrogen to power generators when night falls.

At least a billionaire like  Andrew Forrest is prepared to place a bet on hydrogen as a commercial proposition.  The alternative is the revamped Snowy scheme where surplus solar electricity is used to lift  water back to a higher level so it can be used to generate power at night, but that is a project funded from the public purse.

Hydrogen could be the answer to our global warming problem.  No other answer seems even half as promising !