The Prime Minister is set to announce a $102 million plan to slash power prices and protect Australians from blackouts, with new technology that will connect the east coast power grids.
The plan will “deliver price relief for households and small businesses”, said energy minister Angus Taylor.
The federal government will join the New South Wales government to underwrite the first stage of the TransGrid upgrade to the transmission link between NSW and Queensland, reports Sydney Morning Herald.
An extra 190 megawatts would then be delivered during high demand periods, clearing bottlenecks in the energy grid system and lowering prices through increased competition.
The plan aims to deliver lower-cost retail power to the east coast of Australia, by improving wholesale power prices.
“This is about putting downward pressure on wholesale prices to make sure businesses and households have access to reliable and affordable power,” said Mr Morrison.
The Queensland-NSW Interconnector (QNI) initiative will start as soon as the deal is announced, before the Australian Energy Regulator signs off on the final stage.
“This is great news for the energy-intensive industries, and the jobs and regional economies that rely on them,” said Mr Taylor, who added that the QNI project would deliver “affordable, reliable energy” and facilitate “greater competition between generators in the electricity market, helping to reduce wholesale prices”.
The QNI interconnector will operate alongside the Victoria-NSW Interconnector (VNI), which will also be upgraded to “strengthen the backbone of the national electricity market, reduce network bottlenecks and make the energy market more efficient”.
The project aims to be fully operational by the summer of 2022-23.
What do you think of the government’s power plan?
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