Nuclear power would harm the growth of Australia's rooftop solar market, limit the ability of households to generate their own clean energy, and increase energy bills for households and taxpayers.
Solar power, backed by affordable storage and dispatchable technologies, presents a more cost-effective, timely, and sustainable solution for Australia's energy future. Solar Citizens calls for continued support for renewable energy, avoiding the costly and impractical route of nuclear power.
Proposals to develop nuclear energy in Australia would be at the expense of the rights of solar households. As the voice for rooftop solar owners in Australia, Solar Citizens does therefore not support nuclear energy for Australia.
Instead, we want all sides of government to support home batteries, which directly and quickly builds on the success of our rooftop solar in Australia.
Combining rooftop solar with home battery storage offers a cleaner, cheaper, and faster route to reducing energy bills, creating energy security, and decarbonising our energy grid without the threat to rooftop solar, as well as high costs and long timelines associated with nuclear energy.
What is the Nuclear Solar Switch-off?
Nuclear Power and Curtailment of Solar Energy:
- Australia is a world leader in rooftop solar uptake per capita. We have almost 4 million rooftop solar homes powered by rooftop solar.
- Australia’s solar industry is thriving, with households investing $25 billion into solar arrays.
- Solar contributes 11% of the National Electricity Market (NEM) power, and this uptake will continue over the coming decades.
- Nuclear power would be inflexible and not dispatchable. Nuclear proponents in the federal Coalition have committed to run new plants continuously to get the best economic return, leading to a “solar switch off” - the curtailment of rooftop solar power being fed into the grid during daylight hours.
- If the Federal Oppositions plans for nuclear energy were to proceed, the addition of 11 GW of nuclear capacity would crowd out cheap, clean energy from the grid by "shutting down" rooftop solar exports to the energy grid. This would increase energy bills and slow further investment in renewable energy.
Nuclear energy equals insecurity
- Nuclear reactors are expected to take at least 15 years to build, with many uncertainties in construction timelines, making it unlikely that nuclear power could be operational before 2040. This contrasts with the need for stability for our energy grid aging coal plants close by 2035, further exacerbating the energy transition challenges.
Better Alternatives to Nuclear Power:
- Nuclear power is extremely expensive. CSIRO's GenCost report estimates the cost of building seven nuclear reactors in Australia to be at least $116 billion, with the possibility of rising costs (up to $600 billion).
- Australia’s abundant renewable resources (solar and wind) are more cost-effective and can be paired with storage and dispatchable power technologies, such as concentrated solar thermal and biomass, which are already competitive with nuclear.
- Future advancements in battery storage and other dispatchable power technologies are projected to reduce costs significantly over the next decades.
- These alternatives, including solar with storage, offer a cleaner, cheaper, and faster route to decarbonisation without the high costs and long timelines associated with nuclear energy.