Bulletin #42 23 May 2025

Presidential Welcome

After a rousing introduction by Sargeant Mike Collet, President Kelly welcomed Rotarians and visitors alike and opened the meeting to thunderous applause!

Guest Speaker : Renewable Energy Infrastructure Challenges and Grid Stability in Australia - Ian Kremmer.

Ian Kremmer is a qualified civil structural engineer with 45 years of experience, and provided an overview of the current and planned renewable energy projects in Australia, highlighting their scale, costs, and types—including transmission, generation, and storage projects. He emphasized the involvement of the Australian Market Operator (AEMO) in managing the transition and referenced the recent merger of his consultancy, E3 Advisory, with Argo PLC Consulting Group, which specializes in strategic policy and implementation in the renewable energy transition.

Australia is undergoing a significant transition to renewable energy, with numerous large-scale projects underway across multiple states, including Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.

The centrepiece of the plan is the Optimal Development Plan, which includes a mix of replacement grid-scale generation, storage, and transmission, with an annualised capital cost of $122 billion projected to 2050. Individual project construction costs for major transmission projects typically range from $2 to $6 billion.

Ian cited AEMO’s role in managing the process and provided examples of key projects such as the Western Renewable Link, Victoria-NSW Interconnector West, Marinus Link, and Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone. He also noted the unprecedented volume of simultaneous projects, drawing a parallel to the mining boom in terms of resource demand.

The challenges include resource constraints, skilled labor shortages, project complexity, lengthy environmental and property acquisition processes, and opposition from local communities. Ian highlighted the limited number of major construction companies—most of which are overseas-owned—and the strain this places on project delivery.

There is significant strain on resources and skilled labor due to the concurrent execution of many large projects, with a limited pool of experienced workers and companies.

The construction industry is dominated by overseas-owned firms, such as Holland and ASEAN, adding further complexity.

Environmental impact studies, property acquisition, and multiple approval processes are lengthy and can take months or years, causing delays.

Opposition from local communities and the complexity of land acquisition—especially for large transmission lines that cannot be easily rerouted—are major hurdles.

Ian provided detailed descriptions of project lengths, capacities, technical challenges, and their roles in the broader energy transition. He discussed the need for new transmission lines to reduce congestion and enable renewable integration, as well as the logistical challenges of constructing such infrastructure.

The 'Kwinana Waste to Energy' project is operational, generating over 38 MW for 55,000 homes, diverting up to 46,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, and reducing CO2 emissions equivalent to taking 85,000 cars off the road. It is currently the only operational waste-to-energy project in Australia.The Rockingham project, which Ian also worked on, has stalled due to technical problems and is not yet operational.

The April 2020 blackout in Spain and Portugal was discussed, its causes, and implications for Australia’s grid as renewable penetration increases. Ian described the event as one of the most extensive blackouts in European history, affecting 55 million people for over 10 hours. This was caused by a rapid drop in grid frequency and cascading failures, and emphasized the need for robust interconnection, digital monitoring, and system recovery protocols.

 The question of improving grid stability and resilience in Australia was also discussed as well as the role and future of emerging technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells and advanced energy storage.

Ian also discussed the potential role of nuclear and gas in Australia's future energy mix and the business case and economic justifications for large-scale projects, concluding with the main challenges in transitioning to new energy projects in Australia.

The full transcript of the  powerpoint slides and transcript of presentation can be found using the links below. 

 millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members only (password)> this link>Guest Speaker Presentations>KREMMER Ian - Renewables Rollout presentation

 millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members only (password)> this link>Guest Speaker Presentations>KREMMER Ian - Transcript of presentation 23 May 2025.

 

Directors' Reports and Member Announcements

David R: 

• Reminder for June changeover lunch book now at www.trybooking.com/DBENN

Rick S: 

• Community Services meeting at 8.30, introduce new members to "Unsung Hero's" event next week.

Michelle L: 

• Margaret Hyatt is away so please RSVP to Michelle for breakfasts mmalovkis1@icloud.com.
• New Youth Project "Literacy in lower economic schools"
  

It's a Fine(s) Line...

• Put a coin in the middle if you have not heard of John Dalton*.
• Another one if you don't know what achromatopsia** is.
• Supporters of the two winning local AFL Teams last weekend - don't see that often!
• Supporters of Roger Cook's defunct Syndey Bears Rugby team.
• Fans of Rita's speedway through Burswood.
• Mike Collet for Tottenham Hotspur win.
  
• David Thomas and Peter Matthews - long time no see!
• Brian Adams needing to prove he is over 65.
• Ross Smith - our man in the mask.
• Everyone at Table 2 (because I said so!) 

* Scientist who invented atomic theory in 1803. First person to realise he was colour blind.

** Colour blindness affects 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females  or about 4.4% of the population. See Wayne if you would like to know more or about celebrating Colour blindness day on 6 September.

Winner of Heads and Tails

4 lots of H & Ts followed by the winning two tails saw Ross Smith win the wine this week. Thanks to Margaret and Lyn Metcalf for supplying the grog each week.

Attendance

35 attendees in all, including guest speaker Ian Kremmer, visting Rotarian Bill Boekman and visitors Diane Allen and Anton Najjar.