Australian voters will choose between more renewables or nuclear reactors when they next go to the ballot box, Energy Minister Chris Bowen will posit as he takes aim at the opposition's energy plan in a national address.
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The renewables rollout already underway will be steamrolled under the opposition's promise to build seven nuclear plants at the sites of coal-fired power stations, the federal climate and energy minister will say at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Nuclear and renewables are "simply incompatible", Mr Bowen will say, casting doubt over the opposition's commitment to "an 'all of the above' energy mix".
"Their ideological pursuit of nuclear reactors in two decades' time would wreck the renewables rollout now."
It would chill investment in solar and wind and be unsuitable in a grid already made up of 40 per cent renewables capable of bringing the wholesale cost of power to zero and even into the negative when the sun shines and wind blows.
Base load nuclear power plants would need to keep generating even when there were ample renewables, "losing money for every watt of energy produced" and challenging the economics of the technology," he will say.
"Is the coalition's plan to curtail zero cost renewable energy to make room for expensive nuclear energy when renewables drive wholesale prices to very low levels, or is their plan to bankroll these baseload plants to bid into the system at prices where they'll bleed money?"
"For those reasons, Australians can choose reliable renewables or risky reactors - but not both."
Last month, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton unveiled plans to build seven nuclear power plants across five states were the coalition to win the next election.
The assets would be owned by the Commonwealth and the first two plants would likely be completed between 2035 and 2037, with the remainder constructed from the 2040s.
Few other details are available, including costings, with Mr Dutton confirming specifics will be fed out in "bite-sized bits" to counter the government's "scare" tactics.
Mr Bowen will also step though the challenges facing the federal government's net zero energy transition, including the over reliance on aging coal fired power stations.
"Over the last year, not a single day has passed without an unplanned outage at a coal power generator in eastern Australia," he will say.
Australian Associated Press
