Stanwell Corporation Limited’s (Stanwell) Annual Report has a subdued tone after the company delivered a net profit after tax of $14.6 million during 2012/13.
A Queensland Government owned corporation and the largest electricity generator in state, Stanwell has a generating capacity of more than 4200 megawatts; well over half of which is coal-based.
“From a wholesale generator perspective, the past year will undoubtedly be recognised as one of the most difficult since the inception of the National Electricity Market in 1997,” states Stanwell Chairman, the Honourable Warwick Parer AM; who also says conditions are expected to remain difficult for at least the next few years.
Mr Parer points his finger at oversupply, falling demand, renewable energy schemes, the introduction of the carbon tax and the increasing dominance of vertically integrated operators for the significant drop in the profitability of the business.
Chief Executive Officer of Stanwell, Richard Van Breda, said the Queensland electricity market is “significantly oversupplied with, on average, a more than 60 per cent surplus in annual generation capacity compared to electricity demand.”
Mr Van Breda says consumers have been reducing their electricity consumption or installing solar panels due to high retail electricity prices; with 860 MW of solar power capacity installed in the state by the end of the 2012/13 financial year. Mr Van Breda also cited the carbon tax as having a significant adverse financial and operational impact on the business.
The acknowledgement of “gold plating” of Queensland’s electricity infrastructure and the positive impact of solar power systems on reining in wholesale electricity prices is further vindication to those who have been pointing out the major culprits behind electricity price rises affecting end consumers and the benefits that solar can bring.
Old schoolers in the energy sector need to embrace renewable energy technology rather than continue resisting it; which only results in added pressure to power price woes as they continue to seek to attempt to prop up what is a dying model – one that is also strangling the planet.
Stanwell Corporation Limited’s 2012-13 Annual Report can be viewed in full here (PDF).
Related:
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Australian Electricity Prices – Clearing The Air
