Howdy y'all in Germany, Armenia, Sweden, and Hungary...(howdy y'all, cheers-Ed)...and cheers to you too Ed, you confected literary device you...and whatevs ya' do or don't think 'bout Germany, I've heard more than one person say that Angela Merkel is basically holding Western Democracy together, let alone the European Union...(yeah, I'll have some of that action-Ed)...nah it's not a bet, it's a political commentary...(yeah, but it's still a safe bet-Ed)...well indeed, there's a very strong argument for her position as the 'glue' keeping the whole shebang vaguely functional...(I've never really understood the European Union really-Ed)...ummm, yeah, I think I get what it's meant to be and why, eg, open and therefore bigger/stronger economies, freedom of movement, etc, security, etc, etc, but it's often the case that there's quite a wide gap between ideology and application, and I reckon that's what we've got here with the EU...anyhoos, oops, we digress, again, already...(oh we always do that, in fact, I remember this one time you were trying to sink the metaphoric literal boot right into the fundamental failings of Wind Turbines-Ed)...ok, thankyou...(and the associated Labor government ideology and associated corruption and the legislative Fascism of the 2011 Development Plan Amendment-Ed)...that's enough...(and you were trying to discuss the havoc and the intermittent chaos thusly unleashed on Taxpayers/Consumers as production surges then crashes causing massive power bills, 'Load Shedding/Rationing' and ultimately blackouts.........and it started to run-off into a really long and unwieldy paragraph that wasn't really about anything anymore......and you started to get really annoyed about it......remember that time?.........hello?-Ed)...
Right, nothing that the Weatherill Labor government has done since the September 2016 State-wide Black-out event, not this farcical $550million announcement re an 'Emergency Gas Plant' and this ludicrous '$50-$100m Lithium Battery', and all the provaricating poncing-about mouthing-off re how we in SA, how we're gunna' tell every other state what to do and how and when, etc, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah, it's all absolute bollocks because we are as vulnerable as ever, if not even more so...(even more so?-Ed)...well if you're in deep doodoo and you won't even acknowledge that fundamental reality, yeah?...(true, and then you start doubling-down on the problems you won't acknowledge-Ed)...exactly...for everything that has and/or hasn't happened, we, SA, are in exactly the same extremely vulnerable position re our Electricity Production and/or Supply...with no Base Load production here in SA, and as part of the 'National Grid', we are quite literally at the end of a very tenuous line...
The September 2016 State-wide Black-out came down to one critical decision, to 'switch-off/disconnect/un-plug/whatevs' South Australia's Base Load Electricity Supply that is produced in Western Victorian Coal-fired power stations and comes to SA via the critically important Heywood Interconnector...this decision to 'Switch-off' SA was made outside SA by the Australian Energy Market Operator, and AEMO justified their actions with concerns that SA's vulnerabilities threatened to 'feed-back' down the system and 'crash Victoria and even New South Wales', and therefore AEMO had no choice because the situation demanded it, they cut us loose...that is how it was and that is exactly how it remains exactly now, the next 'event' that potentially threatens The Grid and we're out matey, there's the door, don't worry, we'll slam it behind you...
However it comes to be, when the next 'Emergency' or the next 'Event', whatevs and howevs and wherevs and whenevs it happens, the moment our problems look like threatening The Grid, we will get royally shunted, and AEMO have no choice...and that is a reality just looking for somewhere to land...and here's a coupla' others, again...
Wind Turbines:...do not function when there is no wind, eg, like the recent weeks of crisp frosty still Winter nights or during a traditional Adelaide Summer when it's often bakingly hot and millpond calm for days at a time, let-alone the full-on heatwave conditions when it hits 35C-40C+ for a week...at these times, No Wind No Power, and SA is reliant on our limited Solar Production...(which doesn't work at night-Ed)...sure, but there's Solar panels and Gas-fired Turbines...and then yes, at night it's down to Gas...and all the time we are to varying degrees (but still wholly) reliant on the Base-Load 'Leccy headed our way from Victoria via the Heywood Interconnector, electricity produced in Coal-fired Power Stations...Wind Turbines also don't work when the wind is too strong, and/or when there are Catastrophic Bushfire conditions and Turbines are meant to be closed-down for safety...
And when Wind Turbines fail, and due to their vulnerability to the variability of climatic conditions they are guaranteed to fail, they will fail monumentally often completely, and are guaranteed to cause massive and unpredictable drops in Electricity Production/Supply with the multiple associated problems with Supply Reliability and how that affects industry, etc, with increased costs for business and/or private consumers, etc, etc, etc...no amount of mindless dribble from Premier Weatherill or Minister Tom Koutsontonis about batteries and gourd knows what else, it changes nothing, it's all absolute bollocks...by their very design, Wind Turbines are guaranteed to fail...(how do you recharge a battery when your re-charge source is not functioning?-Ed)...well that's the point we've been making I thought, with hilarious posts about World's Biggest Torch, World's Biggest Box of Matches, etc...
Irony:...is when you can confidently predict that there's gunna' be massive flat-spots in your Electricity Production but you can't really predict when...(other than a coupla' days before or the day before, ya' know, there's not gunna' be any wind tomorrow so's there's no Turbine production, etc, you can predict that-Ed)...well yes and no, because these 'weather predictions' can themselves change quickly...(or not change at all, eg, 2 really hot days slides into 4 or 5 as that unexpected Low Pressure System moves in and keeps the High centred over central Oz for longer than predicted, etc-Ed)...good call, because long calm periods are as problematic as sudden changes...so the Irony is that re Wind Turbines, you can predict with 100% accuracy that there will be periods of 0% Energy Production, and you can sortta' predict the conditions, eg, during a heatwave, but you have exactly 0% chance of picking when exactly that's gunna' happen, eg, it might be the middle of Winter instead...
Charging Of A Salt Battery:...with the heat from a 'Solar Farm', I thought this was the go-to technology for storing Weather-Driven Energy Production, eg, the proposed facility near Pt Augusta, a 'Solar Thermal' set-up with a 'super-heated super-saline battery' as ít's method of storage...reflected sunbeams are focussed on a central 'boiler/battery' which contains a super-saline solution that gets super-heated and can then be used as steam to drive a turbine...this is a very basic outline of how they work, but you get the picture...(ahhh, and hence 'Charging Of A Salt Battery', you're referring to how a Solar Farm operates, by using the sun to heat/charge a Saline Boiler/Battery-Ed)...indeed...(whilst making yet another atrocious pun, 'Charge of Assault and Battery'-Ed)...one does what one can...
The Role Of Rocks:...in the EP debate has all-but disappeared, which is very confusing because in various forums/resources, eg, good ol' Wikipedia, South Australia is specifically identified as being geographically very suitable for Geothermal or 'Hot-rock Generation'...(hey, we were talking about that just a few posts back too, remember, re Mt Gambier and Mt Shank being literally the volcanic end-of-the-line for the dozens of volcanic features through Western Victoria into South East SA here, and this area, the Kanawinka Geothermal Park, being re-labelled without the 'geothermal' bit and you reckoning that's potentially a political decision designed and implemented to remove the term 'geothermal' from 1) the public conciousness/awareness and therefore 2) from the Electricity Production Debate altogether-Ed)...indeed, I do recall and I re-iterate that I reckon that it's absolutely possible and even probably a deliberate removal for those reasons, but whatevs, the facts re the genuine Base-Load Renewable Energy Production of Geothermal are irrefutable yet remain buried deep, right there alongside those nice hot rocks themselves...(I can dig that man-Ed)...
A fundamental review of the SA Rann/Weatherill Labor government's supposed Renewable Energy strategy/actions/whatevs, shows that Labor 1) have very specific ideologies they are adhering to regardless of the facts and/or fallout, and that 2) those 'ideologies' are largely motivated by a Labor desire/agenda to cater/pander to Adelaide's Inner-Suburban Politically Correct Pseudo-Greenies of which I absolutely was/am one, guilty as self-accused, Labor catering/pandering/pork-barrelling/whatevs in an election-to-election campaign for re-election...that's all that Labor does, can't govern the State so they just govern to govern again...(and the current frenzy of 'funding announcements' is so blatantly pork-barrelling that even Labor aren't bothering to try and hide it!-Ed)...well indeed...
Riddle Me This:...if home-based Solar Panels and feeding back into The Grid, etc, etc, if all of that is so terrific, why hasn't Labor invested in Solar Panels for the many of thousands of Housing Trust (Housing SA) properties across the state?...(now that's actually quite a reasonable question, imagine 1) the power being generated right across SA, particularly in population centres like Whyalla, Pt Augusta, etc, and then 2) the income being generated for SA Taxpayers if 1,000s of HSA homes were delivering their 'excess' back into the National Grid-Ed)...exactly, if Labor were/are so committed to Solar, and Solar Production and/or Rebates are so great, etc, why haven't Labor whacked a stack-a-panels on every State-owned Rental Roof?...(but I thought you said that Labor were selling-off and/or just giving-away Housing Trust properties to various 'Private Care Providers', PCPs almost entirely Religion/Church based?-Ed)...you're right Ed, I did say that...(and you then went on to say that this was/is Labor deliberately dismantling/privatising the Housing Trust, yet another privatisation by Labor and yet another rank betrayal of their Rank and File, their members and/or supporters)-Ed)...again, all things I have said Ed, and it's certainly one very good explanation as to why Solar Panels haven't happened, but there's no genuine excuse...
Just Hilarious:...to hear our Labor Premier Jay 'The Shiny Man' Weatherill say that 'there must be a National Approach to the Murray/Darling (Rivers) Basin Plan', following allegations that Cotton farmers in New South Wales are illegally pumping millions of litres of water already paid for via Environmental Flow Buy-Back Schemes, eg, for the Lower Lakes and Coorong area here at the Murray Mouth in SA, etc...again, a very basic outline of what's meant to be happening, but you get the idea...and having screeched about how he's gunna go it alone...(how we're gunna' go it alone-Ed)...indeed, how SA, having completely rooted our own State and thusly dragging the entire Eastern Seaboard to the edge of the Abyss, well now we're apparently just going to make-up our own rules re the National Electricity Grid...(well yay for us-Ed)...but we've gotta' have a National Grid or Labor's dribble about 'exporting excess energy' (as a justification for Wind Turbines), this simply cannot work, and it's a fundamental reality that we need 'Leccy coming from Victoria...(yay withdrawn-Ed)...
So we are extremely vulnerable on multiple fronts, be it the whimsy of wistfully windless weather, and/or demand and/or production interstate, and/or how we get treated by the AEMO, etc, etc, etc...and this already disastrous situation has drastically worsened with the closure of the Hazelgrove Coal-fired Power Station in Victoria, where only today it is being reported widespread concerns re that state's lack of power heading into this Summer...(and if Victoria is under any sort of threat, then we get the chop?-Ed)...well I defer to the official nomenclature for this delicate and critical action, Operation Choppity Chop Lickety Split, but yes, if there's any issue it's lights-out matey for SA...and there have already been some reports in mainstream media stating as fact that SA will suffer multiple blackouts this Summer 2017/18...
Just In Closing:...fascinated is one way to describe my response to the news that Jay Weatherill's head of Office of Premier and Cabinet, the $550,000 per annum Kym Winter Dewhirst, well apparently Kym mate...(maaate-Ed)...Kym's bailing (has already bailed?) on his contract, apparently due to his wife's illness, his wife being Sandra Winter Dewhirst, formerly head of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Adelaide, and notorious here on this li'l ol' blog for officially shutting-down ABC involvement with the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...(ahhh yeah, that's right, back in 2006/07 when you parents, in liaison with the then SA/now Federal Senator Nick Xenophon, had Nick stand-up in SA Parliament and call for an official Inquiry into the Teacher's Registration Board, specifically identifying Mt Gambier, etc-Ed)...exactly, and Sandra claimed via that email, that she had consulted with multiple un-named senior ABC journos, producers, etc, re the un-named 'issue', and that they had all agreed to not touch it...(pathetic, pathetic and corrupt-Ed)...well indeed, rancidly, pathetically pro-paedophile corrupt...(and I can help Sandra with some of those names, if it helps?-Ed)...please Ed, fire away...
(Well I'm assuming it would be at least some of the many senior ABC personnel you parents had discussed this matter with, eg, Stan Thompson, Simon Royal, Ian Henschke, Patrick Emmett, Alan Richardson, Matthew Abraham and/or David Bevan, etc, various people at Four Corners, the 7.30 program, etc, etc-Ed)...well, if you get past the likelihood that Ms Winter Dewhirst is as much a liar as she is a corrupt pro-paedophile stooge, once you get over that li'l obstacle, and good luck with that, then yes Ed, these are indeed some of the ABC Illuminati that one assumes must have been consulted...but it's all ok, 'cos Premier Jay reckons that Kym's getting paid for his full contract, even though he's leaving/left, because he'll continue to advise his replacement for a while...(super-Ed)...
Tomorrow: My Court Stuff
A Fine Fate Indeed:...and you're just not gunna' believe it, but as already reported in The Border Watch, I was back in Court last week as my case was adjourned yet again from August 2017 to October...(it says here that your "fate" won't be decided until then...your "fate"?...what are you, a shreckin' Nordic Saga or something?-Ed)...well indeed, unless TBW knows something I don't know, the ultimate 'fate' for breaching the undefinable Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 2012, Section 56 (a) and/or (b), is a $30,000 fine...(just a fine?...well that's just fine then, just fine-Ed)...yes, just a fine...but now it's also been moved again to November...(sorry, what?!-Ed)...yeah I'll tell ya'...(moved again?-Ed)...yeah yeah, laters, tomorrow...
And one of the most hilarious quotes I've read in quite some time, thankyou Mayor Andrew Lee...(oh what's he up to now, that zany Mayor of ours?-Ed)...nah mate, don't get me started again, I've still got a stitch from before...(go on, just quick-Ed)...well it's another issue I've been carrying for quite a while, say 18 months even longer, re Mayor Lee stiffing a builder for near-on $70,000...(that's not funny-Ed)...yeah, but Andy's got some wise words for us plodding plebians, re the Ways of the Honest Man...(what, does he know one?-Ed)...cheeky...
One Last Blast:...because it irks me somewhat to be agreed with by Federal Liberal Scott Morrison 'cos I reckon it was he I heard describe SA's proposed 100megawatt Lithium Battery farce as being 'a shiny new distraction that doesn't solve the problem'...(it's shiny-Ed)...indeed, just like our Premier, Jay the Shiny Man...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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