Conference Day Two - Thursday 24 October
08:30 Registration and welcome coffee
09:10 Opening remarks and welcome address from the Chair
Ed Willett, Former Commissioner, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Governmental keynote address
09:20 Opportunities and challenges in delivering energy for NSW
The Hon. Chris Hartcher MP, Minister for Energy and Resources, NSW Government
The energy mix to 2030 - how will our generation mix evolve?
09:40 The outlook for investment in new generation in the NEM
- The intersection of energy only markets and anthropogenic climate change policies
- How significant are barriers to exit?
- What is required to ensure new investment in generation occurs?
Tim Nelson, Head of Economics, Policy and Sustainability, AGL Energy
10:05 Renewables in the mix
- Status of renewables in Australia
- What are the challenges and opportunities?
- What we can learn from existing local projects
- Innovative financing models
Ivor Frischknecht, Chief Executive Offcer, Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)
10:30 Morning tea
11:00 Forecasting where NEM wholesale prices may go
- The ESAA’s forecasts for NEM wholesale electricity prices
- The outlook for electricity demand and its implications for new generation
- The various scenarios that could play out in the medium term and how these will impact energy sector stakeholders
Mathew Warren, Chief Executive Officer, Energy Supply Association of Australia (ESAA)
11:25 Analysing BREE’s energy forecasts with a focus on the outlook for brown coal
- Examining the current forecasts for brown coal generation in Victoria to 2034-35
- The scenarios we need to see unfold for the shutdown of each of the brown coal generators?
- Illustrating how the new energy mix for Victoria will be comprised
- The broader implications for the NEM of these projections
Wayne Calder, Deputy Executive Director, Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics (BREE)
11:50 The outlook for wind generation in Australia
- What it will take to drive wind generation to 10 – 15% of NEM production
- The hurdles that need to be overcome to develop further wind resources
- Determining the hot spots for new wind generation resources
- How big a problem will the NIMBY issue be in a new political environment?
Miles George, Chief Executive Officer, Infigen Energy
Can new technologies be the catalyst to drive us to a clean energy future?
12:15 POWER PANEL
Can nuclear energy be part of our clean energy future?
- What market conditions need to be present for economically viable nuclear energy production?
- What regulatory environment is required nationally for nuclear energy to be developed?
- What are the technological advances and innovations that significantly increase the safety of nuclear energy production?
- How can we balance the benefits and risk when considering nuclear energy production?
Moderator:
Ed Willett, Former Commissioner, Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner
Panellists:
Jon Stanford, Director, Insight Economics
Tony Irwin, Chairman – Nuclear Engineering Panel, Engineers Australia
Tony Owen, Professor of Energy Economics, UCL International Energy Policy Institute
12:45 Lunch
13:45 The outlook for the development of geothermal energy
- Could geothermal be the base load energy of the future?
- Outlining the challenges that still need to be overcome for geothermal energy
- Determining the timeframe needed to see significant contributions from geothermal into the NEM
Susan Jeanes, Chief Executive, Australian Geothermal Energy Association
14:10 Carbon capture and storage – the future for clean generation?
- Examining the latest developments in CCS research
- Analysing when CCS could become economically viable in Australia
- Could technology be applied to existing plants? If so, at what cost?
- The global implications of CCS
Holger Bietz, General Manager - Projects, Financial and Commercial , Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute
The changing role of networks and distributors and the implications for the broader energy markets
14:35 Adapting to changing demand profiles and sources of generation
- How demand profiles have evolved and how we anticipate they will change going forward
- Understanding how changing sources of generation are impacting network businesses
- Overcoming the key challenges facing Australia’s transmission business
Peter McIntyre, Managing Director, TransGrid
15:00 The challenges of supplying energy to regional Queensland
- What are the unique market and network challenges and solutions in regional Queensland
- Is market reform the answer? If so, what reforms do we need?
- From monopoly to market enabler – the future for Ergon energy
Ian McLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Ergon Energy
15:25 Afternoon tea
15:55 POWER PANEL
Is distributed generation paying its fair share of distribution and transmission costs?
- What are the challenges associated with grid connected micro-generation?
- What do we need to do to better manage generation sources with high intermittency?
- How can we better structure pricing mechanisms to address these challenges?
- What role could flexible/time of use pricing play in decreasing future network costs?
Moderator:
Ed Willett, Former Commissioner, Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner
Panellists:
Dr Alex Wonhas, Director Energy Transformed Flagship, CSIRO
Peter McIntyre, Managing Director, TransGrid
Ian McLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Ergon Energy
Bruce Mountain, Director, Carbon Market Economics
Investigating the key financing challenges facing Australia’s energy sector
16:35 The case for NSW and QLD to sell the networks
- Valuing the networks in today’s market
- Assessing the evidence that suggests private ownership leads to better outcomes
- Why emerging network challenges including solar, smart meters and household storage can be best managed through private ownership
David Leitch, Head of Utilities Research, UBS
17:00 POWER PANEL
Competing in a global financial market – what does Australia need to do to attract investment?
- Are current policy settings adequate to attract the investment we need?
- Do recent policy and taxation changes create a significant policy risk for investors looking at Australia?
- Where can we expect to see equity financing for Australian assets come from?
- How will Australia’s energy companies fare on global debt markets?
Moderator:
Ed Willett, Former Commissioner, Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner
Panellists:
Jason Steed, Executive Director, JP Morgan
Sajal Kishore, Director, Energy and Utilities, Fitch Ratings
Jonathan Mirrlees-Black, Head of Research, Rare Infrastructure
17:30 Closing remarks from the Chair
17:40 End of day two