The Water-Energy-Nexus in Australia // The Outcome of Two Crises

Abstract

The world population is expected to increase from the current 8.5 billion to 11.2 billion by 2100. There will be increasing pressure on potentially diminishing water resources and a rising demand for stable and reliable power supplies which have sufficient inertia and fast frequency response to manage unexpected supply problems. There are many variables which influence water/energy (“nexus”) relationships including natural resources availability and governance, the potential for climate change, increased urbanisation, the preferred built urban form, and domestic and industrial demands. Frequently, water and energy policies are developed under different arms of government with few links between them. Under the Australian constitution, the management of water is a states/territories responsibility. In the interests of improved water use efficiency, an Australia-wide water reform process was initiated in 1994. The commitment was strengthened in 2004–2006 with the 108 clause Intergovernmental Agreement on the National Water Initiative which included responsibilities for water conservation, the title to water rights and the ability to trade water rights separate from land. These arrangements served Australia well through the Millennium drought which ended in 2011. However, in most capital cities, a looming water crisis had been developing. In some cases water was restricted for cooling in thermal power stations and hydro electricity generation, restricting electricity output. There was an urgent investment in climate independent but energy demanding water sources (desalination and advanced water recycling) which, except in Western Australia, have since the end of the drought, seen little use but added considerable capital debt servicing costs. At the same time, a revolution began in the energy industries, government, private and domestically owned, with widespread investment in solar voltaic and wind generation with concomitant closure of coal-fired power stations. There were restrictions in some jurisdictions on further gas exploration. Several major black-outs in 2016 and 2017 led to the perception of a crisis in the stability and reliability of energy supplies. Policy indecision in Australia’s response to the threat of global warming led to reluctance to refurbish old thermal power stations and to the closure of many. Prospects for battery technology and suggestions for increase pumped hydro energy storage have added to investment indecisiveness. There were no conspicuous links between water and energy policies, yet these will need to be developed. Meanwhile, the major water utilities, which had become commercial corporatized entities, were faced with increasing electricity costs. They have recognised the water/energy nexus. They have moved to use their resources including through mini-hydro from water supply systems and dedicated more effort into biogas electricity generation from Waste Water Treatment Plants, sometime supplemented with co-digestion of other organic wastes, to offset their energy requirements. Some have become net energy exporters.

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Published

July 2018

Published in

Water-Energy Nexus, Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2018, Pages 66-85

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