A key part of Australia’s plan to decarbonise is supposed to be getting off gas and on to renewable energy. But there's lingering questions over what's involved, the degree of difficulty and the cost. One town in Western Australia is showing it can be done having largely made the switch away from gas.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Esperance, on the south coast of Western Australia, is known for its white sandy beaches and turquoise
00:08water.
00:09But in energy circles, Esperance is becoming known for something else.
00:12It's the town that's getting off gas.
00:14The energy transition program that we've put in place is really a microcosm of what Australia
00:20and indeed the world is trying to do.
00:22In the past couple of years, more than 300 homes and much of the town's population have
00:27been switched from gas to electricity.
00:29Among them is Sharon Vermaes.
00:32In place of a gas stove, she now has an electric induction cooktop.
00:36And instead of a gas hot water system, there is an electric heat pump.
00:40A new wind and solar farm north of Esperance is helping to power this extra demand for
00:44electricity.
00:45That was effectively necessary because there'd be some structural issues to do with the gas
00:51suppliers.
00:52But it's a good example of necessity being the mother of invention, really.
00:56But it's not all plain sailing.
00:58Some homes and businesses have been unable to get off gas, forced to use bottles.
01:03And a new gas-fired power plant still provides about half the town's power.
01:07Another challenge of getting off gas is simply the cost.
01:11Electric appliances like induction stoves and heat pumps don't come cheap.
01:15And some households' power supplies need to be upgraded as well.
01:19By some estimates, each house here in Esperance has cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to electrify.
01:26However, the savings are really, really quite large.
01:29So some of our customers experienced about a 60% saving off their bill.
01:34The trick here is that because it's difficult to do, doesn't mean we don't do it.
01:40Sharon Vermey agrees costs can be steep, and is thankful the WA government helped foot
01:45the bill in her case.
01:47My husband's retired now, so it would have been hard.
01:50The challenges of changing technologies.