Climate change
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Climate change and the electricity sector
In recent times, both the State and Commonwealth Governments have developed policies which affect the electricity sector. These policies will drive a shift in the mix of electricity generation, and encourage generators with lower emissions (such as gas-fired generators) or no emissions (including renewables such as solar and wind).
As much of this new large-scale generation will occur in locations distant from major population centres, the electricity grid will need to be strengthened and extended to support it. This means Powerlink’s electricity transmission grid has an important role to play in supporting government climate change policies.
Emissions reporting
We report annually on our greenhouse gas emissions and energy use as part of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007. Before the Act came into play, we had been reporting voluntarily on emissions since 1999 under the Greenhouse Challenge and Greenhouse Challenge Plus programs. Our greenhouse emission data is verified each year by a National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERS) accredited auditor prior to submission to the government.
We’re working with other Transmission Network Service Providers to develop a robust reporting system to meet the requirements of NGERS, with a particular focus on the management of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) which is a greenhouse gas used in some high voltage electrical equipment.
Emission reduction activities
We’ve implemented a number of energy efficiency and fleet management initiatives to reduce our emissions.
These include:
- Improving the lighting in our largest office building by using more energy efficient globes.
- Setting air conditioning to 24 degrees.
- Implementing a Motor Vehicle Fleet Environmental Policy in line with the Queensland Government’s QFleet ClimateSmart Policy.
- Continuing to improve our management of SF6-filled equipment.
Money saved as a result of these initiatives is used to purchase green electricity for our head office at Virginia. In the 2010-11 financial year, around 70% (or 6521 MWh) of the energy used at our Virginia office was green power.