Federal Gippsland MP Darren Chester says there are opportunities to build new clean coal fired power stations in Australia to meet future energy needs. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today told the National Press Club in Canberra that cleaner-coal technology should be part of the energy mix for decades to come. “As the world’s largest coal exporter we have a vested interest in showing that we can provide both lower emissions and reliable base load power with state of the art clean coal fired technology,” he said.“The next incarnation of our national energy policy should be technology agnostic – it’s security and cost that matter most, not how you deliver it. Policy should be “all of the above technologies” working together to deliver the trifecta of secure and affordable power while meeting our emission reduction commitments. “The battlelines have been drawn – it is clear that the Coalition stands for cheaper energy.” Mr Chester said the Prime Minister’s comments would be welcomed in the Latrobe Valley, which has four brown-coal fired power stations, of which one – Hazelwood – is due to close at the end of March 2017. “The Prime Minister’s comments are a breakthrough for common sense,” Mr Chester said. “The Coalition’s focus is on lowering energy costs for households and businesses. “There needs to be a balance between renewable energy and coal, providing affordable and reliable electricity.” Mr Chester said electricity from the Latrobe Valley was the reason why Victoria had maintained a competitive advantage. “The future of manufacturing, and key services such as hospitals and universities, rely on cheap, reliable, baseload energy. “The cost of electricity has an impact in all parts of community life – especially for older Australians and people on low and fixed incomes. These people are the ones most exposed to electricity price increases.” The Prime Minister said Australia should be able to achieve the policy trifecta of energy that is affordable, reliable and secure, and that meets Australia’s substantial global emissions reduction commitments as agreed in the Paris climate change treaty. Mr Chester said in addition to this, there was a social impact of rapidly closing power stations in regions like the Latrobe Valley. “The social effect of rapid closure of power stations will be keenly felt in the Latrobe Valley, which is why it’s so important we don’t rush to failure,” he said. In his speech, the Prime Minister said energy storage would be a priority this year for the Coalition Government. “Last week, at my request, ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) agreed to work together on a new funding round for large scale storage and other flexible capacity projects, including pumped hydro,” Mr Turnbull said. “I have also written to Alan Finkel asking him to advise on the role of storage and pumped hydro in stabilising the grid. “Large scale storage will support variable renewables like wind and solar, it will get more value out of existing baseload generation and it will enhance grid stability. And we are getting on with it.”