South Australia's Economic Development Board says the state should buy a giant backup generator.

Board member Goran Roos told the SA Parliament's Statutory Authorities Review Committee that South Australia should consider going it alone, as federal energy policy has crawled to a standstill.

“In the medium term, which is one to two years, the South Australian Government should consider direct control of electrical generation facilities either through acquisition or leasing arrangements coupled with long-term back-to-back take-or-pay contracts with end users,” Professor Roos told the committee.

“A suitable facility could be the second 1,600 megawatt Pelican Point gas turbine which is operated by GDF Suez Australian Energy, a subsidiary of ENGIE, which owns 72 per cent with Mitsubishi owning the other 28 per cent.”

The second unit at Pelican Point sat idle while 90,000 homes and businesses had their power blacked out during load shedding last month.

“ENGIE has argued that the second Pelican Point gas turbine cannot compete with cheaper wind energy and it is commercially unviable to occasionally switch on the gas-fired power plant to meet requirements for a few high-demand days across the year,” Professor Roos said.

“As such, the acquisition costs or lease costs for the second gas turbine should be minimal on an NPD basis, should the Government choose to acquire or lease this facility.”

Premier Jay Weatherill says he will introduce a comprehensive energy security plan in coming weeks, and has not ruled out buying back parts of the state's privatised grid.