Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“This risk must be avoided,” chief executive Daniel Westerman said.
“This[plan] is a clear call to investors,industry and governments for the urgent delivery of generation,storage and transmission to ensure Australian consumers continue to have access to reliable electricity at the lowest cost.”
Ten large coal-fired power stations have closed since 2012 and AEMO now expects 90 per cent of remaining coal capacity to close by 2035. Coal is likely to have left the grid entirely by 2040,it adds,as ageing plants become less reliable and less competitive against cheaper renewable energy.
AEMO,which oversees the transition of Australia’s interstate electricity and gas markets,outlined an “optimal development pathway”,which is the lowest-cost energy grid,dominated by renewables,that would cost $122 billion out to 2050.
The timeframe for closure of coal-fired power stations is being accelerated by competition from cheaper renewables,which are at times supplying zero-cost electricity to the grid.
But the operator warned that significant new investment is needed to replace the power currently supplied by coal – about one-third of the grid’s current generation capacity – when it is no longer in use.