Investment is urgently needed in energy storage, generation and transmission to avoid power supply becoming unreliable later this decade as coal power plants close, the Australian Energy Market Operator has warned.
Gaps in the reliability of supply over the next two summers have reduced because of new battery and generation projects and the deferral of a plant shutdown.
They resurface from 2025 onwards starting in NSW and Victoria, and worsen towards the end of the decade, with all mainland states far exceeding the limit by 2030, AEMO advised, pointing to a critical need for ‘‘timely’’ investment.
AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman said the update highlighted the “urgent” need for an acceleration in the rollout of back-up capacity – including batteries, long-life storage and more generation – to avoid the risk of blackouts later this decade.
Mr Westerman said that, without a significant increase in committed energy projects in the near future, the entire east coast energy network would likely fall short of AEMO’s reliability standards by 2027, with significant issues likely to emerge in some states within two years.
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