THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTRICITY Market Operator’s (AEMO) latest Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO) turns up the heat on all levels of government to deliver renewable energy and transmission projects as fast as possible to maintain a reliable electricity supply.

AEMO’s report forecasts reliability gaps for all mainland regions in the next decade, and recommends urgent progress on generation, storage and transmission developments to avoid disruptions to the system. 

“Governments cannot afford to ignore AEMO’s warning about the urgent need to roll out new renewable energy generation to ease the transition away from aging, unreliable and emissions intensive coal and gas,” Greg Bourne, energy expert and Climate Council spokesperson said. 

“Our energy system is currently in a precarious position because of the lost decade in which bogus energy solutions were promoted. Now is the time to focus on speeding up the clean energy and transmission projects that are ready to go,” Mr Bourne said. 

Australia has a promising pipeline of renewable energy, storage and transmission projects that can address any forecast reliability gaps if they go ahead. By February 2025, 5.25 Gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity and 2 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of storage (Kidston Pumped Hydro) are scheduled to be online. 

A further 131 GW of generation and 47 GWh of storage capacity have been announced, along with strategic transmission projects, such as the HumeLink and Marinus Link interconnectors.

“The AEMO report shows that we can absolutely avoid costly disruptions to our energy system. Working together, Governments now need to accelerate the clean energy projects currently in the pipeline,” Mr Bourne added. 

“We must seize this opportunity for clean, affordable energy and avoid costly disruptions to homes and businesses. We must urgently transition our energy system to clean energy.”

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