More solar, wind and storage, interconnected by bolstered transmission and distribution networks and backed up by small amounts of gas, remains the least-cost way to meet a near doubling of electricity consumption while also quitting coal and slashing energy emissions, a new report has confirmed.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has published the final version of its 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP), the biennial blueprint of the optimal development path (ODP) to meet consumer electricity needs and government energy policies out to 2050.
AEMO says that under this least-cost path, Australia can achieve the 82% national renewables target by 2030, and deliver 98% by 2050, underpinned by around 120 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale wind and solar – about five times the current level – and almost 50 GW of utility-scale storage and hydro.
Fielding in slips would be 17 GW of flexible gas generation – up from about 8 GW of “peaking” plants, now – and to connect the pieces of this integrated puzzle together, the existing 44,000 km transmission network would need to expand by 6,000 km.
Source: AEMO 2026 Integrated System Plan
