The inability of wind energy developers to get their projects over the line means that Australia is unlikely to reach its ambitious target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
AEMO on Thursday released the final version of its latest multi-decade blueprint for the grid, the 2026 Integrated System, which notes falling costs of solar and big batteries, offset by rising costs in wind energy and transmission.
The good news, as Renew Economy editor Sophie Vorrath writes in her overview, is that the rapid growth of consumer energy resources, and rooftop PV and home batteries in particular, is easing the cost burden and will mean that less large scale wind and solar, and few transmission lines will be needed.
The bad news is that – to very few people’s surprise – Australia is currently running well short of the required amount of large scale wind projects, because of a combination of rising costs, social licence issues, grid connections, supply constraints, and in the case of Queensland, government roadblocks.
The report finds that the current pipeline of grid-scale renewables – those seeking or having obtained grid connection approvals – would meet only three-quarters of the new capacity that the ISP’s Optimal Development Plan (ODP) requires to meet the 2030r renewable target.
