This report has been publicly released following a two year work program involving hundreds of stakeholders, an evidence base of 19 expert reports and unprecedented analysis of energy system outcomes to 2050. The report identifies integrated measures which can achieve a positive energy future for Australian energy customers enabling choice, lower emissions, lower costs and...

The ongoing uncertainty over the future of the Hazelwood power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley has raised the prospect that the ageing generator will be shut down in the near future. The power station has a nameplate capacity of 1.6 gigawatts, which represents 22% of the coal-fired generation capacity in Victoria, and 6% of the...

The massive transition going on in our energy systems occupies a lot of minds in the electricity sector. But consumers – both business and households - also have a deep interest in maintaining reliable, affordable energy services. Every business depends on access to energy, as we saw in the SA blackout last month. Meanwhile the...

Overview On the night of 7 July, the wind was hardly blowing in South Australia and the sun had gone down. Two coal plants had closed earlier that year, and an electricity connection that provides power from Victoria was effectively closed for upgrades. As a result, gas was supplying nearly all the state’s power needs...

In July this year, South Australia experienced a series of high wholesale electricity price spikes in one week, which some politicians and media commentators simplistically linked to the state’s high proportion of renewable energy, particularly wind (For example, Australian Financial Review 2016; The Advertiser 2016a; The Australian 2016). This was incorrect. The mistaken attack on...