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https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-most-important-power-station-in-the-nation-is-no-longer-a-distant-coal-plant-its-on-our-rooftops/>
"Australia’s energy grid is changing. Our clean energy future is being built
panel by panel and battery by battery, in suburbs, towns and regional
communities across the country.
Like cash is no longer king in a digitised economy, coal is losing its place in
a modern, reliable and affordable energy system. Australia’s coal-fired power
fleet is ageing, increasingly unreliable and expensive to keep running. No
amount of patchwork can reverse that reality.
This month’s decision to keep the Eraring coal-fired power station in New South
Wales open for an additional two years is hardly a vote of confidence in coal
as a superior alternative to modern renewables, like sun, wind and batteries.
Instead, it highlights just how difficult it has become to rely on ageing coal
infrastructure.
When coal power stations break down – which happens regularly – wholesale
prices spike and those costs flow directly onto household energy bills. In the
twelve months to 31 October 2025, an average of 24 per cent of coal-fired
generation was unavailable in NSW and Queensland, with Victoria close behind at
19 per cent.
In a single month late last year, there were seven unplanned coal outages.
Prolonging coal does not prepare Australia for the future, instead it runs
counter to how our modern energy system already operates.
Everyday Australians are already building the nation’s newest, largest and most
reliable power station on their homes and businesses.
Heatwaves are traditionally the ultimate stress test for an electricity grid.
Over the past fortnight, during extreme temperatures across southern Australia,
when temperatures soared into the 40s, we ran our air conditioners hard, along
with our ever-growing list of electricity hungry devices, and energy demand
surged beyond 40 gigawatts to a new record.
Commentators ideologically opposed to renewables sat in their dens waiting for
the grid to fail.
It didn’t.
Coal was nowhere near centre stage. Instead, it was solar that supplied more
than 60 per cent of power across the National Electricity Market, with
two-thirds coming from rooftops.
Combined with wind and hydro, renewables met up to 76.6 per cent of peak demand
and nearly half of all supply over a 24-hour period. By comparison, during a
similar heatwave in 2019, renewables never supplied more than 26 per cent of
electricity and coal carried almost the entire load."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
