Australia is at the forefront of a global experiment on how to shift an electricity grid built on coal to one dominated by renewables.
The transition to clean energy is gaining pace as Australia’s abundant wind and solar resources pump more and more cheap power into the grid, undermining the business case of old coal plants.
Origin Energy announced on Thursday it was bringing forward the closure of the nation’s largest coal-burning power station to 2025, seven years earlier than scheduled.
Energy remains a divisive issue and, heading into a federal election, the stakes are particularly high.
If Australia gets the transition right, energy prices and greenhouse gas emissions will fall. If it gets it wrong, prices will spike and energy supply falter.
Coal and gas plants run day and night, chugging out reliable electricity from a handful of sites across the country. Solar and wind farms have a bigger footprint, they need “dispatchable power” to back up from batteries, pumped hydro or gas when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining, and vast new transmission lines to link them to the grid.
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