<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>337256</docID> <postdate>2025-01-30 09:33:03</postdate> <headline>Coal’s contribution to main grid falls to new low</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-337257" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20190115001380358256-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Renewable energy supplied a record 46 per cent of the market's electricity in the December quarter. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Poppy Johnston</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Coal power contributed less than 50 per cent to Australia's main grid for the first time in the final quarter of 2024 due to patchy reliability and record-high rooftop solar.</strong></p> <p>The dominance of the fossil fuel power source continues to be challenged by renewables, based on an Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) report released on Thursday.</p> <p>AEMO executive general manager - reform delivery Violette Mouchaileh said renewable energy supplied a record 46 per cent of the market's electricity and drove emissions to record low levels.</p> <p>Yet power prices were still higher compared with the same time last year, in part because low-cost renewable energy was not easily shared across the grid due to transmission constraints.</p> <p>Coal plant outages and higher demand – stemming from warmer-than-usual weather ramping up air conditioner use and the ongoing take-up of electric cars and appliances – also kept upwards pressure on prices.</p> <p>Wholesale electricity prices averaged $88 per megawatt hour in the December quarter, rising 83 per cent from a "very mild" last three months of 2023.</p> <p>Average prices were still 26 per cent lower than the previous quarter.</p> <p>Southern states clocked much lower average prices than in NSW and Queensland, with the northern states stung by higher demand, coal outages and transmission constraints.</p> <p>Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Thursday's update confirmed the energy system was evolving as expected.</p> <p>"The data confirms what we know – unreliable coal is having a negative impact on energy prices, more renewables in the system bring wholesale prices down, and new transmission infrastructure is critical to keeping prices lower," he said.</p> <p>"We are building an energy grid so everyone, everywhere has access to the cheapest form of energy at any given time."</p> <p>The latest update from AEMO lands as fresh research makes the case to comprehensively rework the electricity market.</p> <p>A Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) and Castalia Advisors report finds Australia is in danger of falling short of its climate and renewables targets without a full redesign of the market to incentivise more investment in solar, wind and batteries.</p> <p>CEIG chief executive officer Richie Merzian said the national electricity market was designed for coal and gas, in the same era as "flip-phones and Nokia".</p> <p>"Now we have a system where you have hundreds of generators, you have low-cost variable energy, because solar and wind, once you build it, is relatively affordable to run," he told AAP.</p> <p>"It's no longer providing an incentive to build more energy on the grid, that's sort of the gap."</p> <p>In late 2024 the federal government launched a review of the main energy market.</p> <p>Mr Merzian was hoping the panel would recommend long-lasting incentives for investment.</p> </body>