Report Energy Policy Coal Electric Grid Australia Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Islands

IEEFA’s response to AEMO 2022 draft ISP consultation

February 11, 2022

Johanna Bowyer

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Key Findings

The 2022 Draft ISP shows the fast pace of change in energy transition.

Both AEMO’s draft ISP and Federal Government projections alike show that coal will exit sooner than projected in the existing generator schedule.

The draft ISP makes it clear that government policy is required to coordinate the exit of coal generators and develop a new, realistic coal exit schedule with more enforceable exit dates.

IEEFA recommends that a policy to manage the retirement of ageing coal generators be implemented.

The AEMO Integrated System Plan (ISP) effectively provides one cohesive plan for the National Energy Market (NEM), enabling coordinated infrastructure planning and development in a fast-moving industry.

The 2022 Draft ISP shows the fast pace of change in energy transition.

IEEFA uses AEMO’s draft ISP to understand trends in the NEM, complete analysis and develop policy recommendations related to the energy transition.

Overall, IEEFA’s comments on the draft ISP include:

a request for greater granularity of generation results data,
a request for further information on decarbonisation pillars,
a call for policy to be put in place to manage fast coal exit (though not in AEMO’s remit)
a request for the release of the coal power plant viability analysis results (if completed), and
a suggestion to include a fast coal exit scenario (by mid 2030s) that does not rely on hydrogen (potentially more relevant for the 2024 ISP).

Johanna Bowyer

Johanna Bowyer is the Lead Research Analyst for Australian Electricity at IEEFA. Her research is focused on trends in the National Electricity Market, energy policy and decarbonisation.

Prior to joining IEEFA, Johanna researched distribution networks at CSIRO, worked as an engineer at Solar Analytics and Suntech and worked as a management consultant at Kearney.

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