Aemo warns coal-fired power plants could drop off before replacements are ready

Solar and wind farms will need to triple by 2030 to 57GW and expand seven-fold by 2050 to 126GW

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Australia’s main power grid faces the “real” possibility ageing coal-fired power plants will drop out before sufficient generation capacity and transmission lines are in place, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has said.

The comments, contained in a draft report on Aemo’s main blueprint for the national electricity market, come a day after New South Wales faced its first grid strains of the summer. Authorities called on consumers to reduce non-essential power use as temperatures hovered in the high-30s across much of Sydney.

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