What does it take to solve the biggest challenges facing Australia’s energy transition?

In this episode, we sit down with two rising stars from the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship program – Madeleine Neaves and Frederick Madriaga – to explore the research helping shape Australia’s future energy systems.

Madeleine, a Monash University Engineering PhD candidate, is researching how future grids maintain stability and inertia in power systems increasingly powered by inverter-based technologies like batteries and renewables. Frederick is developing AI-driven approaches to improve resilience, visibility and decision-making across increasingly decentralised and digital electricity networks.

Delivered in partnership between the AEMO and Monash University, the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship program honours AEMO’s inaugural CEO, the late Matt Zema, and supports emerging researchers working on the future of Australia’s energy systems.

This year marks seven years since the scholarship was established, with 10 scholars currently undertaking PhDs and the program expected to celebrate its first graduates in 2026.

Learn more about the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship: www.aemo.com.au/about/zema-energy-studies-scholarship

Information about applications to the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship: www.monash.edu/energy-institute/students/scholarships/zema-energy-studies-scholarship


Interviewer: Catie Low

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Batteries are now playing a central role in Australia’s electricity system, and the latest data shows just how quickly that shift is happening.

In this episode of AEMO On Air, Kerry Galloway, AEMO’s Manager of Market Insights unpacks the key details of the Q1 2026 Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report.

In the National Electricity Market (NEM), more than 4,400 MW of new battery capacity has been added in the past year, which has helped shift three times the volume of renewable energy from daytime into the evening peak, competing against coal and gas. Batteries set prices for around a third of the times and contributed to a 12% year-on-year drop in wholesale electricity prices.

The episode also explores the quarter’s record renewable output, with renewables supplying 46.5% of NEM generation, while emerging demand continues to build with 11 large-scale data centre projects (5.4 GW) progressing through connections.

Explore the full QED for more insights: https://bit.ly/4umi74K

Interviewer: Catie Low

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The energy transition is global and so are the challenges.

Across the world, system operators are grappling with the same fundamental shifts, rapid growth in renewables, decentralised generation and increasingly complex system dynamics.

In our latest AEMO On Air episode, we’re joined by Luke Robinson, Group Manager – System Modelling to explore how global collaboration is helping system operators navigate one of the most complex transformations in modern energy systems.

As a founding member of the International System Operators Network (ISON), AEMO is working alongside peers across the US and Europe to tackle shared challenges, from integrating high levels of inverter-based resources to AI and data centres and rethinking the control room of the future.

And while we are helping solve global issues, the world is watching Australia and what we are doing, particularly our leadership in rooftop solar and consumer energy resources.

Find out more about ISON and AEMO here: www.aemo.com.au/initiatives/major-programs/international-system-operator-collaboration

Read more about ISON: www.isonetwork.org/

Interviewer: Catie Low

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