Australia’s electricity system is transforming at speed and the choices made, specifically in the coming decade, will shape costs, reliability and emissions outcomes for generations.

In this episode of AEMO On Air, we sat down with Nicola Falcon, AEMO’s Executive General Manager of System Design, to unpack the Draft 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP) and the big themes shaping this story.

With electricity demand forecast to nearly double by 2050, driven by electrification of homes, industry and transport, plus rapid growth in data centres, the draft ISP lays out a clear, least-cost roadmap to replace retiring coal while keeping the lights on.

We dig into why renewables, firmed by storage, backed up by gas and connected with networks remains the least-cost and reliable pathway, and how today’s investments in rooftop solar, batteries, large-scale renewables and networks are already lining up with that plan.

And Nicola explores what’s changed since the last ISP, including technology costs, along with deeper analysis on gas supply infrastructure and distribution network cost to support further consumer energy resource benefits.

Read the Draft 2026 ISP here: https://bit.ly/3KBBcik
Media release: https://bit.ly/4rOf7hc
ISP Toolkit: https://bit.ly/48OgVOA
Infographic: https://bit.ly/3KXNkdC

Interviewer: Catie Low

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

This week we released the 2025 Transition Plan for System Security (TPSS) and in our latest episode of AEMO On Air, Chris Davies, AEMO’s Group Manager – Future Energy Systems, unpacks what it means for Australia’s energy future.

As coal power stations continue to exit the power system, replacement system security services are needed to unlock the growing potential of renewable energy, including rooftop solar, to help deliver a smooth transition for consumers.

Chris also reflects on the renewable success story that is South Australia, and what its experience means for the rest of the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Read the full TPSS here: https://bit.ly/3XusYeC
Media Release: https://bit.ly/4rt4xMj

Interviewer: Jonathon Geddes

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

Australia’s energy transition is accelerating and the next Integrated System Plan (ISP) will be central to guiding it.

In this episode of AEMO On Air, we speak with Nicola Falcon, Executive General Manager – System Design, about how the ISP is developed, why it matters, and why it’s increasingly the envy of countries without a comparable long-term plan to navigate their transition.

Nicola explains how the ISP provides a national roadmap for generation, storage and network investment through to 2050, built on more than a year of consultation with over 1,400 stakeholders and 240 submissions. She outlines what’s new in the Draft 2026 ISP, including expanded scope into distribution network opportunities and better integration with gas markets and how feedback has refined assumptions on consumer energy resources and infrastructure timing.

The Draft 2026 ISP will be released on Wednesday, 10 December 2025.

Interviewer: Catie Low

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

One in three Australian homes now have rooftop solar, that’s more than 4 million systems nationwide providing, on some days, over half of the east coast’s electricity.

Australia is leading the world in distributed energy, with home batteries and electric vehicles rapidly changing how our power system operates. But as solar becomes a dominant force in the grid, maintaining stability and security presents new challenges.

In episode two of AEMO On Air’s System Security series, Nij sits down with Jonathon Dore, AEMO’s Manager – DER Technical Integration, to explore how AEMO is working with industry and transmission partners to maintain system security through the renewable transition and the critical challenges of managing high Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and Consumer Energy Resources (CER) penetration

Jonathon explained system security using a simple analogy of something he loves: Maintaining system security is like riding a mountain bike on a trail. On the smooth sections, keeping the bike stable is almost effortless, but on the challenging sections, you need different skills and a different approach.

Catch up on episode one in this series here: https://bit.ly/43tbEtT

Interviewer: Dr Niraj (Nij) Lal

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

In this episode of AEMO On Air, we unpack the key findings from AEMO’s Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report for Q3 2025 – a quarter defined by record renewable generation, greater market stability, and falling wholesale electricity prices across the NEM.

AEMO’s Manager of Market Insights, Kerry Galloway, joins us to break down the data behind the trends, from new renewable records to what it all means for Australia’s evolving energy landscape.

Renewables reached new highs, with record-breaking contributions across the NEM and WEM:

• 77.2% peak renewable contribution in the NEM
• Rooftop solar up 11%
• Wind and grid-scale solar up 16% year-on-year
• Renewables supplying 36.4% of WA’s power – another Q3 record

Read the QED here: https://bit.ly/47kVBAQ
Interviewer: Catie Low

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

In this first episode of our three-part series on power system security, new AEMO on Air host Nij is joined by Yvonne Coughlan, one of our Group Managers in Operations.

Yvonne shares her journey from working across European power systems, including her time at Ireland’s system and market operator, EirGrid, to her work at AEMO.

She reflects on the parallels and differences in global energy transitions in a conversation that explores transition point planning, what life is like inside a control room, and how AEMO is preparing for the accelerating energy transition.

Interviewer: Dr Niraj (Nij) Lal

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

AEMO's annual Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO) harnesses the latest data from the energy sector to deliver a 10-year look ahead at the investments needed to support reliability in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

In this episode of AEMO On Air, Ben Jones, our Manager of Reliability Forecasting, explains how the delivery of all projects in the investment pipeline – generation, storage, transmission and the enablement of consumer energy resources – are needed to meet reliability standards for the coming decade, as outlined in the 2025 ESOO.

Learn more about the 2025 ESOO here: http://bit.ly/4m41FBS
Interviewer: Catie Low

LinkedIn | X | Facebook

In July we hit the half-way mark in the development of the 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP) with the publication of a number of key reports, including the Inputs, Assumptions and Scenarios Report (IASR) and the new Gas Infrastructure Options Report (GIOR).

The ISP is the strategic roadmap for Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM) and it outlines the investment and infrastructure required to meet government emissions and renewable energy targets and keep the lights on and the gas flowing.

In this episode of AEMO On Air, we talk to AEMO's outgoing EGM System Design, Merryn York (AM) about the development of the ISP and how the 2026 ISP will be different to the 2024 edition, including new gas considerations as well as consumer energy resources.

Merryn shares her rich experience and deep understanding of key issues, such as the role of government policy in the ISP as well as how consumers and new technologies are factored and modeled in this important report.

Read more about the 2026 ISP here: http://bit.ly/3VpxKc5
Interviewer: Catie Low

LinkedIn | X | Facebook