We’re making the clean energy transition possible

The NSW power system is rapidly accelerating towards a renewable dominated grid. AEMO projects that by 2025 there could be short periods where there will be sufficient renewable energy generation to meet demand, and this will become common by the end of this decade.

To continue to provide safe and reliable power to millions of Australians, Transgrid is proactively preparing for the challenges and opportunities of the clean energy transition. Key insights identified in this report include:

• It will be technically possible to operate the NSW power system at 100% instantaneous renewables, so long as the foundational prerequisites of energy reliability, system security and operability are in place. These are not negotiable.

• System complexity is not a ‘future problem’ but is already making the power system difficult to operate and increasing risks to consumers.

• An urgent acceleration will be required to put these investments and capabilities in place for when they are needed. Failure to do so will increase costs for customers and increase risk to reliability.

• A ‘step change’ in organisational capability is required to meet this challenge in system planners and operators, not incremental evolution. Traditional regulatory frameworks and business processes are designed for a ‘steady state’ power system and may not be fit for purpose to deliver transformational change.

• The rapid pace of change and new frontiers will require a focused, innovative and flexible collaboration between system planners, operators, market bodies and policy makers to quickly assess and solve new challenges that emerge, and ensure reliable and secure electricity supplies in the best interests of consumers.

As this paper explains, Transgrid must:

• Accelerate the delivery of key transmission projects to support energy reliability as coal generators retire.

– This will require $14 billion in investment in the next decade.

• Deliver new and essential system security capacity to decouple system security services from coal generation and keep the power system within its secure operating envelope without fossil-fuelled generation.

– This will require the deployment of $2.2 billion of new system security infrastructure (and/or equivalent services) in the next decade.

– System security equipment and services are projected to represent 1.5% of total electricity system costs in NSW to 2033.

• Invest in uplifting our operational technology tools, staffing levels and training to ensure the continued operability of a more complex and dynamic power system.

– In the next 10 years this will require an investment of $140 million to uplift our tools and $16 million per year for people and training.

Operability uplift is projected to represent 0.2% of total electricity system costs in NSW to 2033.

Delivering on these three essential pillars will enable the NSW transmission system to respond to and thrive in our new energy landscape, providing clean, reliable and affordable electricity to Australians.