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| Integrated System Plan | |
|---|---|
| Name | Integrated System Plan |
| Type | Strategic planning document |
| Region | Australia |
| First published | 2018 |
| Publisher | Australian Energy Market Operator |
| Purpose | Long-term electricity system planning |
Integrated System Plan
The Integrated System Plan is a comprehensive strategic roadmap produced to coordinate long-term electricity infrastructure, investment, and policy across Australia. It synthesizes inputs from stakeholders including Australian Energy Market Operator, Commonwealth of Australia, State of Victoria, State of New South Wales, State of Queensland and industry participants such as AEMC, AEMO, CSIRO, ARENA and major utilities like ElectraNet, AusNet Services, TransGrid and Powerlink Queensland. The plan interfaces with national initiatives such as the National Electricity Market, National Energy Guarantee, Renewable Energy Target, Green Paper consultations and state strategies like South Australian Renewable Energy Target and Victorian Renewable Energy Target.
The plan offers scenario-driven pathways for transmission, generation, storage and demand-side responses, aligning technical studies from CSIRO and UNSW with regulatory frameworks from Australian Energy Market Commission, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and fiscal signals from the Commonwealth Treasury. It maps options across major regions including South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia (in separate studies), and the eastern seaboard NEM regions, showing interconnection needs between nodes such as Newcastle, New South Wales, Melbourne, Victoria and Brisbane, Queensland. It references international comparisons with systems overseen by National Grid (UK), PJM Interconnection and California Independent System Operator.
Origins trace to system planning debates after events like the Black Summer bushfires and frequency events that stressed grids, with predecessors in planning frameworks produced by NEMMCO and reform agendas following reports by Finkel Review and reviews by Australian Competition Tribunal. Development involved technical working groups with participants from Origin Energy, AGL Energy, EnergyAustralia, transmission providers, state utilities and research bodies including Monash University and University of Melbourne. Major updates corresponded with policy milestones such as the Paris Agreement commitments and shifts in state legislation like the Victorian Renewable Energy Target Act.
Primary objectives include delivering least-cost investment pathways, maintaining system reliability standards set by the Australian Energy Market Operator's reliability frameworks, meeting emissions trajectories implied by national pledges, and enabling integration of new technologies from developers like Tesla, Inc. and GE Renewable Energy. The scope spans generation portfolios (including wind power, solar power farms), bulk storage (pumped hydro at sites such as Snowy Mountains Scheme), transmission augmentation (new interconnectors), distribution-level responses by networks such as Endeavour Energy and demand-side measures promoted by Energy Consumers Australia.
The plan uses scenario analysis, probabilistic forecasting and production cost modeling leveraging tools and datasets from CSIRO and academic collaborators at Australian National University and University of New South Wales. Models incorporate projections for technology costs informed by manufacturers like Vestas and First Solar and siting constraints referencing protected areas managed under laws like the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It evaluates system security using stability analysis influenced by work from International Energy Agency reports and grid codes developed by AEMO.
Key components include proposed high-capacity interconnectors (for example concepts similar to the proposed EnergyConnect linking South Australia and New South Wales), transmission reinforcements analogous to projects by ElectraNet, large-scale storage options including expansions to Snowy 2.0 and utility-scale batteries inspired by installations near Hornsdale Power Reserve, distributed resources such as rooftop photovoltaics from firms like Sungrow and virtual power plants piloted by Reposit Power. It also addresses system services: frequency control, inertia, system strength and network protection schemes used by operators like TransGrid.
Stakeholders include federal agencies like the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, state energy ministers, market bodies AEMC, AEMO, Australian Energy Regulator, transmission owners, generators, retailers (including Origin Energy, AGL Energy), consumer advocates such as Public Interest Advocacy Centre and indigenous representative bodies including Australian Indigenous Energy Association. Governance mechanisms draw on consultation processes similar to those used by Australian Renewable Energy Agency funding rounds and independent expert advisory panels modeled after reviews led by figures akin to Dr Alan Finkel.
Implementation is phased through near-term priorities (operational reforms, reliability fixes), medium-term projects (priority interconnectors and staged storage builds) and long-term transformations (system-wide decarbonisation and asset retirements). Funding models combine regulated revenue streams for transmission owners under frameworks administered by Australian Energy Regulator with merchant investment, state co-investment examples like Victorian Government underwriting and federally backed financing mechanisms referencing proposals considered by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Critiques focus on assumptions for technology learning curves from manufacturers such as Siemens Gamesa and Enphase Energy, uncertainties in demand forecasts amid electrification trends championed by Tesla, Inc. and electrified transport policies from Australian Renewable Energy Target-era debates. Stakeholder tensions arise over transmission siting, environmental assessments under Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, indigenous land rights issues raised with reference to Native Title Act 1993 claims, and regulatory coordination across bodies like AEMC and AEMO. Operational challenges include maintaining inertia and system strength as coal plants retire (notably assets once run by Snowy Hydro and Loy Yang Power Station), and ensuring investment signals are consistent with state initiatives such as South Australian Renewable Energy Target and federal commitments to the Paris Agreement.
Category:Energy planning