Australia’s green energy shift triggers blackout warnings as coal plant closures outpace grid stability

• Australia’s rapid shift from coal to renewables risks nationwide blackouts.
• A government report warns the grid will lack critical stability after a major coal plant closes.
• Essential stabilizing equipment may not be ready in time, leaving a dangerous gap.
• Politicians from both major parties admit to a decade of failed energy planning.
• This crisis serves as a global warning against shutting reliable power before replacements are ready.

Australia’s rush to replace reliable coal-fired power with volatile renewable energy is setting the stage for potential nationwide blackouts, according to a sobering new government report. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) warns that the planned closure of the nation’s largest coal plant, Eraring in New South Wales, could create critical gaps in grid stability as early as 2027, leaving millions of households and businesses vulnerable to power outages. This crisis exposes the fatal flaw in the green energy transition: prioritizing ideology over engineering reality.

The report, AEMO’s 2025 Transition Plan for System Security, outlines “confirmed system strength deficits” for Victoria and New South Wales if the Eraring plant closes on its current schedule. The shortfall isn’t about a lack of electricity generation but a dangerous lack of infrastructure to keep the grid’s voltage steady and resistant to shocks. “System security is really whether the electricity grid can maintain a stable heartbeat,” AEMO Chief Executive Daniel Westerman told ABC radio.

The stability gap

Traditionally, the steady spinning turbines of coal, gas, and hydro plants provided the inertia and frequency control that kept the power grid stable. As these plants are retired, that essential stability disappears. The report states that 10 coal-fired power stations have closed since 2012, and the average age of the remaining plants is 38 years. The scheduled closure of Eraring, which provides this crucial inertia, creates a perilous gap before replacement technology can be installed.

The infrastructure meant to fill this void are synchronous condensers, large machines that stabilize the grid without burning fuel. However, AEMO warns this equipment is unlikely to be delivered until “at least 2028,” a year after Eraring’s base closure date. “This leaves a year or more where the grid’s resilience is severely compromised.

Acknowledging past failures

The political blame game has begun, with figures from both major parties acknowledging a decade of failed planning. Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, of the Coalition, admitted his party’s inaction was a “mistake.” “We should be building new coal fired power stations. I can say that now,” Joyce said on Sunrise. He compared the current energy policy to randomly taking parts out of a working car and expecting it to still run.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek of the Labor Party fired back, placing blame on the previous Coalition government. “Of course, it would have been better if this process had started ten years ago,” Plibersek said. She argued the previous administration “stuck its head in the sand” despite warnings about coal plant closures. NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe admitted the state was “in a race to replace our ageing coal-fired power stations,” highlighting the frantic, reactive nature of the current policy.

The situation is further complicated by the surge in rooftop solar, which, while adding power, lacks the system security services a stable grid requires. AEMO has warned of risks from increased demand, delays in battery projects, and infrastructure shortages. The government and energy companies insist they are working collaboratively to prevent blackouts. Origin Energy, Eraring’s owner, says its “base case” is still a 2027 closure but has an option to extend to 2029 if needed.

This Australian energy crisis is a warning to the world, particularly nations like the United States being pushed toward a similar green transition. It demonstrates that shutting down reliable baseload power before the replacement infrastructure is fully operational isn’t progressive; it’s perilous. When the lights go out, the cascading failures in everything from refrigeration to communications reveal how fragile our modern civilization truly is. A nation’s energy policy shouldn’t be a high-stakes gamble with its people’s security and survival.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

SMH.com.au

News.com.au