South Australia: batteries & renewables to start displacing gas as early as 2025

By 2025, wind, solar and battery costs will fall by 15%, 25% and 50%, respectively, and renewables are expected to double in capacity to account for 67% of South Australia's total power capacity. Depending on gas prices, renewables and batteries could offer a lower cost alternative to the combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants commonly used to manage base load power generation in South Australia.

Gas will increasingly be used just for emergency back-up — causing demand to decline by 70%. However, this figure relies on the development of a more robust storage and support to compensate for intermittent generation. There may still be ways for gas to remain an integral part of the power mix.

In our recent webinar, Dr. Bikal Pokharel and Nicholas Browne discussed these projections and shared their thoughts on the future of South Australia's energy mix.