AEMO On Air

Australian Energy Market Operator

A podcast about all things energy, brought to you by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

  1. 6D AGO

    The 50% Moment: How Renewables and Storage shaped the 4th quarter of 2025

    Season 3 of AEMO On Air is underway  🎙️  In the first episode for 2026, we speak with Kerry Galloway, AEMO’s Manager of Market Insights, about a milestone quarter for Australia’s energy transition following the launch of AEMO’s Q4 2025 Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report. For the first time ever, renewables and storage supplied more than half of total energy needs across the east and west coast grids in Q4, with WA’s WEM reaching an extraordinary 91% renewable supply at peak. Strong renewable output contributed to lower wholesale prices — while remaining just one of several factors that shape the market. The episode also explores the continued surge in investment, from grid-scale solar and batteries to rooftop systems on Australian homes. Battery discharge nearly tripled year-on-year in the NEM and jumped around 200% in the WEM, while rooftop solar growth is increasingly influencing daytime demand and minimum operational demand. Combined with milder conditions than Q4 2024, the quarter highlights sustained momentum and real change in the energy mix. 🗎 Explore the full QED for more insights: https://bit.ly/3LRXQUf Interviewer: Catie Low LinkedIn | X | Facebook

    19 min

  2. 12/22/2025

    Setting course for 2050: A deep dive into the Draft 2026 Integrated System Plan

    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

    22 min

  3. 12/05/2025

    Stabilising the transition: Inside the 2025 Transition Plan for System Security

    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

    27 min

  4. 12/01/2025

    Why the world envies Australia’s transition plan: A deep dive into what is the ISP

    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

    20 min

  5. 11/14/2025

    Pedalling through change: System Security in a solar-driven grid

    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 transition 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

    31 min

  6. 10/31/2025

    Inside the numbers: how renewables drove down power prices in Q3 2025

    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 NEMRooftop solar up 11%Wind and grid-scale solar up 16% year-on-yearRenewables supplying 36.4% of WA’s power – another Q3 recordRead the QED here: https://bit.ly/47kVBAQ Interviewer: Catie Low LinkedIn | X | Facebook

    17 min

  7. 10/13/2025

    From Dublin to Down Under: control rooms, transition points and the future of power system security – a chat with Yvonne Coughlan

    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

    24 min

  8. 09/01/2025

    Reliability outlook improves: the ESOO’s 10-year investment snapshot

    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

    20 min
See All (33)

About

A podcast about all things energy, brought to you by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Information

  • Creator
    Australian Energy Market Operator
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 AEMO
  • Show Website
    AEMO On Air

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