Australia’s largest energy company, AGL Energy, says Australia’s transition away from a coal-powered national grid to renewables will largely bypass gas, and shift straight to wind and solar.
As politicians and the gas lobby talk about the need to guarantee supply of gas, the company founded 180 years ago as the Australian Gas Light Company, says the combination of wind and solar and battery storage is already cheaper than new gas generators.
The prediction, which flies in the face of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s plan to subsidise the delivery of gas, was made by AGL CFO Brett Redman on May 2. It is based on the now widely accepted economic view that gas power will grow more expensive, making it less competitive with large-scale solar and wind.
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