Coal news and updates

Summer blackout threat eases but AEMO warns risks remain as coal, gas plants retire

The body that keeps the lights on in Australia's biggest electricity system has scaled back its warnings about the risk of power shortages in coming years amid efforts to buttress supplies.

But the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO ) said delays in major generation and transmission projects could still imperil reliability across the Eastern States as a raft of coal- and gas-fired power stations closed.

The agency said the risks of supply not meeting demand could emerge as soon as this summer in South Australia, before spreading to New South Wales and Victoria in following years.

In its latest forecast for electricity supplies, AEMO said the outlook had "improved" compared with recent years thanks to the progress made on 5.7 gigawatts of new generation and storage developments.

Among them was 3.9 gigawatts — and 13.5 gigawatt hours — of batteries, 1.2 gigawatts of large-scale solar and about 400 megawatts of wind power.