What is the Integrated System Plan and why does it matter?

With the upcoming release of the 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP) this week, our latest AEMO On Air podcast episode goes behind the scenes of the long-term roadmap for the National Electricity Market with AEMO Group Manager System Planning, Eli Pack.

Eli explains how the ISP is developed, who uses it, and how input from around 2,000 stakeholders across industry, governments, consumer groups and market bodies helps shape the plan. The conversation also explores the expanding scope of the ISP and its role in supporting a reliable, secure and low-cost energy system as Australia's energy transition continues.

While many Australians may never read the ISP itself, as Eli notes, most people will experience the outcomes it delivers.

Interviewer: Catie Low

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What does it take to solve the biggest challenges facing Australia’s energy transition?

In this episode, we sit down with two rising stars from the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship program – Madeleine Neaves and Frederick Madriaga – to explore the research helping shape Australia’s future energy systems.

Madeleine, a Monash University Engineering PhD candidate, is researching how future grids maintain stability and inertia in power systems increasingly powered by inverter-based technologies like batteries and renewables. Frederick is developing AI-driven approaches to improve resilience, visibility and decision-making across increasingly decentralised and digital electricity networks.

Delivered in partnership between the AEMO and Monash University, the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship program honours AEMO’s inaugural CEO, the late Matt Zema, and supports emerging researchers working on the future of Australia’s energy systems.

This year marks seven years since the scholarship was established, with 10 scholars currently undertaking PhDs and the program expected to celebrate its first graduates in 2026.

Learn more about the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship: www.aemo.com.au/about/zema-energy-studies-scholarship

Information about applications to the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship: www.monash.edu/energy-institute/students/scholarships/zema-energy-studies-scholarship


Interviewer: Catie Low

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Batteries are now playing a central role in Australia’s electricity system, and the latest data shows just how quickly that shift is happening.

In this episode of AEMO On Air, Kerry Galloway, AEMO’s Manager of Market Insights unpacks the key details of the Q1 2026 Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report.

In the National Electricity Market (NEM), more than 4,400 MW of new battery capacity has been added in the past year, which has helped shift three times the volume of renewable energy from daytime into the evening peak, competing against coal and gas. Batteries set prices for around a third of the times and contributed to a 12% year-on-year drop in wholesale electricity prices.

The episode also explores the quarter’s record renewable output, with renewables supplying 46.5% of NEM generation, while emerging demand continues to build with 11 large-scale data centre projects (5.4 GW) progressing through connections.

Explore the full QED for more insights: https://bit.ly/4umi74K

Interviewer: Catie Low

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The energy transition is global and so are the challenges.

Across the world, system operators are grappling with the same fundamental shifts, rapid growth in renewables, decentralised generation and increasingly complex system dynamics.

In our latest AEMO On Air episode, we’re joined by Luke Robinson, Group Manager – System Modelling to explore how global collaboration is helping system operators navigate one of the most complex transformations in modern energy systems.

As a founding member of the International System Operators Network (ISON), AEMO is working alongside peers across the US and Europe to tackle shared challenges, from integrating high levels of inverter-based resources to AI and data centres and rethinking the control room of the future.

And while we are helping solve global issues, the world is watching Australia and what we are doing, particularly our leadership in rooftop solar and consumer energy resources.

Find out more about ISON and AEMO here: www.aemo.com.au/initiatives/major-programs/international-system-operator-collaboration

Read more about ISON: www.isonetwork.org/

Interviewer: Catie Low

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AEMO has released our 2026 Gas Statement of Opportunities (GSOO) – an annual outlook examining gas demand and supply across Australia’s east coast over the next 20-plus years.

In this episode of AEMO On Air, we chat with Alice McLaren, AEMO’s Manager of Market Operability in System Design, to break down what the latest analysis means for industry, governments and consumers.

As Alice explains: “We’re seeing an improvement in our forecast compared to last year… but longer term, those risks remain and point to the need for new investment in supply, storage and infrastructure…. We still see gas as having a critical role to play… particularly as a backup where renewable generation is less available.”

Key takeaways:

Near-term outlook improving
The 2026 GSOO shows a more positive short-term outlook for southern states, driven by new infrastructure commitments, increased peak supply expectations, and reduced gas demand from electrification and changes in consumption.

Longer-term risks remain
From around 2030, the report identifies increasing risks of supply gaps across most weather scenarios – reinforcing the need for timely investment in new gas supply, storage and pipelines.

Declining southern production is a key driver
A major factor is the continued decline of legacy gas fields, particularly in Victoria, with significant implications for how the southern market is supplied in future.

Read the GSOO here: https://bit.ly/3PyFSYe
VGPR: https://bit.ly/4v6VEdk
GSOO explainer: https://bit.ly/4bCPZnG
Media release: https://bit.ly/4uRpO3T

Interviewer: Catie Low

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Following the release of AEMO’s Transition Plan for System Security (TPSS) in December 2025, this episode explores what it takes to keep Australia’s power system secure as the energy transition accelerates. 

In the third and final instalment in our system security series, Dr Niraj (Nij) Lal talks to Lars Narushevich, Specialist Engineer in System Security Planning at AEMO, to break down the fundamentals of system security and how the industry is working with AEMO to keep the power system secure.

NIj and Lars discuss what system security means in the National Electricity Market (NEM) and why it’s a shared responsibility, how AEMO sets system security requirements 3-10 years ahead through the planning process, the role of system strength and inertia in a secure power system, and how AEMO works with transmission network service providers to identify gaps and signal future needs.

Interviewer: Dr Niraj (Nij) Lal

Download the 2025 TPSS here: https://bit.ly/3XusYeC

Catch up on the previous system security episodes...
Episode 1: https://bit.ly/43tbEtT
Episode 2: https://bit.ly/4uKaXIF

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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

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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

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