{"id":907180,"date":"2026-09-27T08:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T08:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907180\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T08:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T08:36:34","slug":"chart-of-the-day-big-batteries-are-muscling-out-fossil-fuels-and-gas-not-coal-is-the-biggest-loser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907180\/","title":{"rendered":"Chart of the Day: Big batteries are muscling out fossil fuels and gas \u2013 not coal \u2013 is the &#8220;biggest loser&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new chart from Energy Synapse founder and managing director Marija Petkovic has offered a new snapshot on how big batteries fed on a diet of excess wind and solar are increasingly muscling out fossil fuels from the lucrative evening peak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Petkovic, a leading expert on Australia\u2019s wholesale electricity markets and battery storage, says discharged energy from utility-scale batteries increased by more than three times over the 12-month period to August 1, 2026, thanks to the rapid influx of new storage capacity \u2013 and much of this is displacing gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chart also illustrates why prolonging the life of Australia\u2019s old coal plants is problematic on a number of levels, including operational and transitional, as well as being a blight on climate action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Petkovic points out, \u201cno coal exited the market, but total generation reduced by over 4 TWh (4%). On a percentage basis, gas was the biggest loser, down 28%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGeneration from all renewables increased. Wind up 13%, large-scale solar up 15%, rooftop solar up 9%.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"500\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--pointerdown=\"actions.preloadImage\" data-wp-on--pointerenter=\"actions.preloadImageWithDelay\" data-wp-on--pointerleave=\"actions.cancelPreload\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790147932842-copy-667x500.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-258616\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lack of coal exits is not just bad for the climate and for gas. It\u2019s having a counter-productive drag effect on the entire transition, as Petkovic notes: <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs supply has grown without any coal exits, revenue outcomes have significantly compressed for BESS, wind and solar. A soft revenue environment makes it harder to invest in the additional capacity the transition needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, taxpayer-funded state government deals to extend the lives of aging coal plants diverts capital away from grid-scale storage and transmission infrastructure that is need to accommodate enough renewables to replace coal. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/sign-up-for-our-daily-newsletter\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90px\" height=\"90px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790498194_784_sophie-vorrath-e1707967778268.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new chart from Energy Synapse founder and managing director Marija Petkovic has offered a new snapshot on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":907181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-907180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}