Batteries Outpower Gas Plants in Australia

0:00Renewable power batteries are kicking gas plants off Australia's electricity grid, keeping fuel bills in check even as global shocks like the Iran, or drive up fossil fuel costs. Oil prices spike 60% since the conflict kicked off on February 28th and gas is climbing right behind, hitting Europe and Asia. Hard. Earlier this year, battery installs hit more capacity than the previous eight years combined, according to the Clean Energy Council. In the last three months of last year, batteries tripled their power supply to the grid, gas dropped nearly 30% and coal hit its lowest, quarterly level ever. Back in 2022, Russia's Ukraine invasion jacked up Aussie electricity prices by 25% amid similar chaos. Now, experts like those at the Greden Institute say, batteries are flipping the script, store in cheap solar and wind like any other resource to handle. Peak demand without wasting mid-day sunpower costs are plummeting too, 220% cheaper to build

1:01batteries from mid-2024. With another 15% drop expected this, financial year, they're firing up first during morning and evening rushes when gas would cost a fortune, soaking up free mid-day renewables instead. Meanwhile, officials push bad gas shortage warnings for new South Wales and Victoria from this winter to at least 2029. As battery boom proves renewables can deliver energy independence, stabilizing the grid through whatever storms come next. From your city, powered by AI, this is Sydney News Today. I'm Corey with the story.