As Australia moves to a renewable electricity supply, the foundations of grid security are being challenged and transformed.
Coal-fired generators are retiring, new technologies are scaling rapidly, and decades-old rules and assumptions are being tested in real time.
A new white paper, Securing Power Systems in the Renewable Revolution, sets out a clear roadmap for navigating the next phase of the transition.
Released by the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub’s Electrification and Energy Systems Network, UNSW Energy Institute and the University of Wollongong, the paper examines what a high-renewables future means for grid security.
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Australia’s energy transition is not a leap into the dark. Renewable penetration has already reached 70-80% at times, without compromising system security. Nationally, there are more than 4.3 million rooftop solar connections, alongside a rapidly growing battery ecosystem. But operating a highly renewable grid at scale, across seasons and under extreme conditions introduces new uncertainties.
The white paper identifies the critical technical, regulatory and economic issues that must be addressed to ensure grid security. It aims to help the sector navigate one of the most critical technical, policy and economic challenges of the energy transition: keeping the lights on while transforming the grid for a fully renewable future.
“We’re moving from a system governed by physical properties to one controlled by software and power electronics,” said UNSW Energy Institute Industry Professor of Practice Mark Twidell, co-author of the white paper.
“That’s effectively an analogue-to-digital transformation of the network.”
The system increasingly relies on inverters to convert renewable energy into grid-ready power. They are fast and flexible but respond differently from traditional generators during disruptions.
“The main risk isn’t normal day-to-day operation,” Prof Twidell said.
“It’s how inverters respond during faults and disturbances, and whether existing protection systems can continue to operate reliably when those responses change.
“The White Paper calls for closer industry collaboration to harness existing data to understand inverter behaviour and plan ahead.”
A key concern is maintaining the grid’s ‘heartbeat’—the steady frequency that keeps electricity stable, without traditional generators.
“At some point we have to ask whether we’re still connecting new things to a legacy grid, or whether the new things are the grid,” said co-author Ty Christopher, director of the Energy Futures Network at the University of Wollongong.
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“We’re trying to manage a 21st-century grid with 20th-century regulation,” he said.
“Those rules were written for a system that simply no longer exists.”
The white paper sets out a national approach to electrification built on partnerships between industry, academia and government. It seeks to address the immediate, high-stakes challenges, while also establishing a framework to resolve longer-term strategic issues that affect a wide range of stakeholders.
Its ultimate purpose is to provide a shared evidence base and clear priorities for those shaping the energy transformation.
