Wind projects drought threatens energy transition

Thursday 29 October 2026

Over the past decade, taxpayers have heavily subsidised virtually every large-scale renewable project undertaken in Australia.

To meet the federal government’s 82% renewable energy target (RET), Australia must retire most of its current coal fleet and replace it with about 6–7 GW of new large-scale renewable generation annually, along with several gigawatts of storage.

Source: AEMO’s 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP)

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:

$24.99 / month

$249 / year

Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe

About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.