Costs mount as the energy transition runs off the rails

The notion that renewable energy is cheap to generate (because the fuel source is free) but very expensive to integrate is being borne out by recent cost blowouts in transmission and storage.

Already we have seen the cost of the Snowy Hydro 2.0 storage project balloon from an initially announced $2 billion to more than $40 billion, with the timeframe of the project, should it be delivered, also delayed into the 2030s.

AEMO also reported that renewable transmission costs soared by 25% to 55% over the two years to 2025, with costs also 10% to 35% higher (in real terms) for substation projects.