Australia could run its electricity grid without fossil gas at similar cost; researchers say models under - The Times of India

Australian researchers have modelled a grid running on renewables and battery storage without fossil gas, claiming the all-in cost would be similar to the current gas-dependent system. The modelling treats gas as optional rather than essential to grid stability.

Where this fits

This is a cost-parity claim, and it sits at the heart of the renewables-only argument. The framing erases the actual architecture cost: what the model calls "similar cost" includes the full system, not just generation, but the transmission overbuild needed to move variable renewable power across distance, the battery banks for overnight storage, and the weather-dependent firming that still requires gas backup on low-wind, low-sun days. The premise that firm power is optional hides the resilience and dispatch cost born elsewhere in the grid.

What it means

If the model's cost assumptions hold and gas is truly optional, the claim rests on Australia's willingness to accept a grid whose output depends on weather patterns, battery state of charge, and the integrity of a supply chain for panels, inverters and cells dominated by China. The modelling does not address whether similar cost translates to similar reliability during extended cloud cover or calm conditions, nor what "backup" gas plant would actually cost if needed at short notice. Australia is being offered a path to decarbonisation that is cost-competitive on paper but trades fossil fuel dependence for weather dependence and strategic dependence on Chinese manufacturing. The alternative, firm, low-emission nuclear generation, remains legally foreclosed, making this model the only option being seriously considered, not because it is optimal, but because it is the only one allowed.