Page - 201 - in Book of Full Papers - Symposium Hydro Engineering

emissions, and contributes approximately a third of Australia’s total emissions. As coal-fired power stations reach the end of their lives they will be decommissioned. A total of 45 TWh of coal-fired generation is set to retire in Australia. Fig. 1 Expected retirement profile of generation assets in Australia - based on life expectancy [2] The CSIRO’s Low Emissions Technology Roadmap [1] has identified that the most likely pathway for Australia to meet its commitment to reduction in GHG emissions is to replace the coal-fired generation with renewable energy, mainly wind and solar PV. However, these renewables are highly variable and non- dispatchable. Fig 2 shows the NEM generation mix and how it is likely to transition. As the proportion of variable renewable energy increases, increased storage is required for supply–demand matching to manage the variability in generation and provide the required system flexibility. Hydropower storage plays an expanding role in integrated power systems internationally and can enable increased use of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. 201