Australia's ageing coal-fired power stations increase the chances of blackouts, experts say.
Fresh warnings Australia's coal generation fleet is ageing and becoming less reliable come as the federal government dials up its clean energy commitment with a $2 billion top-up for the national green bank.
More than 60 per cent of Australia's coal power stations are over four decades old, an advanced age Climate Councillor and energy expert Greg Bourne says increases the chance of unplanned outages.
"Clapped-out coal clunkers are making it harder to keep the lights on," Mr Bourne said.
AdThe release of the Climate Council-commissioned research, produced by consulting firm Baringa, follows Labor's announcement to provide an additional $2 billion for the government-owned green bank.
Federal ministers believe the top-up for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation should unlock $6 billion of private investment in renewables and clean technology, and help lower household energy prices.
"The world is shifting to net zero … there are big opportunities and big benefits for Australia, so long as it acts now to make the most of demand for clean energy and inputs globally," Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.
The announcement comes days after US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Paris climate agreement, vowed to halt new offshore wind farm approvals and signed orders speeding up drilling for fossil fuels.
Mr Bowen used the announcement to distance his government's energy strategy from the opposition's nuclear-focused agenda.
"Meanwhile, (Opposition Leader) Peter Dutton's only answer to how he'd make things better is to throw this opportunity away, cancel the programs and the projects that are working to make Australia better right now, and wait 20 years to build the world's most expensive form of power," Mr Bowen said.
Mr Dutton has been defending the $330 billion nuclear energy blueprint he announced to build seven reactors across five states, costing each of Australia's 13.6 million taxpayers more than $24,200.
Analysis by the national science agency CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator agreed nuclear energy generation would be up to twice as expensive as large-scale solar.
But the opposition leader maintains as the federal government's "renewables-only" policy is leading to high power prices for households and businesses.
Baringa Partners' Peter Sherry said his firm's analysis of the coal power fleet suggests most of the nation's generation will be replaced by renewables and firming technologies like storage within the next 10 years, given the advanced age of the fleet.
Ad"Our analysis finds that coal generators in the National Electricity Market become less available with age, particularly beyond 40 years of age," he said.
Coal generators' availability to produce electricity drops off after the 40-year mark, according to the analysis, from 81 per cent to 65 per cent, on average.
Coal outages were also linked to broader blackout risks.
At times when the Australian Energy Market Operator has flagged the risk of power demand exceeding supply - signalling a higher threat of power outages - coal was typically "significantly less available".
NSW and Victoria were particularly prone to reliability mishaps with the oldest coal stations in the country.
