As the debate over the Coalition’s nuclear power plan continues, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned there’s no chance nuclear energy will get online in time to replace retiring coal-fired power plants. It also says any delays to renewables will likely lead to higher costs and interruptions to the grid supply – “a risk that must be avoided”. The comments follow the release of its Integrated System Plan (ISP), detailing how renewables need to expand in the coming decades to meet the government’s climate targets and take over from fossil fuels. That includes households increasing their renewable energy generation through things like rooftop solar to significantly lift the amount of energy being fed into the grid. But some experts say without better coordination of household batteries to store the power, an extra $4 billion will need to be spent on large-scale storage.