Comments on the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s Draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023

See the attached for the comments we submitted on the DMRE’s draft integrated resource plan for 2023. We focus on the electricity demand projections – this is a key component of IRP planning because it is key to assessing how much new generation capacity may be required, which types of generation resources are required to meet changing demand and how much transmission and distribution networks should be expanded and where. Our main concern is that the IRP 2023 supply scenarios seemed to have been based on one very optimistic forecast of future electricity demand – the IRP must consider a range of possible demand outcomes.