Feds 'supercharge' clean energy build to keep lights on

There are calls to extend a scheme to include consumer energy resources such as rooftop solar. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

Australia's creaking electricity grid will get more government support under an expansion of a taxpayer-funded capacity investment scheme.

Federal investment in partnership with states and territories, subject to them investing in their own capacity, will also help replace the nation's fleet of increasingly unreliable and costly coal-fired power plants.