Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plan could lead to major electricity shortages, analysis says

The IEEFA report shows the reduced capacity of ageing coal plants the Coalition expects will take up the slack in power generation while nuclear reactors are built would leave a shortfall of 9,300 gigawatt-hours a year. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Peter Dutton’s plan to build less renewable energy and keep Australia’s coal plants running longer has overestimated the reliability of ageing generators and could lead to major electricity shortages, according to a new analysis.

The Coalition has pledged to put taxpayer-funded nuclear reactors at seven sites around Australia and has pointed to modelling by Frontier Economics that shows the country’s ageing coal fleet would need to take up the slack in electricity generation while they are built.