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Draft 2026 ISP Consultation

23/02/2026
Market National Electricity Market
StageDraft Report
ConvenorAEMO NEM
Initiated10/12/2025
Accepting submissions?No
Submissions close13/02/2026

Timeline

  • Draft 2026 ISP published
    10 December 2025
  • Draft 2026 ISP publication webinar
    16 December 2025
  • Consumer advocates verbal submission
    13 February 2026
  • Submissions due on Draft 2026 ISP
    13 February 2026
  • Final 2026 ISP published
    25 June 2026

Key contact

A mail icon. Email: [email protected]

Matter under consultation

AEMO’s Integrated System Plan (ISP) outlines an ‘optimal development path’ for generation, storage and network investments to meet consumer needs and government policies, at least cost, for at least the next 20 years.

The ISP is a two-year effort, with its inputs and methodology informed by extensive stakeholder consultation. It uses comprehensive, integrated models to find the optimal mix of NEM developments, tested for a range of future outcomes.

In response to the Australian Government’s review of the ISP, its scope was increased in 2025 to consider more explicitly the interactions between grid-scale electricity investment, consumer energy resources (CER), distribution networks, and gas market development.

The Draft 2026 ISP reaffirms that renewable energy, connected by transmission and distribution, firmed with storage and backed up by gas presents the least-cost way to supply secure and reliable electricity to consumers as coal plants retire, while meeting government policies through to 2050.

Submissions to the Draft 2026 ISP, particularly on the six consultation questions listed in the Draft 2026 ISP, closed on 13 February 2026. Submissions are published below, other than confidential material, as per AEMO’s consultation submission guidelines.

AEMO hosted a webinar on Tuesday, 16 December 2025 which overviewed the Draft 2026 ISP and provided stakeholders with an opportunity to ask questions.

Watch the Draft 2026 ISP publication webinar

AEMO also called for non-network options to meet the identified need for the newly actionable ISP project, the Switching Station Near Wondalga project by 20 March 2026. Further details on the notice of consultation and next steps are provided in the consultation page for this project:

  • Draft 2026 ISP
  • Consultation submissions
  • Final 2026 ISP

Appendices

Supporting materials

Regulatory materials

Draft 2026 ISP data files

Draft 2026 ISP traces

Demand trace data

Regional files

The files below provide draft regional demand traces, by components for each NEM region for both 10% and 50% probability of exceedance (POE) maximum demands and for 22 different reference years (2002-03 till 2024-25) by scenario.

Note that electricity demand for the production of both domestic and export hydrogen is not included in any of the components below for any scenario. Demand associated with hydrogen production is modelled separately according to the approach outlined in AEMO’s methodologies and IASR.

Each of the zipped regional files includes:

  • OPSO: Contains half-hourly regional demand traces for operational demand (demand after the impact of rooftop PV and PVNSG).
  • OPSO_PVLITE: Contains half-hourly regional demand traces for operational demand (demand before the impact of rooftop PV and PVNSG)
  • OPSO_MODELLING: Version of demand used in AEMO’s market modelling. OPSO_MODELLING = OPSO – ICL + EVVPP.
  • OPSO_MODELLING_PVLITE: Version of demand used in AEMO’s market modelling. OPSO_MODELLING_PVLITE = OPSO_MODELLING+ PV_TOT
  • PV: Contains half hourly regional generation traces for rooftop PV
  • PV_TOT: Contains half hourly regional generation traces for all embedded PV, including rooftop PV and PVNSG.
  • PVNSG: Contains half hourly regional generation traces PVNSG.
  • EV: Contains half hourly regional aggregate electric vehicle charging
  • ESS: Contains half hourly regional aggregate customer installed battery charging/discharging. ESS is capturing the net impact of battery storages (charge – discharge). To remove ESS from OPSO you would subtract it: OPSO - ESS
  • VTOH: Contains half hourly regional aggregate discharging from electric vehicles to homes (only used in the Step change scenario).
  • EVVPP: Coordinated EV charging (targeting low demand periods, helping to lift minimum demand). Not reflected in demand traces
  • ELECTRIFICATION_BUS: Electrification impact on the business sector
  • ELECTRIFICATION_RES: Electrification impact on the residential sector
  • ICL: Estimated interconnector losses (to allow netting off those if you are modelling interconnector losses in the market modelling)
National Electricity MarketIntegrated System PlanConsultations
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