Battery surge a cheap, green saviour as war fuels price spikes

March 29, 2026 — 4:00am

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Batteries powered by renewables are pushing gas plants off the electricity grid, proving that green energy will reduce fuel bills driven higher by shocks to the global fossil fuel market such as the crisis being driven by the Iran war.

The oil price has spiked 60 per cent since the conflict began on February 28. Gas prices, which are linked to the oil market, are also on their way up, with Asian and European countries bracing for fuel shortages.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the last time a crisis like this caused a global energy crunch, soaring oil and gas prices contributed to Australian electricity price hikes of 25 per cent.

But a remarkable shift is under way across the electricity grid.

For the first time, renewable energy is supplying most of our power

The volume of battery capacity installed in 2025 was greater than the combined total of the previous eight years, the Clean Energy Council said. Batteries tripled their supply to the grid in the final three months of last year, while gas fell nearly 30 per cent and coal was reduced to........

© Brisbane Times