Renewable energy would need a spinning reserve, either a gas or coal plant, to counter the gaps in renewables, says national wind farm commissioner Andrew Dyer.
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"At some point in time you need to generate power for the economy and keep the country running," Mr Dyer said.
"The more wind farms and solar farms, the probability of those farms being operational as subsidised plants increases, but unless you have massive amounts of storage to deploy, like hydro plants... there will also be reliance on dispatchable power."
According to the open platform for the National Electricity Market across Australia, the contribution to generation of renewables in the past year was 20.9 per cent, while fossil fuels contributed 79.1 per cent.
Parties at the federal election have unveiled their energy policies.
Labor has committed to 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030. They are targeting households by offering rebates of $2000 for solar batteries with a target of one million by 2025, and will invest $10 billion to support new generation and storage.
The Greens want to phase out coal completely.
Independent candidate for Hume, Huw Kingston, said one of his main priorities was maintaining the position of the Hume electorate in the renewable energy market.
"If the people of Hume think it [renewables] has the economic value, and the growth of strong business structures within Hume, it has a very major role to play, and in the community.
"It is such a big economic contributor: direct jobs, training, and trades.
He also said, "I will advocate for investment in sensible, highly-planned and integrated infrastructure, transport and land use plans to boost economic growth in Hume, but not to the detriment of our natural environment and the liveability of our region."
Mr Dyer said at a Senates estimate hearing that, geographically, there needed to be a balance: "I think we do have to be careful about too many cumulative effects of multiple wind farms in specific geographies."
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is working to augment the largely coal-resourced grid with a renewable resource to improve locations in the long-term.
Liberal offer lower prices and more reliability
The Coalition will be targeting lower prices, increased competition and reliability in the energy system, it says.
In March, the government announced a shortlist of 12 projects - six renewable pumped hydro projects, five gas projects and one coal upgrade project - to back reliable generation.
The government is targeting a 25 to 30 per cent reduction in wholesale prices in each National Electricity Market (NEM) region, the projects will deliver a capacity of 3818 megawatts of new generation.
From July 1, the Coalition would also lock in a price safety net for customers on the highest electricity offers in the market, it said.
The Morrison Government said it would implement the code, which would affect residential customers and small businesses.
"The growing market power of energy companies combined with the unprecedented investment in intermittent solar and wind generation without storage threatens the affordability, reliability and security of our NEM," a statement of Energy Minister and Hume MP Angus Taylor read.
"Solar and wind have an important role as costs continue to fall but we need balance, particularly while large-scale storage is relatively expensive.
"In the next three years we'll see committed renewables investment of $15 billion coming into the NEM, a 250 per cent increase in solar and wind, rising from nine per cent to 23.5 per cent.
"Unprecedented emissions reductions are assured, but there are risks to keeping the lights on, serving industrial customers without interruption and lowering prices."
