Australia Shatters Energy Records: Renewables Dominate 40%+ Of Main Grid Supply

Australia’s renewable energy sector is breaking records across the country. Clean power sources now supply over 39% of the nation’s electricity, with projections showing this figure will reach 43% by early 2025. The rapid change away from coal has accelerated beyond expectations, as Australia plans to retire all coal-fired generators within ten years. This dramatic shift raises important questions about infrastructure readiness and economic impacts as the country moves toward a greener energy future.

As Australia moves toward a greener future, renewable energy has reached an impressive new milestone in the nation’s power grid. Renewables now account for 39.4% of Australia’s total electricity supply, based on 2023 figures. This upward trend continued into 2025, with renewable energy hitting a record 43% share in Australia’s electricity grid during the first quarter of the year.

The summer of 2024/25 saw renewables achieve a 44.7% share in the main grid, marking a significant rise from 40.3% in the previous summer. Spring 2024 recorded the highest seasonal share at 46%. These figures represent dramatic growth from just five years ago, when renewables made up only 24.1% of the energy mix in summer 2019/20.

Australia’s renewable growth is backed by impressive capacity additions. In 2023, 5.9 GW of new renewable generation capacity was added, surpassing the 5 GW added in 2022. This mirrors the global trend where solar power capacity accounted for three-quarters of new installations worldwide. This included 2.8 GW of new large-scale renewable generation and 3.1 GW from 337,498 rooftop solar installations by households and small businesses.

The storage sector is also expanding rapidly. At the end of 2023, 27 utility-scale batteries were under construction, representing 5 GW/11 GWh of combined capacity. This marks a substantial increase from 19 projects totaling 1.4 GW/2 GWh in 2022. Investment in new large-scale storage reached $4.9 billion in 2023, more than doubling the $1.9 billion invested in 2022. The recent election victory of the Australian Labor Party was widely interpreted as a mandate for clean energy across the nation.

As renewables rise, coal’s share in the energy mix continues to fall. Australia plans for all coal-fired generators to retire within a decade, supporting the country’s shift to a renewable-dominated grid.

Australia’s main grid has maintained reliability despite record renewable penetration. The increasing renewable generation has created downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices throughout the market. Looking ahead, the country has set ambitious targets, aiming to increase renewable energy from the current ~43% to 82% by 2030. The 2025 renewable power percentage is set at 17.91% under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target, with an annual target of 33,000,000 megawatt hours until 2030.