Australia on track to add 7GW of new wind and solar this year, as investment bounces back

Australia is on track to add more than 7GW of new renewable energy generation capacity in 2024, new data has revealed, off the back of a promising uptick in large-scale wind and solar investment and unstoppable momentum in the rooftop PV market.

The latest quarterly report for the Clean Energy Regulator finds final investment decisions (FID) for large-scale renewables “stepping up” in the first half of the calendar year, with 1.8 GW of capacity reaching shovel ready status – already surpassing the total 1.6 GW to reach FID in 2023.

Source: Clean Energy Regulator Quarterly Carbon Market Report June Quarter 2024

Elsewhere in the development pipeline, the CER data shows 1.5GW of large-scale renewable power capacity was approved in the first half of 2024, with a further 2.5GW of applications under assessment at the end of June.

Source: Clean Energy Regulator Quarterly Carbon Market Report June Quarter 2024

“The estimate for large-scale renewable power station capacity to be approved to generate large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) in 2024 has been upgraded to 3-4 GW from 2.5-3.0 GW,” the report says.

“This is based on 1.4 GW being approved in the first half of 2024 and 2.5 GW of applications being under assessment at the end of Q2 2024.”

On the smaller-scale, the report finds rooftop solar being installed “as expected,” at a rate that puts it on track for a total of 3.1 GW to be installed this year.

In the second quarter, the report shows 0.76 GW of rooftop PV was installed by homes and businesses – a 6% jump on the same period last year and a 3% increase on the number of systems (79,000) installed compared to the same time last year.

These “encouraging figures,” as federal energy minister Chris Bowen described them this morning on ABC Radio, come just one day after federal opposition leader Peter Dutton used a CEDA address to push his nuclear power plan, which would mean putting renewables on hold, “sweating” coal assets and using much more gas.

It also comes amid warnings that the “heavy lifting” in investment in new wind, solar and storage must be done this decade if Australia is to have any hope of achieving its 2050 net zero targets.

“These are … encouraging figures saying renewable energy investment is up substantially over the last year… utility-scale [investment] increasing dramatically, potentially doubling last year,” Bowen said in an interview on ABC Radio National.

“Now we’ve got to keep our foot on the accelerator, there’s a long way to go, but these are encouraging figures.

“It’s a big lift to get to 82 per cent renewables by 2030. It’s important that we do, not only for emissions reduction, that’s pretty self‑evident, but also, frankly … for reliability.”

“Our government is delivering policy certainty to bring on more renewables right now, ensuring we create the clean, cheap, reliable and resilient energy system that Australians deserve,” Bowen said in a separate statement.
 
“This latest report shows the Albanese government’s Reliable Renewables Plan is on track and building momentum, in contrast Peter Dutton wants to stop renewable investment, tear up contracts for new renewable and transmission projects, and deliver expensive nuclear reactors in two decades time.”