Australia’s main grid sets new solar output record before rooftop PV takes centre stage

Australia’s main grid set a new all-time maximum instantaneous solar output record on Monday, reaching a peak of 7,595.3 megawatts (MW) at around 9.45 am, beating beat its recent January peak by around 150 MW and its year-ago record by nearly 900 MW.

Geoff Eldridge, from GPE NEMLog notes that this record was set much earlier in the day than previous benchmarks, reflecting strong summer conditions and continued shifts in the generation profile.

The output of rooftop solar often results in the economic curtailment of utility solar later in the day as wholesale prices fall below zero.

On Monday, rooftop solar increased during the day to a peak of more than 13.5 GW, nearly double the big solar peak, and large scale solar output fell slightly during the day. The share of renewables in the main grid peaked at 72.3 per cent shortly after 1pm.

According to Eldridge, the largest gains in the new solar record came from NSW, with major contributions from new solar farms such as Walla Walla, which came online in October, and is still working through the commissioning process, but producing up to around 300 MW out of its 404 MW rated capacity.

NSW also hit a new large scale solar output record of 3,694.9 MW at 1.40pm on Monday, while Queensland set a new record for the combined out of large scale wind and solar of 3,173 MW, at 8.55am.

The NEM record might have been higher, but while satellite imagery shows South Australia was virtually cloud-free this morning, curtailment and the earlier timing of solar peaks may have led to a lower contribution than in previous records.

As solar penetration and day time solar and rooftop pv continues to rise, grid flexibility and storage solutions will become even more crucial to maximise utilisation, Eldridge notes.