Wind energy projects still account for around half of all new connection enquiries on Australia’s main grid, but the number that progress to an actual grid application and construction is rapidly diminishing, according to new data.
The Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest Connection Scorecard, which keep track of new project proposals for the National Electricity Market shows that AEMO has received around 180 gigawatts connection enquiries, but only around one quarter of these moves on from there.
AEMO currently counts 64 GW of projects that have moved beyond enquiries and start the process to connect to the grid – what it calls the investment pipeline. It includes those in the process of connection application (26 GW), to planning and construction (26 GW), registration (5 GW) and commissioning (7 GW).
But only 16 per cent of this capacity comes from wind projects, with nearly half coming from battery storage, a further 19.7 per cent from solar-battery hybrids, another 11.9 per cent for standalone solar, and hydro (4.7 per cent) and gas (1.4 per cent) making up the rest.
The story is probably best told in this series of graphs above, highlighting the huge share of wind – both onshore and offshore – at the enquiry stage, before a rapid decline through applications, construction, registration and commissioning
All of those stages are dominated by battery story, with applications and implementations featuring a growing share of solar and battery hybrids.
This reflects the plunging cost of battery storage, but also the planning, social licence, supply chain and cost issues faced by wind projects.
It is a stunning change that has come into effect in just the last few years. If you check the first graph above on the left, solar-battery hybrids barely featured among connection enquiries and applications just three years, and the first true solar-battery hybrid has only just been registered to the main grid.
Still, there are maybe signs of a resurgence in wind, with AEMO reporting that in the last quarter 25 new applications were received totalling 8.1 GW, with batteries accounting for 4.1 GW, wind 2.3 GW, solar-battery hybrids 960 MW, standalone solar 310 MW and hydro 330 MW.
There were 10 projects that received registration approvals – four batteries, three solar and one solar battery hybrid, and one hydro – and 9 projects completed commissioning in the quarter – seven batteries and two solar plants.
“Batteries are the dominant technology in every stage of the process,” the document notes.
There are some interesting stats to note: grid approvals and grid registrations so far in 2025/26 are tracking slightly below the previous year, but commissioning is well ahead, particularly with the addition of new partly commissioned projects (such as the Waratah Super battery).
AEMO also notes that projects at the stage of proponent implementation are 29 per cent ahead of the same time last year, registrations are 2 per cent ahead, and projects in the process of commissioning at 26 per cent ahead.
On battry storage, projects with grid forming inverter technologies – key to the provision of system services that will be essential in a grid with no coal – now dominate, accounting for 13 GW and 30 GWh of new applications, compared to just 1 GW and 3 GWh for projects with grid following inverter technologies.
AEMO Onboarding & Connections Group Manager Margarida Pimentel said the December quarter demonstrated strong progress across every stage of the connections process, from application approvals through to projects reaching full output.
“These results highlight both the maturity of the pipeline and the sector’s increasing capability to deliver,” Pimentel said in a statement. She was particularly pleased with the 1.8 GW of new capacity that completed commissioning during the quarter.
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