Big solar smashes Australian generation record, crunches coal, to close out 2022

Utility-scale solar notched up its biggest month ever in Australia in December of 2022, delivering 1509GWh of renewable power over that period, compared to the previous high of 1296WGh set a year earlier in December 2021.

The new record was revealed in the latest monthly renewables data from Rystad Energy, detailing the best performing large-scale solar and wind energy assets around the country.

Senior analyst in renewables research at Rystad, David Dixon, says it was also a “standout month” for utility-scale PV in New South Wales, with the state’s monthly generation of both solar and wind topping 1000GWh for the first time, to reach 1,122GWh; 654GWh from solar, 468GWh from wind.

According to Dixon, 11 of the top 15 best performing big solar assets in Australia in December were in NSW, helping to push the state’s black coal generation to a new low.

The squeeze on black coal in the state was helped along by operational demand in NSW hitting a 10 year low, due mild weather and growing rooftop solar generation.

Dixon says the combination of high renewables output and low operational demand sent black coal generation down to 3.25TWh for the month corresponding to a capacity factor of just 44.5% for the state’s black coal fleet.

This is a sign of more to come, says Dixon, with the remaining 1.5GW of capacity at Liddell set to exits the market in the first half of 2023.

As illustrated in the bar chart above, the best performing utility PV assets for December 2022 were SUN Energy’s Merredin solar farm in Western Australia, with a capacity factor (CF) of 43.6%.

Spots two, three and four are held by NSW projects: Neoen’s Griffith Solar farm (40.4% CF), Amp Energy’s Hillston solar farm (40.3% CF) and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Sebastopol solar farm in (38.8% CF).