Renewables hit 80 pct share in Australia’s most coal dependent grid for first time

The share of renewables in the Queensland grid, which has the heaviest dependence on coal fired generation in Australia, has hit 80 per cent for the first time.

The milestone was reached at 11.20am on Monday, according to GPE NEMLog, and was driven largely by solar power, with rooftop solar accounting for just over 4 gigawatts (GW), and large scale solar for a further 3 GW. Wind provided just under 500 MW, and hydro also made a small contribution.

The new 80 per cent peak broke the previous record of 77.2 per cent that had stood since August last year.

Queensland has the heaviest dependence on coal of any state in Australia, averaging 62 per cent of state demand over the last 12 months, and the state LNP government has ripped up the state’s renewable energy targets and found to continue burning coal for another two decades or more.

Despite this, the share of renewables continues to grow, thanks largely to a number of new projects that began construction under the previous Labor government, including the MacIntyre, Clarke Creek and Wambo wind projects.

Another series of major wind, solar and hybrid projects are expected to be built to provide green power to the giant smelters and refineries in Gladstone, where the city’s aging coal fired generator will be shut by the end of the decade.

But the outlook for other large renewable energy projects looks bleak, with the state planning minister “calling in” previously approved projects and the state’s own energy roadmap assuming that little else is built over the coming years as it spends money on coal plant maintenance and new gas fired generators.

However, households and businesses continue to embrace both rooftop solar and home batteries, at every accelerating rates, which is driving an ever-deepening solar “duck-curve” in the middle of the day. Grid scale batteries are also being built at scale throughout the state.

NSW has a slightly higher amount of coal capacity (in megawatt terms) although a smaller share of generation than Queensland, and it posted new battery storage records over the last few days.

Battery discharge totalled more than a gigawatt for the first time, reaching a new peak of 1,040.5 MW at 6.20pm on Monday, according to GPE NEMLog, while battery charge also broke through the gigawatt level this week, and posted a new high of 1165 MW at 11.20am on Sunday.