Renewables

Solar pushes Queensland daytime grid demand to lowest level in 16 years

Published by

Daytime electricity demand in Queensland reached a new low on the weekend, with the Sunshine State’s huge large-scale and rooftop solar resources combining to push scheduled demand to 3,889MW in the early afternoon on Sunday, August 23 – its lowest level since late in 2004.

According to Global Roam’s Paul McArdle, daytime electricity demand for the Queensland region on Sunday fell to 3,911MW at the 11.45am dispatch, and then to 3,896MW at the 12.15pm dispatch, and then lower again to 3,889MW after 1pm.

McArdle says that according to a check run through NEMreview v7, the levels of demand on Sunday were the lowest seen since in roughly 16 years, since late in 2004.

And, as McArdle also notes in this Watt Clarity article, this is even more impressive considering comparable low points in demand back in the early 2000s would most likely have occurred in the very early hours of the morning, or possibly on major public holidays such as Christmas day, if the weather was cool.

On Sunday, the low demand might have been boosted by ample sunshine, combined with the effects of the “Antarctic blob” that delivered a cold blast up and down Australia’s east coast, reducing the demand for energy to run air conditioners at a traditionally low-demand time of the week.

“The Queensland ‘duck’ (as in ‘duck curve’) is getting hungry…” McArdle says.

The new milestone comes after AEMO reported the highest level of wind and solar output late last week.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of Renew Economy and editor of its sister site, One Step Off The Grid . She is the co-host of the Solar Insiders Podcast. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.

Share
Published by
Tags: NEM

Recent Posts

Flow Power goes bigger on firmed solar, with purchase of shovel ready PV and battery project

Renewables gentailer adds new mid-sized solar and battery project to its growing portfolio of assets,…

2 March 2026

Two men killed in turbine lift accident at German wind farm

Investigations are underway into the cause of a fatal accident that claimed the lives of…

2 March 2026

Home battery installs hit quarter-million mark under federal rebate. But is the party over?

The installation of more than 250,000 discounted batteries is an extraordinary result, delivering around 6.2…

2 March 2026

“Transformational:” Offtake interest spurs progress on huge Nullarbor renewables hub

A mammoth proposed 70 GW wind, solar and hydrogen hub has enough "offtake interest" in…

2 March 2026

Concrete milestone at Forrest wind farm, with more than half of turbine foundations complete

Squadron Energy says 35 of 69 turbine foundations are complete at Uungala wind farm, taking…

2 March 2026

Balcony solar takes US by storm, as 27 states announce new plug-and-play PV laws

In more than half of US states, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that…

2 March 2026