Sunshine state dominates winter performance tables for solar PV

Queensland has once again dominated the rankings of best performing solar farms in the month of August, benefiting as it did in July from the superior winter weather conditions.

The latest assessment from analysts Rystad Energy show that the top rating solar farm in the month was Rugby Run, owned by Adani, the Indian energy giant best known for its pursuit of controversial coal mines in the same state. It had a capacity factor of 27.6 per cent for the month.

Others to perform well were the Middlemount, Kidston and Ross River solar farms in Queensland, with Kidston being a regular top ranking performer in recent months.

Queensland solar farms took up 11 of the top 15 places, with its dominance over the month interrupted only by two solar farms in NSW and another two in Western Australia, including Australia’s very first at Greenough River, showing that after a decade it is still capable of strong performance.

Rystad analyst David Dixon said utility scale solar PV generation was up 20 per cent year over year to 828GWh, compared to 690GWh in August, 2021.