“Terrific news:” Battery boom and rebound in wind projects put renewables target back on track

A record amount of new battery storage capacity and a rebound in onshore wind projects have helped deliver the “healthiest” quarterly investment numbers for new renewables in Australia in more than two years, new data from the Clean Energy Council has revealed.

More than 1,400 megawatts (MW) MW of new large-scale solar and wind energy generation projects, worth $3.3 billion in new investment, were committed in the third quarter of 2024, according the Quarterly Renewables Report published by the CEC on Monday.

Investment in energy storage, meanwhile, saw eight projects with 1,235 MW of new capacity and 3,862 MWh storage duration reach financial commitment for the quarter – a 95 per cent increase compared to the same time last year and a new 12-month quarterly average record.

This brings the pipeline of renewable energy projects to have reached financial close or be under construction around Australia to a total of 89, representing 13.9 GW of capacity in the pipeline, the report says.

And in the case of energy storage, a total of 49 projects are in the pipeline from financial commitment onward, equivalent to 9.7 GW / 24.3 GWh in capacity.

“This is terrific news for energy consumers across the country, who will benefit from the next generation of power plants coming online, putting downward pressure on electricity prices,” says Clean Energy Council chief Kane Thornton.

“If we sustain the level of investment for new wind and solar power plants which we have seen in the third quarter of this year, we can get back on track to achieving Australia’s target of 82 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030.”

Thornton says the quarter’s energy storage record against the 12-month quarterly average is particularly encouraging, with more storage bringing with it the promise of a more stable and flexible grid.

Among the eight big battery projects to achieve financial commitment in the third quarter of 2024 is the 415 MW/ 1660 MWh Orana BESS, being built by Akaysha Energy in New South Wales,

Akaysha revealed in July that it had locked in $650 million to build the four hour battery, in a 12-year “virtual” offtake deal for with EnergyAustralia it described as the largest investment in a single battery anywhere in the world. 

The Orana BESS, which was one of the winners of the first federal capacity investment scheme auction in November last year, also has long term energy service agreements with the NSW and federal governments.

The report also notes that more than half of the eight battery projects to lock in finance in the quarter are the energy storage components of hybrid solar or wind projects, rather than stand-alone battery systems.

This gels with the latest results from the current Capacity Investment Scheme tender – a series of auctions that will seek to underwrite at least 23 GW of solar and wind and 9 GW of storage by 2030.

As Renew Economy reported last week, the final bids from shortlisted projects show that those adding battery storage to their proposals have the inside running. And the bigger the battery, the better.

All up, the CEC report calculates that 34 generation and battery storage projects have reached financial close so far in 2024, equating to 3 GW of new generation capacity, and 2.8 GW/8 GWh of new energy storage capacity around the country.

Onshore wind farms, too, have had a good quarter, continuing on their comeback from a worryingly quiet 2023 to reach a combined 1,758 MW worth of new projects to be financially committed so far this year.

This includes the $740 million, 228 MW Boulder Creek wind farm, which reached financial close in September, marking a first for the newly launched Macquarie renewables offshore Aula Energy, which is developing the wind farm in Queensland with state-owned CS Energy.

“The increasing activity indicates that the challenging economic conditions are beginning to ease, and the hard work by government agencies and industry to address a wide range of legacy issues across our grid, planning and institutional settings, are starting to bear fruit,” Thornton said on Monday.

“There is a lot more work still to be done, but the signs are encouraging.”