Victoria reaches record wind and solar share of 83.8 per cent

The state of Victoria has established a new record share of renewables, reaching a peak of 83.8 per cent of state demand in the early afternoon on Easter Sunday, April 17.

According to data analyst Geoff Eldridge, from the data collection site NEMLog, the new record was established at 1.10pm (AEST) with wind the biggest contributor, followed by rooftop solar and large scale solar. There was a negligible amount of hydro generation at the time.

It beats the previous record of 79.6% reached on October 27 last year, and came as South Australia set a new record for that state’s grid of 136.6 per cent instantaneous renewables earlier in the day.

Spring and autumn are usually the seasons when renewables records are set, due to moderate demand with the absence of air conditioning, and records are often established on weekends or public holidays.

Another data source, OpenNem, put the share of renewables at 1.10pm at an even higher number of 85.3 per cent. It was not immediately clear the cause of the difference.

The share of wind and solar might have been higher had some facilities not decided to dial down their output, or cease generation entirely, as a result of negative prices.

Had they not done so, the share of wind and solar would have peaked at 99.8 per cent around an hour earlier.

The average share of renewables for the day was 51.9 per cent, according to Eldridge, although this is not a record: The maximum daily Victoria renewable energy share is 58.4 per cent on Saturday, November 27 last year.

Over the past 12 months, Victoria has averaged a 34.8 per cent contribution from renewables, although only just over 31 per cent in the past 30 days.

The state government has a target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030. It will hold a second renewable energy auction (VRET2) this year with the aim of bringing on line another 600MW of capacity. But other projects will also be built.

See also: South Australia grid reaches record high of 136.6 pct renewables