Wind and solar output hit new instantaneous peak in main grid, double that of five years ago

The output of large scale wind and solar hit a new instantaneous peak in Australia’s main grid on Monday morning, reaching a new record of 13, 360 megawatts (MW) – smashing the previous high of 12,622 MW reached in late June.

According to data provider GPE NEMlog, the record was reached at 9.20am on Monday, when there was an about equal balance of large scale solar (6,702 MW), and large scale wind (6,667 MW), together taking about 44.3 per cent of the market.

With the addition of another 5,400 MW of rooftop solar, the total share of renewables was around 62 per cent at the time, well short of the record share of more than 75 per cent. Five years ago, the record instantaneous output for large scale wind and solar stood at just 6,500 MW.

More records can be expected to fall in the coming spring, and with a raft of new projects working their way through the commissioning process, including the 1.33 GW Golden Plains, 930 MW MacIntyre, 412.5 MW Goyder South and 400 MW Clarke Creek wind projects, as well as solar projects such as the 400 MW Culcairn and Stubbo solar farms.