Multimedia

Wind energy smashes output record in big blow across southern states

Published by

Wind energy smashed its output and market share records in Australia’s main grid on Friday, as the big blow from a major weather system swept across the nation’s southern states.

The new instantaneous output record was set at 7.25pm on Friday evening, when the total reached 8,132.3MW, according to data provided by GPE NemLog2,

This literally blew away the previous record of 7,417MW – set just over a week ago on Sunday, June 25 – by more than 715MW.

At the time of the new output record, the share of wind in electricity generation in the National Electricity Market was just under 29 per cent. But at 4.05am on Saturday, July 8, wind set a new share record of 39.43 per cent, beating the previous record of 36.55 per cent set in September last year.

The greater share occurred despite lower output and reflected lower demand in the early hours of the morning compared to the evening peak period.

Victoria also set a new instantaneous output record of 3,706.2 at 7.25pm on Friday.

And, although the weather front affect the southern states the most, the biggest single contributor to the increased output was Coopers Gap wind farm in Queensland, according to GPE NemLog2.

 

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

Giles Parkinson

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

Share
Published by

Recent Posts

“First of a kind” factory to mass produce wooden wind turbine blades wins critical EU backing

World’s first commercial factory to manufacture wooden wind turbine blades takes important step closer to…

23 July 2026

Battery boast: Australia dodges global gas price shock with help of storage and renewables

Australian electricity market's success in dodging latest round of global price shocks using buffer of…

23 July 2026

Will data centres save the wind industry or kill our climate targets? Or could they do both?

Data centres might be a saviour for stranded renewable projects, but could still blow our…

23 July 2026

Solar smuggling: Illegal exports of broken panels is killing the PV recycling industry

illegal exports of used solar panels are still a major threat to efforts to establish…

23 July 2026

CEFC names new CEO to lead federal green bank through “decisive decade” of energy transition

The federal government's green bank has named the new CEO, to take the reins at…

23 July 2026

Solar Insiders Podcast: Panel recycling at the precipice

James Petesic from PV Industries on the struggle to stay afloat with the federal PV…

23 July 2026