Wind, solar and batteries smash output records in midst of pre-Christmas heatwave

A hot mid-week day placed Australia’s main grid, the National Electricity Market, under clear operational stress on Thursday, particularly in New South Wales where LOR3 and RERT market notices were issued.

At the same time, near-record demand created an important window into how much renewable capacity is available across the system when load is high — capacity that is more often curtailed — looking for a load — on cooler, lower-demand days.

Records fell across the board.

There was a new peak for renewable and storage output on the NEM – 28,509 MW at 12:35pm (AEST), a jump of 9.33 per cent on the previous record set in late November.

There was a new peak for VRE – variable renewable energy, or wind and solar – which hit a new peak of 27,606 MW at 12:10pm (AEST, a jump of 8.75 per cent from the previous peak in late November, and 13.5 per cent up on its peak a year earlier.

NEM battery consumption also hit a new peak of 2,604 MW at 10:05am, up 8.73 per cent on the late November record, and more than treble the peak of a year ago.

Battery consumption share on the total NEM also hit a new peak of 7.4 per cent at the same time.

In Victoria, new peaks were set for renewable and storage Contribution of 7,487 MW at 12:35pm, up 6.2 per cent from the previous record, and Victoria battery consumption also hit a new peak of 1,211 MW at the same time..

Those records will have been boosted by the completion of the first stage of the country’s biggest wind project at Golden Plains, and the recent completion of the state’s biggest battery on the outskirts of Melbourne, the Melbourne Renewable Energy Park.

One unexpected record was the output of NSW hydro, which hit a new peak of 2,785 MW, just pipping a record that had stood since 2012.
What stands out

* High demand revealed renewable headroom: Elevated load allowed a larger share of renewable availability to be dispatched than is typically possible on milder days, offering a clearer view of the system’s underlying renewable capacity.

* Curtailment still emerged, but was reduced: Some curtailment remained evident, with the familiar pink “Dolphin Curve” of abundance visible on the NEM energy metrics — notably shallower than on cooler, lower-demand days.

* Batteries played a growing role: Strong morning consumption absorbed solar ahead of the afternoon peak, with discharge later supporting the evening transition.

* Stress and scale co-existed: Near-record NEM native demand [2nd highest at 38,778 MW at 14:45 — down –1,038 MW (–2.61%) on 39,816 MW (Mon 16-12-2024, 14:50)], NSW reliability notices, and record-scale renewable and storage contributions all occurred on the same day.

This was a clear example of the modern NEM under summer conditions — extreme demand coinciding with record-scale renewables and storage, revealing both the depth of available clean capacity and the limits of real-time absorption,

It underscores the operational complexity of maintaining system security during periods of heat-driven stress and renewable abundance.

See also: Australia’s most powerful battery put on standby to prevent blackouts with four big coal units offline

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