Coal down, solar up: Australia halfway to 2030 target
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson |
Australia is generating renewable energy in record amounts and is halfway to its 2030 target, latest figures show.
Coal-based power generation also produced less than half the nation’s energy for the first time during the past year, while Western Australia and South Australia set records for renewable power production.
The Australian Energy Market Operator independent energy operator released the figures in its 2025 annual report on Tuesday, which revealed four million households had installed rooftop solar.
The announcement comes less than a week after the federal government released a national target to reduce emissions by between 62 and 70 per cent in 2035 that will rely on a greater supply of renewable energy.
The independent energy operator, which manages the National Electricity Market along Australia’s east coast and electricity for southwest WA, reported record levels of renewable energy in both systems during the 2025 financial year.
Renewable energy from sources such as grid-scale and rooftop solar, batteries, wind and hydro-electricity plants contributed 41.6 per cent of energy to the national market during the year, up from 37.1 per cent in 2024.
The contribution represents half of Australia’s target to generate 82 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
On November 6, renewable energy contributed a record three quarters of energy in the National Electricity Market, while that figure hit 85 per cent in WA.
SA also produced 110 per cent of the state’s energy needs with solar panels, up from its record of 100 per cent generation in 2024.
The figures showed renewable energy generation records were being “broken and then re-broken”, Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Daniel Westerman said.
“Australia’s energy transition is well underway as we shift from a power system designed on base load and peaking to a new operating paradigm of renewables and firming,” he said.
“For the first time in the national electricity market, quarterly coal generation fell below 50 per cent of total generation.”
Rooftop solar emerged as the leading source of energy generation during the year as more households invested in the technology, Mr Westerman said.
“Australia continues to adopt solar in this country at world-leading rates,” he said.
“There are now more than four million rooftop solar systems across the country with a total generation capacity of 23 gigawatts.”
Despite growing renewable energy supply, gas had played an increasing role as a “backstop” during times of high demand and low wind and solar energy supply, the report said, with record use on June 26.
The operator also connected 29 renewable energy generation and storage projects to the National Electricity Market during the year, adding 4.4 gigawatts, and approved the registration of another 37 projects and 60 applications.
AAP
