Renewable electricity
Kelvin Say (2026) - "Renewable electricity - Australia". Published online at OpenEnergyTracker.org. Retrieved from: 'https://openenergytracker.org/en/docs/australia/electricity/' [Online Resource]
In Australia, the electricity sector is predominantly a state responsibility with additional coordination at the federal level. Historically, the growth of renewable electricity in Australia was driven by the Renewable Energy Target which is a clean energy certificate scheme. This requires 33 TWh (around 23.5%) of annual electricity generation, from 2020 until 2030, to come from renewable energy sources and was successfully achieved. In this certificate scheme, large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) and small-scale technology certificates (STCs) are issued for each MWh of renewable energy generation to generators for subsequent sale. Wholesale purchasers of electricity (mainly electricity retailers) are required to purchase a sufficient number of these certificates to meet their renewable energy obligations. These LGCs and STCs can also be purchased by individuals or organisations on a secondary market to offset their energy emissions.
To continue growing beyond the timeframe of the Renewable Energy Target, further renewable energy and storage capacity targets have been introduced to continue increasing the share of renewable energy generation in the electricity mix. This includes the:
- Capacity Investment Scheme that underwrites projects and is designed to bring forward 26 GW of wind and solar PV and 14 GW of dispatchable capacity to meet the 2030 target;
- Guarantee of Origin Scheme that continues the certification and valuation of renewable electricity after 2030; and
- Safeguard Mechanism that requires electricity companies to reduce their GHG emissions inline with Australia's climate targets.
The integration of climate into the energy sector formally occurred in 2022, where the Energy Ministers of Australia agreed to introduce an emissions reduction objective into the National Energy Objectives (NEO). This integrates emissions reduction and energy policy into the national energy laws and Australia's energy market governance bodies and it managed by the Australian Energy Market Commission.
Shares in the power sector
Renewable energy technologies currently contribute 43% to Australia's electricity generation. Looking forward, the 2024 Integrated System Plan (ISP) by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) uses a least-cost (and emissions constrained) model to evaluate transition scenarios of the electricity system until 2050. The Step Change scenario involves a rapid initial transition to renewable energy with a 82% contribution by 2030. This scenario is also regarded as the most likely future scenario. The 82% power sector target reflects the Federal government's assessment of the change needed to meet its 2030 interim 43% emissions reduction target. Australia's subsequent 2035 target has been annouced to be an economy-wide 62-70% reduction.
Source: OpenElectricity
Installed Solar PV capacity
Solar PV is an major source of renewable energy generation in Australia with over 37 GW of solar PV capacity installed as of 2024.
Notably, a signficant proportion of installed solar PV capacity has come from small-scale generators, namely rooftop PV systems. As of September 2025, over 4.2 million or 42% of households have installed a rooftop PV system.
The Step Change scenario in the 2024 Integrated System Plan (ISP) provides estimates of future solar PV capacity across three categories (utility, medium- and small-scale). Utility PV systems have a rated capacity above 5 MW. Medium-scale PV systems have a capacity between 100 kW and 5 MW. Small-scale PV systems have a rated capacity under 100 kW (typically rooftop PV on residential households). Both small- and medium-scale PV systems are considered as distributed PV as they are predominantly situated behind-the-meter on end-user premises.
Source: Clean Energy Council; AEMO
Utility PV
At the end of 2024, 9.3 GW of utility PV capacity is in operation. The Step Change scenario considers utility PV capacity to grow at a slightly slower rate than rooftop PV capacity and eventually reaching 58 GW by 2050.
Source: Clean Energy Council; AEMO
Distributed PV
At the end of 2024, 27 GW of distributed PV capacity is in operation. As distributed energy resources (DER) are situated behind-the-meter at customer premises, their continued growth and significant generation is driving Australia's governing institutions (i.e. AEMO and Energy Security Board) to explore a transition towards a decentralised and two-way energy system. This would allow distributed PV and other behind-the-meter energy assets to improve their aggregate operational and market participation. The Step Change scenario estimates a generally linear growth trajectory to approximately 85 GW by 2050.
Source: Clean Energy Council; AEMO
Installed wind energy capacity
While solar PV (combined) is the largest source of renewable energy in the power sector, wind turbines still generate more energy at the utility-scale. Australia has significant wind resources, which has led to over 12 GW of installed capacity as of 2024. The Step Change scenario currently expects significant growth (double the current growth rate) in wind capacity until 2036 and mostly driven by onshore wind. Offshore wind is planned to start from 2032 onwards in response to Victorian offshore wind targets. By 2050, the Step Change scenario expects 59 GW of onshore wind and 9 GW of offshore wind.
Source: Clean Energy Council; AEMO
Installed battery capacity
In 2017, South Australia installed the then world's largest utility-scale battery (150 MW / 194 MWh) as part of its response to the 2016 state-wide blackout. Since then, battery energy storage has gradually grown due to ongoing capital cost reductions and the rising curtailment of wind and solar generators. 2025 has been a significant year with many utility-scale batteries coming online at the same time leading to 16.5 GWh of cumulative installed capacity. Small and medium-scale batteries have also been growing steadily since 2017 and then doubling in 2025, driven by the success of the Cheaper Home Battery Program that incorporates batteries into the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). Prior to 2025, small-scale batteries data was being tracked by Sunwiz. The Step Change scenario currently expects utility-scale storage capacity to intially grow faster and reach 48 GWh in 2030 and then plateauing, while the growth of small and medium-scale storage starts slower, before graduallly increasing and then surpasing utility-scale by 2038. By 2050, the Step Change scenario expects around of 184 GWh of energy storage in the NEM (157 GWh from small and medium-scale batteries; and 27 GWh from utility-scale batteries).
Source: Clean Energy Council; AEMO; AEMO; Sunwiz