Australia’s Grid Achieves 77.9% Renewable Energy Record
On Sunday, Australia’s primary electricity grid achieved a remarkable renewable energy share of 77.9 per cent, marking the second record-breaking event within just 48 hours. This new peak was recorded at 11.20am, surpassing the previous high of 76.8 per cent set on Friday at 12.20pm.
Such records are typically established during spring, attributed to favourable weather conditions and mild temperatures. The peak times are often around midday, largely driven by substantial contributions from rooftop solar generation, which accounted for over 43 per cent of the grid’s demand during this instance.
Potential for Even Higher Renewable Shares
The renewable share could have been even greater; however, nearly five gigawatts of potential output from large-scale wind and solar sources were curtailed due to negative wholesale prices. If this supply had been fully utilised, the renewable share could have exceeded 90 per cent, although this would have necessitated a reduction in coal and gas generation or an increase in storage capacity. The negative pricing is often a result of coal-fired power stations opting not to shut down.
Aiming for 100% Renewable Penetration
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has set an ambitious goal to achieve 100 per cent instantaneous renewable penetration by 2025. They are currently working on the necessary engineering groundwork to facilitate this transition. AEMO states on its website, “Our goal is to co-design and co-engineer the NEM and the WEM to manage 100% instantaneous penetration of renewables at any moment on any day by 2025.”
Currently, the highest recorded penetration of renewables stands at 75.9 per cent, achieved in November last year, although this figure pertains to a 30-minute interval rather than the five-minute intervals tracked by services like GPE NEMLog and Open Electricity.
Strong Performance Across Australia
This week has been particularly fruitful for renewable energy across Australia. In Western Australia, the world’s largest standalone grid saw renewable penetration reach 83 per cent, just shy of its record of 85.1 per cent set last November. This achievement is noteworthy, considering the Western Australian grid operates independently without connections to other states or countries, relying on just three large batteries.
In the National Electricity Market, Australia’s main grid, the rolling seven-day average for renewable penetration was also broken for the third consecutive day on Sunday, reaching a new high of 50.8 per cent. This surpassed the previous records of 50.3 per cent on Saturday and 49.5 per cent on Friday. Geoff Eldridge from GPE NEMLog confirmed this was the first instance of renewables exceeding 50 per cent over a rolling seven-day period, with expectations that this record may be surpassed again soon.
Historical Context and Future Goals
Back in 2018, the renewable energy share was less than 20 per cent, highlighting the significant progress made since then. Over the past year, the average share of renewables in the National Electricity Market has been just under 42 per cent, still short of the federal government’s target of 82 per cent by 2030.
