In December 2024, Australian utility-scale solar PV and wind assets generated 4,551GWh for the month. David Dixon, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy, stated that New South Wales was the best-performing state.
In a LinkedIn post, Dixon said that New South Wales generated 1,456GWh of renewable energy from utility-scale solar PV and wind, which is 934GWh and 531GWh for each technology, respectively.
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According to the company’s analysis, 12 of the top 20 best-performing utility-scale solar PV power plants, in terms of AC capacity factor, across the country are based in New South Wales, with three plants in the top five. The best-performing asset was French renewable power producer Neoen’s 36MW Griffith solar PV plant in New South Wales.
Rounding off the top five were Sun Energy’s 100MW Merredin plant in Western Australia and CIMIC Group’s 130MW Glenrowan PV plant in Victoria, followed by Neoen’s 189MW Coleambally and Edify Energy’s 333MWdc Darlington Point solar PV power plants in New South Wales.
Dixon said that, on an annual basis, renewable energy generation across the National Electricity Market (NEM) and Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) reached 92TWh or 39% of total generation.
Casting an eye to the future, Dixon predicts that this 39% figure will increase to around 43-45% in 2025, with several gigawatts of solar PV, including rooftop and utility, as well as wind capacity, to be energised and commissioned across 2025. This will also be aided by utility-scale battery energy storage capacity doubling to over 6GW by year-end.
Solar PV aiding New South Wales’ energy transition
Australia’s New South Wales government has committed to several decarbonisation targets for the future including reducing emissions by 50% on 2005 levels by 2030, increasing this to 70% by 2035 before reaching net zero in 2050. The government also intends to set a 2040 and 2045 interim target in due course.
Utility-scale solar PV will play a big part in reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, such as coal-fired power stations, with the country’s largest, the Eraring Power Station, housed in New South Wales. It is worth noting that the Eraring Power Station is currently the location of Australia’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) development and will help reduce the strain on the grid following its scheduled closure in August 2027.
The state’s solar sector was aided in the first tender round of the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), which saw New South Wales and Victoria awarded the majority of the support for its projects.
In total, 19 projects have successfully completed the tender process, with the majority located in New South Wales and Victoria, with seven projects each. Queensland saw three successful projects whilst South Australia secured two projects.
In New South Wales, developers Elgin Energy and Lightsource bp succeeded with their respective solar PV projects. Elgin Energy saw a bid for its 60MW Glanmire solar-plus-storage project, featuring a 104MWh BESS accepted.
Lightsource bp, on the other hand, saw two projects, its 700MW Sandy Creek and 450MW Goulburn River solar PV power plants, successful in tender one. The Goulburn River project recently received development consent from the Australian government.
