Post: Australia to add over 7GW of new renewable energy capacity

Australia to add over 7GW of new renewable energy capacity

Australia is set to add over 7GW of new renewable energy capacity in 2024, driven by increased investment in large-scale wind and solar projects, alongside strong growth in the rooftop solar sector, according to the Clean Energy Regulator’s latest quarterly report.

Published on 24 September the report highlights a significant rise in final investment decisions (FID) for large-scale renewable projects in the first half of 2024. Around 1.8GW of new capacity reached “shovel-ready” status, already surpassing the total of 1.6GW for all of 2023. Additionally, the report reveals that 1.5GW of large-scale renewable energy capacity was approved in the first half of the year, with another 2.5GW of projects under assessment by the end of June.

The report also upgraded its forecast for large-scale renewable energy capacity approved to generate large-scale generation certificates in 2024, from an initial estimate of 2.5-3.0GW to a revised range of 3-4GW. This update is based on 1.4GW being approved in the first half of the year, with 2.5GW still in the approval process by the end of Q2.

On a smaller scale, the rooftop solar market is on track to add 3.1GW of capacity in 2024. The second quarter alone saw the installation of 0.76GW of rooftop solar by homes and businesses, marking a 6% increase compared to the same period last year. The number of systems installed also rose by 3%, with 79,000 installations completed.

Source: Clean Energy Regulator