Renewables surge to record share in NEM

The share of renewables in Australia’s main electricity grid has reached a new high, with rooftop and grid-scale solar, wind and hydro combining to deliver more than 70% of the total underlying demand on Wednesday.

September 21, 2023 David Carroll

Image: Clean Energy Regulator

Energy advisory company Global Power Energy (GPE) said the instantaneous share of renewables in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) reached a record high of 70.5% at 11.45am on Wednesday.

“The NEM renewable energy share has peaked for the day and we have a new record,” GPE said, adding that it expects the record will be broken many more times before the year is done.

Prior to Wednesday, the record for renewable energy share in the NEM was 69.6%, a mark established on 28 October 2022.

NEM renewable energy share on 20 September 2023.
*Image: GPE NEMLog-Lite*

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) confirmed Wednesday’s record high, although it declared the renewable energy share had reached 69.9% between 11am and 11.30am.

“At the time, rooftop solar generation contributed 38%, grid-scale solar 17%, wind 13% and hydro 2%, combining to deliver more than 19 GW of electricity to homes and businesses,” AEMO said.

AEMO’s figures are based on data recorded at 30-minute intervals while GPE relies on data published at five-minute intervals.

The new renewable generation high comes after operational minimum demand in the NEM reached a record low at the weekend.

AEMO said that demand reached a record low of 11,393MW at 12.30pm on Saturday, a 4.2% fall from the previous record set in November 2022.

At the time, rooftop and grid-scale solar contributed 57% of total electricity supply in the NEM.

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