$2.4 billion capital investment boosts clean energy developments in Q4 2024

The Clean Energy Q4 2024 report finds solar generation reaching financial commitment or commencing construction totalled 1,139 MW, and overall clean energy investment was at a record high.

February 13, 2025 Ev Foley

Image: Lightsource bp

The CEC Quarterly investment report: Large-scale renewable generation and storage Q42024 finds solar generation reaching financial commitment or commencing construction in Q4 2024, totalled 1,139 MW and it says Australia has seen its best year for large-scale renewable energy investment since 2018.

Of the total capital investment committed to projects, the report found seven new large scale renewable energy projects, including wind, representing 1,598 MW of new generation capacity and $2.4 billion (USD 1.5 billion) of capital investment were financially committed in the fourth quarter of 2024.

There are currently 88 renewable electricity generation projects which have either reached financial commitment or are under construction, representing 13.2 GW of capacity in the pipeline.

CEC Chief Executive Kane Thornton said the results show clean energy investment is getting back on track and it’s critical to not lose focus or change direction on a strategy that is working.

“Investors need stable and predictable long-term policy settings to provide them with the confidence to invest their money in these critical infrastructure assets which Australia urgently needs,” Thornton said.

Cumulative capacity of financially committed wind and solar projects, quarter MW
*Image: Clean Energy Council*

The four solar projects and three hybrid solar and battery developments include the United Kingdom-headquartered Lightsource bp-owned 585 MW Goulburn River Solar Farm, located 220 kilometres northwest of Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW).

Having secured a contract under the first round of the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), Goulburn River is one of the projects to reach a final investment decision in the final quarter of 2024.

Once built, the solar farm will produce approximately 1.3 TWh of renewable energy annually, powering the equivalent of 225,000 homes.

Other generation projects progressed in Q4 in NSW include CleanPeak Energy’s 8 MW Hay Solar Farm and EDPR Australia’s 5 MW solar at the Orange Community Renewable Energy Park.

In Victoria, projects reachign financial committment or beginning construction included Recurrent Energy’s 171 MW Carwarp Energy Park and State Electricity Commission’s (SECs) 119 MW Horsham Renewable Energy Park, while in Queensland, X-Elio’s 148 MW / 296 MWh Blue Grass solar farm and battery energy storage system (BESS) and Lightsource BP’s 222 MW / 640 MWh Woolooga solar farm and BESS started construction.

There are also 52 committed storage projects currently in development, equivalent to 10.5 GW / 26.3 GWh in capacity / energy output. These pipeline projects represent at least $36.5 billion worth of capital investment

In total, 4,346 MW of new generation capacity was greenlighted for construction over the course of 2024 including for energy storage investment, with 4,029 MW / 11,348 MWh of new projects committed over the year and 870 MW / 1,936 MWh in the fourth quarter.

Since 2017, 223 generation and storage projects have been commissioned, representing 17 GW of installed electricity generation capacity and 2.1 GW / 3.7 GWh of energy storage. These commissioned projects represent at least $33.5 billion worth of capital investment.

In total, 4,346 MW of new generation capacity was greenlighted for construction over the course of 2024, worth over $9 billion in capital value, along with over 10,000 construction jobs.

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