Australian families are increasingly embracing rooftop solar and energy-efficient technology to manage energy costs, as highlighted in the Quarterly Carbon Market Report (QCMR) for Q3 2023.
The QCMR has reported a record-breaking installation of 813 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar PV in the third quarter, with an average system size of 9.3 kilowatts (kW), as noted by Clean Energy Regulator (CER) Chair David Parker.
Australia is set to achieve over 3 gigawatts (GW) of rooftop solar installations this year, equivalent to powering approximately 700,000 homes, and there is potential for 2023 to match the previous record of 3.2 GW set in 2021.
Parker shared additional insights, stating that investments in air source heat pumps, efficient water heaters, reached a record 34,000 installations in Q3, surpassing the total installations in 2022 with a cumulative 94,000 installations in the first three quarters of 2023.
“Newly completed large-scale wind and solar capacity grew by 608 MW this quarter, 95 per cent of which was wind. We are on track to approve around 2.5 GW for scheme incentives in 2023,” he said.
The share of renewable generation in the National Electricity Market (NEM) reached 39 per cent in the quarter and is anticipated to average 40 per cent for the entire calendar year.
Announcements of final investment decisions (FID) for large-scale wind and solar power stations in Q3 amounted to 170 MW, bringing the total FID for the year to 696 MW.
The latest QCMR reveals that the price of Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) has stabilised around $31, with a new supply of 7 million ACCUs in this quarter.
“We have revised our expectations for the 2023 ACCU supply from 18 to 17 million, primarily due to increased audit time for human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects and fewer ACCUs issued for landfill gas projects,” Parker said.