The 2022-2023 financial year was a record for renewable energy generation in Australia, comprising 36.8 per cent share of energy produced in the National Electricity Market (NEM), according to data from OpenNEM.
This figure represents a rise of 3.5 per cent, from 33.3 per cent share for the previous 12-month period.
The record share for clean energy comes as the nation’s coalfired power dropped to 57 per cent generation, the lowest share this century and the lowest since the NEM was formed in 1999.
Of the 207 terawatt hours (TW/h) of energy produced on the NEM in 2022-2023, 77TW/h emanated from renewable sources, with wind contributing 13 per cent, rooftop solar 10 per cent, hydro 7.6 per cent and utility scale solar 6.1 per cent.
Gas generation contributed just 5.2 per cent to Australia’s national grid, its lowest share since 2006.
Coalfired power was also at a record low. In the 2022-2023 financial year, brown coalfired power fell to 15.1 per cent share in Victoria, while black coalfired power fell to 42.5 per cent NEM share in Queensland and NSW.
Despite these encouraging figures, Australia remains at risk of falling short of its renewable energy target of 82 per cent by 2030.
In 2022-2023, 8.5TW/h of renewable energy was added to the NEM, but it is well short of the 16TW/h the Australian Energy Market Operator says must be added annually to remain on target to hit the 2030 goal.