More renewable electricity was switched on in the final quarter of 2025 than in any other quarter on record, according to the Clean Energy Council’s (CEC) latest quarterly investment report.
The Quarterly Investment Report: Large-scale renewable generation and storage (Quarter 4 2025), found nine large-scale wind and solar projects were commissioned during Q4 2025, delivering 2.1 gigawatts (GW) of new generation capacity, which is equivalent to powering at least 1.4 million homes, or Greater Brisbane approximately 1.5 times. The strong result broke the previous quarterly record of 1.3 GW in Q3 2021.
Utility-scale battery deployment also hit an all-time high. The quarter added 1 GW / 2.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of new storage capacity – more than tripling the previous record set just one quarter earlier (541 megawatts / 1766 megawatt-hours) and pushing the 2025 annual battery total (1.9 GW / 4.9 GWh) above the combined output of the previous eight years (2.2 GW / 3.8 GWh).
Investment momentum strengthened in the last quarter of the year, with five renewable generation projects reaching financial close in Q4. These projects represent 1.2 GW of new capacity and $3.5 billion in value – an uplift from more subdued investment in the prior three quarters. It’s the second-highest investment total recorded in a single quarter, behind Q4 2022 ($4.3 billion).
Jackie Trad, Chief Executive Officer at the Clean Energy Council, said the surge in project delivery and boost to investment in Q4 2025, coincided with major milestones across the National Electricity Market (NEM) towards the end of last year.
“The final quarter of last year saw many new renewables records broken. Sixty-three per cent of total renewable generation capacity that was switched on in 2025 was delivered in Q4 (2.1 GW). That scale of projects being commissioned in a single quarter is an Aussie first,” Ms Trad said.
“In addition, renewable energy supplied over half (51 per cent) of all electricity in the NEM for the first time during Q4 2025, and reached up to 77 per cent of peak demand when the grid was pushed to its limits during January’s extreme heatwaves, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.”
“As more renewable projects come online, we’re seeing them do exactly what they’re designed to do: stabilise the energy system as coal-fired generators retire. It’s more evidence that Australia’s transition to renewables is well underway.”
Ms Trad said Australia is in a critical handover period from coal to renewables, and that maintaining positive investment momentum will require faster planning approvals and grid connection across jurisdictions.
“The seasonal rush to close out on projects before years’ end, together with more political stability in the second half of 2025, ended the year on a stronger note than where it started. However, there is still much work to be done to accelerate future investment in large-scale generation,” Ms Trad said.
“This must include streamlining planning and approval processes and delivering the transmission infrastructure required to connect projects to the National Electricity Market.”
“Combined with world-leading uptake of rooftop solar and home batteries, large-scale renewable projects are already making our energy system more reliable and resilient. We are now approaching half of our electricity consistently being supplied from renewables, and the construction pipeline is further solidifying this shift,” she said.
Among the states and territories, the report found South Australia led the nation with the fastest average time from financial commitment to commissioning – 19 months for solar farms and 23 months for onshore wind. South Australia and Victoria were tied for the quickest battery development timelines, averaging 20 months.
Queensland commissioned four clean energy projects in Q4 last year (the most of amongst Australian states).
As projects approved under the former State Government came online, clean energy projects continued to have the longest delivery timelines: 23 months for solar, 37 months for wind, and 28 months for utility-scale batteries, against a backdrop of major energy policy reforms introduced by the current Government in 2025.
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