Australia's solar and wind capacity additions hit 6.3GW in 2019

This includes 3.9GW of utility-scale wind and solar power.

According to the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) of Australia, 6.3 GW of new renewable power capacity were commissioned in Australia in 2019 (i.e. 24% more than 2018 installations), including 3.9 GW of utility-scale wind and solar capacity and 2.4 GW of residential and commercial rooftop solar capacity (i.e. 40% more than in 2018, when 1.7 GW of rooftop capacity was added). In addition, project developers announced new financial close announcements of 2 GW and more than 6 GW should be connected to the grid in 2020, with rising rooftop installations.

Despite increasing grid issues, the share of renewables in the National Electricity Market (NEM) is continuing to progress, reaching 25% at the end of 2019 and heading towards 34% by June 2023. According to AEMO's 2020 draft Integrated System Plan (ISP), up to 13 GW of capacity could be connected in the NEM until the next grid upgrades and infrastructure work is completed.

This article was originally published by Enerdata.