Investment in large-scale wind and solar in Australia has reached its highest level in six years, with $9bn in capital committed to projects in 2024, new industry data shows.
According to the Clean Energy Council, financial commitments were made for 4,346MW of new renewable capacity last year. This was the highest level of investment the sector had seen since 2018, when industry was delivering on the bipartisan Renewable Energy Target.
The strong result was boosted by the final quarter, which saw seven large-scale projects – totalling 1,598MW of new capacity and $2.4bn in capital investment – gain financial commitment.
The Albanese government has been criticised for not being on track to meet a target of 82% of electricity coming from renewable energy by 2030. But Kane Thornton, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, said last year was in line with the investment needed to achieve the government’s target, and reflected clear policy signals and support from federal and state governments.
“These results show that clean energy investment is getting back on track and it’s critical that we don’t lose focus or change direction now on a strategy that is working,” he said.
“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.”
According to the report, Australia needs about 1,500MW of new renewable energy investment each quarter – or 6,000-7,000MW annually – to reach the 82% target.
The 585MW Goulburn River solar farm was among the projects securing investment in the final quarter of 2024, having earned a contract under the first round of the government’s capacity investment scheme.
The year also saw solid investments in energy storage, such as large-scale batteries, with 4,029MW of new capacity committed. The largest of these was the Woolooga battery storage system in Queensland, which can store 222MW of energy for nearly three hours.
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Alison Reeve, the deputy energy and climate program director at the Grattan Institute, said in addition to maintaining high levels of investment, hitting the 2030 target would also require the rollout of new transmission lines and a “tremendous amount of building”.
“What really matters here is that we get good at building this stuff on time and on budget,” she said, adding it was a challenging task given the high competition for trades and skilled workers due to their demand in housing and infrastructure.
There was also international competition for solar panels and wind turbine blades to contend with. “A whole lot of other countries are also trying to build a lot of stuff in a hurry,” Reeve said.
The year also ended on a high for renewable electricity generation, with wind, solar and hydro power accounting for a record 46% of overall supply, while coal power dipped below 50% for the first time in the final quarter, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
Reeve said the industry and investors appeared to have gained “rhythm” now that such policies as the federal government’s underwriting scheme were off the ground, but uncertainties remained.
“It’s very unclear, if there was a change of government federally, what that would mean for the capacity investment scheme,” she said.
“The other risk that’s on the horizon is that there’s still a reasonable amount of uncertainty over when the coal-fired power stations are going to close.”
