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Australia leads world in rooftop solar as renewable energy increases

Eliza Sayon Mar 14, 2022

2 min read

With more than one in four Aussie households now generating solar power on their roofs, Australia has set a strong renewable energy record for the fifth year in a row.

According to Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor, renewable energy delivered nearly a third of the electricity in the National Electricity Market in 2021.

In 2021, Australians installed approximately 380,000 renewable power systems with a combined capacity of 3.2 gigawatts, bringing the total to 17 gigawatts – a virtual power station comprising more than 3 million solar rooftops – as the largest generator in Australia.

Meanwhile, 2.9 gigawatts of new large-scale wind and solar power stations were committed in 2021, continuing the country’s upward trend in renewable energy investment over the past two years.

The Clean Energy Regulator expects the first half of this year will also be very strong for new announcements and construction beginning on major projects.

Minister Taylor said continuing investment in more renewable energy has cemented Australia’s place as world leaders in bringing down emissions.

“Last year $7.4 billion or $284 per person was invested in renewable energy in Australia. This puts us ahead of countries including Canada, Germany, Japan, France, China and the United States on a per-person basis,” he said.

“As record-high levels of renewable energy come online, the Australian Government’s energy policy is focused on three things: ensuring the grid is stable; prices remain low, and emissions continue to come down. The key to this is a balance between renewables and on-demand reliable power.”

Aside from this, the Australian Government has also taken decisive action to support the Tallawarra B gas generator and Port Kembla gas project.

They are also stepping up to deliver Snowy Hydro’s Hunter Power Project at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley.

“We are also prioritising work on a new fit-for-purpose market design, including a capacity mechanism and delivering flexible backup generation and storage such as the 2000 MW pumped hydro expansion of the Snowy Hydro scheme which is needed to balance and complement very high levels of intermittent renewables,” Minister Taylor said.

The Australian Government has also committed more than half a billion dollars to support major transmission projects that will enable new renewable generation.

These include the Marinus Link needed to turn Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation vision into reality and Project Energy Connect and VNI West that will build new interconnectors between South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.

The Australian Government is focused on delivering affordable, reliable and secure electricity for Australian households and businesses to aid in economic recovery and support jobs, productivity and economic growth.

Source: Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Media Release

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.