Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) broke records yesterday when renewables supplied 76.4% of total electricity demand, with solar power contributing nearly 60% of the record-breaking clean energy mix.
The landmark moment occurred at 12:05 PM on 8 September, surpassing the previous record of 75.9% established on 6 November 2024, according to data analysis from Geoff Eldridge of Global Power Energy (GPE NEMLog).
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At the time of the record, Australia’s total electricity demand stood at 29,215MW, with renewable energy sources contributing 21,917MW. Solar PV emerged as the dominant generation source, with rooftop PV installations providing 12,532MW (43.7% of demand) and utility-scale solar adding another 4,549MW (15.9%).
Wind generation contributed substantially with 8,074MW (30.6%), while hydro provided 616 MW (2.1%) to complete the renewable energy portfolio.
Fossil fuel generation was limited to 7,240MW, with coal plants operating at 7,033MW (24.5%) and gas facilities contributing just 207MW (0.7%). The remaining 0.2% came from other sources.
“This is the first seasonal record of this key ‘blue-ribbon’ indicator — one that will be followed closely over the coming months to see where it settles for another year,” noted Eldridge in his analysis.
Despite the impressive renewable energy penetration, the data revealed significant curtailment of 4,879 MW (17.0%) during the record period. This curtailment, primarily for economic reasons, indicates that renewable energy generation could potentially have reached 93.5% of demand without these constraints.
Australia’s growing fleet of grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) played a crucial role during the record event, with storage systems charging at 1,340MW (4.7% of demand) to absorb excess generation.
The record comes amid a challenging period for Australia’s utility-scale solar sector. According to recent BloombergNEF data, investment in new large-scale solar and wind in Australia fell by 64% year-on-year in the first half of 2025.
The report showed that Australia invested AU$556 million (US$363 million) in utility-scale solar during this period, down from AU$1.6 billion in the same period in 2024.
The record renewable energy penetration also follows a dramatic month-on-month increase in solar generation. According to our latest NEM data spotlight, available for PV Tech Premium subscribers, in August 2025, utility-scale and rooftop solar PV generation in the NEM saw a 22.5% increase to 3,338GWh compared to July, reflecting the seasonal shift from winter to spring.
