Renewable energy to account for one third of Australian market by 2020

New research from Green Energy Markets (GEM) has revealed that renewables will provide on third of Australia’s national electricity needs by 2020.

“This represents almost a doubling in renewables share compared to 2015 when it met 17.3 per cent of annual electricity consumption,” GEM director Tristan Edis said.

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GEM has made the prediction using data from the Australian Energy Market Operator, largely based on the number of solar and wind farms already in operation, alongside the country’s ongoing renewable energy construction projects and rooftop solar levels.

According to the study, last month there were 19,000 new rooftop solar installations, equating to 131MW of energy – a record month ahead of the 127MW installed in March.

“Even if contracting and construction commitments to solar farms and wind farms halted from today, ongoing installations of rooftop solar should see renewables share reaching 39 per cent by 2030,” said Edis.

GEM expects that, in total, the projects under development across Australia could eventually account for 85.2% of the country’s energy market.

Currently there is 5,540MW of new renewable generation being built – almost double the capacity of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station.