Australia’s large-scale new RE construction hits record high in 2022

Clean energy investments reached $4.2b.

More than 5,000 megawatts of large-scale wind and solar projects have started construction in Australia in 2022, the highest renewable construction commitments on record.

In a statement, the Clean Energy Council added that there is also an increase in investment in energy storage with 19 large-scale batter projects under construction last year for a total capacity of 1,380MW/2004MWh, high than the 921MW/1169MWh in 2021.

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton also said investment in large-scale clean energy projects was up 17% YoY in 2022 to around $4.2b (A$6.2b). In the fourth quarter alone, investments reached about $2.9b (A$4.29b), the second-highest quarterly since data collection started in 2017.

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“Australia’s energy mix will undoubtedly now be the beneficiary of greater policy clarity, with climate change and the clean energy transition areas of genuine focus federally, with sensible and ambitious policies. However, we cannot take the sustained growth of renewable energy for granted,” said Thornton.

“To reach the Federal Government’s renewable energy generation target of (82%) by 2030, the pace of deployment for new large-scale projects needs to at least double,” he added.

The share of renewable energy in Australia’s energy generation in 2022 was at 35.9%, up from 32.5% last year.

$1 = A$1.49