Australia's National Electricity Market sees record renewable and battery generation

The Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) reached a historic milestone in the September 2026 quarter, with renewable and storage generation contributing a record 80.4% of total generation at its peak on 19 September. This performance was driven significantly by solar power, with distributed solar supplying 51.8% and grid-scale solar contributing 16.4% of total generation during the peak period.

Grid-scale battery capacity has seen rapid expansion, more than tripling year-over-year. For the first time in any quarter, batteries accounted for 8% of evening-peak generation, surpassing the 5.1% share provided by gas-fired plants. This surge in storage and renewables contributed to a 27% year-on-year decrease in average wholesale electricity prices, which fell to $63 per megawatt-hour.

Despite rising electricity demand—driven by industrial electrification and data center consumption—the pipeline of new generation and storage projects seeking connection to the NEM has reached 80.9 GW. This represents a 43% increase over the previous year, with battery projects making up 55% of the capacity currently in the connection pipeline.