Record renewable power generation and a surge in grid-scale battery capacity pushed Australia’s gas-powered generation to its lowest for any third quarter since 2000, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said in its Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report on Friday.
Despite lower heating requirements, Australia’s electricity demand rose by 1.3% in the July-September winter quarter, amid ongoing electrification, higher industrial demand, and increasing data center consumption, AEMO said.
“Electricity use continues to grow, but more solar and storage is changing when energy is produced, drawn from the grid and shifted across the day,” said Violette Mouchaileh, AEMO Executive General Manager Policy and Corporate Affairs.
Renewable power generation supplied a record for a third quarter, 44.3% of generation on the National Electricity Market (NEM). Grid-scale solar generation jumped by 30%, and hydropower rose by 15%. Grid-scale battery capacity more than tripled year-over-year, while gas-powered generation slumped by 34% to its lowest Q3 average since 2000, AEMO noted.
Grid-scale batteries supplied 8% of evening peak generation between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., exceeding gas-powered generation, at 5.1%, for the first time in any quarter.
“Sample data also showed households with rooftop solar and batteries drew around three-quarters less electricity from the grid during the evening peak than households with rooftop solar alone,” the Australian market operator said.
“Increased battery charging and discharging contributed to significantly lower evening peak prices, with batteries setting prices in almost half of dispatch intervals, up from 18% a year ago,” AEMO’s Mouchaileh said.
Average NEM wholesale electricity prices, which contribute to retail prices, slumped by 27% year-on-year and 15% from the June quarter to $63 per megawatt-hour (MWh), which was the lowest average for a September quarter since 2021.
While gas remains key to Australia’s energy and electricity system, the rise of renewables and the surge of grid-scale battery capacity to manage renewable availability are shifting Australia’s power mix.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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