Solar meets South Australia’s total energy demand for first time
Australia hit a renewable energy milestone early in October when solar power provided 100 % of South Australia’s energy needs for a whole hour.
Image for illustration purposes
Australia, Adelaide: Australia hit a renewable energy milestone early in October when solar power provided 100 % of South Australia’s energy needs for a whole hour.
Mild temperatures and cloudless skies contributed to ideal generation conditions in South Australia on 11 October. Solar power from the state’s 288,000 rooftop systems provided 992 MW and large-scale solar provided 313 MW to power the entire state. Rooftop solar is installed on one-in-three homes in South Australia, with 2,500 systems installed monthly in 2020 alone.
Australian Energy Market Operator CEO, Audrey Zibelman, said the milestone affirmed the world-leading scale and pace of transition underway in Australia’s power system.
The new record followed the previous milestone of 89 % of state demand, achieved on 13 September when rooftop solar output reached 900 MW for the first time.
The market operator’s Integrated System Plan forecasts that by 2024, 63 % of Australia’s coal generation will need to be replaced with grid-scale renewable energy (26 GW) and dispatchable resources (6.19 GW). Australia’s distributed energy sources such as rooftop solar PV and residential batteries are expected to double or triple in capacity by 2040.
“South Australia is experiencing a surge in rooftop solar installations. AEMO is forecasting an additional 36,000 new rooftop solar systems in the next 14 months, which will mean that South Australia’s grid will see zero demand as rooftop solar alone will be capable of meeting 100 % of demand. This is truly a phenomenon in the global energy landscape,” said Zibelman.