Renewables topple coal as Australia clears 54 green energy builds

The RE rollout slashed 30 million tonnes of emissions and powered five million homes.

Australia’s renewable energy transition advanced rapidly as the Albanese Government approved 54 renewable energy projects in 2025 alone, bringing the total to 123 since 2022.

A joint government release said these projects provide enough clean energy to power more than five million households and cut over 30 million tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to taking nine million cars off the road.

“All of this work has resulted in renewables overtaking coal-fired generation for the first time and delivered the largest annual fall in greenhouse gas emissions in Australia’s history outside of the COVID lockdown years. We will continue to invest in renewable energy in the coming years to work towards achieving a net-zero future,” Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Josh Wilson, said.

Approximately 7 gigawatts of capacity was added to the grid in 2025, contributing to a 14% fall in wholesale electricity prices between January and November 2025 compared with 2024.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest Connections Scorecard revealed that the development pipeline has expanded to 275 projects, totalling 56.6 GW of generation and storage capacity.

More than 185,000 batteries were installed through the Cheaper Home Batteries program in just six months, whilst 140,000 solar panels were installed across households.

Around 320,000 motorists purchased a new hybrid, electric, or plug-in hybrid vehicle between 1 January and 30 November 2025.

Demand for fast and ultra-fast public electric vehicle charging locations has tripled since mid-2022, reaching 1,475 locations.

The Home Energy Upgrades Fund delivered 6,000 clean energy upgrades to homes with technologies such as rooftop solar, batteries, hot water heat pumps, double-glazed windows, and insulation.

The Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative upgraded 20,000 social housing homes, helping tenants reduce energy use, lower bills, and cut emissions.

The Community Energy Upgrades Fund assisted 128 local councils with energy upgrades that lower emissions and reduce costs, including projects such as converting pool heating systems from gas to electric.

Industry-focused programmes included four tenders under the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), adding 6.6 GW of generation and 18.4 GWh of dispatchable capacity. Forty successful projects across three additional CIS tenders were announced, increasing power generation for more than three million households.

Through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, $801m (AU$1.2b) in government-backed investment supported Hydrogen Headstart and 34 other projects, leveraging more than $281m (AU$420m) across the innovation pipeline.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation supported new land use, clean energy technologies, and large transmission projects, investing over $4.41b (AU$6.6b) across more than 30 transactions.

1 AU$ = 0.67 US$