Australia adds record 9.1 GW of solar, wind and battery capacity
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said 9.1 GW of new generation and storage capacity across 34 projects reached full output in the 2025-26 financial year, more than double the 4.4 GW completed in the previous year.
The projects delivered 12.9 GWh of energy storage capacity and included solar, wind and battery energy storage systems (BESS) across Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM). The June quarter accounted for 3.9 GW of the annual total, including 2.7 GW of standalone battery storage, 500 MW of co-located solar and battery capacity, 400 MW of standalone solar, and 200 MW of wind generation.
AEMO’s latest Connections Scorecard also showed eight projects totaling 1.5 GW achieved registration during the financial year, while a record 32 project applications representing 6.9 GW were approved. Registration and application approvals reached 7.4 GW/14 GWh and 14.2 GW/31.1 GWh, respectively.
AEMO said the connections pipeline continued to expand despite slightly lower registration and application volumes than the previous year. The total pipeline grew 42% to 75.4 GW, with battery projects accounting for 52% of total capacity.
Hybrid solar-plus-battery projects are becoming a larger part of the pipeline, with 4.3 GW of applications received during the financial year. Developers behind 2.4 GW of solar projects also began or completed processes to add battery storage, reflecting growing interest in pairing renewable generation with flexible capacity.
The scorecard showed 14.4 GW of projects entered the proponent implementation stage during the financial year, but only 6.4 GW progressed through the stage. AEMO said the median duration of this phase increased from 14 months to 18 months, with one-third of projects remaining in the stage for more than two years.
AEMO Onboarding and Connections Group Manager Margarida Pimentel said design changes, equipment substitutions, project sales, financing processes, and commercial readiness activities were contributing to delays.
Despite these challenges, Pimentel said the 2025-26 results demonstrated strong performance across the project pipeline and that solar, wind and storage technologies would support Australia’s transition to a more diverse electricity system.
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