Renewables Record. Power bills to fall with rise of wind and solar energy

Coal and gas have finally been eclipsed by renewable energy, with wind and solar power providing half the energy for Australia’s electricity grid. Stephanie Tran It tells a historical event.

Australia’s electricity grid has reached a historic milestone, with renewable energy providing almost half of all power in the national electricity market in the last quarter of 2025, surpassing 50% for the first time in Western Australia.

The December quarter figures, which definitively dispel fossil fuel myths that coal is cheaper than renewable energy, show significant differences in costs per megawatt hour.

Data: Open Electric It shows that renewable energy accounted for 49.9% of electricity produced in the last quarter of 2025 in the National Electricity Market (NEM), which covers New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. For the entire calendar year, renewable energy provided 42.9% of NEM production.

Operating outside the NEM through the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), Western Australia has overtaken the eastern states in the race to reach this milestone. Renewables accounted for an average of 50.7% of electricity generation in the December quarter, giving WA bragging rights as the first major Australian grid to exceed 50% renewable electricity generation in the quarter.

Source: Open Electricity

Bowen’s goals are possible but long-term

Tim Buckley, director Climate Energy FinanceHe said the December quarter was a turning point for Australia’s energy system.

“This is the first time Australia has produced more than 50% of its electricity from renewable sources nationally in the last quarter,” he said, calling it clear evidence that the country was “making strong progress” towards the federal government’s clean energy targets.

Renewable energy boost comes as climate and energy minister Chris Bowen looks to meet Labor target 82% renewable electricity by 2030a goal he describes as “ambitious and achievable.”

Buckley acknowledged the task would be challenging but said the latest figures showed:

The target remained achievable.

“The fourth quarter of 2025 shows that we have already made significant progress,” Buckley said. However, we need to accelerate and expand investment to reach the 82% target.

“The good news is that wind, solar and battery projects can be built quickly. The main hurdles over the past five years have been planning approvals and grid connection issues, and we are finally seeing signs that these hurdles are being addressed.”

Electricity bills will decrease

The rapid spread of renewable energy sources is also reshaping electricity prices. Average wholesale energy prices across the NEM fell 48% year-on-year in the December quarter to A$68 per megawatt hour, among the lowest in the world. Wholesale prices for the full year averaged A$108/MWh, down 18% compared to 2024.

Buckley said the link between the increase in renewable energy production and the decline in prices is now clear. “The correlation between high renewable energy sources and low electricity prices is more than a coincidence,” he said, challenging claims that clean energy leads to price increases. “The clear driver of over-inflated energy prices over the last three years was record fossil fuel prices.”

Gas continues to decrease

Despite being one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters, Australia’s exposure to volatile global gas and coal markets had left households vulnerable, according to Buckley. “This reflects years of regulatory oversight by fossil fuel-related interests,” he said. “The solution to high energy prices is rapidly evolving and building renewable energy capacity at scale.”

The role of gas in the power system continues to decline. In the December quarter, gas accounted for a record low 2.9% of electricity generation in the NEM.

Buckley said data shows fossil fuels are losing dominance.

This marks the first time fossil fuel production in Australia has fallen below 50% for an entire quarter.

“This proves that we are making strong progress towards electrification and decarbonization.”

Investment remains the critical constraint. Buckley said Australia needed a much faster build-out of both renewable generation and energy storage at home and utility scale. Rooftop solar and home batteries boom with federal government support Cheaper Home Battery ProgramGrid-scale wind and solar power had been withdrawn with slow approvals.

Feds increase approvals for both fossil and renewable energy

“Australia is the world leader per capita behind rooftop solar and meter batteries, and that leadership has accelerated in the last six months,” Buckley said. “What we need now is the same urgency applied to grid-scale wind, solar and battery storage.”

Pointing out that great progress has been made in battery energy storage systems in 2025, he said that this will transform the renewable energy economy by allowing the cheap solar energy produced during the day to be stored and used in the evening hours when demand is highest. Australia now third largest market It ranks behind China and the United States globally for battery storage installations.

“If we can build replacement capacity at the speed and scale required, these investments will permanently reduce energy price inflation and that is something the Australian public needs to understand,” Buckley said.

Stephanie is a journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that will hold the power to account. With experience in both law and journalism, he worked at The Guardian and worked as a paralegal, where he assisted Crikey’s defense team in the high-profile libel case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. His reporting has been recognized nationally, earning him the 2021 Guardians of Democracy Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.