Australia’s shift towards clean energy gained significant momentum in 2025, with a record number of renewable energy projects approved and strong growth across utility-scale, household, and community-level initiatives, according to the Albanese Government.
In the year ending 30 November 2025, the government approved 54 new renewable energy projects, taking the total number of approvals to 123 since 2022 across all states and territories. Once operational, these projects are expected to generate enough clean electricity to power more than 5 million households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 30 million tonnes annually—equivalent to removing around 9 million cars from the road.
The Clean Energy Regulator estimates that close to 7 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity was added to the national grid in 2025 across both large-scale and small-scale installations. This additional capacity is sufficient to supply electricity to approximately 2.4 million homes.
The expansion of renewables has also contributed to lower wholesale electricity prices. Data from the National Electricity Market shows that average wholesale prices between January and November 2025 were 14 per cent lower than during the same period in 2024, with the government stating it expects these reductions to flow through to retail electricity bills.
Meanwhile, the Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest Connections Scorecard highlights a rapidly expanding development pipeline. The main national grid now includes 275 proposed generation and storage projects, representing a combined capacity of 56.6 GW. Of these, 23.2 GW are either under construction or finalising contracts—an increase of 43 per cent compared to the previous year.
At the household and community level, several federal programs drove widespread adoption of clean energy technologies. More than 185,000 home batteries were installed in just six months under the Cheaper Home Batteries program. Over the same period, around 140,000 households installed solar panels for the first time, adding to the one in three Australian homes already equipped with rooftop solar systems.
Electric vehicle uptake also increased sharply, with approximately 320,000 Australians purchasing hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or fully electric vehicles between January and November 2025. Public EV charging infrastructure expanded rapidly, with the number of fast and ultra-fast charging locations tripling since mid-2022 to reach 1,475 sites nationwide.
Government-backed upgrade programs also supported energy efficiency improvements. The Home Energy Upgrades Fund delivered around 6,000 clean energy upgrades, while the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative upgraded 20,000 social housing properties. In addition, the Community Energy Upgrades Fund supported 128 local councils to implement energy-saving measures across public assets.
In the industrial and large-scale energy sector, the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) opened four tenders covering 6.6 GW of generation capacity and 18.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of dispatchable energy. Forty projects were announced across three additional CIS tenders, together expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 3 million households.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency committed $1.2 billion under the Hydrogen Headstart program and funded 34 additional projects, mobilising more than $420 million across the clean energy innovation pipeline. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation injected over $6.6 billion through more than 30 transactions, supporting clean energy technologies, land-use transformation, and major transmission infrastructure projects.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the government’s policies were delivering tangible benefits for households and emissions reduction, while modernising an ageing electricity system. He noted that ageing coal-fired power stations posed a growing risk to energy reliability and affordability.
Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt said Australia was making steady progress towards becoming a renewable energy superpower, adding that upcoming environmental reforms would further accelerate approvals for renewable projects.
Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson highlighted that renewables had overtaken coal-fired generation for the first time, contributing to the largest annual fall in greenhouse gas emissions outside the COVID-19 lockdown period.
Special Envoy for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Kate Thwaites said the transition to clean energy was also strengthening Australia’s resilience, ensuring communities were better equipped for a net-zero future.
The government reiterated that Australia remains on track to meet its renewable energy targets, with net zero emissions targeted by 2050.
Discover more from SolarQuarter
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
