Australia’s renewable energy output hit record level, helping extend the slide in wholesale power prices in the first three months of 2023, displacing fossil fuels and sending carbon emissions from the sector to new lows for the first quarter.
Renewable energy supply to the National Electricity Market (NEM) hit a record of 66% in the quarter ended March, according to the latest quarterly update from the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo). That was up 4.4 percentage points from the previous high.
Coal and gas, on the other hand, fell. Gas, typically the most costly fuel for electricity generation, touched its lowest level since 2005. Overall gas demand in eastern Australia fell 9%, with domestic consumption dropping to its lowest for any March quarter since 2016.