After overtaking coal as the primary contributor to the National Electricity Market (NEM) in recent weeks, renewables are surging again.
According to GPE NEMLog, Saturday saw renewables achieve a 56.1 per cent share of the NEM, after topping 50 per cent for the first time on Thursday October 3.
GPE’s Geoff Eldridge put Saturday’s milestone down to “blustery winds and clear skies”, along with Unit 2 of the Bayswater coal-fired power station two-shifting – a process that sees coal plants turned on and off again over a short time period, so they are operating when demand is at its highest.
Two-shifting creates NEM availability for renewables at certain points of the day and did so on Saturday.
Eldridge observed the fact that there are expanding surplus windows in the NEM, with the market “increasingly defined by rapid record-setting and sharper extremes”.
With renewables overtaking coal seen as a significant event in the Australian energy market, the same milestone has been achieved on the global stage.
Monthly electricity data compiled by think tank Ember, which drew from 88 countries representing 93 per cent of global electricity demand, saw global renewable generation outpace coal in the first half of 2025.
While solar and wind generation increased by 109 per cent across the six months, with solar comprising 83 per cent of this, coal generation fell by 0.6 per cent.
“We are seeing the first signs of a crucial turning point,” Ember senior electricity analyst Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka said. “Solar and wind are now growing fast enough to meet the world’s growing appetite for electricity.
“This marks the beginning of a shift where clean power is keeping pace with demand growth. As costs of technologies continue to fall, now is the perfect moment to embrace the economic, social and health benefits that come with increased solar, wind and batteries.”
Global Solar Council chief executive officer Sonia Dunlop said solar and wind “are no longer marginal technologies”.
“The fact that renewables have overtaken coal for the first time marks a historic shift,” she said.
“But to lock in this progress, governments and industry must accelerate investment in solar, wind, and battery storage, ensuring that clean, affordable, and reliable electricity reaches communities everywhere.”
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