Wind and solar hit new peaks amid storms and heatwaves, rooftop PV shines in southern states
Image supplied by Squadron Energy
Giles Parkinson
Oct 29, 2025
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Wind
Wind and solar continued their record-breaking streak this week on Australia’s main grid – and in the country’s most coal dependent grid – as rooftop PV output also broke new records in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.
The data boffins at GPE NEMLog say multiple records were smashed on Monday, including a new peak for renewables of 25,746 megawatt (MW) at 12.35pm (AEST) – easily beating a previous peak set in January this year of 25,261 MW.
The output of variable renewables (wind and solar and not including hydro or biomass) also peaked at a new high of 24,943 MW at the same time, also beating the previous January peak of 24,835 MW.
On a state by state level it was noticeable that Queensland, already the least renewable state and destined to remain so after the new LNP state government threw out the anchors on wind and solar in its new energy roadmap, also posted some new records.
On Monday it was hit by a record heatwave that sent temperatures up to a high of more than 46°Ç – in October.
It also hit a new peak of 3,857 MW of large scale wind and solar at 12.35pm on Monday, up from the previous peak of 3,496 MW set in July, and a new peak of all wind and solar – including rooftop PV – of 8088 MW, up from 7060 MW set just three days earlier.
Its record was helped by a big boost in wind output from the newly commissioned 450 MW Clarke’s Creek wind farm, and an injection from the new Wambo wind farm which is still working through its commissioning, and despite the biggest wind farm in the state, the 930 MW Macintyre facility, still struggling through its hold points.
Still, it was enough to send the share of coal and gas to a new low of 27.5 per cent – well below the previous low of 30.5 per cent set in November last year.
The LNP still imagines that coal and gas will average 45 per cent of the electricity share in 2035, although quite how – given the growth in rooftop solar and large wind and solar projects already committed – is beyond the grasp of most energy experts.
Further south, after wet, windy and storrmy Monday that helped set the new renewable records mentioned at the start of this story, a burst of sunny weather helped set new rooftop PV records in three states.
In Victoria the new peak for rooftop solar output was set at 3980 MW, in South Australia, the new peak was set at 1943 MW, and in Tasmania the new peak was set at 273 MW, a 10 per cent increase over the previous high set in December last year.
As GPE’s Geoff Eldridge observes, the middle of the day remains the big pivot in the grid, with strong rooftop and utility solar, now back by a growth in storage which is absorbing surplus output and preparing for the evening ramp.
The record season is likely to continue through spring – when demand is relatively low and the conditions good for both wind and solar.
But Eldridge notes it will be more storage, more flexible demand (such as EVs, industry load shifting, process heat), and network headroom that will push the next barriers and help move energy to times where it’s valued more.
“The transition is visible in real time — higher renewable peaks, deeper midday fossil lows, and growing storage footprints shaping the afternoon and evening,” he wrote on LinkedIn
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