A new report from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) shows that Australia’s solar households are continuing to break records in electricity production, leading to lower wholesale energy prices across the National Energy Market (NEM).
The AEMO’s Quarterly Energy Dynamics Report for the fourth quarter of 2024 reveals that distributed photovoltaic (PV) output reached an all-time high, averaging 4,054 MW across the NEM.
This represents an 18 per cent increase compared to the previous record set in the same quarter of 2023.
The report highlights that NEM wholesale prices were 26 per cent lower than the previous quarter, demonstrating the positive impact of rooftop solar on energy affordability for households, businesses, and industries connected to the grid.
While rooftop solar was driving down energy prices, the cost of gas saw an increase. East Coast wholesale gas prices averaged $13.60 per gigajoule (GJ) for the quarter, up from $12.50 in the previous quarter.
The increased rooftop solar output, combined with the unreliability of coal-fired power plants, resulted in renewables generating 46 per cent of the NEM’s supply mix during the quarter. For the first time, coal’s contribution dipped below 50 per cent.
“The figures show us that rooftop solar reduces bills, whilst expensive gas pushes up prices,” said Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas.
“Meanwhile the Coalition is weirdly discussing government economic efficiency while proposing nuclear, which experts say will drive up energy bills and government spending on energy production.”
Solar Citizens has raised concerns about the potential negative impacts of nuclear power on solar-powered households, citing evidence from Canada where nuclear reactors have forced out renewable energy sources.
“Australia’s great success story of 4 million homes powered by rooftop solar will be at risk of a nuclear-led solar switch-off,” said Douglas.
Professor Mark Winfield, co-chair of the Sustainable Energy Initiative at York University in Toronto, added: “In Canada, we definitely have wind especially, curtailed when we have what is called ‘surplus baseload generation.’
“Even then we have regularly ended up exporting to neighbouring US jurisdictions for ‘negative’ prices (i.e. we pay them to take the power off our hands).”
The Queensland Conservation Council has estimated that building a 1,000 MW nuclear power station in Queensland in 2040 would displace 3,700 GWh of cheap renewable energy from the grid, equivalent to the output of 45,000 rooftop solar systems every day.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has also found that “always on” nuclear power is incompatible with rooftop solar and would take much longer to build than renewable plus storage options.
IEEFA estimates that the Coalition’s nuclear plan could increase household electricity bills by an average of $665 per year.
“Australians want the energy bill relief now, along with the independence of generating their own clean, cheap power from the sun with home battery storage so they can use it at night. Not be tied to more expensive power sources,” concluded Douglas.
