2024 marked the largest single year of clean energy investment in Australia’s history, with $12.7 billion pumped into the nation’s renewables pipeline.
Of that $12.7 billion, $9 billion was for large-scale renewable generation—the highest since the boom of 2018.
These figures were highlighted in the Clean Energy Council‘s Clean Energy Australia 2025 report and the Quarterly Investment Report: Large-scale renewable generation and storage for Q1 2025.
Related article: Electricity to become largest infrastructure investment sector
While the Quarterly Investment Report does show a slowdown in new financial commitments to large-scale generation, Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton said this was consistent with recent trends where the first quarter is typically the slowest of the year.
“There is cause for optimism that investment will trend upwards throughout the remainder of 2025 given the political stability and policy certainty provided by the election outcome and the impact of policies such as the Capacity Investment Scheme on new projects,” he said.
Other noteworthy figures from the Clean Energy Australia report include:
- Financial investment in large-scale renewable energy generation projects skyrocketed by 500% in 2024, jumping from $1.5 billion in 2023 to $9 billion in 2024
- $5.9 billion was invested in onshore wind projects—the highest since the Clean Energy Council began reporting data in 2017
- As at the end of 2024, there was over 8.7GW/23.3GWh of large-scale battery capacity under construction in Australia—equivalent to more than a third of energy generated by Australia’s coal-fired power stations combined
- 5.2GW of combined utility-scale generation and rooftop solar capacity was added to the grid, down from 5.9GW in 2023
- 3.2GW of rooftop solar capacity was added, just below the record in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Quarterly Investment Report: Large-scale renewable generation and storage Q1 2025, shows significant momentum for big battery and storage projects across the country.
Related article: Renewables claim record share of power in NEM
The first quarter of 2025 was the second best on record for investment in large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Australia, with six projects worth $2.4 billion in total reaching the financial commitment stage—delivering an extra 1.5GW in storage capacity and 5GWh in energy output.
Clean Energy Council chief policy and impact officer Arron Wood said it was encouraging to see sustained momentum in investment for large-scale battery and storage projects given they are critical to achieving reliable and affordable energy generation through renewables such as wind and solar.
“Energy storage systems, such as big batteries, are a critical part of Australia’s future energy mix and act as a reliable back-up system allowing us to store renewable energy for when it is needed most and keep the lights on under all conditions. It’s great to see the high levels of investment we’ve seen over the past couple of years continue,” he said.
