The national electricity market reached a new fleeting milestone on Sunday, with solar power outperforming energy generation from coal for the first time since the market was set up two decades ago, The Guardian reported.
The milestone moment lasted for only a few minutes, as low demand and sunny skies on Sunday meant the contribution from coal dropped to a low of 9,315MW just after noon, while solar provided the majority share with 9,427MW.
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University of Melbourne research fellow Dylan McConnell said that for a fleeting moment renewable energy represented 57 per cent of national electricity generation.
“This is what I unofficially call ‘record season’,” McConnell said.
“It’s actually still pretty early in the season but in spring or the shoulder seasons you have the combination of low demand, because there’s no heating or cooling, and then nice weather on the weekend.
“Those factors combine, and you get these giant shares of renewable energy that generally push out coal.”
While McConnell said the record was fleeting and that “Australia was a long way from peak renewable energy”, energy prices also went negative on Sunday from 8.30am through to 5pm.
Unlike more nimble solar and wind producers, coal generators are particularly hurt when prices turn negative. The costs associated with shutting down and restarting coal generators are prohibitive, meaning operators will choose to keep running even at a loss.
According to NEMlog, South Australia had 100 per cent of its energy needs met by wind and solar while Victoria would have met 102 per cent of state demand had operators not been forced to switch off during the period of negative prices.
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According to The Guardian, energy analyst Simon Holmes à Court said the overall proportion of renewable energy—solar, wind and hydro—would have been higher in the energy mix but wind producers chose to shut down to avoid the price hit.
“There was a significant amount of curtailment,” he said.
“What it shows is that there’s already more renewables that could have gone into the grid if the coal plants were more flexible and transmission was upgraded.”
