The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO’s) latest Connections Scorecard shows a growing wave of new generation and storage projects across the National Electricity Market (NEM), with the development pipeline now reaching 56.6 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity – a 24 per cent increase over the past year.
Each quarter, AEMO tracks the progress of new projects as they move through the connection process, from initial application to full output.
AEMO Onboarding & Connections Group Manager, Margarida Pimentel, said the growing pipeline reflects strong momentum across governments and industry to deliver new energy capacity and support a reliable power system.
“The latest insights show a strong and growing pipeline of new energy projects entering the market to meet consumers’ growing electricity needs,” Ms Pimentel said.
“During the three months to September, six projects totalling 1.6 GW completed full output, while a further 2.4 GW of staged capacity has been released from projects working towards full output.
“In the last 12 months, 28 projects (4.7 GW) have been commissioned to full output,” she said.
These include the Golden Plains Wind Farm (733 MW), Aldoga Solar Farm (387 MW), Stubbo Solar Farm 1 (202 MW), Ulinda Park Battery Energy Storage System (155 MW / 298 MWh), Mannum Battery Energy Storage System (100 MW / 200 MWh) and Tallawarra A upgrade (29 MW).
“Ten projects (2.2 GW) were registered, increasing the total number of projects working to commission to 25 (7 GW). A further 23.2 GW of earlier-stage projects are finalising contracts or under construction – up 43 per cent from this time last year,” Ms Pimentel said.
The total connections pipeline now has 275 projects representing 56.6 GW in generation and storage capacity – equivalent to around 82 per cent of the NEM’s existing generation capacity.
“The pipeline showcases the National Electricity Market’s shift from a baseload and peaking power system, to one that’s built on renewables and firming,” Ms Pimentel said
“Grid-scale batteries make up about half of all new capacity in the investment pipeline, increasing 79 per cent year-on-year from 14.6 GW to 26.1 GW.
“Of this, around 70 per cent (18.2 GW) are grid-forming batteries, highlighting the rapid technological progress underway across Australia.
“We’re also seeing more hybrid projects that combine solar generation with battery storage. These projects now represent 9.4 GW, 17% of the connections pipeline, 7% increase compared to last year,” she said.
The scorecard also shows that projects are taking longer in the proponent implementation phase, between application approval and registration.
“We’re seeing some projects taking longer in the proponent implementation phase, due to prolonged funding uncertainty, project ownership changes, and design modifications, such as battery integration and original equipment manufacturer changes,” Ms Pimentel said.
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