In January 2023, SunWiz predicted 2023 would be the worst year for energization of new solar farms since their rollout began in earnest. Unfortunately, we were proved correct.Â
1.1GW of solar farms were energized in 2023, far less in number and total capacity than in any year since 2017. That 1.1GW worth of systems larger than 10MW energized in 2023 compares to 2.9GW in 2022.
This was the net result of a decade of inaction and blocking by the previous federal government that caused development of solar farms to stall, once the Renewable Energy Target was met.
The downturn was no surprise – the amount under construction in January 2023 (2.2GW) was less than half the amount in January 2022 (4.9GW).Â
The amount currently under construction increased marginally to 2.6GW. On this basis, SunWiz anticipates we will see more solar farm capacity energized in 2024 than we did in 2023.
This deployment level is clearly far short of what’s required to reach Australia’s decarbonisation goals. The problem is even though the amount of announced projects keeps rising, there is a declining amount of projects progressing through the various project development hurdles.Â
We are hopeful that the current federal and state government’s actions will rebuild the required momentum, for Australia needs the low-cost bulk energy provided by solar farms. In the interim, it is essential that rooftop solar is no longer overlooked, as it will be the dominant source of new generation on the grid for the coming years. Securing the social licence for the energy transition demands governments act to accelerate uptake of rooftop solar, owing to the dampening-effect it has on electricity prices.
This map shows the locations of operating solar farms along with their year of operation. Those that began generating in 2023 are labelled.
