Clean Energy Council Q4 2024 Investment Report highlights significant year for renewable investment
The Clean Energy Council recently released its Q4 2024 Investment Report, showcasing a significant boost in renewable energy and battery storage investment throughout 2024. The year saw 4.35GW of new wind and solar generation projects greenlit, representing over $9 billion in capital value – the highest investment in new generation since 2018.
Energy storage also reached record breaking levels of commitment, with 25 projects totalling 4GW/11.3GWh approved over the year. The rolling quarterly average investment hit $2 billion – the first time it has reached this level since Q2 2019.
While these figures are encouraging, they highlight the immense scale of the energy transition. Sustaining this level of investment will be required to reach the Federal Government’s target of 82% renewables by 2030 – with 6-7GW of new generation required annually.
Labor signals increased support for household batteries
In what will hopefully be one of many positive energy and climate commitments made in the lead up to the 2025 Federal Election, reports suggest that the Albanese Labor government is set to strengthen financial support for household batteries and other residential efficiency measures.
With a wide range of measures analysed, it is expected that an expansion of the current Small Scale Renewable Energy Scheme will provide rebates for the installation of home batteries and potentially other efficiency focussed upgrades.
With many energy transition plans, including AEMO’s own ISP, placing significant reliance on the uptake of smaller residential and commercial energy storage, the plan has been widely welcomed throughout the energy industry. The Coalition has also flagged their support for home battery storage to increase energy resilience and affordability for consumers.
Did you know?
There are currently 57 hybrid renewable energy projects in various stages of development across Australia.
