Solar generation was the primary driver of an all-time 80.4% peak in the National Electricity Market (NEM) from renewable and storage generation in the half hour to 1,230 on Saturday, 19 September 2026.
This was 3.2 pp higher than the same period in 2025, and exceeded a previous record set in October 2025, by 1.8 pp. At the time of the Q3 2026 peak, distributed solar supplied 51.8% of total generation, and grid-scale solar adding a further 16.4%.
Also, during Q3 2026, distributed solar capacity across the NEM reached 27 GW from 3.9 million consumer energy resources (CER) installations, representing a year-on-year increase of 12%, which drove output to a Q3 average high of 3,203 MW (+13%), and setting a new peak generation record of 16,992 MW on 20 September 2026.
“CER solar capacity expanded consistently across all regions, with New South Wales (NSW) reaching 9.3 GW, followed by Queensland at 8.3 GW,” the data source and Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Quarterly Dynamic Report (QDR) says.
“Victoria and South Australia distributed PV capacity reached 6.1 GW and 3.1 GW respectively. Growth in Tasmania remained comparatively smaller and reached 0.4 GW.”
AEMO Executive General Manager Policy and Corporate Affairs Violette Mouchaileh said the quarter showed how demand, supply and storage were continuing to change across the NEM.
“Electricity use continues to grow, but more solar and storage is changing when energy is produced, drawn from the grid and shifted across the day,” Mouchaileh said.
Grid-scale solar generation saw significant growth in Q3 2026, jumping 512 MW (+30%) year-on-year to reach a new Q3 high average of 2,211 MW, that boosted total generation share by 1.9 pp to 8.5%, and achieved an all-time peak output of 8,290 MW in the interval 30 minutes ending 1500 on 27 August 2026, which is 112 MW above the previous peak set in Q1 2026, or up 1.4%.
Network Curtailment
“ Total network curtailment of wind and solar generation reached a new Q3 high, averaging 281 MW, up 139 MW year-on-year,” the QDR says.
“Grid-scale solar accounted for most of this increase, with curtailment rising by 105 MW, to average 169 MW this quarter. As a percentage of solar availability, curtailment increased by 3.6 pp year-on-year to 6.7%.”
“Increases were greatest in NSW with curtailment at 104 MW (+64 MW), primarily at facilities in the south of the state, followed by Queensland at 48 MW (+41 MW) concentrated at facilities in the north of the state. In Victoria and South Australia, grid-scale solar curtailment remained largely unchanged year-on-year, averaging 15 MW and 1.0 MW respectively,” the report says.
Batteries
Supported by the uptake of home batteries via the federal government’s Cheaper Home Battery Program (CHBP), 75% of households with rooftop solar and batteries installed, drew less power from the grid during the evening peak between 1600 to 2100, in Q3 2026.
The cumulative CER battery capacity under the program reached 13,917 MWh in Q3 2026 and installations grew from 420,266 to 482,835 between 1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026, an increase of 62,569 battery installations in the quarter.
“Relative to the end of Q2 2026, cumulative CER battery capacity across the NEM increased by 1,652 MWh (+13%), with more than 10% growth in every region by the end of Q3 2026. Under the program, New South Wales recorded 5,885 MWh of installed capacity, followed by Victoria at 3,185 MWh and Queensland at 3,166 MWh. South Australia and Tasmania reached 1,568 MWh and 114 MWh, respectively,” the report says.
Mouchaileh said batteries continue to shift record amounts of renewable energy into the higher-demand evening period, when households and businesses typically need more power.
“Increased battery charging and discharging contributed to significantly lower evening peak prices, with batteries setting prices in almost half of dispatch intervals, up from 18% a year ago,” Mouchaileh said.
Energy shifted by grid-scale batteries more than tripled year-on-year, with batteries charging 13.4 GWh of energy per day on average during daylight hours before discharging 10.9 GWh during the evening peak, when they supplied 8% of total generation, exceeding gas-fired generation (5.1%) for the first time in any quarter.
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