A statement from Energy Minister Angus Taylor said a record of 7.0 gigawatts of renewable capacity was installed during the year.
The previous record was 6.3GW, set in 2019. The 2020 figure was more than the renewable capacity installed under the previous Labor Government between 2007 and 2013, the statement claimed.
About 25% of homes in Australia have solar panels installed, the highest rate of uptake globally.
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The statement said Australia was forecast to deploy an additional 24GW of rooftop solar by 2030, tripling the small-scale solar generating capacity.
In 2020, 53.6 terawatt hours of electricity was generated from renewables, including rooftop solar, the statement said, adding that this figure was 16% higher than that in 2019.
The statement said the following initiatives will be pursued in the current year:
- Delivering a 2000 MW pumped hydro expansion to the Snowy Hydro scheme;
- Supporting the development of Marinus Link, the second interconnector needed to turn Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation vision into reality, and all other major priority transmission projects identified in AEMO’s Integrated System Plan;
- Establishing the Underwriting New Generation Investments program to support new firm generation capacity and increased competition; and
- Establishing a $1 billion Grid Reliability fund to be administered by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
