The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said rooftop solar met 99.9% of South Australia’s total electricity demand at 1.30pm on 31 August, reducing electricity demand from grid-scale generation to just 2 MW – a new winter record.
The market operator said the high rooftop solar generation and negative wholesale prices also saw batteries charging at above-average rates, absorbing excess renewable electricity for use during the evening peak period.
The South Australia result coincided with a new winter minimum operational demand record across the broader National Electricity Market (NEM).
AEMO said mild temperatures and clear skies across the southeast of the country reduced minimum operational demand to a record 11,992 MW at 1.30pm on Monday, surpassing the previous winter low of 12,144 MW set in August 2024.
At the time of the NEM minimum demand low, rooftop solar was contributing close to 54% of underlying demand while renewables, including rooftop solar, and grid-scale solar and wind, accounted for 71% of generation.
Battery charging accounted for about10.5% of total generation, while just over 2% was being used for hydro pumping.
“These records demonstrate how rapidly the electricity system is changing, with high renewable generation increasingly being balanced in real time by batteries, hydro and gas, supported by the transmission network,” AEMO said, adding that the conditions “reinforce the need to plan for a power system that is increasingly dynamic – with the flexibility, storage, transmission and operational capability needed to maintain a secure and reliable supply as the energy transition accelerates.”
Australia leads the world in rooftop PV penetration, with 41% of the nation’s residential, commercial and industrial premises hosting systems that deliver a combined 28.3 GW generation capacity.
In South Australia, 57% of the state’s rooftops are home to solar arrays, equivalent to 2.92 GW of generation capacity.
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