At the end of February, Australia had more than 5 GW of large-scale renewable projects under construction, according to Green Energy Markets' March 2018 edition of its Renewable Energy Index. Out of the 5,056 MW under construction, solar energy projects comprise 2,372 MW, while the wind capacity is even larger, reaching 2,660 MW. Another 24 MW of bioenergy projects make up the total. All of these projects are said to support 17,445 jobs
Green Energy Markets' Renewable Energy Index states that solar power projects generated more power during the summer months than the output of the 1.6 GW Hazelwood coal-based power plant, which was recently shut down.
Among the states, Queensland leads the solar polls with 2.11 GW of capacity under construction, followed by 1.28 GW in Victoria, 928 MW in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and 578 MW in South Australia.
In the rooftop PV segment, where Australia is one of the leading nations worldwide, 117 MW of new capacity was added in February, with 17,252 new systems installed during the month. According to the report, these systems support 5,674 full-time installation jobs.
Green Energy Markets expects these systems to deliver $208 million in electricity bill savings over the next 10 years, while generating enough power for 33,826 households.
Earlier this month, the Clean Energy Regulator announced that rooftop PV capacity in Australia surged past 1 GW in 2017 (see 1 GW Of PV On Australian Rooftops In 2017).