Records Fall, Momentum Builds: What the Latest Clean Energy Data Means for Investors
The Clean Energy Council’s Quarterly Investment Report: Large-scale renewable generation and storage – Q4 2025 confirms what many in the industry have sensed for some time. Australia’s energy transition is no longer theoretical. It is operational, measurable and accelerating in key areas. (1)
At the same time, the data carries a note of caution. Commissioning records were broken. Battery deployment surged. Yet financial commitments to new generation projects remain below where they need to be if Australia is to meet its 2030 targets.
For investors, this combination of strength and strain creates opportunity.
Key Findings From the Report
The headline figure is extraordinary. Nine large-scale wind and solar projects were commissioned in Q4 2025, delivering 2.1 GW of new generation capacity. According to Renew Energy, this is the strongest quarterly result on record and more than the previous six quarters combined. (2)
According to the findings, sixty-three per cent of all renewable generation capacity commissioned in 2025 was delivered in the final quarter alone. That is not incremental growth. That is acceleration.
Utility-scale batteries also broke records. Four storage projects were commissioned in Q4, adding 1 GW and 2.3 GWh of capacity.[1] Across 2025, 1.9 GW and 4.9 GWh of batteries were commissioned, exceeding the combined total of the previous eight years.
The forward pipeline remains substantial. As per the report, there are 81 generation projects representing nearly 13 GW and 75 storage projects representing 13 GW and 34.7 GWh either under construction or financially committed. Total capital expenditure across projects underway sits above $38 billion.
Importantly, as our friends at Renew Economy remind us, renewable energy supplied more than 51 per cent of electricity in the National Electricity Market for the first time during Q4 2025, reaching as high as 77 per cent of peak demand during extreme heat events.
Australia is no longer testing the grid with renewables. Renewables are running the grid.
The Investment Tension
Despite record commissioning, the report shows financial commitments to new generation projects in 2025 were 2.3 GW, down from 4.4 GW in 2024.According to the Financial Review, total new capital expenditure committed to generation projects was $4.4 billion, roughly half the $9 billion committed in 2024. (3)
The AFR highlighted this contrast sharply, noting that while completed projects surged, financial close activity for wind and solar slowed significantly year on year.
This matters because financial close is the leading indicator of supply three years out. If fewer projects are reaching that stage today, fewer will be commissioned later in the decade.
The Clean Energy Council in the report is clear on the constraints. Transmission rollout, grid connections and planning approvals remain friction points. State differences are stark. South Australia averages 19 months from financial commitment to commissioning for solar and 23 months for wind. Queensland takes 23 months for solar and 37 months for wind.
For investors, this is not just data. It is jurisdictional risk pricing.
Batteries Are Changing the Equation
If wind and solar financial commitments moderated in 2025, batteries did not.
According to this report, twenty storage projects totalling 4.2 GW and 13.4 GWh reached financial close in 2025, an annual record for energy output. As the AFR noted, batteries are rapidly increasing their share of evening peak supply, transforming revenue profiles across the market.
This shift has two implications.
First, firming is no longer hypothetical. Storage is scaling.
Second, hybridisation is accelerating. The report identifies 64 hybrid projects at various stages of development, the majority pairing solar and storage. Investors increasingly prefer integrated assets that smooth revenue volatility and enhance grid value.
This is not simply an environmental story. It is a cash flow story.
Political and Policy Context
The report makes clear that Q4 strength coincided with greater political stability in the second half of 2025. The Capacity Investment Scheme that we have previously written about here and state Long-Term Energy Service Agreements continue to underwrite new capacity and reduce price risk.
Renew Economy framed the result as evidence that Australia’s transition is firmly underway, despite political noise around technology choices.
Meanwhile, the AFR reminded readers that the federal government’s 82 per cent renewable electricity target by 2030 requires sustained annual additions of close to 10 GW of capacity, far above current financial commitment levels.
Both views can be true.
The transition is working. But we agree, it must accelerate.
What This Means for Investors
If you can’t already see it, let us tell you. Australia now has a rare combination of attributes.
It has world-class renewable resources. It has an established wholesale electricity market. It has government-backed underwriting mechanisms. It has a proven ability to commission large-scale projects rapidly once financial close is achieved. And it has a grid that has already demonstrated the ability to operate at majority renewable penetration.
Few jurisdictions can say the same.
The data shows that once projects move beyond development bottlenecks, they are built and commissioned efficiently. Solar averages 21 months from financial commitment to operation. Batteries average 23 months.
The opportunity lies upstream.
Investors willing to navigate development risk, transmission risk and approval complexity are positioning themselves ahead of commissioning cycles that will define the late 2020s.
Moreover, as coal exits the system, replacement capacity is non optional. Demand for generation and firming is structural, not discretionary.
This report does not merely confirm that renewables are growing. It confirms that renewables are becoming the backbone of Australia’s electricity system.
And capital follows backbone infrastructure.
The Bottom Line
The Q4 2025 Clean Energy Council report shows a sector that is operationally delivering at record pace, even as financial commitments fluctuate.
Commissioning records prove the transition is real. Battery growth proves the system is evolving. Pipeline depth proves capital is engaged.
The challenge is speed.
For investors, that challenge is also the opportunity. Australia’s renewable energy transition is not a short-term trade. It is a multi decade infrastructure transformation supported by policy, market design and resource advantage.
In global terms, Australia remains one of the most investable renewable energy markets in the world.
References
Clean Energy Council, Quarterly Investment Report: Large-scale renewable generation and storage – Q4 2025, 18 February 2026. https://cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news-resources/q4-2025-large-scale-renewable-generation-and-storage
Williamson R, Renew Economy, “Records tumble as nine wind and solar projects, 1 GW of batteries join grid in just three months”, 17 February 2026. https://reneweconomy.com.au/records-tumble-as-nine-wind-and-solar-projects-1-gw-of-batteries-join-grid-in-just-three-months/
Cropp R, Australian Financial Review, “Big battery bonanza masks sluggish renewables investment”, 17 February 2026. https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/big-battery-bonanza-masks-sluggish-renewables-investment-20260217-p5o2we
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