Big battery investment charges up in Q1 2025 - New Clean Energy Council report

Clean Energy Council Chief Policy and Impact Officer, Arron Wood, said it was encouraging to see sustained momentum in investment for large-scale battery and storage projects given they are critical to achieving reliable and affordable energy generation through renewables such as wind and solar.

“Wind and solar combined with energy storage is the lowest-cost form of electricity generation and by installing more battery storage projects across the country, Australians can get the biggest benefits from renewable energy through cheaper, cleaner, more reliable power - while creating thousands of new jobs,” he said.

The largest BESS project reaching financial commitment for the quarter was in Wooreen, Victoria, with a storage capacity/ energy output of 350 MW/ 1.4 GWh, and duration of four hours, while South Australia had the largest share of financially committed storage projects in capacity (640 MW / 1.8 GWh).  

In addition to the six projects that reached financial commitment, a further three battery storage projects commenced construction in the first quarter of 2025, with a total of 840 MW / 2.9 GWh in storage capacity / energy output.  

While there were strong results in BESS projects reaching the financial commitment stage in the first quarter of 2025, renewable energy generation projects reaching financial close during the same period got off to a slow start. 

Mr Wood said despite a slower start to the first quarter of this year, which is typical for Q1 compared to other quarters, investment in both renewable power generation and big battery storage is expected to gain traction with greater political certainty.

“There is no doubt the 2025 Federal Election caused a degree of investor uncertainty earlier this year, given the stark differences in energy policy between the two major parties,” Mr Wood said.

Two renewable energy generation projects totalling 386 MW achieved financial close in the first quarter of 2025 – AMP Energy’s Bungama Solar Farm in South Australia and European Energy’s Lancaster Solar Farm in Victoria worth $410 million in total investment.

Q1 2025 results follow strong year for clean energy investment in 2024 

The lower results for the first quarter of 2025 come off the back of a strong year for renewable energy investment in 2024 according to the Clean Energy Council’s 2025 Clean Energy Australia Report, also released today.

The report found investment commitments for renewable energy generation skyrocketed by 500 per cent to $9 billion in 2024, compared with weaker investment in 2023 of $1.5 billion. This made 2024 the single highest year of new financial commitments to large-scale generation since the boom of 2018 ($8.4 billion). 

“When combined with utility scale storage investment, 2024 saw the largest wave of clean energy investment in Australia’s history, totalling $12.7 billion. Political certainty drove healthy levels of private sector investment and is critical if we are to meet the Government’s national renewable energy target,” Mr Wood said.

The 2025 Clean Energy Australia Report also found:

• At the end of 2024 there are 82 renewable electricity generation projects in Australia that have been financially committed or are under construction, representing 12.5 GW of capacity, with 69 committed storage projects in the pipeline, equivalent to 12.5 GW in capacity and 32.1 GWh in energy output. 
• Approximately 8.7 GW/23.3 GWh of large-scale batteries were under construction at the end of 2024, significantly up on 2023 (5 GW/12 GWh)
• 5.2 GW of large-scale and small-scale renewable generation capacity was added in 2024, slightly down on 2023 (5.9 GW) with 3.2 GW of capacity added coming from rooftop solar, which was slightly up on 2023 (3.1 GW). 
• Australia surpassed four million rooftop solar installations in 2024 with rooftop solar generating 12.4 per cent of Australia’s total electricity, coming in close behind wind at 13.4 per cent.
• 40 per cent of Australia’s electricity was provided by renewables in 2024, with fossil fuels still making up the majority of Australia’s energy mix (60%).

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: 

Liam Straughan
Clean Energy Council Media Officer
+61 409 470 683