According to the Renewable Energy Target 2016 Administrative Report released by the Clean Energy Regulator, Australia is on track to meet its 2020 renewable generation target. The report highlights progress toward the Renewable Energy Target (RET), which requires Australia to generate 33 TWh of new renewable generation capacity by 2020, resulting in covering more than 23% of power generation with renewables by 2020.
In 2016, renewable power plants generated 18.3 TWh. One-third of the new build required to meet the target of 33 TWh was either fully financed or supported by a power purchase agreement in 2016. Once built, this will increase large-scale generation to more than 23 TWh in 2018. During the year, 98 large-scale renewable power plants were accredited, corresponding to a total capacity of 494 MW (including five wind parks totalling 365 MW, 10 large solar plants above 1 MW totalling 102 MW and 76 solar projects below 1 MW totalling 16 MW). The total capacity of committed projects in 2016 reached 1.35 GW (869 MW of wind and 481 MW of solar), which should generate more than 3.9 TWh/year.