On Saturday, 19 September 2026, Australia's National Electricity Market, the main grid serving the country's eastern and southern states, ran on more than 80% renewable energy for the first time, according to the market operator AEMO.
Key facts
Renewables peaked at just over 80% of demand around 12:30 pm local time, beating a record set only the day before, when the share reached almost 80%.
At the peak, rooftop solar supplied about 52% of demand, large solar farms 16% and wind 11%.
Coal supplied about a fifth of demand at that moment, and gas around 1%.
Why it matters
Much of this electricity came from panels on ordinary homes and businesses. Moments like this show that a large, modern grid can run mostly on renewable power, and that millions of households are now part of the solution.
Worth noting
This was a peak on a sunny spring afternoon, not an average for the day or the year. More than 8 gigawatts of available wind and solar output was held back at the time because of grid-stability needs and limited storage, which is why batteries and new transmission lines are the next big step.