Australia Seeks to Achieve Net Zero Ambitions with Solar Energy Surge
Australia aims to meet its ambitious net zero emissions goals by harnessing solar energy, according to the 2025 Net Zero Plan released by the government on Monday.
Over the past three years, Australia has added more than 18 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, primarily from wind and solar, supplying more than 40% of renewable electricity across the country’s two major grids. Wind and solar capacities are up 45%, enough to power over 6 million households.
According to the 2025 Net Zero Plan, Australia added a record 7.5 GW of new renewable electricity capacity last year, including over 3GW from rooftop solar installations. This household adoption is backed by strong policy support, with the government committing A$1 billion ($0.65 billion) via programs such as the Home Energy Upgrades Fund, Solar Banks for apartments, and the Cheaper Home Batteries scheme, which has already facilitated over 55,000 battery installations.
The surge in adoption has far outpaced earlier expectations, with the report attributing this to policy support and a significant reduction in global renewable technology costs. While Treasury projections in 2011 estimated that solar photovoltaics would supply 3% of electricity generation by 2024, actual contributions have surged to an estimated 17%.
However, the plan also highlights “heavy reliance on importing transition technologies” as a key challenge. According to Chris Bowen, minister for climate change and energy, while one in three Australian households now has rooftop solar, less than 1% of those panels are domestically made.
To build national resilience, the report highlights initiatives like the A$1 billion Solar Sunshot program, which aims to scale up domestic solar PV manufacturing.
In August, Tindo Solar, Australia’s only module manufacturer, received an A$34.5 million grant under the program, allowing Tindo to expand its Mawson Lakes facility from 20 megawatts to 180MW of N-type solar modules. The grant also supports a feasibility study for a 1GW gigafactory.
Australia’s national greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 stood at 447 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 27% reduction from 2005 levels. Preliminary 2025 data shows further progress to 436 million mt, 29% below 2005 figures.
Australia aims to generate 82% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, which is expected to deliver about 44 million mt of cumulative carbon emissions reductions between 2024 and 2030, making up close to 10% of Australia’s Emissions Target in 2030 of 441 million mt to 453 million mt.
The country’s Nationally Determined Contribution targets a 43% reduction below 2005 levels by 2030 and a 62-70% reduction by 2035. While solar energy supports emissions reduction, it does not generate Australian Carbon Credit Units. Instead, it earns renewable energy certificates like Large-scale Generation Certificates for utility projects and Small-scale Technology Certificates for household or small business solar systems under Australia’s Renewable Energy Target scheme, subject to eligibility.
–Reporting by Jun Won Lee, jlee1@opisnet.com and Sang Ah Lee, slee@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com