The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has reported a record level of new solar, wind, and battery projects entering the National Electricity Market (NEM) in the 2025/26 financial year, following a surge of completions in the June quarter.
AEMO’s latest Connections Scorecard shows 9.1 GW / 12.9 GWh of new generation and storage capacity across 34 projects reached full output in the past financial year – more than double the 4.4 GW of capacity delivered in 2024/25.
The June quarter also delivered strong outcomes, with 3.9 GW of capacity across 14 projects reaching full output. This included 400 MW of standalone solar, 500 MW of co-located solar and battery energy storage, 2.7 GW of standalone battery storage, and 200 MW of wind generation.
In addition, eight projects representing 1.5 GW of capacity achieved registration and a quarterly record of 32 project applications, representing 6.9 GW of capacity, were approved.
Across the financial year, registration and application approvals reached 7.4 GW / 14 GWh and 14.2 GW / 31.1 GWh respectively.
AEMO Onboarding and Connections Group Manager Margarida Pimentel said while both measures were slightly lower than the previous 12 months, the broader connections pipeline continued to expand, growing 42% from 53 GW to 75.4 GW.
“Capacity in the application stage more than doubled across the year and proponent implementation, a developer-led stage that sits outside AEMO’s role in the connections process, grew by 30%,” she said.
Battery projects continued to dominate the connections pipeline, accounting for 52% of total capacity.
Hybrid solar-plus-battery projects are an increasingly significant component of the development pipeline with 4.3 GW, or 18%, of applications received during the financial year. At the same time, the developers behind 2.4 GW of solar projects commenced or completed processes to add a battery energy storage system, reflecting the industry’s growing interest in combining renewable generation with flexible storage.
The scorecard shows 14.4 GW of projects entered the proponent implementation stage in the past financial year, but also highlights growing challenges in the delivery pipeline with only 6.4 GW progressing through this stage.
AEMO said that across 2025/26, the median duration of the proponent implementation phase increased from 14 to 18 months, with one third of projects having remained in this stage for more than two years.
Pimentel said project changes are often key contributors to delays in commencing registration.
“Design changes and equipment substitutions can require additional assessment and rework, while the sale of projects, extended financing and commercial readiness activities are also contributing factors,” she said.
Despite the delays, Pimentel said the overall FY26 result demonstrates strong end-to-end performance across the pipeline.
“Together, these technologies will play an important role in delivering the diverse mix of re
