Australia’s NEM is increasingly operating as a renewables-and-storage system, with fossil fuels, particularly gas, associated with the costly end of the market.
Daily battery discharge has risen from only 1-2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in early 2024 to frequent 15-20 GWh days by mid-2026, with recent peaks above 20 GWh (Figure 1).
That is the time-proven case we outlined earlier this year – batteries are no longer merely ancillary assets, they are increasingly shifting renewable generation, especially solar, into higher-value evening periods and displacing gas peakers.
Figure 1. Australian National Electricity Market electricity from daily utility battery discharging 2024-2026 – AEMO data to 13 Aug 2026
In 2024, battery shares were mostly below 0.5% and high price outcomes were common (Figure 2). With massive growth through 2025 and continuing into 2026, daily battery shares frequently exceed 1.5-2.5%, occasionally reaching around 3.5%, while the dense cluster of outcomes is generally around $A40-100/MWh (Figure 2).
