From August 2025 through July 2026, fossil fuels supplied about 57% of Australia’s electricity, while low-carbon sources provided about 43%. Coal remained the largest source at 41%, followed among fossil fuels by gas at almost 15% and oil at roughly 1%. Solar led clean electricity generation with 21% of the total, followed by wind at nearly 16%, hydropower at about 5% and biofuels at 1%. Together, solar and wind supplied more than a third of Australia’s electricity, but the continued reliance on fossil fuels leaves substantial scope to cut climate-changing emissions and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in Australia?

Australia’s latest figures show encouraging growth in clean electricity per person, although overall electricity consumption per person remains below its historical peak. In 2026, consumption stood at about 10,100 kWh per person—roughly 1,500 kWh, or 13%, below the 2002 record of about 11,600 kWh. This gap is concerning as electrification and AI create additional electricity needs, although a comparison with the record alone does not establish the latest annual trend or whether national consumption is growing. Low-carbon generation, by contrast, reached a new high of about 4,300 kWh per person, exceeding the 2025 record by around 210 kWh, or 5%.

Suggestions

Australia should build on its established solar and wind industries while considering nuclear power to expand its clean electricity supply. Sunny regions offer useful solar examples: the US states of Nevada and California generate about 35% and 31% of their electricity from solar, respectively, compared with Australia’s 21%. For wind, the US states of Iowa and Kansas achieve roughly 57% and 49%, showing the potential for much larger contributions than Australia’s current 16%. Nuclear could complement this expansion: France generates about two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear, while the US state of Arizona produces a quarter and the United Arab Emirates a fifth. These regions provide practical examples for Australia to study as it plans a larger, low-carbon electricity system.

History

Australia’s low-carbon electricity history combines variable hydropower output with an increasingly strong contribution from solar and wind. Hydropower fell by about 2.4 TWh in 1980 and 2.5 TWh in 2008, then fluctuated sharply in the early 2010s: gains of 3.3 TWh in 2011 and 4.2 TWh in 2013 were interrupted by a 2.7 TWh decline in 2012, followed by a disappointing 5 TWh drop in 2015. From the late 2010s, solar and wind delivered sustained gains in the listed years. Wind added about 2.6 TWh in 2018, and both technologies expanded in 2019. Solar’s largest listed increase was nearly 10 TWh in 2020, followed by another 8.4 TWh in 2021; wind added about 4.6 and 3.9 TWh in those years. Further gains followed, including solar increases of 7 TWh in 2023 and 8 TWh in 2024, a wind increase of 7.1 TWh in 2025, and another 3.1 TWh of solar generation in 2026—welcome progress to build on.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.