Solar and wind generation meet record 80% of power demand on Australia’s national grid

Australia is the global leader in generating electricity from the sun. More than 4.3m Australian households now have rooftop solar, driving record amounts of renewable energy into the grid. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Sunshine and wind met 80.4% of demand on Australia’s main power grid on Saturday, setting a new high bar for renewable electricity.

Solar panels on rooftops provided more than half of the power used in the national electricity market, the grid that supplies the eastern states, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, for 30 minutes around lunchtime. This was complemented by solar and windfarms, and a small amount of hydro (1%). Fossil fuels, coal and gas, contributed 20%.