Renewable energy in Australia includes wind power, hydroelectricity, solar PV, heat pumps, geothermal, wave and solar thermal energy.
In 2019, Australia met its 2020 renewable energy target of 23.5% and 33 terawatt-hours (TWh).[2] Australia produced 378.7 PJ of overall renewable energy (including renewable electricity) in 2018 which accounted for 6.2% of Australia’s total energy use (6,146 PJ).[3] Renewable energy grew by an annual average of 3.2% in the ten years between 2007-2017 and by 5.2% between 2016-2017. This contrasts to growth in coal (-1.9%), oil (1.7%) and gas (2.9%) over the same ten year period.[3] It is estimated that Australia produced 55,093 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable electricity in 2019, which accounted for 24.0% of the total amount of electricity generated in Australia.[4]
Similar to many other countries, development of renewable energy in Australia has been encouraged by government energy policy implemented in response to concerns about climate change, energy independence and economic stimulus.[5]