The 100 MW Merredin Solar Farm in Western Australia was Australia’s top-performing large-scale solar facility last month, according to data from energy consultancy Rystad Energy. The plant, owned by Indonesian PV developer Sun Energy, recorded an average AC capacity factor of 35%, said Rystad Senior Analyst David Dixon.
Naturgy’s 128 MW Cunderdin Solar Farm, also in Western Australia, placed second with a 32% capacity factor. Victoria’s 102 MW Glenrowan Solar Farm, owned by Pacific Partnerships, ranked third at 32%. The first and second stages of Acen Australia’s 400 MW Stubbo project in New South Wales took fourth and fifth place.
Australian large-scale solar plants generated 5,100 GWh last month, down 2% from the 5,200 GWh recorded in October 2025. Across utility-scale solar and wind, generation also totalled 5.1 TWh, Rystad reported.
Victoria contributed the most to the combined monthly total, producing 290 GWh from utility-scale solar and 1,130 GWh from wind. Among wind farms, Western Australia’s Flat Rocks and Warradarge ranked first and second, with capacity factors of 48% and 47%, respectively. Queensland’s Clarke Creek stage 1b placed third at 44%.
Dixon said that, over the trailing 12 months, both negative-price hours and curtailed utility-scale solar and wind generation were beginning to decline as battery capacity came online. He expects the trend to continue over the next 24 months, with the National Electricity Market’s utility battery fleet forecast to grow from 26 GWh to almost 60 GWh by the end of 2028.
Gas generation in the NEM totalled 426 GWh in October, the lowest figure for that month since the market began, Dixon added.
Sources: pv magazine.