---
title: Renewable Energy Comes to the Rescue During Australian Heatwaves
description: "RenewEconomy reported yesterday that renewable sources of energy have performed extremely well during the last few record-breaking heatwaves in the country, according to The Australia Institute’s (TAI) National Energy Emissions Audit (January 2019). Here are the key details about the audit and its findings: Thursday 24th and Friday 25th of January 2019 were two of the […]"
---

[Solar Trust Centre | Solar and Renewable Energy News ](https://www.solartrustcentre.com/blog)

# [Renewable Energy Comes to the Rescue During Australian Heatwaves](https://www.solartrustcentre.com/blog/renewable-energy-comes-to-the-rescue-during-australian-heatwaves)

 Written by [Solar Trust Centre Team](https://www.solartrustcentre.com/blog/author/solar-trust-centre-team) | Feb 28, 2019 4:05:54 PM

[RenewEconomy reported yesterday](https://reneweconomy.com.au/how-solar-saved-the-day-and-coal-wilted-in-australias-record-heatwaves-71407/) that renewable sources of energy have performed extremely well during the last few record-breaking heatwaves in the country, according to [The Australia Institute’s (TAI) National Energy Emissions Audit](http://www.tai.org.au/content/renewables-outperformed-coal-summer-unprecedented-heatwaves) (January 2019).

**Here are the key details about the audit and its findings:**

- Thursday 24th and Friday 25th of January 2019 were two of the hottest days on record in Australia, with some major cities reaching 46.8 degrees Celsius.
- During these days, demand reached up to 33,950 MW, one of the highest ever recorded demand levels (the highest was in 2009 with a demand of 35,720 MW).
- Victoria in particular suffered on these days, with three large coal generators down for the count.
- The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) intervened by introducing some capacity of Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) generation and requesting load shedding.
- It is reported that grid demanded would have been much higher without these interventions.
- The audit also found renewables now account for 20% of total energy generation in the National Energy Market (NEM).

## Emissions

The audit reports demand and grid generation increased in January 2019. Coal, gas and renewables all contributed to the grid. Emissions also increased as a result of this, but [emission intensity continues to decrease](https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/what-is-the-difference-between-absolute-emissions-and-emissions-intensity/).

## Renewable Growth

For the first time, wind and solar generation have exceeded hydro generation annually. TAI expect this will grow even more.

 Credit: [TIA](http://www.tai.org.au/content/renewables-outperformed-coal-summer-unprecedented-heatwaves)

[Click here to read the full story on RenewEconomy.](https://reneweconomy.com.au/how-solar-saved-the-day-and-coal-wilted-in-australias-record-heatwaves-71407/)

[Click here to download and read the audit.](http://www.tai.org.au/content/renewables-outperformed-coal-summer-unprecedented-heatwaves)

## Related Articles

[Summer Is Coming: AEMO Says Power System is Prepared](https://solartrustcentre.com.au/summer-is-coming-aemo-says-power-system-is-prepared/)

[CSIRO and AEMO Cost Report: Wind and Solar Farms Will Be Cheaper than Coal](https://solartrustcentre.com.au/csiro-and-aemo-cost-report-wind-and-solar-farms-will-be-cheaper-than-coal/)

[Australia’s Environmental Performance Review: OECD](https://solartrustcentre.com.au/australias-environmental-performance-review-oecd/)

[View full post](https://www.solartrustcentre.com/blog/renewable-energy-comes-to-the-rescue-during-australian-heatwaves)

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