Australia is set to reach its Renewable Energy Target earlier than predicted due to record levels of renewables investment last year, says the Clean Energy Regulator.
However, concerns have been raised for continued growth in the sector after 2020.
The CER had previously said about 6000 megawatts of new renewable energy generation would be needed between 2016 and 2019 to meet the RET; now this benchmark may be hit ahead of schedule after record levels of renewables investment in 2017.
About 4924 megawatts of the proposed 6532 megawatts of renewable energy capacity that has been outlined under the RET is already under construction or generating energy, with the remainder expected to be completely financed and starting construction in 2018.
This targeted 6532 megawatts will not include any additional generation or storage capacity created by the Snowy 2.0 hydro upgrade.
The construction of nearly 5000 megawatts in new capacity is forecast to lead to a total investment of more than $12 billion in the renewable energy sector.
According to Inframation Deals, the level of financing for renewable projects has increased rapidly since 2015, when it accounted for 5 per cent of all major project investment in Australia and New Zealand - or $US2.189 billion ($2.74 billion) - before rising to 14 per cent of major project financing, or approximately $US6.96 billion, in 2017.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has played a major role in supporting these renewable energy investments, funding more projects in 2017 than in its last three years combined.
The CEFC, in its annual report, said it had invested more than $2 billion in new capital to support renewable energy projects valued at more than $6.5 billion. Over the previous two years, it had only committed $1.32 billion in total.
CEFC's projects are forecast to produce an annual abatement of nearly 7.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or more than 121 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its projects' lifetimes.
Australia's carbon emissions actually rose in 2017, increasing by 0.7 per cent in the year to June 2017, to 550 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
This year will see around 3000 megawatts of new renewable energy come online.
However, concerns have been raised over the possibility of investment drying up after the end of the RET scheme.
A Council of Australian Governments briefing document outlined renewable energy accounting for between 28-36 per cent of Australia's energy mix by 2030.
This has drawn criticism from energy analysts, Labor and the Greens which said the figure was less than what was proposed in a 'business as usual' case under the Finkel Review into Australia's energy landscape.
It is understood the ongoing RET scheme will not be impacted by the upcoming new National Energy Guarantee (NEG) policy, which seeks to rely more on coal and gas to improve reliability and security of supply as more intermittent renewable energy sources enter the system.
According to the Energy Security Board, the modelling of the NEG assumes that the RET has been met.
One of the major growth areas in renewable energy has been in large-scale solar generation.
Since the creation of the RET, solar's contribution has risen from 4 per cent of projects under the scheme in its first year to about 46 per cent in 2017.
Earlier this week, the 98 megawatt Susan River and the 75 megawatt Childers solar farms in Queensland were signed off, with plans to build the plants within the next nine months.
Queensland has the largest proportion of new plants, with more than 2000 megawatts slated for construction, followed by Victoria with 1600 megawatts and New South Wales with 1400 megawatts. However, South Australia is leading the states in developing world-leading renewable energy projects.
Late last year, South Australia kickstarted the world's largest single battery installation - the 100 megawatt Tesla mega battery - and is planning to start construction on the world's largest solar thermal plant, a 150 megawatt facility located near Port Augusta.
At a small-scale level, Australians exceeded one gigawatt of rooftop solar panels for the first time last year, with the market forecast to expand further in 2018.
Australia added around 1.078 gigawatts of new rooftop solar capacity last year, beating the previous record set in 2012 by 14 per cent.
Much of this rapid growth in renewable power has been driven by large energy consumers underwriting projects to secure future energy.
More than 1600 megawatts of renewable energy already have early power purchase agreements in place, which the Clean Energy Regulator expects to achieve eventual financial closure.
Earlier this month, the University of NSW signed a 15-year agreement with solar company Maoneng Australia and energy company Origin for a solar corporate power purchase agreement.
UNSW will purchase 124,000-megawatt hours, or close to a quarter, of all electricity generated from Sunraysia, which will be Australia's largest solar farm once construction is completed this year.
Telstra, ANZ, Coca-Cola Amatil and The University of Melbourne have also joined forces to pre-purchase the energy generated from what will be the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere.
The deal will help the fledgeling wind farm get off the ground while securing the companies' future access to enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 220,000 homes, significantly lowering their emissions.
