Renewable energy in Victoria
Sustainability Victoria annually reviews the output from renewable energy generators in the state. The most recent report "Electricity from Renewable Energy in Victoria 2011" is now available.
Electricity_from_renewable_energy_in Victoria_2011 (169KB) 
Electricity_from_renewable_energy_in Victoria_2011 (977KB)- Electricity from Renewable Energy in Victoria 2010 report (1.06MB)
Renewable generation capacity
The majority of Victoria's renewable generation capacity is provided by hydroelectric facilities at Kiewa, Rubicon, Dartmouth and Eildon (585 MW total), which were commissioned pre-1982. Other renewable generators utilise biomass (120 MW). More recently, wind farm generation capacity has grown to 432 MW and solar to 68 MW.
Installed electricity generation in Victoria
(last updated May 2011)| Generation Type | Installed Capacity (MW) | Generation (GWh) |
| Wind | 432 | 1,218 |
| Hydro | 802 | 748 |
| Biomass | 120 | 591 |
| Solar electric | 68 | 90* |
*estimated
Renewable generation in Victoria
Renewable energy is energy produced from sources which can be replenished or replaced. Victoria has a wide range of renewable resources, more than enough to meet its obligation under the Commonwealth Government's expanded Renewable Energy Target.
Currently only about 5% of Victoria's electricity consumption is from renewable sources. By the end of 2010 there was around 1,419 MW of renewable electricity generation capacity in Victoria, out of a total generation capacity of approximately 10,200 MW. This produced around 2,646 GWh of renewable electricity which is enough electricity to power approximately 490,000 Victorian homes.
The chart below compares the share of Victoria's renewable energy generation in 2005, 2009 and 2010.
Figure 1: Renewable energy output (GWh) by source, 2005, 2009 and 2010
As well as electricity, renewable sources are used to generate heat energy. In Victoria approximately 1% of all households use solar hot water systems to meet their hot water needs.
In 2010, over 300,000 Victorians supported renewable energy by purchasing Green Power from their electricity retailer.
Further information
- Read more about GreenPower
Top | Last updated 25/06/2012