Australia’s clean‑energy rollout stalls as costs blow out

Australia faces an energy-scarce future, despite being the world’s largest coal exporter, the second-largest natural gas exporter, and holding 30% of the world’s uranium.

To meet the federal government’s 82% renewable energy target (RET), the majority of Australia’s current coal fleet must be retired and replaced with approximately 6–7 GW of new large-scale renewable generation annually, along with several gigawatts of storage.

However, Australia’s transition to large-scale renewable energy slowed significantly in 2025, as investment in utility-scale solar and wind fell to less than half of the previous year’s level.