April typically brings lower electricity consumption, and 2026 proved no exception with demand falling 9% from March across the NEM and WEM. Variable renewable sources usually see weaker conditions compared to earlier months – though due to lower demand, coal is also able to generate less.

In 2026, however, wind generation increased by 11% from March. Wind generation increasing from March to April across the NEM is highly unusual – it has not occurred since 2019. This increase was concentrated in the southern states, accompanied by higher rates of curtailment. While solar and wind generation in April was not as strong as at other times of year, the relatively favourable conditions combined with weak demand pushed fossil generation to particularly low values – coal declined 10% and gas declined 29% from March totals.

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The NEM recorded its highest battery discharge in a single day on 13 April 2026, reaching 16,020 MWh – 23% above the previous record of 12,980 MWh set on 10 February. This record was driven almost entirely by NSW's dramatically increased battery activity. NSW had previously lagged behind other mainland states in battery deployment. Across 2025, NSW recorded less battery discharge energy than WA, Queensland, Victoria and even SA – despite those states consuming less total energy.

On 13 April, NSW also set its own state record of 6,165 MWh – 56% above its previous high of 3,964 MWh recorded just three days earlier. NSW now leads all states in single-day battery discharge. NSW also became the fourth state to reach 1 GW of instantaneous battery discharge, joining Victoria, Queensland and WA.

NSW has many of the nation’s largest batteries. The completion of Eraring and Limondale has substantially increased battery activity in the state, while the ongoing commissioning of Waratah Super Battery and Orana batteries each contributed to the surge since the previous NEM record.

On 11 April, SA generated 988 MWh of electricity from gas, breaking the previous low of 1,000 MWh set on 17 November 2025. Despite at times having sufficient quantities of renewable energy to meet all of SA’s demand, a small amount of gas generation is required to run at all times for system strength. At 988 MWh, the state averaged just 41.2 MW over the day, with the lowest instantaneous generation falling to 39.1 MW.

South Australia sees far greater variance in gas generation between days compared to other states, due to its large amount of variable renewable energy and the absence of coal or hydro power. While gas still sees days of high use, this is becoming less frequent. Just a year earlier, the daily record stood at 1,695 MWh – and we have seen daily generation lower than this figure in each of the last eight months. The acceleration since September likely reflects not only growing renewable generation, but the grid's newfound ability to operate at times with a single synchronous generator when certain criteria are met.

Queensland set a new record for lowest daily coal generation on 12 April (90,836 MWh), breaking the previous mark set on 17 November 2024. What makes this notable is that it wasn't driven by the usual mechanism.

Queensland's lowest coal days have historically fallen in Q4, when strong solar output displaces coal during daylight hours. On 12 April, daytime coal generation was actually higher than the November record – despite significant new solar capacity coming online in the interim. The difference was in the evening. Coal generation dropped sharply after dark, more than offsetting the daytime increase. The likely driver was wind. Queensland has added substantial wind capacity since November 2024, with 1574MW of the state’s 2572MW inactive or almost inactive during November 2024. Comparing wind output across the two days confirms this – new wind capacity is what pushed coal to its new low.

Coal generation declined strongly in the evening, more than offsetting its daytime increase. Wind capacity has increased considerably since the November record, with 1,574 MW of the state’s 2,572 MW of operational or commissioning wind capacity having first generated after that record. Comparing wind generation across the two days helps explain the evening decline in coal.

The NEM recorded its lowest ever gas generation in a calendar month in April, reaching just 382 GWh. This broke a particularly long-held record of 440 GWh set in April 2003.

The NEM has seen sustained low gas generation in recent months, particularly in Queensland. Generation declined from August to September 2025 with the arrival of spring – a time of favourable conditions for renewable generation paired with low consumption. Gas generation has continued to decrease since. In Q1 2026, the NEM recorded the lowest quarterly gas generation on record.

The dynamics of the grid are unrecognisable from 2003. In April 2003, 93.9% of the NEM’s generation was sourced by coal, with no recorded generation from solar or wind (wind facilities did exist, but their generation was not recorded by AEMO). Gas generation was then concentrated in SA, which represented more generation of that type than the remainder of the NEM combined. In the following decade, Queensland would surge to become the NEM’s largest gas-generating state.

Back in April 2003, the low was easily explained by a reduction in generation from one of the state’s largest gas generators (Pelican Point), paired with Autumn’s low seasonal consumption. By contrast, the 2026 record is less expected. In each of the past five years, the month of lowest gas generation has occurred in Q4, with lower evening demand and strong renewable availability. The decline that led to the recent April record was particularly dramatic – 49% below the same period in 2025. While gas generation was low in all states, open-cycle gas generation from Queensland was a standout. At first glance, it looks to have been swallowed up by the growing fleet of batteries in the state.

Looking forward, the trend from the last five years has seen the greatest gas generation in June (four times) and May (once), driven by demand in the southern states. We will soon discover how robust that trend has become.

The Bundaberg Solar Farm commenced on 5 March, having started construction in June 2024. While Queensland has seen a series of solar farms commence across 2026, Bundaberg is expected to be the last for some time, with only one solar farm – Wandoan – under construction and expected to come online in 2027. Bundaberg has a registered capacity of 101MW.

AGL has reached a final investment decision on its Kwinana Gas Power Generation 2 Project (K2), a 220MW open-cycle facility in Western Australia. The most recent gas generator to enter WA was a Synergy-owned Kwinana facility in 2012. K2 is one of two gas facilities committed in the WEM, with none currently in the NEM.

Western Australia hopes to shut down all state-owned coal by 2030, with the Bluewaters Power Station also slated to close by 2030 (though not committed). The state-owned coal generates about 3 TWh a year, with Bluewaters contributing an additional 3 GWh and the state has seen strong growth in total consumption at about 1.8% in recent years. AGL expects to have the facility operational in late 2027.

The Broadsound BESS commenced operations on 15 April 2026. The co-located Broadsound Solar Farm first generated in December 2025, with generation still low as it progresses through commissioning. The 180 MW / 360 MWh battery brings Australia to a new milestone – a total of 10 GW of utility batteries having commenced operations nationwide. It has been three years since the country first reached 1 GW of batteries, back in April 2023. A further 6.9 GW remains committed.

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