As you might expect, July – the middle of winter – is often the month of highest electricity consumption.. As a consequence, we commonly see an increase in coal generation at this time of the year. In fact, July was the month of highest coal generation in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Wind generation, by contrast, varies considerably from year to year. Over the past four years, the NEM’s monthly wind peak has occurred in June, July, August and September. This July, wind performed strongly across all states. Despite the growth in wind and solar, coal generation increased in July – especially in Victoria, with the recovery of Yallourn W, which returned from outage last month and has subsequently increased its output by over 50%.

There were 60 records broken in June. View them all.

Here’s your monthly dispatch from Open Electricity:

Notable Records:

Despite substantial growth in wind capacity, wind generation remained low across the first six months of 2024 – lower than the equivalent period in 2023. This has rebounded in 2025, with generation from January–June recording 14% growth in the same period in 2023. The monthly wind generation record had been stuck at 3,072 GWh since June 2023 – until now. July 2025 saw a huge jump, with 3,741 GWh generated across the NEM.

In recent dispatches, we’ve noted that some wind records are being driven by added capacity overcoming worse wind conditions. For example, in April, the Goyder South Wind Farm helped to offset a net decline of about 250MW from all other farms in South Australia, contributing 13% of the state’s wind output during an instantaneous record. It should be noted, some of the 250 MW decline may be explained by Goyder South, as other wind farms were likely curtailed at the time.

July’s record reflects both growth in new wind farms and relatively strong wind conditions. Among units that were operating in both June 2023 and July 2025, total generation declined by about 3% – suggesting that the improvement wasn’t simply due to stronger winds, but a broader lift across the system. Nonetheless, output from legacy wind farms was close to their performance during the June 2023 record, pointing to favourable conditions this month. New projects added since June 2023 contributed an additional 765 GWh in July, helping to push total wind generation well beyond the previous high.

We have previously discussed Victoria’s outsized role in national wind generation, given its disproportionate share of capacity – so it’s no surprise to see the state pass its previous record. But it wasn’t alone – all mainland NEM states recorded their highest ever monthly wind generation in July.

The NEM’s new monthly wind record wasn’t the only milestone set on July 25. That evening, at 8:25PM, wind generation hit the 10,000 MW mark for the first time – then continued rising to peak at a record 10,159 MW at 9:10PM.

We continue to follow the growth in wind generation as new facilities work through the commissioning process, with Acciona’s Macintyre Wind Farm experiencing the most growth since the previous record last month. It contributed 433 MW to the instantaneous July record – the second-highest total of any wind facility in the NEM – despite operating at less than half its registered capacity. Macintyre is expected to be fully operational in November this year.

On 20 July, the NEM’s battery output exceeded 2GW for the first time – reaching 2000 MW at 5:45PM and 2050 MW at 5:55 MW. This surpassed the previous high of 1769 MW, set a little over a month earlier on 12 June.

Battery discharge in the NEM began in November 2017, and it took almost seven years to reach 1GW, in October 2024. The fact that the system has doubled that mark in just nine months highlights the rapid pace of battery growth. At the time of the new record, total grid demand was approximately 27 GW.

Much of the increase since the previous record in June can be attributed to the northern states. NSW added 203MW compared to its June 12 contribution, while Queensland reached its highest ever instantaneous battery output – 622 MW at 5:55PM – and again five minutes later, reaching 634 MW at 6:00PM.

On 15 July, NEM batteries discharged a total of 7,192 MWh, a little over 4% more than the previous high of 6,879 MWh recorded on 18 June.

The commissioning Eraring BESS was the biggest contributor to this increase, discharging 526 MWh, compared to just 1 MWh on the day of the previous record. This is still well below its full potential – Eraring is expected to reach a total capacity of 1073 MWh at the completion of stage 1 in December, and 1773 MWh after stage 3 expansion in January 2026.

You may have noticed that Eraring’s increased output is greater than the total increase in our total record. That’s because the Waratah Super Battery – also still commissioning – saw a substantial drop in output, discharging 666 MWh less than it did on June 18.

While these batteries are contributing far less than they will after completion, their sheer size means they still have a substantial effect on total battery generation.

Facilities Update

Queensland’s battery buildout continues at pace, with two major milestones in July.

On July 10, the Tarong BESS generated for the first time – nearly two years after construction began in August 2023. With a capacity of 300MW/600MWh, Tarong becomes Queensland’s largest battery, though it will likely be overtaken soon by the first stage of the Supernode battery (620 MWh), scheduled to come online in December.

Tarong is the first battery developed by Stanwell, a major electricity provider in Queensland. A second project – the Stanwell BESS – is currently under construction and expected to enter the market in 2026. The first battery packs for that project arrived earlier this month.

We have also seen the commissioning of the Greenbank Battery, located south of Brisbane. This 200MW/400MW facility first generated in February, and has been contributing meaningfully for over a month, averaging a little over a cycle per day since mid-June.

As we noted in our last dispatch, Queensland is seeing rapid growth in battery capacity. The state has already discharged more electricity from batteries this year than in all of 2024 – and with more projects in the pipeline, we can expect further growth for some time.

In a recent community newsletter, Gentari has announced that major construction for their Maryvale Solar Farm and BESS will commence in July. Gentari has been active in utility-scale solar development in Australia for some time, with the first solar farms operating in 2018, but this new project is distinct from their other projects.

A visit to the Cunderdin Solar Farm facility page on Open Electricity reveals something unusual: generation continuing late into the night, long after sunset. This is possible because Cunderdin uses a DC-coupled battery which shares a single grid connection with the solar farm. This setup reduces upfront costs and improves round-trip efficiency.

Maryvale will follow a similar model, with 243MW of solar panels, a 172MW grid connection, and a DC-coupled battery providing just over 400MWh of storage. The project is expected to commence commercial operations by February 2027.

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See all 60 records and the latest facilities updates at Open Electricity.

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