Australia’s energy system is rapidly changing: record growth in household batteries and solar is helping shift renewable electricity from the day to the evening, benefitting all consumers.
The Clean Energy Regulator’s (CER) Q1 Quarterly Carbon Market Report shows rapid growth continued under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program in the first quarter of 2026, taking total installed capacity to 7.4GWh in 9 months. This is big in global terms.
Strong growth continued post-quarter. The total across Australia by mid-May was over 400,000 battery systems and 11.4 GWh of usable capacity (validated and pending installations).
Small-scale solar installations hit a Q1 record, with 791 MW installed, and the outlook for 2026 is strong.
CER Chair David Parker said strong growth in household batteries and solar is already beginning to change how distributed energy resources contribute to the grid.
“As more Australians install solar and batteries, they are changing how they generate, store and use electricity,” Mr Parker said.
“The full benefits of this shift will be realised as these technologies become better integrated and able to work together. The Clean Energy Regulator’s new role as National Technical Regulator for distributed energy resources will help enable this next phase of the energy transition.”
Large-scale renewables approvals and investment were healthy, with 1.1 GW approved and 946 MW reaching final investment decision for the quarter.
Voluntary Large-scale Generation Certificate surrenders reached a record Q1 level of 4.1 million. The Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin (REGO) scheme also saw its first certificates created during the quarter.
The Safeguard Mechanism is continuing to progress in line with expectations, with 141 facilities out of the 208 covered exceeding their net emissions baselines with a total excess of 13.7 Mt CO2-e. To manage these excess emissions, entities surrendered 10.8 million ACCUs and 2.6 million SMCs.
ACCU issuance remains strong with a record Q1 issuance of 5.5 million ACCUs. Issuances in 2026 are on track to CER’s estimated range of 22 to 26 million ACCUs. ACCU holdings, excluding the cost containment measure, decreased by 4.2 million to 56.5 million at the end of Q1 2026 as Safeguard Mechanism entities surrendered for compliance purposes.
For the first time, we’re publishing Quarterly Carbon Market Report: Methods which provides additional detail on how we develop the estimates and projections in the QCMR.
For more detail, read the QCMR Q1 2026 report.
Contact: media@cleanenergyregulator.gov.au or 02 6159 3448