Australia has met its 2020 target for generating electricity from large-scale renewable energy a year ahead of plan, the country’s clean energy regulator said, even as wind and solar investment has slowed. The renewable energy target was achieved despite more than a decade of climate policy uncertainty in Australia which has led to soaring power prices and unreliable supply. The target, launched in 2001 by a conservative government and reduced in 2015, was for Australia to generate 33,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power from large-scale renewable energy by 2020. Australia’s total power generation is currently around 260,000 GWh. Reaching the target means the end of a government scheme that provided subsidies to wind, solar and hydro power projects. The clean energy industry said A$24 billion ($16 billion) had been invested in renewable energy in the last 18 months alone, while wind and solar have gone from the most expensive form of power in 2001 to the lowest cost.

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