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Why Energy Data Matters
Energy is the single biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
- 🌍 Globally, energy accounts for roughly XX% of total emissions (IPCC).
- 🇦🇺 In Australia, energy is the largest emitting sector, responsible for XX% of the country’s emissions (OnlyFacts).
The energy sector is undergoing a massive transformation as it decarbonises.
What We Cover
- The fuels powering the electricity grid (NEM)
- The renewables vs. fossil fuels mix
- The role of solar in Australia’s energy supply
- Local-level solar installations
- Energy trade between states
Note: We also cover electricity as an emissions sub-topic, including emissions intensity.
How to Read the Data
Key Terminology
- Gigawatt (GW): A measure of instantaneous power (smaller units: watt (W), kilowatt (kW), megawatt (MW)).
- Gigawatt-hour (GWh): A measure of energy used or generated over time (smaller units: watt-hour (Wh), kilowatt-hour (kWh), megawatt-hour (MWh)).
Together, power and energy describe the capacity of electricity systems and their ability to meet demand.
👉 To know more, read our introduction to energy measurements.
Energy Generation vs. Consumption
- Energy data is often split into generation and consumption:
- 🔋 Generation = How much energy is produced
- Electricity or fuel created from coal, gas, solar, wind, hydro, and batteries.
- ⚡ Consumption = How much energy is used
- Total energy demand across homes, businesses, and industries.
📌 OnlyFacts tracks energy consumption. If you want both generation and consumption, visit our source Open Electricity.
Energy Installations
- solar panels
- solar water heaters
- air source heat pumps
📌 What does "units" mean?
A unit = a complete system installed at a home or business.
Dashboards
Energy Dashboard
📌 What you’ll see:
- Yesterday’s fuel mix – which fuels powered the NEM.
- Renewables vs. fossil fuels – the overall grid mix.
- State renewables usage – how each state used renewables (NEM states only).
- Interstate Energy Trade – which states imported/exported energy.
💡 Tip: Use the geolocation dropdown (top right) to switch to state or territory dashboards. (NEM states only—ACT is included in NSW data.)
Fuels Dashboard
📌 What you’ll see:
- Where electricity came from yesterday.
- Long-term trends for each fuel type.
Renewables Dashboard
📌 What you’ll see:
- How renewables are powering the grid.
- Progress against renewables targets.
- How states are using renewables (NEM states only).
- Renewables capacity in Australia.
- Renewables capacity worldwide.
Solar Dashboard
Solar is Australia’s largest renewable energy source.
📌 What you’ll see:
- Solar in the Grid – yesterday’s solar contribution.
- Utility Solar Power – large-scale solar farms feeding the grid.
- Rooftop Solar Power – small-scale solar on homes and businesses.
- Rooftop Solar Installations – monthly data on new solar panel installs.
- Water Heater Installations – monthly data on new solar water heaters.
💡 Tip: Click a state, LGA, or postcode name in the installations tables for detailed data history.
Installations Dashboard
📌 How to find solar installations in your area:
- Go to the Installations dashboard
- Drill into data by state, LGA, or postcode
- Click on a location for detailed data history
Imports & Exports Dashboards
Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) lets states trade electricity based on supply and demand.
📌 What you’ll see:
- Which states export or import energy.
- Trends in interstate energy trade.
Data Sources & Updates
OnlyFacts uses verified sources for all energy data:
📌 Sources by Category
- NEM Fuel Mix – Open Electricity (updated daily)
- Renewables Capacity – IRENA (updated annually)
- Solar Installations – Clean Energy Regulator (updated monthly)
Get Started: Explore Transport Data
Step 1: View the Main Energy Dashboard
📌 What you’ll see:
- The small picture (yesterday’s fuel mix) and the big picture (the renewables v
- Use the geo dropdown to explore state-level data.
Step 2: Explore Renewable
🔗 Go to the Renewables Dashboard
📌 What you’ll see:
- Progress of renewables against targets
- Scroll to ‘Renewables Capacity – Worldwide’ and click ‘All Countries’ for a global view.
Step 3: Find Local Solar Installations
🔗 Go to the Installations Dashboard
📌 What you’ll see:
- Rooftop solar and water heater installations by state, LGA, and postcode.
- Click any state, LGA or postcode for a detailed data history.
- Click the ‘All LGAs’ or ‘ All postcodes’ buttons for full lists