1 September 2023

CLIMATE POLITICS

Joint media statement - $3 billion Rewiring the Nation deal to power WA jobs and growth (Media Statement Hon. Roger Cook and Hon. Bill Johnston): The Albanese and Cook Governments have signed a landmark agreement to power the next stage of Western Australia's growth with affordable and more secure renewable energy. The Commonwealth-Western Australia Rewiring the Nation deal will bolster WA's energy security by expanding and modernising electricity grids in Perth, the South West, as well as in the North West Pilbara region.

Australia’s emissions reduction burden shifting to political hot potatoes (WA Today): Farmers and motorists will need to do some heavy lifting on cutting greenhouse emissions for Australia to meet its legally binding climate targets, exposing the federal government to the risk of fiery debates over potentially controversial policies ahead of the next election. The latest greenhouse emissions data released by the government revealed pollution from transport and agriculture rose during the past three months, putting those sectors in the sights for reduction targets.

Coal clean-up begins, as Stanwell starts shift to renewables and long duration storage (Renew Economy): The Queensland government has given a “first look” at its plans to transform one of the state’s biggest coal plants into a renewable energy hub, including the installation of a newly commissioned 1MW/10MWh iron flow battery system. The Palaszczuk government said on Monday that state-owned energy company Stanwell Corporation would begin early works this year on the up to $100 million Future Energy and Innovation Training Hub (FEITH) in Rockhampton, central Queensland.

NSW to take more time to consider closure date of Australia’s biggest coal generator (Renew Economy): The New South Wales Labor government is to take more time to consider its options as it weighs up its response to the newly commissioned “health check” of the state grid, and the proposed closure of the country’s biggest coal generator. The state government was to have delivered its verdict this week, but RenewEconomy understands that it has decided to take more time – several weeks – in what is clearly a devilishly complicated situation.

South Australian government opposes proposed offshore wind farm zone (ABC News): The South Australian government says a proposed offshore wind farm zone in the Southern Ocean should stop at the Victorian border and not include waters of the state's coast. Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven and Environment Minister Susan Close on Tuesday said the state government was in favour of the proposed zone starting at Warnambool in Victoria and ending at the SA-Victoria border.

Greens, Coalition back Senate inquiry into gas price cap exemptions (Australian Financial Review): The Greens have won Coalition support for a Senate inquiry into Labor’s gas market intervention, which the environmental party say has let “powerful corporations off the hook” by exempting some from an investment-stifling price cap. The minority party-instigated move to review the newly regulated mandatory code of conduct is at least partially aimed at Senex’s South Korea and Gina Rinehart-backed Atlas gas project in Queensland, for which the company is asking regulators to waive a $12 per gigajoule price cap in return for only supplying the domestic market.

CARBON MARKETS

Traders in carbon credits saddled with vast stranded-asset pile (Australian Financial Review): A number of major carbon traders are finding that offsets they bought may now be valueless. Trafigura Group, the world’s largest trader of carbon-removal credits, has suspended a consignment as it awaits the results of a probe into the forestry project behind the units. The situation has led the company to replace the offsets in a contract with a corporate client and instead keep the stranded credits on its own books.

Look, no offsets: Fortescue refines green energy plans as it heads to “real zero” (Renew Economy): Fortescue Metals, the iron ore giant controlled by billionaire Andrew Forrest, says it will spend at least $1.2 billion on its green energy division in the coming year, as it continues work on the roll-out of its hydrogen and battery technologies, and lays the groundwork for some major green hydrogen projects. Fortescue stunned the market early on Monday with the surprise departure of CEO Fiona Hicks after just six months in the job, continuing the revolving door in the ranks of the iron ore miner.. She has been replaced by the chief operating officer Dino Otranto.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Gas lobby pushing back as momentum builds to get new homes off the fossil fuel (ABC News): Experts say state and local government moves to get households off gas will only accelerate the energy source's "death spiral" and have urged decision-makers to protect those consumers left on the network from even higher energy bills. The debate around cooking with gas has been reignited after the City of Sydney last week voted in favour of investigating how to change the council's local planning rules to ban new connections.

Crunching the numbers on climate risk without greenwash (The West Australian): The carbon emissions of contractors or customers are no longer someone else's problem under comprehensive reporting that will thoroughly quantify climate-related risks. "It's the board now that has to say, 'yes we stand by these numbers,' and it does have financial implications," sustainability expert Rob Fowler told AAP. Mandatory climate reporting is due to be phased in from 2024, starting with large organisations under a framework being finalised by the federal government.

Why investors are flocking to this $9bn ethical super fund (Sydney Morning Herald): Funds under management at Australian Ethical have soared by almost 50 per during the last financial year to $9.2 billion as the strength of the brand stands out against the regulatory crackdown on some its rivals. Even allowing for the impact of the company’s merger with Christian Super in growing funds under management, there was growth in net inflows of almost $500 million during the year to June 30, 2023.

GREEN PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES

“Dedication and audacity:” Neoen sails past 3GW of solar, wind and batteries in Australia (Renew Economy): Global renewables giant Neoen has passed the 3GW mark for wind, solar and battery storage installed in Australia, building up a portfolio of assets that accounts for nearly half of the nation’s installed battery capacity. Neoen, which made headlines locally and globally for building the world’s first big battery in under 100 days in South Australia, revealed on Thursday it has reached 3.3GW of capacity in operation in Australia – more than any other single developer, it claims.

Storage propels Neoen towards new 10GW target (Australian Financial Review): A faster-than-expected expansion in large batteries has propelled France’s Neoen to Australia’s biggest clean energy player, revealing a target to triple its renewable capacity by 2030. Neoen’s wind, solar and storage capacity across the country has reached 3.3 gigawatts, a portfolio that is the biggest in operation or construction and which has involved more than $4 billion of investment.

German giant pledges $6b in green energy push (Australian Financial Review): Germany’s biggest energy utility, RWE, has pledged to invest about $6 billion in a major expansion of its Australian renewable power business by 2030, undeterred by the hurdles in the way of the build-out of wind and solar energy across the country. Chief executive Markus Krebber met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Perth on Monday to outline the commitment, which will involve a 13-fold expansion of RWE’s existing business here to add up to 3 gigawatts of capacity by the end of the decade.

Victoria announces new community battery funding round, new grant winners (Renew Economy): The Victorian government has announced a third round of winners of grant funding from its $10.9 million Neighbourhood Battery Initiative, and launched the first round of a new beefed up program that promises to help deliver 100 more community batteries across the state. State energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio said on Monday that the first round of grants under the new $42.2 million Neighbourhood Battery Program is now open to public entities, private businesses and agencies, educational institutions, local government, co-operatives, and not-for-profit organisations.

Another giant battery proposed for Upper Hunter, 11km up road from Liddell (Renew Economy): A new company is pitching a 400 megawatt (MW) / 800 megawatt hour (MWh) battery in the Upper Hunter Shire Council town of Aberdeen, just 11 minutes drive north of AGL’s massive storage project. Maziewood has started a development application for the battery, sited across a road from a Transgrid substation, which has an estimated cost of about $600 million.

Solar thermal storage pioneer RayGen eyes big rollout (Australian Financial Review): RayGen, the developer of a unique solar storage technology, is on the cusp of a large-scale rollout with Dutch-owned Photon Energy Group at the front of the queue developing a 200-megawatt plant that would cost about $600 million. Photon’s Prague-based chief technology officer, Michael Gartner, said the company – which owns solar farms in Eastern Europe and Australia – hoped to reach a final investment decision on the Yadnarie project on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula by about the middle of next year.

Billions in capital ready to finance the transition (Australian Financial Review): The scale of new generation and transmission needed for Australia to meet its greenhouse gas targets is enormous, but bankers and fund managers say there is adequate capital ready to be deployed if Australia can get the settings right. Australia will need more than 141 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2050, a ninefold increase on the current 16 gigawatts capacity of renewable energy, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s 2022 Integrated System Plan, which outlines how the National Energy Market will have to change as the economy decarbonises.

Li-ion pioneer makes breakthrough in cheaper, safer “zinc-air” batteries (Renew Economy): A Perth-based researcher who helped pioneer the now ubiquitous lithium-ion battery says there may soon be a safer and cheaper alternative, following a breakthrough in the design of zinc-air batteries. An Edith Cowan University (ECU) team has been looking into a range of different battery chemistries as part of research effort to find safer, more cost-effective energy storage solutions to help power the global decarbonisation of energy systems and transport.

OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST

Gas led calamity: The shocking failure of Australia’s climate efforts over two decades (Renew Economy): Australia’s emissions reduction efforts have ground to a halt. But that shouldn’t be a surprise because over the last 20 years the country’s greenhouse gas emissions – excluding the controversial land use calculations – have barely moved. The latest data released by the federal government on Friday show that Australia emissions rose 0.1 per cent over the year to the end of March to 465.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, despite the big reductions in the electricity sector delivered by the increase in renewables.

Soaring technology costs challenge 2030 climate targets (Australian Financial Review): Soaring technology costs of 20 per cent in the past year are making it harder for Australia to roll out projects to reach its 2030 climate targets on the pathway to net zero by 2050. While wind and solar remain the cheapest form of technology, according to the latest Gencost report, proponents of nuclear power, including federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton, are adamant nuclear technologies must be on the table.

The boom in EVs could add 20pc to household energy demand by 2033 (Australian Financial Review): Australia’s rapid electric vehicle take-up, which is accelerating despite the absence of a politically sensitive federal fuel efficiency standard, has become one of the biggest drivers of a forecast surge in household demand for energy. Built on a potentially bullish assumption that EVs will reach “cost parity” against internal combustion engine cars within three years, the Australian Energy Market Operator estimates that EV charging could add up to 21 per cent to residential electricity consumption by 2033.

Australia’s national hydrogen strategy needs to separate financial reality from hype (Renew Economy): Despite all the hype, hydrogen does offer some genuine opportunities for Australia in the race to decarbonise, and we must act decisively – and choose carefully – to capitalise on our advantages. IEEFA recently made a submission to the government’s review of its National Hydrogen Strategy. In it, we highlight that while hydrogen presents a significant economic opportunity for Australia, it will be critical to ensure we produce and use it sensibly, and that we ensure that it benefits all Australians.

‘Yes we can’: Grid chief stares down renewable revolution’s doubters (WA Today): The Australian Energy Market Operator insists the green energy shift can still happen at the speed and scale needed to compensate for an approaching wave of coal-fired power plant closures, despite growing concerns that the transformation of the grid is faltering. “Yes we can. Definitively,” Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Daniel Westerman said when asked if Australia can develop a cleaner grid to replace coal in the 2030s that will keep power reliable and affordable.

Electricity reliability and blackouts remain big challenges as the energy landscape changes (ABC News): An Australian summer usually means sun, sand and sea. But, in recent years, it's also come to mean heated debates about electricity and the looming possibility of blackouts. That's certainly the case in the wake of the market operator's latest 10-year forecast, which has foreshadowed possible challenges as early as the next summer holiday season.

AEMO says coal exits won’t trigger shortfalls if big batteries built on time (Renew Economy): The Australian Energy Market Operator has hedged its bets on the impact of the planned closure of the country’s biggest coal generator, saying the issue has been complicated by project delays, a looming El Nino summer, and the lingering threat of unplanned fossil fuel outages. The closure date of the 2.88GW Eraring plant, owned by Origin Energy, is turning into a major symbol for the strength and the pace of the green energy transition, and for many a political litmus test of whether the switch to green energy is doable or not.