Viva to build Australia’s first public hydrogen-refuelling station
Viva Energy will build Australia’s first public hydrogen refuelling station at its Geelong refinery site in a move aimed at capitalising on the transport and haulage industry’s expected transition to zero emission vehicles.
Shell grows green power business with Australian wind farms deal
Global energy giant Shell is continuing its push deeper into Australia’s power market with a deal to buy a significant stake in wind-farm developer WestWind.
Record coal prices tipped to rise further on Ukraine conflict
Yancoal chief executive David Moult says his Asian customers are scrambling to find alternative supplies to replace Russian coal, and he expects the military conflict in Ukraine will extend the period of extremely high coal prices.
Eraring effect on future prices is a damning indictment of transmission planning
Australia’s wholesale electricity market continues to see transmission constraints stuffing up prices.
Tasmania terminates contract with Basslink, as legal fight continues
The Tasmanian government has assured that the state’s energy security is “stronger than ever” after effectively binning its commercial contract with the company that operates the Basslink undersea cable that links Tasmania’s grid to the Australian mainland.
A hot Kurri Kurri: why Labor’s fossil proposal is even worse than the Coalition’s
The Kurri Kurri gas plant proposal. No financial case, no necessity, a billion-dollar price tag, infrastructure unfit for purpose, a nearby gas plant that does the same job and faces the rising affordability of batteries. Callum Foote reports on why Labor’s proposal may be even worse than the Coalition’s.
Pace of power grid transition in dispute
The owner of the Vales Point coal power generator in NSW has joined AGL Energy in voicing doubt whether the rapid exit of coal power envisaged by the Australian Energy Market Operator is feasible without putting at risk security of supply.
NSW lures $100bn renewable energy bonanza as transition accelerates
NSW has attracted $100bn worth of potential investment in a renewables zone located in the heart of coal country, the latest sign that financiers are flocking to clean energy projects as a transition away from the fossil fuel accelerates.
AGL, EA restructures put Origin Energy in crosshairs
Chalk it up as the year for diversified utilities deals. Ten years after the last big round of old world electricity deals – Origin buying Eraring Energy, AGL acquiring MacGen – the sector’s alive with fresh hopes of corporate activity.
How energy became a foreign policy power play
In Australia we have become accustomed to thinking of energy in terms of the trilemma: affordability, reliability and sustainability.
Queensland’s sky-high power prices show its energy policies don’t cut it
Queensland has moved from being an electricity exporter to a net importer in January, 2022, pushing wholesale prices through the roof, and to what can only be described as absurd levels.
Relief rally lifts oil to biggest January gain in decades
Oil posted its largest January gain in at least 30 years as strong demand and supply constraints drained inventories, adding fresh thrust to forecasts of $US100 a barrel Brent crude ahead of Wednesday’s meeting between the major oil exporters.
Anthony Albanese accused of ‘humiliating’ backflip on Kurri Kurri gas-fired plant
A decision to back a government-funded power plant has been labelled a “humiliating backdown” for Labor leader Anthony Albanese.
Queensland facing potential blackouts following heatwave
Queensland’s energy grid was stretched to the limit on Tuesday after a heatwave and lack of generation capacity forced the market operator to intervene.
Traders wanted in a once-sleepy gas market with new kingpins
Around the world, analysts and traders are grappling with the biggest shakeup in the 60-year history of liquefied natural gas: The emergence of two new superpowers, the US and China, who are bringing more uncertainty and price fluctuations to a once-staid commodity market.
South Australia breaks record by running for a week on renewable energy
South Australia sourced an average of just over 100 per cent of the electricity it needed from renewable power for 6½ days leading up to December 29 last year – a record for the state and perhaps for comparable energy grids around the world.
Both coal-fired generation and carbon emissions hit record levels in 2021, according to the IEA
Coal generated more power in 2021 than at any other time in history as the energy crisis in Europe and China pushed up power prices and forced a switch back to coal generators, according to the International Energy Agency.
Victoria pushes ahead with 1.5GW network upgrade in windy south-west
Victoria is pushing ahead with a major transmission upgrade in the state’s south-west to open the way for 1,500MW of additional renewable electricity capacity, and ease voltage stability constraints.
Know your NEM: As rooftop solar soars, something is rotten in the state of Queensland
Wholesale electricity prices in Queensland have gone through the roof, and the high prices have dragged up prices in NSW too.
Construction begins at massive NSW wind farm, to feature Australia’s largest turbines
Construction has begun on Tilt Renewables’ massive Rye Park wind farm in New South Wales, the biggest wind project in the state to date, using what will be the biggest wind turbines in Australia.
Morrison’s Hunter gas plant to get planning green light
The NSW planning department has cleared the way for the Morrison government’s planned 660MW gas generator in the Hunter region, granting the project planning approval.
Loy Yang A and B stations to close in 2032
Victoria is facing an energy supply crunch, with two coal-fired power stations that provide half of the state’s electricity expected to shut down in just over a decade.
Carbon in power grid hits record low
A record low for the carbon intensity of power generation in the national grid has underscored the rapid decarbonisation of the electricity system as booming rooftop solar and increasing numbers of large-scale wind and solar farms force the retreat of coal power.
Australian carbon price surges 180 per cent
Companies voluntarily buying up carbon offsets amid a flurry of pledges to hit net zero emissions by 2050 have pushed up Australia’s official carbon price by 180 per cent over the past year.
AEMO sets out tender timeline for NSW’s rapid transition from coal to renewables
AEMO Services has unveiled its proposed development pathway for New South Wales’ ambitious electricity roadmap, setting a multi-decade long transformation plan that will see renewables and storage replace the state’s ageing coal fleet.
Chinese hackers target Australian energy company
Chinese hackers came within minutes of shutting down a series of power stations capable of lighting three million homes in a sneak cyber attack of a sort experts warn are becoming increasingly common – and which could be used to limit Australia’s ability to respond to a military crisis in the future.
Queensland wholesale power prices highest in country
People in regional Queensland are facing higher power bills as the state’s wholesale electricity price jumps to the highest in the country, an energy consumer group has warned.
AGL, Fortescue Future Industries in hydrogen deal for Liddell coal plant
Andrew Forrest is taking his hydrogen crusade into the heart of New South Wales coal country, with his Fortescue Future Industries set to play a role in transformation of AGL Energy’s Liddell plant into a green energy hub.
Alinta Energy’s $4bn offshore wind farm to power Alcoa’s Portland smelter
Alinta Energy has proposed a giant $4bn offshore wind farm that could supply Victoria’s Portland aluminium smelter and the broader east coast grid, one of the biggest bets yet on the renewable technology attracting support from big name investors.
Australia’s de facto carbon price hits $40/t as international markets take off after COP26
The positive sentiment in response to COP26 has begun to flow through the international carbon market, with agreements on rules for cross-border cooperation triggering record high prices in both compliance and voluntary markets – particularly for higher-end nature based offsets.
Marinus Link project likened to Snowy 2.0 in damning new report warning of ‘dead-weight loss’
A proposed undersea power cable and electricity storage project in Tasmania would not be able to compete with cheaper battery storage in Victoria, a report has found.
Funding boost to power offshore wind farms in Victoria
Australia’s fledgling offshore wind industry has been given a funding boost, with the Victorian government pledging almost $40 million towards proposals for three wind farms off the Gippsland coast.
Gas buyers fear fresh price surge amid Europe crunch
Prices for natural gas on the east coast have almost doubled over the past month, causing fresh worries for manufacturers all too aware of the crisis that surging prices has caused in Britain and Europe, where businesses have gone broke and plants closed down.
Shell acquisition heats up mass market retailing
Shell has further jacked up the competitive threat to traditional electricity suppliers such as AGL Energy, snapping up the 185,000 customers of online green retailer Powershop in what is the energy giant’s entry into the mass market for power on the east coast.
Scott Morrison’s electric vehicle goal ‘too low’, says Trevor St Baker
Energy billionaire and long-time Liberal donor Trevor St Baker has questioned Scott Morrison’s new electric vehicle strategy, believing the goal to have 1.7 million electric vehicles on Australian roads by 2030 is unambitious.
Australia needs to lift its game on R&D spending to reach net zero
A reliance on technological advances to cut emissions in the federal government’s net zero plan means Australia needs to significantly lift its investment in research and development, with the sector looking for a $2.4 billion fund ahead of next year’s election.
State moves to intervene in Palmer’s bid for coal-fired power station
The state government has moved to intervene in a bid by Clive Palmer to build a controversial coal-fired power station in Central Queensland.
Newcastle port eyes green hydrogen future
Macquarie Group, Snowy Hydro and Chinese-controlled pipeline owner Jemena are all involved in a group that will examine a potential green hydrogen hub in Newcastle that could have a capacity of 1 gigawatt by 2030.
Net-zero vow fails to ‘shift the dial’ as renewables investment stalls
Investment in Australia’s renewable energy industry is drying up as developers warn a disproportionate level of risk is deterring the build-out of the next wave of wind and solar projects urgently needed to wean the nation off fossil fuels.
Origin Energy sells APLNG stake for $2.1bn
Origin Energy may plough part of a $2bn windfall into clean energy and storage projects after it sold a stake in APLNG to private equity owner EIG, three years after the US player’s takeover bid for Santos was foiled.
Sun Cable eyes 4GW Singapore power purchase
Sun Cable, one of the world’s biggest renewable energy projects, has called for expressions of interest from potential customers in Singapore, after the Asian nation said it would import up to 4 gigawatts of electricity by 2035.
Renewables to supply 69 pct of Australia’s main grid by 2030, government projections show
Australia’s main electricity grid is predicted to surpass 50 per cent renewables by 2025, and will surge to 69 per cent renewables by 2030, updated projections published by the Morrison government say.
Mission Zero: Why Australia needs to ask the nuclear question
The federal government is now poised to make the historic announcement that Australia will set a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Scott Morrison reveals plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050
The Prime Minister has announced Australia’s plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 following lengthy — and at times very heated — debate between the Coalition.
Annastacia Palaszczuk reveals $1bn hydrogen manufacturing facility with Andrew Forrest
The largest hydrogen equipment facility will be built in central Queensland in a $1bn project Annastacia Palaszczuk declared was “as significant as getting the Olympics”.
NSW gives green light to a green hydrogen future
The NSW government will incentivise the production of green hydrogen as a fossil fuel replacement in a nation-leading policy that is forecast to help significantly decarbonise the economy and position the state as a global exporter of the energy source.
Carbon tax the one thing Aussies won’t cop in climate battle
Australians may have changed their tune on the need for a net-zero target but they will not cop a return to a carbon tax, Energy Minister Angus Taylor says.
Australia ‘at risk’ from global energy crunch
Australia faces pressure on gas prices as a global crunch spreads to the nation’s energy sector in a move that could further strain manufacturers and heavy industry, top industry executives have warned.