6 December 2024

CLIMATE POLITICS

State unveils wind investment program (Business News): The state government has unveiled a co-investment program aimed at assisting WA-based businesses in the wind energy industry to scale up, with $8 million in funding available. Announced by Minister assisting the state and industry development, jobs and trade Stephen Dawson at West Tech Fest today, wind energy businesses can apply for up to 50 per cent co-investment funding.

Designated Priority Corridors The State Government has identified four priority corridors for the development of new common use transmission infrastructure in the Pilbara. As part of the?Expression of Interest process?launched at the?Pilbara Roundtable?on 13 September, project proponents within these corridors were invited to apply for Priority Project status as part of the?Pilbara Energy Transmission (PET) Plan.?

NT Gov boosts battery bonus (Energy Magazine): The Northern Territory Government is increasing the Home and Business Battery Scheme bonus from $5000 to $12,000 in a move to increase access to renewables, lower energy bills and support local solar and battery businesses. Northern Territory Minister for Renewables, Gerard Maley, said it was part of the Territory Government’s commitment to practical outcomes for Territorians.

South Australia in urgent bid to restart diesel power plants (Australian Financial Review): The South Australian government is urgently seeking to have two mothballed diesel-powered electricity plants restarted amid escalating concerns that a new heavy-duty power cable will be finished even later than NSW’s Transgrid has admitted. SA minister for Energy and Mining Tom Koutsantonis believes the outlook for the reliability of power supply in the state is “materially worse” than has been identified by the Australian Energy Market Operator because it has not taken into account further delays to the $2.3 billion Project EnergyConnect.

State govt commits $33.6m to projects (Business News): The state government has committed $33.6 million in conditional grant funding to five major decarbonisation projects across Western Australia. This funding is courtesy of the Lower Carbon Grants program’s Gorgon Fund, with the projects encompassing the hydrogen, carbon capture, utilisation/storage and hard to abate sectors.

Dutton vows to scrap NSW offshore wind zone and sink $10 billion planned project (Renew Economy): Peter Dutton has promised to “rescind” the declared offshore wind zone off the coast of Port Stephens and the Hunter region in New South Wales if a Coalition government is elected in 2025, scuppering the $10 billion plans for a 2 gigawatt project proposed for development there. In a statement released on Thursday morning, the leader of the federal opposition said development of the zone – an 1,800km2 area between Swansea and Port Stephens that was declared by federal Labor in July last year – would not proceed under a Dutton Coalition government.

?‘We’re the ones the world is turning to’: State’s Energy Minister says WA is bearing emissions burden (The West Australian): WA is shouldering the burden of higher emissions in order to deliver the gas and critical minerals the rest of the world needs to decarbonise, according to the State’s Climate and Energy Minister. Reece Whitby will tell a room of energy professionals in a speech on Thursday morning there is not a “big plastic bubble” around WA and remind them that the State does have a duty to the rest of the world in attempting to tackle climate change.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Australia accused of undermining landmark climate change case brough by Pacific nations in international court (The Guardian): Australia has been accused of undermining its Pacific neighbours in a landmark international legal case after it argued that high-emitting countries are not obliged to act on the climate crisis beyond their commitments under the 2015 Paris agreement. In the case before the UN's international court of justice, Vanuatu is leading an argument brought by several Pacific nations and developing states – including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu – that developed countries have a legal responsibility beyond existing UN frameworks.

Climate damage: Australia faces $7 trillion hit to standard of living (Renew Economy): The worst is yet to come for Australians already suffering from climate change, with living standards forecast to take a $7 trillion hit between now and 2050. Economic modelling by a network of 141 central banks including Australia’s Reserve Bank predicts a 14 per cent annual blow to the nation’s gross domestic product under existing global climate policy settings.

Mines can be ushered through without climate consideration (The Australian): An approval path has been cleared by Canberra to expand three significant coal mines without the need to consider their potential impact on climate change.

GREEN PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES

HMC Capital aquires all Neoen’s Victorian assets for $950 million (PV Magazine): France-headquartered renewable energy company Neoen has divested of its operating assets and development pipeline in Victoria in a $950 million (USD 611 million) sale to Sydney-based alternative asset manager Home Consortium Limited (HMC) Capital. The 652 MW operating asset portfolio comprises Bulgana Green Power Hub (224 MW) 244 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, the $198 million Numurkah Solar Farm (128 MWp) 222 kilometres north of Melbourne, and the Victorian Big Battery (300 MW / 450 MWh), on the 13 kilometres from Geelong.

Feds fund Fortescue’s fast fleet charger (Business News): Fortescue’s work to develop fast battery chargers for its Pilbara iron ore fleet will get a leg-up courtesy of a $10 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The grant, the first to be issued under the federal government’s $400 million industrial transformation scheme, will go towards building 6-megawatt chargers capable of powering up a haul truck in 30 minutes.

Yindjibarndi solar farm sails through DAP (Business News): An indigenous-owned Pilbara renewable energy plant has breezed through planning approval with minimal fuss, clearing the way for the $200 million project to be green-lit. The Regional Development Assessment Panel on Wednesday took just 10 minutes to waive Yindjibarndi Energy’s Project Jinbi through unanimously, with brief presentations in support of the project from representatives RFF Australia and the Shire of Ashburton.

CEFC funds renewables for apartments (Energy Magazine): Energy Locals will install clean energy technologies in multi-tenant buildings such as apartments, aged care centres and commercial sites with a new $25 million investment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). The CEFC funding, made alongside a lead commitment from core-plus infrastructure fund Palisade Impact, will help accelerate the deployment of renewable technologies like solar panels, battery systems, heat pumps and electric vehicle (EV) chargers in multi-tenant sites across Australia.?

Redflow was the great hope of Australian manufacturing. Its collapse left customers with broken batteries (ABC News): Shortly before its abrupt collapse in August,Queensland battery manufacturer Redflow Energy appeared to be riding high. The 19-year-old company was capitalising on global demand for large-scale battery systems, with multi-million-dollar contracts in California and a growing list of prominent customers at home, including the Bureau of Metereology, Optus and Queensland government-owned energy provider Stanwell.

Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy scraps “first of its kind” battery project because it is too small (Renew Economy): Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest likes to think big. His vision for green hydrogen production trumped most people’s views of what is possible, and his goal of “real zero” emissions at his Pilbara iron ore mines is also highly ambitious. And his company is now developing the world’s most powerful EV fast chargers to power up its planned fleet of giant, 240 tonne electric haul trucks.

Naturgy offshoot lands $2.3 billion to boost Australian renewables portfolio (PV Magazine): Global Power Generation (GPG), jointly owned by Spanish energy giant Naturgy and an arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, has secured a $2.3 billion (USD 1.49 billion) financing platform that will support the continued development of its portfolio of renewable energy assets in Australia. Naturgy said the financing facility is structured around a portfolio of five operational assets with a combined capacity of 1 GW. These include the 10 MW / 20 MWh ACT battery energy storage system (BESS) in the Australian Capital Territory and a suite of wind farms in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.

Hydro Tasmania strikes offtake deal for 288 MW solar farm (PV Magazine): TasRex has struck a power purchase agreement with Hydro Tasmania for the approved 288 MW Northern Midlands Solar Farm being developed near Launceston in the island state’s north. The offtake agreement will see Hydro Tasmania take 100% of the generation from the $500 million (USD 325.8 million) project being developed across a 600-hectare site on the Connorville sheep station near Cressy, about 35 kilometres south of Launceston.

APA, BHP open Pilbara green energy plant (Business News): APA Group and BHP have cut the ribbon on a major battery and solar project in Port Hedland today amid growing efforts to decarbonise the Pilbara. The 45-megawatt facility is connected to APA’s Port Hedland Power Station and will support BHP’s iron ore operations while cutting emissions from electricity generation.

Big BESS: State’s largest power bank to be built in WA’s South West (WA Today): Perth planners have given the go-ahead for Western Australia’s largest battery storage facility as the shift towards low-emission renewable energy sources surges forward. The $400 million Battery Energy Storage System – owned by China-listed company Trina Solar – will use lithium-ion battery technology to support the power grid through wind and solar energy.

Multibillion-dollar plan to convert coal into 'clean' hydrogen falters (The Sydney Morning Herland): A multibillion-dollar plan to create "clean" hydrogen from Australian brown coal and ship it to Japan is on the brink of collapse. Japanese media have reported Kawasaki Heavy Industries has withdrawn from the trial, blaming procurement delays.

OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST

Funds needed for indigenous energy shift (Business News): Traditional Owners need greater finance access to ensure they can benefit from and help to progress renewable energy projects, according to the nation’s peak native title advocacy group. The National Native Title Council also wants to see federal government investment vehicles overhauled to improve the ability of traditional owners to access Commonwealth funding streams.

APA begins commissioning solar farm built for cyclonic conditions (PV Magazine): Australian gas and electricity company APA Group announced that construction of its Port Hedland solar farm and battery project in Western Australia’s Pilbara is now complete and commissioning is underway. Commercial operations are expected to commence next month. The Port Hedland project includes a 45 MW solar farm coupled with a 35 MW / 36.7 MWh battery energy storage system. They are connected into APA’s existing gas-fired Port Hedland power station and to the North West Interconnected System (NWIS) grid and will provide electricity to BHP’s iron ore port facilities.

Safe hydrogen storage a potential benefit of rechargeable proton batteries (PV Magazine): A team of scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) School of Chemistry (SoC) have developed an organic material that is able to store protons and they have used it to create a rechargeable proton battery in the lab. By leveraging hydrogen ions – protons – instead of traditional lithium, the batteries hold promise for addressing critical challenges in energy storage, including resource scarcity, environmental impact, safety and cost.

Borumba Pumped Hydro project hit with $4.2b cost blow out and three-year delay (ABC News): A major renewable energy project in south-east Queensland is $4.2 billion over budget and three years behind schedule. Work on the $14.2b Borumba Pumped Hydro project south-west of Noosa was due to begin next year and deliver electricity by 2030.

"Slow moving train wreck:" Gas prices triple since Woodside cut special deal with state government (Renew Economy): Wholesale Western Australia gas prices have tripled since August 2020 after the state allowed its domestic onshore gas reserve to be exported by Woodside through its North West Shelf export terminal, according to a new analysis. A report by The Australia Institute reviewed the wholesale gas price in the four years since the Western Australian state government gave Woodside, one of the world's biggest oil and gas producers, approval to tap its domestic gas reserve for export.