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Hey Reader, in today's edition:
- Batteries' rapid response finds grid niche
- Fast-emerging ‘Agentic AI’ still needs humans
- Offshore wind needs more pricing certainty
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Not just big spinning machines
The energy transformation isn’t just about generating clean power — it’s about keeping the electricity grid secure and responsive in a changing environment.
Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) — quick injections or reductions of energy — are at the heart of that, Griffith University’s Parna Imannezhad explains.
Traditionally, gas and hydro generators dominated FCAS. Now batteries are increasingly stepping up, especially for fast and very fast services. Their ability to respond almost instantly makes them ideal for a low-inertia grid.
“These services don’t generate energy, but they help make sure the energy delivered is safe, stable, and reliable, especially in a grid with growing amounts of wind and solar power,” she says.
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Next-gen AI needs humans
A global Capgemini survey on “agentic AI”, where tech-driven decision-making becomes increasingly autonomous, found only 25% of polled Australian executives fully trust AI agents and nearly 70% of Australian executives said there must be human oversight at critical points.
More than a third (37%) of Australian executives from companies with US$1 billion or more in annual revenue would opt for a “kill switch” to halt operations if unsafe behaviour was detected, but that was below the global average of 48%.
“Central to this transformation is the need to build trust in AI by ensuring it is developed responsibly, with ethics and safety baked in from the outset. It also means reshaping organizations to support effective human-AI chemistry, creating the right conditions for these systems to enhance human judgment.”
Franck Greverie
Chief Portfolio & Technology Officer, Capgemini The global opportunity of AI agents is estimated at US$450 billion, if enough electricity can be found to run them, but the trust gap was found to be one of the biggest barriers to uptake.
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Expert view
The need for powerful processing will not slow. Deloitte projects that data centres will use 2% of global electricity in 2025, about 536 terawatt-hours (TWh). With AI and other high-demand technologies accelerating, this could double to 1,065 TWh by 2030.
It is interesting to sometimes see commentary that data centres are spoken about as part of the energy transition problem. This is incorrect. Data centre infrastructure is a highly leveraged digital infrastructure asset. Cloud Computing and now AI will enable all industries the ability to scale their IT/OT platforms without having to duplicate systems.
The rise of AI is inevitable. By 2030, AI is expected to contribute US$15.7 trillion to the global economy, more than the combined economies of China and India. Yet AI is a double-edged sword: it increases productivity, but also requires significantly more power, cooling and infrastructure, which in turn raises emissions.”
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Joe Craparotta
VP Cloud & Service Providers, Pacific Zone, Schneider Electric
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Getting the wind up
Offshore wind developers in Australia’s first dedicated zone, Gippsland, off Victoria’s coast, asked for more support and warned governments the business case is still not clear, with no clarity over what they’ll be paid once operational. (Renew Economy)
“We are many things, but we’re not a non-profit organisation. We need steady returns,” RWE’s Jens Orfelt told the Australian Wind Energy 2025 summit in Melbourne.
“What we’re being asked by our boards at the moment is, what is the business case? How do you secure your revenues? And please show us that before you can spend money.
“What’s lacking, maybe a little bit, is that coordination between the Treasury and the environmental agencies and port authorities,” he added.
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Catch Up
Capital
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Santos (ASX: STO) downgraded guidance for full-year production after flooding hit Cooper Basin gas fields in South Australia, while confirming the $6.1 billion Barossa gas project in the Timor Sea would start this quarter. But there was no update on that takeover bid as Abu Dhabi runs the ruler over the cost of remediating depleted wells and other liabilities. (AFR)
“Free cash flow of approximately $1.1 billion in the first half positions the company well as we near the start-up of our major development projects, Barossa and Pikka (in Alaska) … Together, these projects are expected to deliver around a 30% increase in production by 2027. Moomba CCS also reached a major milestone in the second quarter, with more than one million tonnes of CO2e stored since project start-up.”
Kevin Gallagher
Santos CEO Conrad Asia Energy (ASX: CRD) secured domestic offtake of the entire gas volume from its flagship Mako Gas Field in Indonesia. The binding Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) signed with a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state-owned electric utility runs to January 2037 and all gas will be sold under oil-linked pricing rather than the traditional fixed domestic price structure. The utility has committed to financing and construction of the connecting pipeline infrastructure to the West Natuna Gas line and Batam Island, removing a critical capital hurdle for Conrad.
 Projects
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China’s global investment and infrastructure initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative, hit new heights in the first half of 2025 with contracts worth US$124 billion. And the energy sector leads the way with US$44 billion in deals — half of which were in oil and gas, according to a report by Director of the Griffith Asia Institute Professor Christoph Nedopil. Technology and manufacturing projects attracted US$23.2 billion in new investments, including significant ventures in EV batteries, solar PV, and green hydrogen production.
Wind and solar projects in the USA will be subject to an extra layer of approval, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO. Gregory Wischer, the US Department of the Interior’s deputy chief of staff for policy, wrote in the memo that “all decisions, actions, consultations, and other undertakings ... related to wind and solar energy facilities” will require Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s personal sign-off.
Policy
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So far the energy industry has been “unable or unwilling” to put forward a politically acceptable solution to a review of policy mechanisms, expert Tony Wood writes in The Australian. “It pleads for removal of government interventions, arguing that unfettered exploration for more gas will solve all problems. Governments and regulators, as well as consumers and environmental groups, will reject such positions outright,” he warns.
Regulation
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The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is scaling up its systems and workforce to bring around 80,000 new businesses under the next tranche of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regime. A statement of priorities for 2026-27 sets out regulatory expectations, with legal services and accountancy among those facing new reporting obligations from July 1, 2026.
Grid batteries in Germany won’t be exempt from a levy for the construction of the electricity grid, a court ruled. The storage industry had hoped for preferential treatment because batteries can contribute to grid stability. Storage operator Kyon Energy, which filed the lawsuit to avoid paying the fee, said the consequences of the decision were “far-reaching — for investment security in large-scale battery storage, for the planning practices of project developers and for the framework conditions of the energy transition”. (Clean Energy Wire)
The ACCC has expressed concerns about Acciona’s proposed acquisition of a struggling waste-to-energy project in East Rockingham, WA. Acciona already owns a waste-to-energy facility in Kwinana, and the East Rockingham sale would leave Acciona with no competition in the waste-to-energy space in WA.
Technology
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Less industrial demand has helped to depress product prices and hurt the bottom line of several listed Chinese PV companies that released interim 2025 forecasts this week. Aiko Solar (SHA: 600732) was one of the few to show a profit. Aiko’s new bet is to replace traditional silver in the metallisation of solar modules with copper interconnects, a more abundant, affordable and efficient material. (Inspenet)
Climate
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Australia got off on a technicality for its climate inaction, as the Federal Court found the federal government had no legal duty to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change, but there are plenty more judgement days to come, according to Climate Council Fellow Wesley Morgan and UNSW Sydney Lecturer Riona Moodley. (The Conversation)
Cartoonist First Dog on the Moon says he’s prone to wallowing in fatalist climate doomerism. But should he give up hope? (The Guardian)
People
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The UK’s OVO Group appointed British businesswoman Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia as Chair, effective September. Miguel Gaspar Silva and Andy Cox were appointed to the independent board of its technology platform Kaluza as non-executive directors.
Rachel Phillips has been recruited by Perpetual Wealth Management to help support the business's responsible investment products and policies. She will be based in Sydney.
Research
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Potentially reducing green hydrogen’s reliance on scarce fresh water, a research team led by RMIT University is turning agricultural wastewater, with its high contaminant load of platinum, chromium, nickel and other metals, into an advantage at the catalyst stage. An electrode made with an absorbent carbon surface attracts metals from wastewater to form catalysts that are stable and efficient at conducting electricity, speeding up the water splitting, they explain in ACS Electrochemistry.
“We are keen to work with companies globally that are addressing energy and waste as cost and sustainability challenges, as well as water authorities. Collaborations could focus on developing commercial systems to use this technology on a large scale.”
Professor Nicky Eshtiaghi
Co-lead researcher
Elsewhere Monash scientists are tackling the scarcity of iridium, a rare and expensive metal crucial to current green hydrogen production methods that require iridium-based catalysts in the water-splitting electrolysers. A new paper published in Nature Energy, and led by the Monash University School of Chemistry, explores why cobalt catalysts degrade and how to fix it to bring the costs down.
Random
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An anti-wind farm demonstration, a “mass wuther” of more than 500 people, will re-enact Kate Bush’s ballad Wuthering Heights on Penistone Hill near Haworth, UK on the last Sunday in July. But others say England’s biggest wind farm project should be a priority, not Bronte country nostalgia. (The Guardian) (The Times)
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What's On
July 17-18
Carbon Capture APAC Summit
Chevron General Manager of Energy Transition David Fallon, Beach Energy CEO Brett Woods, CarbonNet Project Director Jane Burton, Geoscience Director of Offshore Energy Systems Merrie-Ellen Gunning are among speakers at this event in Melbourne.
July 17-18
Australia Wind Energy 2025
VicGrid CEO Alistair Parker, Siemens Gamesa Global CEO Vinod Philip, New.E co-lead Clare Larkin-Sykes, RWE Renewables CEO Australia Daniel Belton, Engie AU Chief Renewables Officer Laura Caspari, ACCIONA Energía Australia MD Brett Wickham and CEFC Director, Investments, Nick Hawke are among the line-up at this Melbourne event.
July 17-18
Connecting Hydrogen
Federal Assistant Minister for Energy Josh Wilson, WA Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, Chevron Australia GM Energy Transition David Fallon, ARENA Investment Director Alexandra McIntosh, Ampol CFO Greg Barnes, and Woodside Energy GM Carbon Capture and Storage Andrew Nicholls will speak at this event in Melbourne.
July 21
Safeguard Symposium
The Carbon Market Institute will host a discussion of market dynamics under the Safeguard Mechanism, finance and investment in ACCU supply, carbon price reform, and climate policy at this event in Sydney, which was rescheduled due to severe weather.
July 22
Smart Energy South Australia
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen will headline at the Smart Energy Council conference and expo in Adelaide.
July 29-30
Australian Clean Energy Summit (ACES) 2025
AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman, AEMC Chair Anna Collyer, Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean, AGL CEO Damien Nicks, Iberdrola Australia CEO Ross Rolfe and Squadron Energy CEO Rob Wheals are among the lineup at the Clean Energy Council’s flagship event in Sydney.
July 30
Australian Sustainable Finance Summit
Treasury Deputy Secretary Angelia Grant, Original Power Executive Director Karrina Nolan, and Australian Office of Financial Management CEO Anna Hughes are among the line-up at this Sydney event.
August 7-8
2025 ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference
Former chair of UK energy regulator Ofgem Professor Martin Cave, AEMC Commissioner Sally McMahon, Treasury Assistant Secretary - Competition Taskforce Anna Barker, Essential Services Commission Chair Gerard Brody, and Marinus Link Chair Sandra Gamble are among the speakers at this event in Brisbane.
August 13-14
2025 Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit
Victoria’s Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio, Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean, Carbon Market Institute Chair Dr Kerry Schott, Co-Founder and CEO of CORE Markets Chris Halliwell, Investor Group on Climate Change CEO Rebecca Mikula-Wright and BHP Australia President Geraldine Slattery will speak at this event in Melbourne.
August 14-15
First Nations Clean Energy Symposium
Government, industry, academics and regulators will join over 200 First Nations leaders from around Australia at this event on Kabi Kabi country (Sunshine Coast).
August 18
National Press Club
Productivity Commission Chair Danielle Wood will speak on the “Growth imperative: How to fix our productivity problem” at this event in Canberra.
August 26-27
Australian Renewable Heat Conference
Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean, ARENA investment manager Peter Haenke, and AGL sustainability expert Brendan Weinert will speak at this event in Sydney.
August 26-28
2025 New Zealand Wind Energy Summit
NZ Minister of Energy Simon Watts, Secretary-General of the World Wind Energy Association Stefan Gsänger, Global Wind Energy Council CEO Ben Backwell, Commerce Commission Chair Dr John Small, and Transpower Executive General Manager - Future Grid John Clarke headline this event in Wellington, NZ.
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