Catch up
Capital
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State-owned green bank the NSW Energy Security Corporation (ESC) officially opened for business with $1 billion of funding for investment in large-scale storage and enabling assets. Established last year to accelerate private sector investment in clean energy projects and support NSW achieving its emission reduction targets, the ESC announced its board would be chaired by public policy expert Cameron O’Reilly. Other board members include David Borger, Helen Conway, Michael Cummings, Sharon Eacott, Katerina Kimmorley and Daniel Papps.
An international consortium axed Australia’s largest green hydrogen project, after the withdrawal of Queensland’s state government-owned energy company. (ABC) (Sky)
Hong Kong-owned Alinta Energy committed to building its Reeves Plains Energy Hub Battery, located north of Adelaide, and appointed GenusPlus Group (ASX: GNP) as Principal Contractor for a contract worth $105 million. The hub includes a 500MW battery (in two 250MW stages) and a proposed 300MW gas turbine power station. Construction of the big battery will begin in early 2026, with stage 1 - equivalent to powering 300,000 households for up to four hours - expected to be operational by 2028. A takeover target for EnergyAustralia, Alinta confirmed it was open to all options. (Listcorp) (Renew Economy) (AFR)
“We’re not just planning energy storage anymore – we’re building it. Early works are underway, procurement is well advanced, and the site is being prepared for the build. We’re also talking to neighbours and the community about what construction will mean for them.” - Alinta Energy Chief Development Officer Andres Maasing
A Narrabri deal has been touted as part of Abu Dhabi’s $30 billion Santos (ASX: STO) takeover, with Beach Energy (ASX: BPT) mooted as a possible buyer of the stalled project, according to The Australian.
 Projects
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Transgrid said the start of the NSW Government’s Strategic Benefit Payments Scheme was an important milestone for landholders affected by major transmission projects, with payments coming into effect after the infrastructure is built and energised.
“Eligible landholders along the western section of EnergyConnect will begin receiving their first payments after 1 July, following energisation of two new transmission lines from Buronga to the South Australian border and into Victoria.” - Transgrid CEO Brett Redman
Eligible landholders under the scheme will receive compensation of $200,000 per kilometre of eligible transmission infrastructure hosted on their property in annual instalments over 20 years. And if you host two sets of transmission lines, you'll receive payments for each line. Projects may include:
- renewable energy zone network infrastructure projects
- priority transmission infrastructure projects
- other transmission infrastructure projects identified in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan.
So far, eligible nation-critical infrastructure includes high-voltage transmission lines from the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone Transmission Project, Hunter Transmission Project, Project EnergyConnect, HumeLink, and Victoria-New South Wales Interconnector West.
Policy
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Energy retailer CovaU was fined $341,724 for alleged unlawful cold-call telemarketing of former customers, Victoria’s Essential Services Commission said. Fined in relation to prohibited conduct affecting eight customers, CovaU has since terminated its contract with its telemarketing firm and beefed up compliance with obligations on unsolicited sales, record keeping and self-reporting. Cold-calling and win-back offers were banned by the state in 2021 to protect energy customers from high-pressure sales tactics.
“Wrongdoing has consequences, and we make sure they are felt. The Essential Services Commission expects energy retailers to have systems in place to ensure they are abiding by the law, especially where third parties are utilised to engage with customers. Keeping consumer protections front of mind is paramount – particularly given the current cost-of-living pressures faced by Victorians.” -Commissioner Gerard Brody
UK energy regulator Ofgem has been modelling what the market would look like if it faced another gas crisis in 2030 after the UK's planned build out of renewable energy is complete. “And the early indications from that analysis are actually [that] we would be a lot better off as a country,” Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley told Carbon Brief in a wide-ranging interview.
“The main thing we are trying to do is have a stable system, a system that’s more within our domestic control, not totally within our domestic control, but one that allows us to manage this international volatility that, quite frankly, no government or regulator can control.”
Regulation
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Corporate regulator ASIC sued Delta Power & Energy for market manipulation. ASIC alleges the Vales Point coal plant owner manipulated the ASX 24 market for electricity futures contracts on dozens of occasions between September and October 2022.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) signalled a review of Shared Asset Guidelines, last updated in 2013, after a standalone power systems (SAPS) rule change raised broader issues including:
- the limited customer benefit under the 2013 Guidelines, as customers only receive 10% of unregulated revenues earned via regulated assets
- the evolving role of DNSPs with the rise of consumer energy resources in a two-sided energy market
- transparency of critical network data, including locational information
- the evolving roles of DNSPs in providing community batteries, network control assets, and kerbside network assets for EV charging infrastructure
- SAPS customers having an option of being charged network tariffs directly by a DNSP rather than through retailers
- potential regulatory changes (ring-fencing obligations, cost allocation and service classification) to better promote the interests of customers, rather than the use of ringfencing waivers.
Climate
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Negotiators doubt countries’ financial and environmental commitment as conflict and trade wars divert attention from COP30. (The Guardian)
People
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Nevenka Codevelle, who leads AEMO’s independent subsidiary AEMO Services, will stay on as CEO of the AusEnergy Services Limited (ASL) after its name change.
Francesca Muskovic will join the Investor Group on Climate Change as Executive Director, Policy after a stint of almost 10 years at the Property Council of Australia.
“Investors need certainty on Australia's long-term policy trajectory and competitive settings to ensure Australia is at the forefront of the global race for capital and investment in the net zero transition.
With the prospect of Australia hosting COP31 in 2026, the eyes of the world will be focused on us and our Pacific neighbours. There is no better backdrop to commit to the strongest possible 2035 emission target, drive the reform necessary and attract investment to the vast opportunities the transition provides.” - Climate policy leader and podcaster Francesca Muskovic
Research
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Jonty Flottman’s latest PhD paper, The forward market dilemma in energy-only electricity markets, co-authored with supervisors Paul Simshauser, Philip Wild and Neda Todorova, has been published in Energy Economics. Building on an investigation of derivatives and hedging practices in Australia’s NEM, this paper examines how market liquidity is impacted as baseload coal-fired generation is replaced by off-market contracted renewable energy.
The Local Aboriginal Land Council Powershift report, developed in a joint research initiative involving UNSW Sydney and UTS, sets out practical steps the NSW Government could take to support Aboriginal land councils in edge-of-grid and REZ settings. To date, the Aboriginal land council estate in NSW has not been actively used in the energy transition, which has limited participation in the energy transition and ring-fenced the benefits elsewhere.