Community battery snakes and ladders


Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy.

In today's edition:

  • Community battery challenges
  • Pumped for another acronym
  • NAIDOC Week means business

Seven-year mission unplugged

Community group Village Power was an early winner of a grant for a genuine neighbourhood battery. But seven years and 1500 volunteer hours on from the inception of the project, after encountering commercial, insurance and other barriers, the battery is yet to be purchased.

Village Power’s goal is “100% local renewable energy use” which means the battery will be a “solar soaker” but also 100 members of the local community in the Alphington/Fairfield area of Melbourne will subscribe to the battery and notionally access 4kWh each of storage.

Getting there is proving rather tricky. So much so that Village Power created an actual Snakes and Ladders game that captures their ongoing struggle. Their latest hurdle came when the retailer they’d negotiated to come on board the project dropped them.

“A new energy company has now been selected which will not interact with Village Power customers, but is able to take ownership of and install and run the battery. It will also return an agreed revenue stream to Village Power and its neighbourhood battery subscribers. We remain cautiously optimistic.” - Village Power board member Craig Burton

Pumped for another acronym

Australia’s green bank made the case for a low-carbon liquid fuel (LCLF) future as a pillar of a clean energy economy, releasing research commissioned from Deloitte.

“Low carbon liquid fuels are a present-day necessity for sectors that can’t electrify. If we get the settings right, Australia can lead in clean fuels innovation and production - not just supply the feedstocks. Australia has all the ingredients to be a clean fuel superpower – abundant feedstocks, world-class research, and growing demand. Policy accelerators, including mandates, certification schemes and offsets, are key components to assist the industry reach scale. The first movers will reap the rewards of this global market." - Clean Energy Finance Corporation CEO Ian Learmonth

But, of course, LCLFs will remain more expensive than fossil fuels without government intervention.

Actionable insights

  • By introducing targeted policies, such as mandates, national procurement programs and low carbon fuel certification, Australia can provide the demand certainty and price signals needed to scale a local clean fuel industry
  • Next-generation fuel technologies need R&D support and concessional finance to de-risk private capital
  • Don’t give up on electrification.

NAIDOC Week means business

Indigenous-owned businesses in Australia are generating $42.6 billion in social value annually through their operations, according to a report released by Supply Nation at an event hosted by Business Sydney on Gadigal Land. (National Indigenous Times)

The study, Sleeping Giant Rises, led by Think Impact, uses a Social Return on Revenue model to assess value creation across three stakeholder groups: Indigenous business owners, their employees and members of their households.

Social value refers to the positive changes seen through an Indigenous lens of wellbeing. This value includes improved agency and control over life, expanded aspirations, financial security, pride, physical health and mental wellbeing and stronger connections to Community, Culture and Country.

Supply Nation urged non-Indigenous organisations to be proactive in sourcing from Indigenous-owned businesses and ensure procurement teams understand the social value being created. It is also important to consult Indigenous entrepreneurs and business owners when discussing policies and programs that engage First Nations businesses.

“We know that Indigenous businesses often give back, through formal or informal processes but there should not be the expectation or assumption that Indigenous businesses are all philanthropic. It is important to demonstrate that even without social or community elements, these businesses are creating economic and social value purely by being in business and that’s a great thing. The Sleeping Giant Rises report clearly shows the significant impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses are having. These entrepreneurs are creating social and economic value that is changing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia." - Supply Nation CEO and proud Awabakal woman Kate Russell

Catch up

Capital

Shares in Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) surged on reports the company’s minority-owned UK business Octopus Energy was weighing the US$14 billion demerger of tech arm Kraken. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)

South32 (ASX: S32) divested a Colombian mine and smelter to a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate CoreX amid a flood of “dirty” nickel and booked a US$130 million impairment. RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker said the sale would increase South32's exposure to forward-facing commodities such as copper, zinc and aluminium. (The West) (Reuters) (Capital Brief)

“The transaction is consistent with our strategy and will further streamline our portfolio toward higher margin businesses in minerals and metals critical to the world’s energy transition. The transaction will deliver a clean separation of Cerro Matoso and provide additional balance sheet flexibility to support investment in our growth options in copper and zinc.” - South32 CEO Graham Kerr

Projects

Renewables developer AMPYR Australia said it had achieved financial close of its 300MWh Wellington Stage 1 BESS that once finished in 2026 will connect to the Central-West Orana REZ. AMPYR recently signed a 10-year virtual offtake agreement with ZEN Energy for 150MW of the battery’s capacity. The company is backed by Singapore-based investment firm AGP.

Onshore wind developer Quenda warned its project may not be running by the time WA coal-fired power shuts down, due to a lack of transmission and "marathon" approvals. Projects planned for southern WA include wind farms around West Arthur, Narrogin, Williams, Boddington and Scott River. In Boddington, about 130km south of Perth, the companies behind the 300MW Marradong Wind Farm are yet to make a final investment decision. (ABC)

Dozens of planned renewable energy supply factories have been cancelled, delayed or downsized, in the US, all hit by soaring costs, high interest rates and slow-growing EV demand, reports Bloomberg. Trump’s recent megabill will only add to their woes.


Policy

The South Australia algal blooms are a reminder of the urgent need to cut national greenhouse gas emissions and bolster the case for other nations to do likewise, according to Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean. He said the authority was working on advice for the Albanese government on setting “as ambitious a 2035 goal as possible” for reducing Australia’s carbon pollution. (AFR)

“There is another prompt for action looming: The Trump administration’s budget, passed into law on Friday, will slash climate-related science from satellites to ocean buoys. The accuracy of weather forecasts, climate modelling, and other services for our defence and economy hang in the balance unless we fill the gaps with our own sovereign capability or can muster new overseas partners. The Climate Change Authority will have more to say on the challenges soon.” - Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean

Regulation

Energy retailer Pacific Blue Retail, which also trades as Tango Energy, was slugged $961,550 for failing to credit accounts of over 6,000 customers, with the offending stretching across three years. Under Victoria’s rules, where a distributor makes a guaranteed service level payment, the energy retailer must apply the credit to the customer’s account within 10 business days. Almost 300 who did not have their credits applied to their next bill were receiving payment difficulty assistance.


Technology

Melbourne-based Cavendish Renewable Technology launched an electrolyser it said would redefine green hydrogen economics. At the heart of the proprietary “C-Cell” is an ultra-thin ceramic membrane electrolyte that could also be suitable for carbon-to-fuels electrolysis for synthetic hydrocarbons and industrial feedstocks, fuel cells for mobile and stationary energy, and flow batteries for grid-scale storage using redox couples.

“A lot of solutions have been proposed, but very few deliver where it truly matters - on both performance and cost. With C-Cell, we’re not proposing anything that contradicts the laws of thermodynamics or depends on speculative science. It’s simply an elegant way of utilising internally generated heat during electrolysis to significantly reduce electrical energy input - without needing any external thermal source. That said, if low-grade external heat is available, our modelling indicates the efficiency could be improved even further. We aim to validate this through upcoming trials. - Cavendish Renewable Technology CEO Dr Aniruddha Kulkarni

Climate

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen is off to Tuvalu, Palau, Samoa, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands for talks on co-hosting COP31 climate talks in 2026, if Australia’s bid wins. He will also visit key energy infrastructure, including the 15MW Palau Solar Farm, one of the Pacific’s largest renewable energy projects and backed by Australia under a regional partnership program.


People

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) appointed ACT career public servant Geoffrey Rutledge as Chief Executive. He begins in the role on August 11.

"Geoffrey's extensive experience leading policy development and his deep understanding of the energy and climate change sectors make him ideally suited to lead the AEMC during this transformative period for Australia's energy markets.” - AEMC Chair Anna Collyer

Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) appointed former Origin Energy Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Lawrie Tremaine, also a former CFO of Woodside Energy, to the board as a non-executive director and chair of the sustainability committee.

Dan McGrail, formerly of RenewableUK, has been appointed as the permanent Chief Executive Officer of UK-government-owned Great British Energy. He has been acting in the role for the past four months.


Research

Monash researchers released a practical guide to seabird flight behaviour to ensure seabirds such as the albatross, petrels and shearwaters are protected alongside future offshore wind farms. Collision risk is one aspect of the environmental assessment process for project proponents, but with no offshore wind farms in the Southern Hemisphere there are still key knowledge gaps.

“Seabirds typically fly close to the ocean surface, so raising the height of turbines is one very practical way to mitigate collision risk. The work we have done aims to constructively inform policy development at the intersection of biodiversity conservation and renewable energy; two areas inherently linked.” - Lead author Dr Mark Miller, Research Fellow in the Monash School of Biological Sciences

Random

Higher US tariffs will be delayed from an initial July 9 implementation date to August 1. (ABC) (The Guardian)

What's on

July 9
National Press Club

Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes will speak on “Power politics: The political power of Australia’s renewable energy industry” at this event in Canberra.


July 14
State of Energy Research Conference 2025

Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean, NEM Review Chair Tim Nelson, and ANU Professor of Engineering Kylie Catchpole headline this Sydney event.


July 17
Battery Recycling and Manufacturing Summit

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, Battery Stewardship Council CEO Libby Chaplin, CSIRO Senior Principal Research Scientist Manufacturing Dr Adam Best, and Ecocycle CEO Doug Rowe are among the speakers at this Sydney event.


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.

The Energy

The Energy is dedicated to covering the business of energy and in particular the people, capital, projects and emerging technology behind the energy transition.

Read more from The Energy

Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy. In today's edition: Rule maker gets behind WDRM Thinking confidently about flex Indigenous Australians leading on energy Wholesale demand response mechanism lives on The Australian Energy Market Commission recommended continuing the wholesale demand response mechanism (WDRM), which pays electricity users like factories for reducing consumption during peak demand period. The energy market rule maker also recommended an assessment of whether sites with...

Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy. In today's edition: New funding for ultra low-cost solar RayGen chalks up another milestone Good on you says John Grimes Chasing down the solar cost curve The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), a longstanding champion of solar power, launched a $60 million funding round for R&D into ultra low-cost solar. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology continues to evolve rapidly and remains the backbone of the clean energy transition. Universities, research...

Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy's weekly data newsletter. This week we explore real-time data from the meter and the case for reform. The costs and benefits of real-time meter data Energy consumers don’t need or want real-time energy data. So goes the argument from almost all of Australia’s energy networks and retailers. Regardless, Australia’s energy regulation machine rolls on and at some point they’ll be forced to enable it. The question is, what will happen in the interim? Next month...