Capital
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Lower oil prices, along with decreasing production, saw revenue from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax decline by about 20% to $1.48 billion in 2023-24, the Australian Taxation Office said. Its latest corporate tax transparency report found more large oil and gas companies moved to a tax payable position in the year, as carry-forward losses were depleted, with the whole oil and gas segment paying $10.4 billion in taxes.
US robotics firm Luminous used a $4.9 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to trial AI-powered solar panel installing robots at ENGIE’s Goorambat East Solar Farm. ENGIE said the use of the robots would help reduce the cost of renewable energy projects and enable projects to be built in less time, with the help of skilled technicians.
In a survey of 526 companies by software accounting firm MYOB, the biggest concern was energy bills, followed by inflation. The level of concern on energy was three times more prevalent than worries over changes to tariffs and international trade disruptions and uncertainty, and more than seven times more concerning than cyber attacks. (The Australian)
The US Government cancelled another US$7.56 billion in clean energy projects yesterday, mainly in Democrat-led states. The Energy Department said in a statement that the projects “did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs". (NYT) (WashPo)
 Projects
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EnergyCo narrowed the transmission lines study corridor for the New England Renewable Energy Zone “to reflect community feedback”. It said the new corridor allowed for safer construction, reduced clearing of vegetation, less impact on local roads and would also mean transmission lines did not affect aerial firefighting operations around local dams.
Policy
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Returning from a study tour of nuclear facilities in the US, Shadow Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Dan Tehan told ABC Radio National there was “overwhelming agreement on the Coalition side that nuclear needs to be part of our energy mix”. Tehan pointed to global energy demand increases, in part driven by data centres, and support for nuclear from tech giants Microsoft, Meta and Google.
“All these big companies see nuclear as part of the solution going forward and yet here in Australia we're saying ‘yeah it's fine for nuclear submarines but it's not to power a civil energy industry’ and that to me just doesn’t make sense,” Tehan said. (ABC)
Electric vehicle drivers are already paying more in fuel taxes and fees than gas car drivers in most US states, according to a new report from Atlas Public Policy. The US is currently considering a range of new taxes and levies on EVs, including an annual registration fee on charging stations. Atlas analysis found such a fee would be an economically inefficient way to collect additional revenue.
Regulation
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A new communication standard – the Australian Common Smart Inverter Profile – will make a rapid and noticeable difference to how much solar householders can export to the grid, says ANU Associate Professor in Engineering Marnie Shaw. (The Conversation)
The final determination on a rule change request from energy ministers to introduce two new projected assessment of system adequacy (PASA) forecasts for the East Coast Gas System was delayed until December 18.
Gas lobby group Australian Energy Producers requested a change to the National Gas Rules to give stakeholders more time to provide feedback on regulation and guidelines reviews and other project consultation by the Australian Energy Regulator and AEMO.
Technology
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AI has sorted through 32 million potential compounds for lower lithium battery chemistry in just 80 hours. Now researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory plan to synthesise and test a promising material, NaxLi3−xYCl6, in a battery setup. It’s one of several AI-generated battery chemistries making its way to the real world. (IEEE Spectrum)
Climate
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The three largest proxy advisers for AGL shareholders have recommended they back the company’s latest climate transition action plan at today’s AGM. AGL’s largest shareholder, Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, may still choose to oppose it. (AFR)
Schneider Electric announced a deal with Climeworks to remove 31,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2039 using Direct Air Capture and storage, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and enhanced rock weathering.
People
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The Australian Energy Market Commission reappointed Rachele Williams as the Consumer and Distributed Energy Resources (CER and DER) representative to the Reliability Panel.
Random
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The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore energy development, will see more than 70% of its staff furloughed in the US Government shutdown. The bureau’s plan says it “will cease all renewable energy activities,” but employees focused on upcoming oil and gas lease sales will continue to work. (Politico)
