Capital

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Germany’s RWE ceased development of its 2GW Kent Offshore Wind Farm in Gippsland, binning its feasibility licence. “This decision follows a review of the project’s competitiveness in current market conditions as well as ongoing uncertainties around supply chain costs and the future design of the auction framework,” the developer said.

Projects

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The full suite of project documents for NSW Roadmap Tender Round 7 have been released including the Firming Supply Project Development Agreement (PDA), Firming Supply Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA), Demand Response LTESA and Tripartite Deed ahead of Thursday’s ASL Webinar and Q&A session.

Tasmanian Energy Minister Nick Duigan rolled out the red carpet for executives from Malaysia’s Gamuda, which is investing $2 billion in the state. Gamuda recently announced its partnership with Tasmanian farmers and local consultancy Alternate Path to co-develop the landholder-led Cellars Hill Wind Farm and the Weasel Solar Farm projects.

Policy

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A federal deal with Western Australia could cut the state’s environmental approvals to under 50 days. Environment Minister Murray Watt, in Perth for discussions with Premier Roger Cook, told reporters a bilateral agreement would remove the need to duplicate assessments and approvals at the state and federal level. “What is most likely is that projects that are already in the pipeline and have already been applied for would continue to be processed under the current [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation] Act … It would be an option for proponents to decide to withdraw an application and reapply and begin again under the new laws if that's what they choose to do,” Watt said.

The federal government’s Strategic Examination of R&D (SERD) is failing vital discovery research, doesn’t propose a coherent solution for research infrastructure, and is not addressing calls to build a more cohesive system, experts warned after the release of six issues papers from the SERD panel. “Rather than leveraging the SERD’s chance to supercharge Australia’s discovery research capability, the nation’s scientists and technologists find ourselves in the dire situation of questioning whether funding currently directed to discovery research is under threat,” Science & Technology Australia President Professor Sharath Sriram said.

Regulation

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The Corporate Law Reform Alliance of like-minded professional associations, business groups and academics called for the federal government to establish an independent expert body, similar to the former Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC), to work on streamlining and updating corporations law, offering a potential “tangible breakthrough” on productivity and getting economic growth moving. “Complex and ill-defined regulation not only impacts how organisations are governed. It also makes it more difficult for regulators to administer and courts to enforce,” Alliance spokesperson Pauline Vamos said.

Technology

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Australia has an opportunity to develop policies that synchronise data centre expansion with more efficient energy and grid management. Johanna Lim, Research Associate, Strategic Technologies, at the University of Sydney explains how. (The Conversation)

Climate

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Greenpeace Brazil projected messages on the Congress building and on buildings across the country to urge delegates at a Pre-COP meeting to end forest destruction by 2030 to keep 1.5°C within sight. Some 86% of people surveyed in 17 countries across five continents said protecting forests was critical in the fight against climate change, a Greenpeace International poll conducted by Opinium found. Country delegations, Indigenous leaders and civil society are in-country ahead of COP30, which begins on November 10.

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit a record high in 2024, and emissions continue to accelerate, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Agency. From 2023 to 2024, the global average concentration of CO2 surged by 3.5 ppm, the largest increase in any one-year span since measurements began in 1957. "What's new — and scary even for climate scientists — is that the rate of increase has accelerated at a time when annual fossil fuels emissions have stayed much the same," said Phil Williamson, honorary professor at the University of East Anglia. (ABC)

People

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Sherry Duhe resigned as Chief Financial Officer at Santos, with Lachlan Harris again appointed Acting CFO.

Gareth O’Reilly has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of engineering firm Ampcontrol.

Research

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McKinsey’s Global Energy Perspective 2025 report says variable energy sources and gas-powered generation will likely dominate new energy supply and new alternative fuels are unlikely to see wide adoption until after 2040. Fossil fuels are projected to retain a large share of the energy mix beyond 2050, with the transition pathway more vulnerable to geopolitical and economic forces than 10 years ago when the Paris Agreement was signed.

Random

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The world’s first liquid air energy storage facility is set to power up in 2026. The Highview Power plant, under construction in Manchester, will be able to plug a short gap in power for as many as 480,000 homes, CEO Richard Butland said. (BBC)