Capital

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Fortescue (ASX: FMG) reported a 23% surge in EBITDA to $6.3 billion (US$4.5 billion) for the first half of FY2025-26 on the back of record shipments of iron ore, with net profit after tax up to $2.67 billion (US$1.9 billion). CEO Dino Otranto lauded the company’s progress towards decarbonisation, including delivery of its first BESS, deployment of electric mobile equipment and the ongoing “decarbonisation at scale” including the installation of 3,600 solar panels per day at the company’s Cloudbreak mine and another 1GW of solar PV in the pipeline.

Global resources investor Tribeca told investors that Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) shares are “deeply discounted” after the energy giant turned in annual results showing net profit after tax was down 24% from 2024 despite record production of 198.8 million barrels of oil equivalent during the past year. Woodside sang the praises of its “cash-generative” Scarborough gas and Louisiana LNG and Trion projects, which it said are building up a strong pipeline for future results. Market Forces head of Australian campaigns Brett Morgan was less bullish, warning that Woodside could be cashflow negative by 2031 and arguing that “Woodside’s latest disclosures show its business plans are still completely at odds with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.” (AFR)

MGA Thermal has received $3.25 million in ARENA funding to accelerate the commercialisation of its thermal energy storage (TES) technology, which uses patented MGA Block technology to store energy as latent heat. That means renewable energy can replace industrial gas by being stored within the MGA Blocks and moved where needed to deliver “high-grade process heat suitable for industrial applications” with zero emissions. The funding will help MGA Thermal develop five real-world projects with “strategic customers”.

Energy systems

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CSIRO has officially launched a $3 million upgrade of its Newcastle-based Renewable Energy Integration Facility (REIF), a test-bed whose extensive body of equipment allows the simulation of microgrids and grid faults, testing of inverter performance under real-world conditions, and running “large-scale experiments” combining solar, battery, and EVs – including demonstrations of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology whose viability the CSIRO is currently evaluating as a complement to the NEM.

Projects

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Akaysha Energy expects to have a replacement for its failed HVT3 transformer live at the Waratah Super Battery by the third quarter of this year, the company announced as the battery continues to operate with just one of its three transformers live. The original HVT3 transformer “experienced a significant internal fault”, the company reported in an update, saying the fault caused a tank wall to rupture and drain the transformer’s contents into the surrounding area.

Stage 1 of the Goyder North Renewable Energy Facility wind farm has passed EPBC review, with a number of conditions around the populations of pygmy blue-tongue lizard and Flinders Ranges worm lizards in the project area in Burra, South Australia. The facility includes up to 99 wind turbine generators, a battery energy storage system (BESS), and ancillary infrastructure.

A new pair of 5MW BESS are expected to bridge the rental gap by saving residents in south-west Sydney around $200 per year in energy bills, Ausgrid has said as it launched its latest community battery project that further expands the 12 other BESS under its Energy Storage as a Service (ESAAS) collaboration with Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia.

Energy solutions company Aggreko has begun building a hybrid power station near Miles, Qld to support Arrow Energy’s Surat Gas Project North. The new site, which will supply up to 186GWh of power annually, will use a mix of gas, solar, and BESS and will be operated by Arrow Energy under a 20-year agreement. (ESD News)

Policy

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The end of the federal government’s energy price support subsidies has been a major contributor to higher than expected inflation figures, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has said as a 3.8% headline inflation figure quashed hopes of a reprieve after the Reserve Bank’s recent rate rise. A 32.2% increase in electricity prices over the past 12 months was up from 21.5% in the 12 months to December. (AFR)

Six years after major reforms to the Integrated System Plan (ISP) process, growing scope creep and budget blowouts confirm that the framework offers “no credible mechanism to pause, re-scope or replace projects when the underlying facts change,” Victoria Energy Policy Centre director Bruce Mountain writes in a submission to the AEMO Governance Review that argues the ISP is a “poor fit for planning the energy transition in the NEM” and suggests an independent body take over planning from AEMO.

Climate

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Australia’s annual carbon emissions dropped by 1.9% last year, led by the surge in renewables, lower gas use and an increase in adoption of EVs that now account for 13.1% of all cars sold, according to the latest National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Quarterly Update. A 4.3% drop in NEM emissions and a 27.6% reduction in Australia’s overall emissions compared with 2005 levels means “We are on track to meet our climate targets if we stay the course and continue to lift our efforts,” Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said.

Technology

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A novel iron-air battery invented by startup Form Energy is getting a chance at the big time after the company joined Xcel Energy to build a 300MW/30GWh BESS – yes, that’s 100 hours of continuous supply – that will support a Google data centre in the US state of Minnesota. It’s the second commercial contract and biggest-yet deal for Form Energy, whose iron-air battery chemistry promises to deliver grid firming capacity for long enough to outlast major weather systems that might disrupt normal supplies.

A modular renewable energy power station from Arbor Energy has taken a novel approach to building its 25MW HALCYON “supercritical CO2 power system” turbines, which are designed to be combined up to gigawatt scale. HALCYON’s bladeless design is inspired by the rocket engines Arbor CEO and co-founder Brad Hartwig used in his former work as an engineer at SpaceX, and its first unit is expected to come online by 2028. (Power Magazine)

Research

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Australia’s electricity grid is “a nest of externalities” in which energy storage remains a bottleneck, a Monash Energy Institute study into the impact of BESS on the NEM has found, warning that successfully operating storage is difficult because trading is dynamic and must be performed in an environment in which arbitrage is tricky and potential collusion by competing storage operators risks creating competition issues that must be monitored. To ensure reliability, the researchers write, the market operator "needs to induce storage to purchase more than what it finds privately optimal.” (Monash Energy Institute)

Gas supplies just 5% of Australia’s power but plays “an outsized role" in setting the price of power because prices for gas-fired peak energy are set during the times of highest demand, the Climate Council has warned in a new white paper, entitled Power Games: Who’s Driving High Power Bills? that breaks down the structure of wholesale energy costs. Prices have risen steadily since Australia began shipping east-coast gas offshore, the report found, diminishing available supply and exposing the NEM to the vagaries of international energy markets.

R&D investments at Australian universities have fallen to a 20 year low, a new report by Universities Australia has warned amid concerns that 40% of the country’s universities have remained in deficit for the past five years as average funding per domestic student has dropped 6% in real terms since 2017. Given the importance of university-led research and industry collaborations for energy and climate innovation, the shortcomings highlighted in the report risk exacerbating the challenges facing energy technology innovators in the face of surging demand.

People

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Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes will step down from the group in May to take on a new regional role as Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Council Asia Pacific (RECAP). Grimes has led the peak body for almost 18 years and in his new role will continue to represent SEC members internationally.

Renewable energy advocacy group Boundless Earth has tapped Larissa Brown to become the organisation’s new CEO. A named World Economic Forum Global Shaper, Brown has over two decades’ experience in climate change policy, government, advocacy, and investment.

Sustainable consultancy veteran Elna How is joining Grant Thornton as a partner in the group’s Sustainability Reporting Advisory team. How has worked across Big Four and mid-tier professional services firms and in industry, with a deep understanding of the interplay between sustainability and financial reporting.