Capital
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Australia’s biggest gas pipeline company APA Group reported a 6.4% rise in core earnings to $2.015 billion for FY25, supported by higher earnings from the Victorian Transmission System and Moomba Sydney Pipeline, and forecast stronger growth. (AFR)
“We are confident in the long-term critical role gas will play across Australia. Our East Coast Gas Grid Expansion Plan, early works in the Beetaloo, opportunities in gas-powered generation and ongoing growth in remote power generation in the Pilbara, demonstrate how we expect our core business will underpin our growth for years to come.”
Adam Watson
APA CEO
The Tasmanian government approved a secured loan of up to $20 million to Liberty Bell Bay, a major regional employer and energy user. (Pulse Tasmania)
“Let me be clear. This support is for Tasmanian workers and their families, not for the GFG Group. It is now time for GFG to step up and provide certainty for its workers by committing to do whatever it can to see the smelter continue to operate, including through investing in the operations.”
Felix Ellis
Minister for Business, Industry and Resources
CIMIC Group’s subsidiary UGL was awarded a three-year contract extension to 2029 by Queensland government-owned Stanwell Corporation to support the Stanwell, Tarong, and Tarong North Power Stations that feed into the NEM.
Iluka Resources’ $1.7 billion taxpayer-backed Eneabba rare earths refinery would thrive on the price floor set by the Trump Administration for two key rare earth elements, CEO Tom O’Leary said, posting an H1 fall in profit from minerals sands. (The West) (Discovery)
 Projects
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The $40 billion SunCable project could pivot to onshore data centres as Labor ramps up its AI pitch. (Capital Brief)
Bosses from BHP (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX: Rio) met with US President Donald Trump to try to overturn a setback from the “radical left” after a federal appeals court temporarily halted a land transfer that would allow the Resolution Copper mine to destroy Western Apache sacred land in Arizona. (The West) (Inside Climate News)
The federal government allocated $2.5 million from the $200 million community batteries program to Western Power to develop community batteries in Coogee, Kinross, Bayswater, Stratton and Port Kennedy. At a combined 500kW/2.8MWh, the five new projects across Perth are designed to harness excess generation from rooftop solar, cut power bills and emissions, and improve local power reliability. Connected households can save up to $132 annually, together with a 4kWh off-peak offset under a retail subscription product being developed by gas and electricity retailer Synergy for release later in the year.
“Our City began harnessing the sun’s power in 2009 and has the largest inventory of solar PV systems of any Local Government in WA. We have now installed more than 5,700 photovoltaic panels on 22 community buildings, producing clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our community.
This community battery will enable more people to install rooftop solar by helping manage network constraints. They also provide access to renewable energy for those who cannot install solar panels, contributing to lower greenhouse gas emissions.”
Logan Howlett
City of Cockburn Mayor
Policy
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Environmental law reform was a key agenda item at the Productivity Roundtable in Canberra. Outside, Greens spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Australia’s “Howard era” environmental laws aren’t working for anyone except fossil fuel companies that continue to block any changes. Meanwhile the Labor Party’s grassroots policy advocates insist there must be no free pass for clean energy.
“No exemptions. Forestry, agriculture and renewables must not be carved out from the laws … Business is understandably calling for more efficient and streamlined processes. But efficiency and speed must not come at the cost of the environment.”
Louise Crawford
Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) campaigner
Economists and industry experts convened on Sky News for a so-called Real Economic Round Table, to “fill the void of Labor’s productivity summit flop”. It was hosted by Nationals Senator Matt Canavan who said no one at “groupthink central” was discussing the fact that energy prices were the biggest hit to the nation's productivity, wealth and prosperity.
Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) chief executive Meg O’Neill said earlier in the week the extension of the North West Shelf project was a good test case for productivity, suggesting the conditions the federal government wanted to impose were not technically feasible and also contradicted the push to improve economic resilience. (AFR)
The Trump administration set out a new schedule running out to 2040 for offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
Technology
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A virtual power plant test involving 100,000 residential batteries in California found the resulting 539-megawatt dispatch helped serve the system’s net peak and relieved strain during the evening load ramp. (Latitude Media)
Climate
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Companies should be required to reinvest diesel fuel tax credits (FTC) above a $50 million annual cap into clean alternatives or forgo these credits, independent think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF) suggested. A CEF report on the existing scheme found the tax break was entrenching dependence on imported high-emissions diesel to power mining operations, undermining climate targets, productivity and syphoning tens of billions from the federal budget. In FY24 alone, the top 15 diesel users – iron ore majors Fortescue (ASX: FMG), BHP, Rio Tinto, and Hancock Prospecting and coal miners Glencore (LON: GLEN), Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), Yancoal (ASX: YAL), Mitsubishi’s subsidiary, Whitehaven (ASX: WHC) and Anglo American (LON: AAL) – collected $2.9 billion in FTC subsidies, CEF said.
"Right now, there’s a significant gap between the cost of putting carbon into the atmosphere and the reward companies get for using diesel. Under the Safeguard Mechanism, an ACCU costs around $37 a tonne, but the diesel rebate is worth the equivalent of about $191 a tonne. That’s a five-times incentive to keep burning diesel.”
Dino Otranto
Fortescue Metals and Operations CEO
Research
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RMIT University researchers found disconnections for non-payment of electricity bills can be stopped without significantly destabilising the market. The research funded by Energy Consumers Australia scanned Spain, France and Ireland for policy options. For example: the electricity costs of Spain’s most vulnerable customers are shared equally by retailers and local governments; households in France and Ireland can not be disconnected during the winter months; and the supply to households can be reduced in France and Spain so essential household services can be maintained.
“Energy disconnections mean more than sitting in the dark - they amplify stress, risk health problems and can deepen financial hardships. By looking to international models, Australia can further refine its policies to protect consumers more effectively. And given the depth of harm caused by disconnections, we really should be considering other options.”
Dr Nicola Willand
Lead researcher
Why wind farms attract so much misinformation and conspiracy theory. (The Conversation)