Capital
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Origin Energy confirmed it would not trigger the opt-in underwriting clause in the final year of its 2024 deal with the NSW government to keep the Eraring coal-fired power station running. The company has not yet detailed any arrangement made in the wake of last month’s announcement the plant would be extended for a further 20 months until April 2029. (The Australian)
Up to $321 million in funding is now available from the second round of the Powering the Regions Fund, a competitive grants program that helps industrial entities who are subject to the Safeguard Mechanism reduce their emissions using electrification, renewable energy and efficiency mechanisms. Applications for individual grants from the Safeaguard Transformation Stream (STS), which range from $500,000 to $50 million, are now open and will be assessed in three batches until 6 May 2027.
China’s support of clean-energy technologies was responsible for over a third of the country’s economic growth last year, a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has found. Investment in solar power, EVs and other clean energy technologies accelerated the sector’s growth rate from 12% in 2024 to 18% last year, when it contributed $3 trillion (US$2.1 trillion), or 11.4% of China’s GDP – large enough that if it were a country, it would be the world’s eighth largest economy. (Carbon Brief)
After weeks of feverish speculation resources giant Rio Tinto has abandoned merger talks with rival Glencore with the two sides disagreeing over price and who would run the new business. (AFR)
 Projects
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Queensland’s new 250MW/500MWh Swanbank Battery is now live, operating at full capacity to support peak demand in the south-east of the state. The grid-scale Tesla battery, which is located next to the Swanbank E gas-fired power station, provides enough energy to power around 355,000 homes for 2 hours.
The 100MW Wallaroo solar farm and BESS facility in the northern ACT looks set to proceed after the NSW Land and Environment Court dismissed an appeal against the project lodged by local residents Ben Faulks and Johnny Roso, who argued that the large-scale deployment over 165.45 rural hectares would affect the region’s scenic quality. Commissioner Susan O’Neill said the development is in the public interest. (Region)
New Zealand’s government has strengthened its commitment to green hydrogen, committing AUD$17 million (NZD$19.9 million) to a new facility in South Taranaki, on the country’s North Island. It will supply renewable energy to run the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Kapuni facility, and green hydrogen to support emissions-free transport at Hiringa Energy’s refuelling operations. A series of appeals and administrative blocks have delayed the project for five years, but construction of the facility – whose total cost will be up to AUD$96 million (NZD$112.3 million) is now set to start this month.
Policy
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Vanadium miners have welcomed a reduction on royalty rates for the metal, which is crucial to battery technology and will now see WA state royalties capped at 2.5% – and zero for the midstream production of vanadium electrolyte. News website Discovery Alert noted that the new rate puts WA below international benchmarks that are typically 3% to 8%.
Regulation
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AEMO could face a major overhaul after the launch of a broad review of its role that will be led by former Treasury official and IMF executive Nigel Ray. The review, which will report before the upcoming Energy and Climate Ministerial Council meeting in May, could see increased government scrutiny of budgets and board appointments, and reallocation of key responsibilities. It was agreed at a meeting of state ministers in December, the AFR reports, amid fears the market operator isn’t keeping up with the energy transition’s rapid pace of change. (AFR)
Technology
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Australia’s voracious appetite for renewable energy systems could leave it particularly exposed to future cyber security breaches, a security expert has warned in the wake of the Electrum threat group’s recent attack on Poland’s energy grid. Billed as the “first major cyber attack targeting distributed energy resources” in an analysis by operational technology (OT) security specialist Dragos, the firm’s principal adversary hunter warned that Australia’s rapidly increasing investment in renewable DERs was expanding the potential attack targets – particularly since the rapid pace of rollouts often sees OT specialists using standard configurations that can be exploited at scale by skilled cyber criminals. (Cyberdaily.au)
Climate
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A 30,000 hectare plantation forestry initiative in the Northern Territory’s Tiwi Islands will receive up to $40 million in a joint funding initiative headlined by the CEFC and investment firm River Capital. The $81 million First Nations-led project, which is owned by the Tiwi Plantations Corporation and managed by carbon management investment company Midway, is owned, operated and governed by all eight Tiwi clans. Expected to expand Australia’s total plantation area by around 2%, the project will plant native species on a long-rotation program that will generate high-integrity Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and timber.
Research
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Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) will join the University of NSW and TRaCE (Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy) to trial a hybrid energy management system that will explore the interaction of rooftop solar, battery storage, EV chargers and grid power. The research will evaluate the systems’ ability to deliver dynamic energy management across council buildings through load monitoring and battery operation, for example allowing power draw to be adjusted when building occupancy and operating hours change. The system installed at DRC is the first full-scale implementation of the technology.
People
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Lucy Burke has accepted a new role with Squadron Energy, where she will be working as senior manager - portfolio origination. She worked in gas production at Santos Ltd for 8 years before completing a Master of Sustainable Energy, after which she pivoted to a market role at Energetics and then ATCO Australia, where she managed hydrogen and clean fuels development.
Amongst a shake-up of positions at investment firm Future Group, Joe Fernandes joins as chief investment officer after five years at Australian Unity, where he most recently served as group chief investment officer.
Workforce
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The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has pushed back against the NSW government’s proposed “spy bill”, a legislative package that would give unions digital access to monitor company emails, personal information, HR and payroll systems, rostering tools, customer databases, financial records and operational information. The legislation was proposed last August but looks set to be adopted by NSW Parliament within days. Energy and resource projects, where “complex digital systems are central to operations”, would be particularly exposed, the BCA said.
