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New challenge for vehicle-to-grid

Published 12 days ago • 9 min read

Hey Reader, in today's edition:

  • Batteries disrupting V2G
  • New Q3 high for renewables
  • COP31 'hypocrisy'

Home batteries streets ahead of V2G

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has made vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging one of three priority focus areas for its Driving the Nation funding program, seeing a $2.7 billion opportunity in wholesale market benefits. But Christopher Jones, President of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) doesn’t believe V2G is all that it’s cracked up to be.

Jones says home batteries, currently being installed at the rate of 1,000 per day, offer the same benefits, but more cheaply and easily than figuring out the logistics of plugging vehicles into the network.

Expert view

“The problem is a lack of understanding around the technology and its capabilities, and that's partly because it is a little more complicated than just getting a solar installer to do something for you.

It's also complicated by the fact that, if you're going to have any device that plays with the grid, it needs to meet a bunch of very strict standards, in the interest of grid stability, which is entirely fair, and they've been in the process of setting that up.

And finally, it's expensive. The equipment you need to take energy from your vehicle, synchronise it to the grid, and supply the home and potentially export energy back to the grid via your car — that gear is expensive, and complicated.”

Christopher Jones
President, AEVA

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New Q3 high for renewables

New generation and storage projects connecting to the national electricity market (NEM) are offsetting demand growth, with 1,600MW commissioned and hitting full output in Q3, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

Demand from grid-scale generation increased 2.3% to average 22,323MW compared to a year earlier, while underlying demand (grid-scale demand and rooftop solar) rose 3.2% to a new Q3 high of 25,154MW, AEMO’s latest Quarterly Energy Dynamics report shows.

“The electricity demand growth was driven by colder weather, alongside broader trends of increasing electrification of homes, adoption of electric vehicles, and rising data centre consumption,” spokesperson Violette Mouchaileh said.

Higher renewable energy output — 11% growth in rooftop solar and a 16% rise for both wind and grid-scale solar — and less market volatility lowered wholesale prices in the NEM.

“This growth, along with a slight dip in coal-fired power output, led to renewables averaging 42.7% of the fuel mix, which was a new Q3 high. The impact of increasing renewable energy and storage connecting to the NEM became more evident in September when milder temperatures and less cloudy days led to a new 77.2% renewable contribution record on 22 September.”
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Violette Mouchaileh
​AEMO Executive GM Policy and Corporate Affairs

Distributed PV growth is rewriting minimum demand levels, with the NEM as a whole (10,175 MW), NSW (3,265 MW), Queensland (2,790 MW) and South Australia (-14 MW) all recording new lows for Q3 minimum demand.

Battery uptake is taking over as the principal supporter of evening peak demand. With 2,936 MW/6,482MWh of new battery capacity entering the NEM since the end of Q3 2024, battery discharge increased by 150% to average 215MW.

WA’s Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) also hit a Q3 peak renewable contribution record of 83.2%, up from 80.1% a year earlier. But WEM energy prices reached an average of $101.76/MWh, an increase of $21.61/MWh (+27%) on a year earlier as operational demand surged.

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COP30/31: Drilling into ‘deep hypocrisy’

Australia, the United States, Canada, and Norway stand accused of blocking global progress on phasing out oil and gas production.

The scale of expansion by these four despite economic capacity to lead in phasing it out is especially egregious, according to a new report from advocacy organisation Oil Change International that dubs them “planet wreckers”.

Australia has outpaced other top gas and oil producers with the largest relative increase in production — up 77% from 2015 to 2024 — despite the Paris pledge 10 years ago to limit warming to 1.5°C. Gas production, mostly for export, doubled over this period, driving the increase.

The report also calls out the “deep hypocrisy” of appearing to support global agreements while actively undermining them at home by greenlighting an expansion in production.

Just weeks out from COP30 talks in Belem in Brazil, where Adelaide hopes to be announced as the next host of the conference with its Pacific neighbours, the activists are calling for no new gas and a step up in climate finance.

"The Albanese government can’t claim to lead on climate while expanding gas at breakneck speed, and endangering the Pacific Island nation communities they propose to collaborate with at next year’s UN climate talks. Their approval of Woodside's North West Shelf gas hub extension enables the most polluting gas project in the Southern Hemisphere.
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"If Australia succeeds in its bid to host next year’s climate talks and wants to be taken seriously, it must put an immediate end to fossil fuel expansion and step up with real public finance on fair terms for a just energy transition.”
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Kathryn McCallum​
Director of Strategy, Climate Action Network Australia

IGCC Summit 2025 Conference Summary

As a proud media partner of the Investor Group on Climate Change Summit 2025, The Energy has distilled the ideas, data and dialogue that defined this year’s gathering of investors, policymakers, and innovators.

From Al Gore’s call for urgency and optimism, to Saul Griffith’s challenge to rethink how capital is deployed, the summary delivers actionable insights for shaping the next phase of the transition.

Catch Up

Capital

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Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) will build a new A$180 million Heavy Rare Earth (HRE) separation facility at its Malaysia operations to meet strong market demand for a reliable “outside China” source of key oxides. The project will be self-funded following a successful equity raising last month, with the timeline for construction subject to regulatory approvals.

Australia's biggest aluminium smelter, Rio Tinto’s (ASX: RIO) Tomago in the Hunter region of NSW, is being reminded of its 40-year responsibility to its workers as it foreshadows a closure, citing rising electricity costs. (AAP) (AFR)

The global solar module and inverter markets are on course to reach a combined US$115.8 billion by 2030, according to forecasts made by UK-based data analytics and consulting company GlobalData. The increase will be largely driven by strong policy initiatives in the Asia Pacific region, with the APAC solar module market expected to reach $46.2 billion in 2030, up from $38.8 billion in 2024. (PV Magazine)

Projects

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NSW Premier Chris Minns threatened compulsory acquisition of farmland to get Narrabri gas moving to save the Tomago smelter. Speaking at this week’s Australian Workers Union conference, he also called on the federal government to create an east coast gas reserve. “We can’t sit around waiting for Rio to make an investment decision or to telegraph their next move for 2028. Something needs to change, and we need to act now.” (AFR)

Payments of $200,000 per km will be paid to landholders as part of Stage 1 of the North West Transmission Developments (NWTD) required for Project Marinus, Tasmania’s Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Energy Minister Nick Duigan announced.

A 400MW battery energy storage system (BESS) located near Chinchilla, in the electorate of Nationals’ leader David Littleproud, has been approved by the federal government in just 19 days. The Belah BESS will be adjacent to the Edenvale Solar Park and connect to the existing Orana substation via an underground transmission line.

Policy

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Environment Minister Murray Watt has a package of seven environmental bills ready to be introduced to federal parliament today, supported by the Business Council of Australia, but needing the Opposition’s support to pass both houses by Christmas. Bilateral agreements — yet to be inked — with the states would “streamline” environmental decision-making under the proposed changes, which include an independent National Environment Protection Agency and a new National Interest power. “Partnering with a party still struggling with climate denial would be a dangerous bet with Australia’s future,” Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie warned. It’s part of a “wider pattern of unhealthy, deceitful behaviour”, Crikey’s Bernard Keane writes.

The Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) has split from the broader business lobby on the EPBC reforms, urging environmental approvers to factor climate impacts into their decisions. “We want to see recognition for the net benefit that renewable energy projects will deliver as a tangible climate solution, and we're not finding any element of the Samuel Review or the act that sufficiently accounts for that,” CEIG CEO Richie Merzian told Capital Brief.

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) and the Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC), centre stage at All Energy in Melbourne, launched a national approach to decommissioning renewable energy assets to balance the needs of farmers and project viability, The Energy reported. Energy Infrastructure Commissioner Tony Mahar said earlier this week there must be more certainty and clarity around who pays, what measures are going to be in place for turbines, panels, and batteries, and how much it will cost once they reach end-of-life.

Regulation

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The Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore and Australian Energy Regulator (AER) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on regulatory and energy cooperation. EMA also released Singapore's Demand-Side Flexibility Roadmap and outlined new initiatives for demand-side resources to support the needs of the city-state’s power system, including plans to reduce each Interruptible Load (IL) activation period to 30 minutes to encourage more factories and production lines to participate.

Technology

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NSW has secured critical grid-stabilising machines following the state government’s direction to Transgrid to accelerate procurement of the synchronous condensers as a Priority Network Infrastructure Project. The fast-tracked contract with GE Vernova shaves two years off the delivery schedule for this equipment, identified as critical for system strength. “Synchronous condensers are large spinning machines that mimic the grid-stabilising role of coal generators, enabling the NSW power system to more rapidly accommodate renewable energy generation,” Executive GM Network Jason Krstanoski explained. A tender for stabilising services from grid-forming batteries is next.

Climate

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Pacific Island countries have consistently thrown their weight behind Australia’s bid to host COP31, but rival bidder Türkiye shut them out of recent talks in New York where the deadlock failed to be resolved, Vanuatu’s Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu revealed during an online briefing. “Time is running out, because this has to be resolved at the COP,” he said, explaining that the Western Europe and Other States Group must find a compromise. That position will then be brought to COP30 in Belem.

American groups aim to represent the United States at the UN climate summit even as the Trump administration declines to send a delegation. (Guardian)

People

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Meridian Energy (ASX: MEZ) appointed Kylie Reiri to the board as Future Director.

Research

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A survey of 187 million US adults found that people experiencing at least one form of energy insecurity in the past year had significantly higher odds of reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety compared with individuals without energy insecurity. While correlation is not causation, the researchers suggest that sensitivity to mental health difficulties should be considered when dealing with people unable to afford their bills. (JAMA Network Open)

Random

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With the exception of a special subset of people, algorithms — or autobidders — are fighting an uphill battle for acceptance. Their PR job was made harder by the Nelson Panel’s review and an AEMC staff paper, according to Currently Speaking.

What's On

October 30​
National Press Club

Environment Minister Murray Watt will address the National Press Club on “Environmental law reform – it’s now or never” at this Canberra event.

October 31​
​Fortescue AGM

Fortescue (ASX: FMG) Founder and Executive Chair Andrew Forrest will update shareholders at the annual general meeting in Perth.

November 5​
​WA Energy Outlook

Rebecca Brown, Director General of WA’s Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, Horizon Power EGM Future Energy Vi Garrood, and EDL CEO James Harman are among the speakers at this CEDA event in Perth.

November 5​
​Resilience to Variable Renewable Energy Lulls

ASL Modelling Manager Dominic Price and climate scientist Stuart Brown will speak at this ASL webinar.

November 5​
​National Press Club

Outgoing ASIC Chair Joe Longo will address the National Press Club on “Open for opportunity: Taking charge of the future of our financial markets” at this Canberra event.

November 6​
​ANU Solar Oration

Merryn York, who has led system design at AEMO, will speak at this Canberra event, following an opening statement by ACT Energy Minister Suzanne Orr.

November 12​
​National Press Club

Japan’s Ambassador to Australia Kazuhiro Suzuki will address the National Press Club on "Girt by sea and in the same boat: 50 years of Japan-Australia relations and beyond” at this Canberra event.

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The Energy is dedicated to covering the business of energy and in particular the people, capital, projects and emerging technology behind the energy transition.

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