Capital

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A 2024 overhaul of the Future Fund’s investment mandate, which required it to prioritise supporting the energy transition, has paid off for the federal government after Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced that the fund’s returns reached 12.4% during 2025 — up from 8.0% in 2023, before the new mandate was introduced. This growth in Australia’s sovereign wealth fund also helped the Fund record a 10-year return of 8.5%, which is well above its target return of 7.0%. The Future Fund’s investments are supporting projects including Tilt Renewables’ 1.8GW of operational and late-stage renewables projects, and a 400MW development pipeline at data centre operator CDC.

Private markets have raised $2.7 trillion for funds investing in energy over the past decade, according to BloombergNEF, with lean energy focused funds drawing in about $178 billion since 2021 — triple the sum of thematic fossil and broad energy funds combined. (BloombergNEF)

Global private equity firm KKR is injecting $603 million into asset manager HMC's Energy Transition Platform, marking its second climate-related investment in Australia. The commitment will last seven years and is hoped to generate a 14% pa return. The next tranche of $248 million will fund 90% of the equity component of construction costs of the platform's first BESS development project. (FS Sustainability)

Projects

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The NSW government declared two proposed pumped hydro projects “critical” for the state’s energy supplies, advising that the two projects could generate enough energy to power 1.1 million homes and that a “comprehensive assessment” will be taken for both projects before next steps are taken. The two projects include ZEN Energy’s $3.5 billion Western Sydney Pumped Hydro Project at Lake Burragorang and ACEN Australia’s $3.6 billion Yarrabin (Phoenix) Pumped Hydro Project near Mudgee. The state government is currently assessing over 50 renewable energy, storage and transmission projects promising an additional 13.5GW of capacity with 196 more projects further back in the pipeline.

Victoria exceeded its 2025 renewable energy target of 40%, state Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio announced, with renewables delivering 44.6% of the state’s electricity generation in a trend that she said puts the state on track to reach 65% renewables by 2030 and 95% by 2035. Nearly 100 large-scale projects are now operational across the state, she said, including 54 solar farms — which combined with rooftop solar supplied 16% of the state’s electricity last year — and wind farms that are generating around 24% of the state’s power. This surge in overall capacity had kept wholesale power prices the lowest in the country, D’Ambrosio said, with Victorian prices of $78/MWh well below $103/MWh in NSW, $96 in Tasmania, $87 in SA and $85 in Queensland.

The WA Government will provide $2.7 million to support surveys, approval works, and technical work over 12 months as planning for the Ngarluma Green Energy Park (NGEP), to be located on NAC’s Native Title determination near Karratha, ramps up. Located near Pilbara industry titans including Rio Tinto Iron ORe, Dampier Salt, Woodside, Yara and Perdaman, the NGEP is envisioned to see a 50MW solar farm live as soon as 2027 — paving the way for what Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation (NAC) believes will ultimately be 5GW of renewable energy development. (National Indigenous Times)

Spanish renewables firm Iberdrola has officially opened its 65MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Smithfield, NSW and has been given a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) to build a bigger 100MW Kingswood battery that will ultimately reach 1080MWh of storage — enough to power 65,000 homes at peak demand times for at least eight hours. Iberdrola expects to invest over $1.6 billion in Australia through 2028, citing the appeal of the market’s “stability and predictability”.

Policy

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Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has tapped ministerial powers to speed up approvals for 25 renewable energy projects, worth over $9 billion, since 2024, The Age reported. The powers were granted under the state’s pandemic-era Development Facilitation Program, which offered a faster approvals pathway that sped resolution of objections and targeted approvals within four months. The fast-tracked projects promise enough generation capacity to power 736,190 homes and BESS capacity sufficient to power 2.08 million homes during the evening peak. (The Age)

As state and federal energy ministers are weighing whether to hand extraordinary new powers to the Australian Energy Market Operator to avoid gas supply shortfalls set to hit southern states from 2028, gas pipeline operators want the proposal axed, saying it would underwrite gas infrastructure with taxpayer money and add to several government market fixes that undermine investment confidence. (The Aus)

Regulation

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A draft Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) proposal to introduce fixed network tariffs would “significantly undermine the economics of household solar and battery systems,” the Smart Energy Council said, arguing “regressive” fixed tariffs would remove consumers’ ability to reduce bills through efficiency, demand shifting, or investing in clean energy technologies. The AEMC proposal “is not supported by published bill modelling or real-world evidence,” the group said, citing Green Energy Markets analysis showing the new models would increase electricity bills by $400 to $680 per year.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) approved capital expenditure of $3.47 billion for the construction costs of Stage 1 of Marinus Link, which will deliver a 750MW cable between Victoria and Tasmania. It also approved $921.3 million for associated transmission upgrades to land transmission in north-west Tasmania (NWTD). The costs for Marinus will be recovered from Tasmanian and Victorian electricity consumers once Marinus Link is complete, currently expected in 2030.

An “overwhelming regulatory burden” — in which major renewable projects require up to 40 separate licenses — is “paralysing” development of major infrastructure, mining, housing and renewable energy projects, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) warned. In a new white paper entitled Path to Prosperity, it says rising regulation has added an estimated $5.5 billion in compliance costs over the past five years, with ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar warning that regulation had “become a handbrake on Australia’s productivity and competitiveness.”

Technology

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The increasing energy footprint of Big Tech firms’ AI globalland grab has pushed them to promote nuclear power, with existing plants to be expanded and smaller reactors being considered as the technology develops. Meta recently signed a deal to expand three nuclear plants and reopen an abandoned fourth facility in the US, while Microsoft wants to open the ill-fated Three Mile Island reactor as Amazon and Google follow suit. US President Donald Trump this week exempted new reactors from environmental review — but will it work? Experts are still on the fence. (PCMag)

Research

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The Queensland Government is shaping its Science and Innovation Strategy, and is inviting public comment on a new discussion paper outlining the opportunities and challenges of the state’s science and innovation landscape. The white paper, entitled Ideas Into Impact, is framed in the “once-in-a-generation opportunity” of the upcoming 2032 Brisbane Olympics and highlights the expertise of the state’s 300-plus research institutions in areas such as critical minerals, advanced technologies, mining and biofuels. Submissions are open until March 31.