Capital

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The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) opened Hydrogen Headstart Program Round 2, looking for bids that focus on plant construction and design to reduce capital costs, improving the efficiency of electrolysers, flexible operations and other ways to reduce the cost of renewable electricity, and enhancing end-use infrastructure for priority sectors, including hydrogen for green ammonia, iron and steel, alumina, and long-distance heavy transport including aviation and shipping.

Tasmania’s Minister for Energy and Renewables Nick Duigan said a deal agreed by Aurora Energy and the operator of Australia’s last paper mill — and its coal-powered boilers — locked in the credit security requirements to cover ongoing power needs and operations, after Aurora sought a $7 million guarantee. Duigan also acknowledged plans to electrify. “Critical to this vision is converting our boilers from coal-fired to electrification. This is a federal government backed initiative that will deliver a 170,000-tonne saving in carbon emissions for Tasmania,” Boyer Capital Principal David Marriner said. (Pulse) (ABC)

Meanwhile Australia’s biggest aluminium smelter, Tomago in NSW, is “on death row” and struggling to come up with affordable energy supply to prevent its closure at the end of 2028. (AFR) (The Australian)

Projects

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Advancing Queensland’s next major gas-fired generator, QPM Energy (ASX:QPM) inked a $113.7 million Master Lease Agreement with Macquarie Bank, with a term of up to 84 months to cover construction and early operations, marking a milestone in the development of the 112MW Isaac Power Station in Moranbah, Central Queensland. “With delivery of the gas turbines now locked in, the Company is well positioned to deliver Queensland’s next major gas fired power station on time and on budget,” QPM CEO David Wrench said.

Policy

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China threatened to further restrict access to rare earths — a major lever of influence with the United States — prompting another tariff slap and posing an opportunity for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s upcoming White House talks. China also placed restrictions on the export of specialist technological equipment used to refine rare-earth metals, most of which go into effect from December 1. “The message is clear: if the US and its allies want supply chain security, they must build independent value chains from mine to magnet,” Benchmark analyst Neha Mukherjee said. The trade war resulted in a price spike in the Toronto-listed Neo Performance Materials, prompting Andrew Forrest to cash in his 19.9% stake in the company. (Aljazeera) (AFR) (BBC) (9News) (The Australian)

Regulation

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The NSW government announced pricing changes for embedded networks, where the owner of a site buys bulk electricity and sells it to residents, including retirement homes, strata dwellings, and caravan parks. People in these networks often pay more for energy and have no say in supply or plans. A maximum energy price, as recommended by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), will be applied immediately along with medium-term reforms and follows years of advocacy by the Justice and Equity Centre and others.

More than 170,000 customers have been overcharged a total of $40 million by WA's state-owned energy retailer Synergy since 2009. The overcharges range from amounts under a dollar, to thousands of dollars and the repayments could take months. (ABC)

Technology

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The University of Western Australia Oceans Institute launched the Ocean Innovation Challenge that gives startups with new ideas in renewable energy, coastal protection, ocean technologies or marine innovation free access to the Coastal and Offshore Research Laboratory or the National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility for one week of testing.

Climate

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New Zealand lowered its methane target and ruled out an agricultural methane tax, saying the target of 14-24% below 2017 levels by 2050 reflected the findings of a Methane Science Review released last year. A “split gas target” for all of New Zealand’s future international climate change commitments is also in the works. The announcement on Sunday followed recent legislation limiting full-farm forestry conversions into the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), as part of a wider reset of climate policy. (RNZ) (1News) (AAP)

People

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Environment Minister Murray Watt will be acting Minister for Climate Change and Energy this week with Chris Bowen on a work trip in China and India for the ninth Australia-China Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change, the fifth India-Australia Energy Dialogue and India’s first Renewable Energy Partnership Ministers Meeting.

Research

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The Grattan Institute’s latest research, Bills down, emissions down, calls on the federal government to use the Safeguard Mechanism to reduce emissions in the electricity sector, arguing there is “policy room” to do so without hurting households, given bills are projected to halve by 2050. “For too long, federal governments of both political colours have avoided pricing carbon because the trade-off is higher electricity prices. Our report shows that this assumption is becoming outdated,” lead author Alison Reeve said.

Better harnessing migrant engineering talent in key sectors like manufacturing, renewables, construction and mining could lift GDP by $2.56 billion by 2030, according to research by Bondi Partners for Engineers Australia. Despite their strong credentials, migrant engineers often encounter bias, underemployment and unequal pay. Of Australia’s 266,000 overseas-born engineers, half are not in engineering roles.