Capital
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With LNG export prices over $20/GJ and domestic prices around $8/GJ, operating the Gladstone LNG (GLNG) plant at full capacity would increase export revenues – but it would be “suicide” that would invite “very serious repercussions from a political point of view,” chief executive Stephen Harty told an industry conference this week. Although the Santos-backed GLNG has a production capacity of around 8 million tonnes per year, it has been producing around 6 million tonnes and relying on alternative domestic sources to provide enough product to top up its capacity for export – a strategy that has forced GLNG to trade potential export revenues for political expediency. (The Australian)
China is so deeply entrenched in clean energy technology supply chains that the world’s electric car makers would lose $24.5 billion (US$17 billion) if the country were to halt battery exports for just one month, a new IEA analysis has found in evaluating the risks of concentration in clean energy supply chains. Several steps of the battery supply chain are so intrinsically linked to Chinese production that less than one-quarter of global demand could be met by non-Chinese suppliers if necessary.
 Projects
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A $1 billion Energy Storage System will go ahead in Broken Hill after the proponent, Canadian company Hydrostor, reached an agreement with objectors Outback Astronomy. The tourism business was concerned that light and noise from the compressed air battery would affect their stargazing conditions. Development consents have been amended to provide clear conditions and additional monitoring of noise and light. (ABC)
Woodside Energy plans to resubmit plans for the massive Browse carbon capture and storage (CCS) project after changes to the government’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act paved the way for revisions to the project it previously withdrew. Reuters reports that Woodside wants to use the Pilbara-area Browse fields to supply its North West Shelf LNG facility until 2070, but it hit a snag because its plans previously relied on venting the 12% CO2 content of the Browse gas into the atmosphere; it now wants to inject this gas into the empty Browse reservoirs in a move that would reduce direct emissions by 47%.
Policy
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The International Energy Agency has launched an online tool to track government policies taken in response to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which has driven a host of emergency measures in Australia as it has across the globe. The new 2026 Energy Crisis Policy Response Tracker lists a host of measures across six categories, and its entry for Australia – “encourages citizens to voluntarily reduce their fuel use to help ensure supply” – although slightly outdated given the fuel excise cut that came into effect yesterday, was reinforced when the Prime Minister made a televised address to the nation last night, encouraging people to take public transport where they can. “That builds our reserves and it saves fuel for people who have no choice but to drive," he said.
Asian countries’ swift re-endorsement of coal-fired energy production is “rewiring Asia’s energy future”, experts have warned as the loss of massive supplies of LNG forces Thailand, South Korea and Japan to wind back measures intended to shift away from coal generation. Coal-fired plants are hard to shut down once they’ve been restarted, experts warn, creating what ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Climate Change in Southeast Asia coordinator Sharon Seah called “a danger of long-term carbon lock-in” that could reverse years of progress towards renewables. (Fortune)
The government should introduce a solar panel product stewardship scheme and integrate solar panel recycling into Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering (ATSE) has argued in its submission to the Inquiry into Solar Panel Reuse and Recycling in Australia. Creating a circular economy around solar panel supply and recycling, says ATSE, requires the creation of recyclability design standards for imported solar panels; a national material inventory and traceability framework for solar panel fabrication; and the expansion of successful programs to increase the STEM skilled workforce to support the solar recycling industry.
Meanwhile DCCEEW will hold an industry briefing on April 9 to support the newly announced approach to market for its National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot. The agency is looking for an administrator to deliver the pilot and establish around 100 PV solar panel collection sites nationwide. Tender submissions are open until April 24.
Germany is an exemplar of the potential for electrification to reduce dependence on insecure LNG supplies, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has observed in a new analysis that found replacement of gas heaters with electric heat pumps has saved the country $2.2 billion (€1.3 billion) over three years. The country installed nearly 1.1 million residential pumps between 2022 and 2025, IEEFA found while noting that had the heat pumps not been deployed, Germany would have increased LNG imports by around 16% over the same time.
Energy systems
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South Australia’s peak electricity demand will double over the next 15 years, state transmission grid operator Electranet has predicted in its new 2026 Transmission Annual Planning Report (TAPR). It cited the importance of three key projects – the Northern Transmission Project (NTx), Eyre Peninsula Upgrade, and South East Expansion – which will, respectively, support increased network reliability; expanded transmission capacity for mining and manufacturing growth, and renewable energy generation.
Regulation
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“Tight” wholesale gas supply in Australia’s east coast markets will require large volumes of gas to be supplied from storage to meet demand, the ACCC has forecast in its Gas inquiry March 2026 interim report, which expects anywhere between a shortfall of 12 petajoules (PJ) and a surplus of 3PJ during the third quarter of 2026. The five cooler southern states and territories, in particular, will require additional gas from Queensland – or from storage facilities – every month from April to September, with the amount of stored gas available during the quarter significantly linked to drawdowns in coming months.
Queensland state-owned transmission network Powerlink has forecast capex of $2.5 billion for the 2027 to 2032 period – a 131% increase on the $1.418.5 billion the Australian Energy Regulator approved for the current period – as it invests in increasing the ratings of existing transmission lines, addressing the power transfer limits of existing infrastructure along with managing inflationary pressures and increased project scopes. The impact would be a 20% increase in the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base (RAB) and depreciation 33.8% higher during the forward period than the current period. The AER has published an issues paper on the revenue proposal and will hold a public forum on it on April 9, with submissions due by May 13.
Gas producer APA Group has misrepresented the costs, scale and financial viability of producing fracked gas in the NT’s Beetaloo Basin, a coalition including Equity Generation Lawyers (EGL) and Market Forces have alleged in a complaint to ASIC. A previous Market Forces analysis suggested fracking the Beetaloo sub-Basin would produce more than nine times the gas required for the NEM over the next 25 years, with 83% of its output to be exported to lucrative overseas markets because “Australia does not need the gas from Beetaloo fracking for domestic gas power generation needs.”
AEMO has released its Draft FY27 Strategic Corporate Plan and Draft FY27 Budget and Fees for public consultation, with highlights including continuing four years of 4.5% growth in fees related to the NEM core; stabilisation of the cost of enhanced or refined responsibilities from government policy changes and rule-making that increased by $86 million since 2023; and a $163 million increase in new and directly funded functions. A public webinar will be held on April 15, with submissions and questions due by April 17.
Technology
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DCCEEW has published a guide to 18 technical requirements for consumer energy resource (CER) interoperability, progressing an agenda that was set in December at the the Energy and Climate Ministerial Council (ECMC). The document not only outlines the standards but maps them to existing applicable standards and identifies potential gaps that need to be addressed in future work.
AI-driven climate-aware digital twins (CADTs) promise to raise the bar around grid modelling and planning by facilitating microgrid resilience, demand response optimisation, renewable-dominated networks, and satellite-assisted recovery following extreme events, a team of researchers has concluded in a review of digital twin technology. The paper proposes a strategic roadmap to integrate digital twins with climate-aware forecasting and adaptive control architectures, and identifies four challenges including data latency, computational complexity, limited legacy interoperability, and cybersecurity risks.
Nearly 30% of new heavy trucks sold in China last year were electric, putting the company “light years ahead of the rest of the world,” a new Semafor analysis has found, pointing out that just 4% of European trucks electric powered. Guardian Australia notes that China has an equally commanding lead in the deployment of electric buses, which comprise more than 80% of the Chinese fleet compared to around 1% in Australia.
Meanwhile, transport electrification firm Zenobē is adding around 1,000 vehicles to its Australian fleet of heavy-electric trucks with a $100 million investment timed to coincide with a surge in the number of diesel vehicles being considered for replacement at their end of life. (Energy Magazine)
Climate
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The challenge impeding Australian climate resilience projects is not a lack of capital but “a lack of systems, structures and coordination to deploy it effectively,” the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) has found in a new analysis that noted investments in resilience provide many times the return. And while government leadership is essential to set direction, policy and regulations, ASFI notes, creation of a resilient, future-ready economy requires the public and private sectors to work together to build “enabling frameworks that allow private capital to scale.” The report breaks down a broad range of issues impeding climate resilience finance, offering advice to address issues such as undervaluation, limitations, and misalignment.
People
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Baringa has appointed Mayur Bhaskar as a partner in its energy practice. Bhaskar most recently led Accenture’s Utilities & Energy sector practice for ANZ as managing director.
