Capital
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The federal government is partnering with Hyundai and Kia to subsidise finance arrangements for buyers of their EVs, with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) committing $60m to give buyers of the vehicles a discount of between 0.5% and 1% off their finance rate. CEFC modelling suggests the buyer of a $70,000 EV could save over $1,900 in interest costs through the arrangement, which applies to vehicles costing up to $91,387. The program is the latest of several such EV finance subsidies in recent years, including a similar $150m arrangement with the CBA announced in December 2024. But this deal is the first time the CEFC has partnered directly with a car manufacturer and not a bank and it is a debt investment in Hyundai's program (not equity) and so must be repaid. (The Driven)
 Projects
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The Snowy Hydro 2.0 renewable energy scheme will be ready to deliver power by the end of 2028, the operators of the $12 billion project have promised as they await completion of a review whose outcome will inform a request for additional federal government funding. In the meantime, the company recently spent $75 million to buy a fourth tunnel boring machine to make up for time lost. The project was originally announced in 2021 and is already running five years late. (ABC)
Tonic Group’s Binningup Solar Facility, a project 130km south of Perth that will combine 75MW of solar and 55MW of BESS, has received approval from federal authorities within a month of its submission after they determined it did not require special approval. The project, which could provide a blueprint for similar smaller-scale hybrid facilities nationwide, also includes 10 EV charging bays and has been linked to a power purchase agreement signed last year that would provide up to 134,000MWh to a planned steel recycling mill in Collie. (Renew Economy)
The EU installed a record 27.1GWh of new battery storage capacity in 2025, driven by utility-scale projects that accounted for over half of new additions, according to SolarPower Europe's EU Battery Storage Market Review 2025. The report says this marks a 45% year-on-year growth with total EU battery storage capacity reaching 77.3 GWh by end-2025, up from 7.8 GWh in 2021. (S&P Global)
Policy
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Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King will represent Australia’s critical minerals sector during multilateral negotiations in Washington, D.C. this week. Her attendance at the Critical Minerals Dialogue – which will welcome King and her counterparts from the US, G7 nations, India, the UK, EU, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and other countries – will provide an opportunity for her to spruik Australia’s $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, which was announced last month and will initially focus on clean energy, high-tech manufacturing and military materials including gallium, antimony, and rare earths elements.
Regulation
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State owned Western Australian energy company Synergy will this year pilot its ‘better offer’ program, which will automatically calculate and offer better energy price plans to customers experiencing financial pressure. The program, which Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson called “a significant step in improving Synergy’s customer service”, is the first of nine recommendations to emerge from a review of the company’s billing practices, which grew out of revelations last year that the company had overcharged customers by $40 million.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has announced it will remove all residential addresses of directors from corporate records, in a move The Australian has criticised as an increase in secrecy. (The Aus)
Technology
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Owners of properties in greenfields developments and outer suburban areas have been the most enthusiastic participants in the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program, which recently passed the 200,000 household milestone six months after it was announced. An analysis of over 800 installations by clean energy company Plico found that customers were typically young families, new housing estate residents and middle-income households primarily motivated to reduce power bills averaging $244 per month. Some 25% of adopters own pools and all customers have air conditioning – typically two of the most power-hungry household appliances. Furthermore, 83% of installations went into single-storey homes, with 69% including batteries only and 31% of customers also taking the opportunity to install solar for the first time.
Climate
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Widespread installation of rooftop solar and BESS may have helped moderate the impact of electricity outages, but human influence on climate change made the recent Otway fires five times more likely to occur and an average of 1.6°C hotter than they would have been, according to a new World Weather Attribution analysis. Aerial footage of the fires – which devastated homes and cut power to over 100,000 homes across over 11,350 hectares in Victoria’s south west – showcased the extensive devastation, with Greenpeace pointing its finger at the ongoing carbon emissions related to the gas industry’s drilling along Victoria’s south-western coast. (Times News Group)
Research
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Carbon pricing and taxation policies have been among the most effective emissions reduction policies adopted around the world, according to an international assessment of policies across 40 countries since 1990. The researchers say that it has been the countries with a broad mix of climate policies that have had the most success at reducing emissions, rather than those that have relied on a single measure. Looking at what each country could change to make the biggest improvements into the future, the researchers identify Australia as having high potential to improve its performance by increasing fossil fuel excise taxes. (Climate Policy)
People
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Eyeing surging demand for EV batteries and BESS, metals mining firm Patriot Resources Limited has appointed Rio Tinto executive Dominic Duggan as its CEO.
Sarah Court has been appointed as the first female chair of ASIC in the corporate regulator’s 35-year history, with the current deputy to replace Joe Longo, who steps down at the end of May.
Workforce
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The Mining & Energy Union (MEU) is mobilising against Origin Energy, which it says is risking 300 jobs because it has refused to sign a coal supply agreement with Myuna Colliery, the coal mine built to supply its Hunter Valley’s Eraring Power Station. Origin recently extended support for the station until 2029, but the MEU warns that 300 workers could be out of a job if Origin decides to buy its coal elsewhere – and is pushing for a long-term coal supply agreement “for as long as Eraring operates”. (MEU)
Random
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As the United States government pushes ahead with plans to reduce its dependence on China for rare-earth elements and other minerals critical to energy infrastructure, the country’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is gauging interesting in underwater mining leases in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Among the agency’s targets are ‘polymetallic nodules’ containing nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese – and the speed of the US action could outpace efforts by the UN’s International Seabed Authority to restrict mining of the ocean floor. (ABC)
