Capital
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Another multi-billion dollar data centre hub was put on the planned list, with Singaporean asset manager Keppel securing the rights to lease a 123-hectare site near Morwell in Victoria from Australian energy and infrastructure group Lightwood. The company said the site, located within the proposed Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone, offered “clear pathways to securing competitively priced green power”. The deal comes on the back of CDC’s state government approval for a $3.1 billion data centre campus at Sydney’s Marsden Park, NextDC’s deal with OpenAI (as part of a $7 billion data centre planned for Eastern Creek), and AirTrunk’s planned $5 billion spend for its second Melbourne data centre. (AFR)
 Projects
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Construction kicked off in Fortescue’s first wind project in the Pilbara. The 133MW Nullagine project will include 17 turbines from Chinese multinational Envision Energy that come with self-lifting towers and are designed for low-wind environments as well as extreme weather.
Policy
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Major energy retailers have asked for more time to comply the solar sharer offer, and warn the scheme needs more work to avoid disproportionately benefiting customers with batteries and electric cars while leaving lower-income households behind. (The Age)
Australia is well-placed to cope with the shock of job losses and declining investment in fossil extractive sectors stemming from the energy transition, the IMF said. It modelled various scenarios of declining coal, and found that the assumption that energy policy ambition will not rise beyond current settings could see one quarter of coal capital stock become stranded in the Asia-Pacific region. It pegged Australia’s advantage to its highly diversified economy, along with support for natural gas and the critical minerals needed for renewable energy.
More than 50 facilities would “fall out” of the Safeguard Mechanism over the next 10 years if no changes were made to the scheme, according to RepuTex research commissioned by the Productivity Commission for its report into Australia’s net zero transition. (AFR)
Spiralling energy prices in the US prompted an unprecedented intervention by the US government: a request to PJM Interconnection to hold an emergency auction for technology companies to buy power for the next 15 years. Governors from both sides of politics within PJM’s service area joined Trump Administration officials at the White House to nut out the plan. The agreement between the National Energy Dominance Council and the governors also directs PJM to “Require data centres to pay for the new generation built on their behalf – whether they show up and use the power or not”. Experts said many of the demanded changes would typically take five years to implement. (Politico) (Heatmap) (Canary Media)
As the world waits for the next five-year plan, China analysts weigh in on what to expect from China on energy and climate action in 2026. (Carbon Brief)
Technology
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Australian business solar company Smart Commercial Energy has partnered with Norwegian clean energy company Over Easy Solar to bring what it says is the world’s first fully prefabricated vertical solar system to the Australian market. The panels are designed to make solar possible on sites where traditional rooftop solar has already been ruled out.
Australian renewable energy developer Energy Estate announced a partnership with Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion company OceanBit to develop ocean‑thermal power plants and AI infrastructure in Pacific and Indian Ocean coastal and island communities.
Finnish start-up Donut Lab, a spin off from the Verge motorcycle company, claims to have created a solid-state battery — the "holy grail" of batteries. Scientists remain sceptical. (WashPo)
Climate
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Faced with spiking premiums in the wake of more frequent storms, a group of Queensland councils is considering setting up a not-for-profit mutual to provide insurance across the region. The move comes after some home and business owners have seen insurance costs rise above mortgage costs over the last five years even in towns where no disaster-related claims have been made. (The Australian)
Meanwhile, a year after the Los Angeles wildfires, many survivors are finding their insurance policies aren’t paying out enough to cover the cost of rebuilding, Bloomberg reports.
People
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CleanCo Queensland appointed former CS Energy future energy executive Emma Roberts as Executive General Manager – Development & Sustainability.
Alexa Thompson was promoted to the role of Associate Director, Strategy at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Random
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Why every AI query carries an energy cost and dispensing with ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in your ChatGPT queries won’t do much. (The Conversation)
