This week saw a COPitulation and a call from bankers to stay the course on net zero.

Climate

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Energy Minister Chris Bowen would be designated President of Negotiations, with Australian officials handling the year of negotiations and preparing the draft text of COP31, under a compromise deal with Türkiye. The deal leaves Türkiye to host the main conference. Labeled a “diplomatic achievement” by some and a disappointment by others, experts said the arrangement would still enable Australia and the Pacific to take a leadership role in maintaining global momentum to maintain a safe climate.

Policy

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In a survey of the major energy companies, the Australian Energy Council found many believed the transition was inevitable, but that electricity prices were unlikely to fall for at least a decade. The cost of transmission would continue to put upward pressure on prices, but renewable energy — backed by batteries, gas plants and pumped hydro — was still the "least-cost" way of replacing coal.

Major coal importer South Korea, which currently depends on thermal coal for more than 30% of its electricity needs, joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) at COP30 with a pledge to close coal-fired power stations by 2040, becoming the first Asian country with significant coal capacity to formally commit to phaseout.

China will include hydrogen as one of the country's key strategic objectives in its next Five Year Plan.

Capital

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Bank bosses told federal parliament to call a truce on energy policy and focus on getting more projects approved — both gas and renewable. In testimony to the Economics Committee, lending heavyweights ANZ (ASX: ANZ) and NAB (ASX: NAB) reaffirmed their commitment to net zero by 2050 just days after the Opposition abandoned Australia’s bipartisan stance on the policy.

Locking in a gas-fired future at the Whyalla Steelworks would undermine Australia’s emerging green iron industry, according to a report by think tank Climate Energy Finance. BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL) is heading up an international consortium with Nippon Steel Corporation, India’s JSW Steel and South Korea’s POSCO, with the steelmakers eyeing Whyalla as a prospective location for future production of “lower-emissions iron” in Australia for both domestic and export markets. But it is Santos (ASX: STO), as gas supplier to Whyalla, that would be the principal beneficiary of government subsidies, the report found.

A group of the world’s leading utilities pledged to increase energy transition investment commitments by more than 25% to nearly US$150 billion annually. With over 3,000GW of renewable projects awaiting grid connections, the investment commitments by Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) members at a high-level ministerial meeting in Belém included a significant shift towards power grids and networks. For every US dollar spent on renewable generation, the utilities will spend US$1.24 on grids and storage.

Projects

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Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, and Essential Energy released the inaugural NSW Distribution System Plan (DSP) they say will ease pressure around delayed REZ projects and energy costs. Independent modelling shows NSW could unlock up to $4.3 billion in value by using available network capacity and better integrating Consumer Energy Resources (CER). By unlocking wind capacity and building more generation closer to demand, the DSP also shows NSW can reduce its reliance on interconnection with other states and provides a two-to-five-year buffer to the energy transition timeline.

SunCable signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Northern Land Council, allowing it to build a huge solar farm on an outback cattle station in the Northern Territory.

Woodside Energy's (ASX: WDS) Browse, Australia’s largest untapped conventional gas resource, is intended to backfill the NWS as supply from existing fields declines. But cost makes it uncompetitive for domestic supply and more expensive for Asian customers than rival producer Qatar, IEEFA’s Lead Analyst, Australian Gas, Joshua Runciman said.

Technology

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Six groups will be featured at the annual ARENA Renewables Startup Showcase, which is designed to play a critical role in turning ideas into commercial outcomes. The startups include Totex Energy’s AI-powered, all-in-one home energy system with real-time arbitrage and forecasting to lower costs and emissions, Good Heat and its advanced heat batteries and smart energy management to replace industrial-scale fossil-fuel boilers, and Stralis Aircraft’s hydrogen-electric propulsion systems for next-generation aircraft.

Regulation

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Victoria issued draft renewable energy zone orders for five onshore zones — the Western, Central Highlands, Gippsland, North West and South West zones — and a draft order for the Gippsland Shoreline Renewable Energy Zone for coordinating the private underground cables that connect offshore wind generation to the shared network. Consultation will run until February 22, 2026.

Victoria’s Essential Services Commission said new energy rules will tackle tricky “same name, different price” plans. “We expect retailers to design systems and publish new offers that clearly identify different plans, making it easier for customers to switch,” Commissioner Gerard Brody warned.

Australia's energy policymakers edged closer to applying a consumer duty to energy providers as Australia’s boom in home batteries and other consumer energy resources helps build the case for more adaptive consumer protections. The federal energy department has consultants investigating the idea, which already has support from the Australian Energy Regulator and ACCC, ahead of a directions paper expected next month as part of its Better Energy Customer Experiences work.

Looking ahead to next week, parliament will hold its last sitting week for the year and Deputy Opposition Leader and former energy spokesman Ted O’Brien will address the National Press Club.