This week the pre-Christmas deluge took hold with an eleventh-hour deal on environment protection laws, a rethink on the reliability standard and fresh warnings of the step-up in projects needed to meet emissions reduction goals.

Policy

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More than five years after a landmark review found Australia’s environmental laws were broken, parliament agreed to a package of reforms. But the hard work has just begun, with new standards and other regulations yet to be made. Bilateral deals with the states are also still required. A committee inquiry on the revised bill will proceed, with a December 5 deadline for submissions. The changes are expected to reduce approval times from years to months, and from months to weeks, for energy, housing and mining projects

The Clean Energy Regulator’s September quarter carbon market report said the Cheaper Home Batteries Program had “exceeded expectations”, with around 175,000 valid battery applications corresponding to a total usable capacity of 3.9GWh expected to be received by the end of 2025 — more capacity than the five biggest utility-scale batteries operational in the National Electricity Market (NEM). A staggering 6GWh of storage capacity could be installed under the scheme by the end of the 2025-26 financial year.

Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) called for a top up, with the $2.3 billion rebate fund expected to be drained within a year.

WA Premier Roger Cook released a Strategic Industrial Lands (SIL) Activation Plan for the development of and investment in industrial land, including the opportunities for the state to get out of government-owned coal-fired power generation faster than any other Australian jurisdiction.

Climate

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The electricity and energy sectors have made the fastest gains on emissions reduction, improving the prospects for other sectors of the economy to decarbonise as they electrify, according to a climate update tabled in federal parliament.

“That sector’s contribution will expand as more renewable energy sources are switched on when ageing coal-fired power plants bow out,” Climate Change Authority Chair Matt Kean said. “To lock in these gains and near-term targets, wind generation must grow rapidly, supported by faster approvals and benefit-sharing with communities.”

Australia joined almost 90 countries in signing up to a Belém Declaration on the transition away from fossil fuels, which appears to be at odds with the future gas strategy. Speaking to reporters at the G20 summit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were no plans to taper down Australia’s gas industry and exports.

Capital

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Official data showed a spike in the rate of inflation as energy bill rebates end. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.8% in the 12 months to October, up from 3.6% a month earlier, with electricity (up 37.1%) and housing (+5.9) as the main contributors. Treasurer Jim Chalmers told reporters a decision on whether the rebates would be extended would be made in “the next few weeks”.

Green iron pioneer Element Zero welcomed the Federal Court’s dismissal of the “distraction” of Fortescue’s (ASX: FMG) legal action against the company and its co-founders Michael Masterman, Dr Bart Kolodziejczyk and Dr Bjorn Winther-Jensen. “We can now focus all of our deep and capable technical resources on rapidly advancing our iron ore-to-iron technology and developing our manufacturing sites in the Pilbara heartland of Port Hedland and in the US,” Masterman said in a statement.

Regulation

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The level of unserved energy deemed acceptable in the NEM could be doubled from 2028 after the expert panel tasked with setting guidelines for reliability acknowledged the large rise in costs required to deliver it. Pointing to the increasing cost of building new gas-fired generation for backup, along with a decline in the value customers place on reliability, the Reliability Panel recommended a relaxation of the reliability standard to a range of 0.002% to 0.004%, which at the higher end would equate to approximately 21 minutes of outages per customer per year. The Panel recommended market price settings, including the market floor price and administered price cap, stay as is, but left open for input the market price cap (MPC), which is due to rise incrementally to $22,800 by 2027.

The Fair Work Commission granted an application by the Net Zero Economy Authority to require AGL to assist more than 100 workers impacted by the closure of the gas-fired Torrens Island power station in Port Adelaide to obtain new jobs. It is NZEA's first application for an Energy Industry Jobs Plan and the first ruling of its type for the Fair Work Commission.

The core flaw of the Solar Sharer offer is that it mandates a zero-dollar ($0/kWh) retail price for a specific window while leaving the costs to supply that energy intact, the Australian Energy Council warned. Retailers should be granted an exemption from Renewable Energy Target certificate obligations for electricity consumed during the free period and the default market offer/Solar Sharer offer pricing methodology

AEMO has asked rule-maker, the ­Australian Energy Market ­Commission, to mandate that coal power plants give authorities five years ­notice of any plan to shut down. The change would add a further 18 months on top of the current 3½-year notice period.should explicitly allow for the recovery of the portfolio costs, including the hedging premiums required to manage the volatility created by the Solar Sharer, General Manager for Retail Policy Jo De Silva said in a submission.

Projects

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Snowy Hydro signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Aula Energy for 47% of its Carmody’s Hill Wind Farm generation capacity.

ENGIE Australia started construction of the 200MW Pelican Point Battery in Adelaide, adjacent to a 489MW gas power station that has had one of its units recently converted to an open cycle turbine for faster start and ramp up. The battery will be built on land originally set aside for a third gas turbine.

AusNet reached the milestone of connecting 10GW of renewable energy to the National Electricity Market.

Hydro Tasmania called for proposals from new wind and solar developments, saying it was looking to sign a commercial offtake agreement with a project (or projects) that can deliver up to 1500GWh annually and be operational within the next five to six years.

Looking ahead to next week, the market operator will release its second transition plan for system security, and The Energy will hold a webinar on keeping the lights on with experts unpacking the report implications.