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Hey Reader, in today's edition:
- Pacific eyes 100% renewables
- Tapping the WFH power users
- SA is Denmark Down Under
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Partnership for a renewable Blue Pacific
Pacific leaders want a 100% Renewable Pacific to be a signature outcome of COP31, which they are determined to co-host with Australia.
The Renewable Energy Council Asia-Pacific (RECAP), launched by Australia at last year’s climate talks in Azerbaijan, released a report overnight at COP30 that charts a course away from diesel imports that are costing Pacific Island countries US$6 billion per annum.
“As things stand, and even in light of our efforts to decarbonise, most of our countries still spend between 10 to 25% of our GDPs on importing fossil fuels. Imagine how different our societies will be if we can keep that money in our communities and give everyone access to clean affordable electricity and electric mobility.
From solar kits in PNG to big batteries supporting grids in Cook Islands. From sail power in the Marshall Islands to retrofitting electric outboard motors in the Solomon Islands. Even a privately-operated electric vehicle fast charging network in Fiji with our Fijian cousins committing to 100% renewable energy by 2035. There are many initiatives underway. But we have now reached a pivotal moment.”
Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr, incoming Chair of the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum
Prepared by the Smart Energy Council and Vanuatu-based consultancy Island Minds, the Lighting the Way: Partnership for a 100% Renewable Blue Pacific report proposes a regional financing mechanism to de-risk larger renewable energy projects, co-creating new infrastructure with communities to reach those who need support, and a new Pacific Energy Commissioner supported by a regional hub.
Case studies point to commercially available technology, which is already being used to wean economies off diesel and start to alleviate energy poverty, including:
- automated standalone power systems to electrify homes, businesses and community buildings
- big batteries with grid-forming inverters and virtual power plants of networked batteries to replace the grid stability services provided by diesel generators
- agrivoltaics and floating solar if land and rooftop availability is limited
- battery-electric motors for ‘banana boats’ and decarbonising inter-island shipping
- balcony solar kits to help reduce electricity bills.
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Incentivising demand management
More than half of Australian households now include someone working from home at least one day a week, providing an opportunity for greater demand management.
But, say RACE for 2030 researchers Fareed Kaviani and Yolande Strengers, some households are more willing than others to flex their demand, and for reasons that aren’t always financial.
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Expert view
"Australia’s energy transition is not just about technology, it’s about how we live today and expect to live in the future. Likewise, consumer energy use is more than a behaviour – it is embedded in routines that are shaped by everyday life.
What we found is that pure financial incentives are not always the carrot that households need — while incentives matter, community does too."
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Fareed Kaviani
Research Fellow, Monash University
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Denmark Down Under
The world’s climate negotiators have been told tripling renewables is achievable and the energy trilemma – energy security, affordability, and sustainability from lower emissions – can be turned into a strategic advantage.
A report released at COP30 by the Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) spruiks South Australia’s role as a green energy zone to power new industries and future exports such as green iron to help industrial partners to decarbonise.
The state ranks alongside Denmark as a world leader in clean energy as policymakers, who agreed two years ago to triple renewables and accelerate the phaseout of fossil fuels, remain in the dark about whether they’ll be heading to Adelaide next year for COP31.
South Australia has prioritised battery storage, demand response, distributed resources and stronger interconnection, leading to balanced supply and improved system security, the report explained. And the economics stack up.
A globally recognised benchmark in managing a grid largely powered by variable renewable energy, South Australia’s experience shows policy leadership and a clear long-term direction can secure the private investment and public support needed to build a net-zero economy, and offers a model for global progress, the report argues.
“Rapid renewable expansion depends on community trust and responsible development and the state’s Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act shows how well-designed planning frameworks can also strengthen social licence, ensuring that benefits are shared, values are respected and livelihoods protected.”
South Australia: The Denmark Down Under
With the Asia-Pacific region projected to deliver almost half (47%) of the global growth in renewables required to meet the COP28 goal of tripling capacity by 2030, Australia should be a big part of this success but is struggling to meet its own 2030 renewables target.
“That is where a UN Climate Conference in South Australia’s capital in 2026 can help,” the report says. “Garnering the additional support and capacity required to drive transition in the country and the region.”
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Capital
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The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) allocated $50 million to a student accommodation provider for electrification across its portfolio of 17,000 beds in purpose-built student accommodation across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, and achieving decarbonisation standards in its existing buildings. The Living Company’s Scape Core Fund will remove gas infrastructure from up to 20 residential buildings to support net-zero targets. “It also makes them cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in,” Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson said.
AustralianSuper, HESTA and the Queensland government’s investment arm, QIC, have an indirect exposure to failed US solar power and battery company Pine Gate Renewables. In a Texas court filing, the company blamed growing uncertainty for overseas investment in the United States and hostility toward green energy since the return of Donald Trump to the White House as reasons for its collapse, along with the revocation of tax credits for solar projects. (AFR)
 Projects
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ASL released a Market Brief for the next Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) NEM Dispatchable tender (CIS Tender 8) for 4GW of 4-hour equivalent clean dispatchable capacity (16GWh). Projects with a credible pathway to Commercial Operation Date by 2030 will be assessed as higher merit. The tender is expected to open in late November with proponents to be given 10 weeks to prepare bids, which are due in February 2026.
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 has 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. The project proposes to supply customers in Darwin and Singapore through a 4200-kilometre underwater cable and has been six years in the planning, thus far. (AFR)
Policy
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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. “South Korea is Australia’s third-largest market for thermal coal exports, so its commitment to phasing out coal power sends a powerful signal to Australian decision makers and investors,” said WA-based James Bowen, Director of ReMap Research. “For Australia to continue to rely on fossil fuel exports in the medium to long term is a risky strategy.”
Regulation
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The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) published a new guideline for itself after a rule change that requires monitoring and reporting on the market impact of unscheduled price-responsive resources, including household CER, home energy management systems that control traditional assets, industrial assets with components of controllable demand, and small unscheduled generation and storage units.
Climate
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Thom Woodroofe, a Senior International Fellow with the Smart Energy Council and a former climate diplomat who is on the ground in Belém, said there was no conceptually workable way for two countries on the opposite sides of the world with vastly different priorities and experiences of the climate crisis to co-host a unified COP. “Australia has now been bidding to host the COP in partnership with the Pacific for three years, well before Türkiye. Nobody here in Belem is under any false pretences as to what is holding up a deal, and that this delay is having an impact on what is the most consequential gathering for many countries in the world — far beyond just the Pacific. Just as nobody is under any false pretences that Australia will surely be prepared to take this to the end given the overwhelming support they continue to enjoy, and which shows no sign of changing.”
Research
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A United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) White Paper led by Sydney Law School’s Associate Professor Jeanne Huang laid the legal groundwork for rolling out Digital Product Passports (DPPs) across the global value chains of critical energy transition materials — specifically cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel. Fundamental to EV batteries, tracing their journey from mines to markets to recycling is legally complex and globally inconsistent. The next phase of the project, a partnership between the University of Sydney and Fudan University, will translate the findings into formal policy recommendations to manage cross-border trade and sustainability practices.
Random
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Following on from the launch of Power Up Play – a Cricket for Climate collaboration to install solar, battery and energy management at local clubs between Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) and Blacktown City Council – Origin announced a three-year partnership with Cricket Australia. (SMH/The Age)
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What's On
November 18
National Press Club
FutureCoal (formerly known as the World Coal Association) CEO Michelle Manook will address the National Press Club on “the myths and future of coal” at this Canberra event.
November 20
2026 ACCU Review
Climate Change Authority Deputy CEO Eliza Murray, General Manager Mia Swainson, and Manager Gavin Mongan will speak at a webinar on the authority’s upcoming review of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme.
November 25
The NEM Review and Firming up the Transition
NEM Review Chair Tim Nelson, CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth, Transgrid CFO Nadine Lennie, and AEMO Executive GM Violette Mouchaileh will speak at this CEDA event in Sydney.
November 26
National Press Club
Deputy Opposition Leader and former energy spokesman Ted O’Brien will address the National Press Club at this event in Canberra.
November 26
Efficient Electric Homes: Market Acceleration Summit
Architect Adrian Joyce, Secretary General of EuroACE - Energy Efficient Buildings, and the Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign, Clare McLaughlin, Head of Division, Energy Performance, at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Grace Tam, Head of Consumer Finance at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and Energy Efficiency CEO Luke Menzel will speak at this Sydney event.
December 9, Sydney and December 11, Melbourne
Energy Tetris
The Energy’s first live event will feature Quinbrook CEO Brian Restall, Energy Security Corporation CEO Paul Peters, Southerly Ten Chief Development Officer Erin Coldham, CS Energy Head of Policy & Regulation Alison Demaria, Atmos Renewables GM of Development Allison Hawke, ASL GM System Planning & Financial Markets, Melanie Koerner, UNSW Senior Research Associate Dylan McConnell and Energy Edge MD Josh Stabler, with more speakers to be confirmed soon.
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