Capital

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Airbus, Qantas (ASX: QAN) and industrial firm Thyssenkrupp Uhde have backed a $10 million Series A funding round that will see them become major investors in Australian low-carbon fuel innovator HAMR Energy, which is working to develop low-carbon liquid fuels manufactured from plantation forestry byproducts. HAMR is targeting sectors like aviation and shipping, with its Portland Renewable Fuels project in western Victoria intended to convert byproducts from local forestry work to produce 300,000 tonnes of low-carbon methanol per year. (SmartCompany)

Projects

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The major redevelopment of Tasmania’s Tarraleah hydropower scheme has commenced the first phase of the construction tender as the government issued a request for proposals for engineering, procurement, and construction contractors. The 90MW power station, which opened in 1938, was marked for an upgrade in 2023 as it approached its end of life.

Policy

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The Queensland government has appointed three companies to lead exploration for gas and petroleum in the Taroom Trough, promising to boost domestic gas supply once Omega TN, Tri-Star Stonecrof and Drillsearch Energy establish operations to locate and tap the 750km2 tenement. The trough, which is located over five hours’ drive west of Brisbane, “is emerging as a real prospect to become Australia’s first major oil province since the 1970s,” Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last said, noting that the Australian Market Supply Condition would prioritise the gas for Australian homes and business ahead of export markets.

Aiming to support the United States coal industry, US President Donald Trump is directing government bodies including the Pentagon to purchase power from coal plant generators to power military and other operations. The US Energy Department will also provide $246 million in funding for upgrades at six coal plants across five eastern states, even as major power generator the Tennessee Valley Authority grants a reprieve to two coal-fired power plants. (AFR)

Regulation

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The Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) crackdown on fraud in the Victorian Energy Upgrades program continues, with Planetwise Solutions banned from the program after the ESC found the company had submitted “doctored” photos of allegedly decommissioned lights for reimbursement under the program – with additional lights apparently “digitally edited into the image”. All told, the ESC has now refused to register 1,435 Victorian energy efficient certificates worth $114,657.

Just 7% of Australian executives are designing their corporate sustainability reports to satisfy their regulatory obligations while 39% see investors as the key audience, according to a Workiva survey of 302 institutional investors and 1,497 executives. The survey also found executives see employees and customers as more relevant to setting the agenda than regulators. Fully 43% said they are aware of the risks of bad data, and are being more cautious about how they communicate news of their sustainability efforts externally.

Technology

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Allegations that Chinese solar inverter manufacturers were embedding spyware into their products have been refuted in a US Department of Energy report that exonerates the claims made against manufacturing giants like Huawei, Sungrow, Ginlong/Solis, GoodWe, and Aiswei/Solplanet – which dominate the global solar inverter market. DOE analysis “found no definitive evidence of intentionally introduced malicious wireless functionality,” the report said, with just 2 out of 30 inverters differing from their official documentation and those changes ruled to be “non-malicious and non-intentional”. (Reuters)

Research

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The merit-order effect of increasingly cost-effective variable renewable energy (VRE) sources is cannibalising the revenue streams of all generators as VRE capacity grows, according to a new analysis by Technical University of Denmark researchers. They analysed the impact of European renewables growth and found traditional levelised cost of electricity measures to be “simplistic” because they don’t account for the dispatchability or timing of VRE generation. Solar faces a higher cannibalisation risk than wind, they concluded after extensive modelling of factors affecting market value and value factor strategies and providing recommendations about the best mix to maintain revenues. (ScienceDirect)

People

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VicGrid appointed three new members to its board, joining existing directors David Stegehuis and Kane Thornton. Seona James is managing director of Indigenous Cultural Connections and has 30 years’ experience in water, energy, environment and indigenous consultation while Wayne Weaire is a farmer, experienced director and former chief executive with 40 years’ experience with organisations including the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority. Jess Howard currently works with the City of Greater Bendigo as Director of Health Communities and Environments.