Although 2025 was the most active year on record for mergers and acquisitions, weaker activity in the energy services, exploration, production and refining industries made energy the only sector to lose its deal momentum during the last quarter, according to Pitchbook’s newly released Global M&A Report. Deal momentum, as measured by Pitchbook on a scale of -2 to +2, fell from 0.40 to -0.30 quarter-on-quarter.

Australia has 49 mines and 29 midstream critical minerals processing projects ready for investment, Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell has said in launching the Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus, a guide for investors launched by Resources Minister Madeleine King during her attendance at this week’s US-led Critical Minerals Ministerial – where top-level delegates are (over)enthusiastically spruiking their national industries.

ARENA has committed $21 million to the Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH), a large-scale wind, solar and green hydrogen development that was slated to generate up to 26GW before the withdrawal of oil and gas giant bp last year. AREH is aiming to start construction in 2028 and go live in 2030 and will be built in phases, with the initial phase including 1GW of wind and solar and a 150MW hydrogen production facility at Port Headland. (Renew Economy)

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Australians bought 183,245 home battery systems in the second half of 2025 – more than the four previous years combined, according to the Clean Energy Council’s Rooftop Solar and Storage Report for the second half of 2025. The capacity of the 454,753 installed BESS complemented the 28.3GW of solar capacity now installed across Australia – including 2.6GW of new solar capacity installed during the half year – which accounts for 14.2% of all electricity generated in Australia during the half-year.

Build-out of BESS will help Australia cement its position as a global leader in battery rollouts during 2026, Hamilton Locke has projected in its latest annual forecast for Australia’s renewables sector, with four-hour batteries dominating the utility-scale market. Other predictions include a swing in investor preferences towards operating or near-operating assets rather than early-stage projects; surging data centre demand that will “increase and test grid limits”; and pressure for a harmonised approach to solar panel and battery recycling.

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Octopus Australia has acquired a proposed new battery in NSW and a proposed large solar-and-battery development in Queensland, together worth more than $3 billion. The proposed 1.2GW/4.8GWh Hanworth Battery near Bowral is a $2.4 billion project which Octopus has acquired from Australian energy developer Enervest, while the 150MW/300MWh Dunmore Solar and Battery project near Toowoomba is valued at about $900 million, acquired from Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia.

The federal government is inviting comment on the proposed Blue Mackerel offshore wind farm, a major facility that is expected to begin generating power in 2030 with a lifespan of at least 43 years. The development will include up to 70 turbines reaching up to 327m above sea level, providing nominal total capacity of 1GW through a network of undersea cables and potential shore crossing at McGaurans Beach, on Victoria’s Ninety Mile Beach.

La Trobe University’s $75 million, decade long net zero overhaul has delivered an 80% cut to emissions thanks to its La Trobe Solar Farm project, a 3.5ha installation with 4,300 solar panels generating 2.9MW of renewable energy and 2.5MW BESS to support it. A broad multi-campus initiative aims to help La Trobe reach net zero by 2029. (PV Magazine)

​Comment is now open for feedback on transmission lines – including a 290km 500kV and 25km 330kV line – that form part of the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Transmission Project in NSW, which will provide 6GW of transfer capacity by 2034 and connect the New England REZ to the NEM near Muswellbrook NSW.

Agri-business Cargill has launched its first Australian renewable energy project, a 2.58MW solar array at the company’s Newcastle Crush Plant. The array, which is now helping power the plant, will generate over 4200MWh of renewable electricity per year and reduce Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by a projected 2700 tonnes of CO2 annually. Cargill is targeting a 25-tonne reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035.

NSW’s Minns Labor government has approved its first new critical minerals and high-tech metals project, greenlighting Aeris Resources’ Constellation Project, located at the Tritton Copper Mine between Nyngan and Cobar. Intended to support surging demand from the global energy transition, the project is expected to produce 500,000 tonnes of copper ore each year – a boost to the state’s existing capacity of 190,000 tonnes.

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The federal government has overhauled the financial underpinnings of its $5 billion Net Zero Fund (NZF),a sub-fund of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), reducing internal rate of return (IRR) targets on the fund to the equivalent of the five-year Australian government bond rate (currently 4.4%) minus 1%. The change will allow the NZF to take on “more risk than commercial finance”, Minister for Industry and Innovation Tim Ayres said but the Manager of Opposition Business Alex Hawke said the changes will allow the NRF to "back losers".

Feeling pressure to ensure continuous energy supply in the face of increasing data centre power demands, the UK government has launched the Advanced Nuclear Framework (ANF) for the fast-tracking of novel small nuclear technologies in the country. Nuclear innovators including X-Energy, Centrica, Holtec, EDF, Tritax and TerraPower are at various stages of deploying small and modular nuclear designs, and the ANF is intended to help these and other nuclear innovators shape proposals for privately-owned nuclear projects that will be evaluated for government endorsement starting in March.

Global solar inverter and BESS firm GoodWe has joined the Smart Energy Council (SEC) as an executive member and Smart Installer Patron, deepening the Chinese company’s commitment to the Australian market in the wake of the 15-year anniversary it marked in 2025. (AAP)

WA Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has promised Albany residents “access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy options” as the city partners with the Western Australian Government to manage supply during the decommissioning of ATCO’s reticulated LPG network, which services around 8,000 business and residential customers in the city.

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Reserve capacity prices in Western Australia are set to soar in coming years, with the state’s Economic Regulation Authority determining a draft benchmark reserve capacity price (BRCP) of $491,700/MW for the 2028/29 capacity year. That’s up 57% from the $360,700/MW price mooted for 2027/28 – and while the increase may incentivise further investment in generation capacity, Rystad Energy VP of Renewables & Power Sally Bogle warned that the price surge will “make it pretty challenging” to keep retail prices “acceptable” for large energy consumers weighing the merits of electrification.

Emerging Consumer-Regulated Electricity (CRE) policies offer a novel way of encouraging private investment “without socialising its costs,” a new CATO Institute analysis has found. The model, which is being actively considered in the US, allows privately financed, off-grid electric utilities to serve new customers who would be physically separate from the regulated grid – offering an alternative to regulated monopoly distribution while ensuring the cost burden doesn’t fall on existing customers.

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Extreme weather events are driving insurance prices up so much that 22% of home and contents insurance customers say they’re considering going without insurance if costs increase further, according to a new Climate Council/YouGov survey that found 46% of respondents have already seen premiums increase by up to $700.

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Curtailment is becoming increasingly seasonal, local, and asset-specific, according to a new Watt Clarity analysis that observed economic curtailment becoming far more common due to the record frequency of zero and negative price intervals last year. Seasonal variations and severe weather events, such as Cyclone Alfred in March, affected solar irradiance in northern states while southern states saw stronger than average generation – with generators adjusting curtailment practices dramatically to compensate. (WattClarity)

Despite the broad and deep roster of energy companies in the NEM, debate around Australia’s climate policy is dominated by just 20 groups, according to ANU research that found mining, lobbying, banking, and research groups were most prominent in public discussions – with just two energy companies, AGL and Woodside, making the top 20. (The Conversation)

Australia is amongst the most prepared countries in the world to make the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, according to a new analysis from Russian researchers. While China is the top country in terms of its investment into renewables, especially solar and wind, Australia places second and, with some restructuring of Australian industrial policy, could rapidly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, say the scientists. (Energy Research and Social Science)

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Origin Energy has appointed Andrew Thornton as Executive General Manager, Energy Supply & Operations (ES&O) who will start in the role on July 1. Currently EGM of Origin’s Integrated Gas division, Thornton has been with Origin for 14 years and will take over the new role from retiring 23-year veteran Greg Jarvis.

Sydney based property law specialist Ben Wu has joined Kain Lawyers as a director, bringing with him years of experience advising on complex financing for infrastructure, renewable energy, and major real estate developments.