Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy's weekly data newsletter. This week we explore some telling signs Australia's renewable energy target won't be met, at least not in the way many had forecast. Mind the gap The Albanese government’s Net Zero Plan sticks resolutely to the assumption that its target for grid generation to be composed of 82% renewable energy by 2030 will be met. Progress on the ground continues to challenge that assumption, handing brickbats to the naysayers to hurl at the clean...
1 day ago • 5 min read
. Hey Reader, in today's edition: Intergenerational REZ benefits Quantifying Scarborough's risk to climate New challenge for North West Shelf Councils get strategic Armidale Regional Council Mayor Sam Coupland has a message for renewable energy developers: “We just don't need a 20 or 30-year sugar hit. If this is going to be done to our community, we need the intergenerational benefit.” Coupland, who back in 2022 set up the ‘Coalition of Renewable Energy Mayors,’ is now championing the idea...
2 days ago • 6 min read
. Hey Reader, in today's edition: Queensland's policy U-turn China's rare earths threat Reducing emissions without hurting households A plan built on buried sunshine The state with Australia’s youngest fleet of coal-fired power stations will run them until at least the 2040s under the Queensland Energy Roadmap that bins Queensland Labor’s targets of 70% renewable energy by 2032 and 80% by 2035. “It charts a pragmatic path to meet Queensland’s energy needs over the next five years and beyond —...
3 days ago • 7 min read
Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy Week, your chance to catch up on this week's most important energy news. Prefer to listen? Get The Energy Week on your favourite podcast platform. THE ENERGY WEEK • EPISODE 4 Queensland hits pause 04:26 MORE INFO This week's top energy news Attention turned to Queensland this week with a federal government bailout for Glencore’s Mount Isa copper smelter, and the release of the state’s new energy roadmap. Policy Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki...
5 days ago • 3 min read
. Hey Reader, in today's edition: Risk management redux No new inertia market Call for 'use it or lose it' gas provision Getting the 'least cost' transition back on track The gap between Australia's renewable energy roadmap and the business decisions required to deliver it appears to be widening, say energy leaders, amid cost blowouts in wind, hydro and transmission. Rising bills for developers and customers are hitting hard and few people have anything positive to say about the Integrated...
6 days ago • 8 min read
. Hey Reader, in today's edition: Singapore's superpower support Battery frenzy explained Gas market gripes Regulatory groundwork for exporting sunshine Australia and Singapore have inked a Cross-Border Electricity Trade Framework to unlock private sector finance and catalyse regional cross-border electricity trading. The framework, announced as part of a deepening of the existing Comprehensive Strategic Partnership dubbed CSP 2.0, will advance the ASEAN Power Grid — a project to integrate...
7 days ago • 9 min read
Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy's weekly data newsletter. This week we explore new records in curtailment and why we should get used to them in the energy transition. Not so sunny Poets have celebrated spring for thousands of years. But one class of people increasingly confronts spring’s dual nature. For owners and operators of wind and solar farms, spring brings more sunshine and wind, which means they generate more power for which they can charge customers. Spring is also the season of...
8 days ago • 5 min read
. Hey Reader, in today's edition: Syncon crunch time Victoria eyes transmission turnaround Spanish blackout lessons for Australia Australia's big syncon bet Billions of dollars of regulated investment slated for the grid in the next five years will go on synchronous condensers — large rotating machines that provide grid stability and system strength services to complement the increase in renewables inherent to the energy transition. The problem is, writes CutlerMerz consultant Cillian Barry,...
9 days ago • 7 min read
Hey Reader, welcome to The Energy Week, your chance to catch up on this week's most important energy news. Prefer to listen? Get The Energy Week on your favourite podcast platform. THE ENERGY WEEK • EPISODE 3 Transition swings and roundabouts 04:53 MORE INFO This week's top energy news This week saw the closure timeline for Queensland’s largest coal-fired power station brought forward, and the life of a South Australian gas fired power station extended, as quarterly grid data showed the...
12 days ago • 4 min read