This Month
Energy CEOs urge industry not to quit hydrogen dream
Australian businesses need to be smarter and work harder to overcome the cost hurdles in hydrogen, which has a strong future in some industries, CEOs insist.
Green hydrogen too ‘expensive and inefficient’: Finkel
Former chief scientist Alan Finkel – who devised Australia’s first clean hydrogen strategy – now says we are “unlikely to use hydrogen for storage of electricity”.
LNG export purse crunched 25pc as prices drop
Australia’s LNG revenue fell in 2023-24 despite flat export volumes, with Santos’ sales broadly reflecting the wider picture as prices softened.
Fortescue’s pivot shakes faith in Labor’s Hydrogen Headstart strategy
Power prices would need to drop steeply and electrolyser costs more than halve to produce hydrogen at anywhere near a competitive level, the industry has warned.
- Updated
- Energy
Labor’s hydrogen dream stalls as Fortescue slims down H2 vision
Fortescue will cut 700 jobs and slow its push into green hydrogen in a blow to the Albanese government’s plan to make Australia a hydrogen superpower supported by more than $8 billion of taxpayer funded incentives.
Nuclear awakening ‘a decade or two late’, says AER
Clare Savage said it would take 25 years to put the political and regulatory frameworks in place for nuclear power – much longer than the Coalition says.
Genex to depart ASX after investors back J-Power takeover
Shareholder approval of the deal, worth more than $1 billion including debt, was in little doubt after 19.9 per cent investor Skip Capital revealed it would back it.
AGL, Squadron CEOs warn of pitfalls in flagship clean energy policy
The Capacity Investment Scheme could end up supporting poor projects that only won contracts because they bid at a cheap price and which will never be built, a clean energy summit heard.
AEMO chief warns no chance of nuclear replacing ageing coal plants
Daniel Westerman, who runs the energy market operator, said gas generation would remain the “ultimate backstop” as fossil fuels exit the electricity grid.
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
Farquhar’s Skip Capital will back J-Power’s takeover of Genex
The Atlassian billionaire’s fund owns 19.9 per cent of the ASX-listed renewable energy group. Its support removes a major roadblock for the Japanese utility.
Labor’s green hydrogen rules for $6.7b subsidy splits producers
Criteria being proposed for renewable hydrogen could mean emissions rise instead of fall as projects “cannibalise” the grid, green advocates warn.
Akaysha signs $650m debt deal for giant NSW battery
The system to be built near Wellington will be one of the largest in the world. The BlackRock-owned group has also struck a supply deal with EnergyAustralia.
Snowy Hydro pushes gas power ambitions with major storage deal
The 25-year contract will underpin the expansion of the Iona project, and underscores expectations the fuel will remain part of the energy mix past 2050.
Gas bill rises hit households despite east coast price caps
Increases of up to 11 per cent from the biggest retailers will saddle families with steeper energy costs despite a mandated pause in electricity tariff rises.
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
Brookfield to sell Neoen assets in Vic to seal ACCC tick
The Canadian giant is in early talks to sell the 2.8-gigawatt portfolio of proposed wind and storage projects even ahead of the result of the ACCC inquiry.
Woodside signs up Taiwan as long-term LNG customer
Taiwan’s state-owned CPC is already a big customer for Australian liquefied natural gas via Ichthys and Prelude, but the new deal will potentially run into the 2040s.
- Exclusive
- Construction
Downer EDI pitches in on flailing EnergyConnect construction
The troubles at the cable project are being closely watched because its failure would imperil the entire build-out of the transmission grid, sources say.
Transmission ‘will get easier’ after EnergyConnect: Transgrid CEO
Brett Redman’s comments come as speculation mounts Transgrid will need to bring other contractors in to complete the delayed $2.3 billion transmission project.
- Updated
Cable blowouts may keep SA gas plants on line
The closure of an AGL Energy gas plant near Adelaide is at risk as delays hit a key $2.3 billion electricity cable.
- Exclusive
- Electricity
$2.3b energy project faces cost blowouts
The problems plaguing the EnergyConnect scheme add to major delays at other projects key to Australia’s energy transition including the $12 billion Snowy 2.0.
