Weekly Climate and Decarbonisation Update (24 August)
Climate Politics
Federal funds earmarked for WA's energy transition sitting idle after two years (ABC News): In 2022 the Albanese government set aside $20 billion for its 'Rewiring the Nation' fund, to upgrade Australia's electricity grid. In August 2023, the federal government signed a deal for $3 billion of that money to be set aside for Western Australian projects. But the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has confirmed to the ABC not a single dollar has been allocated to specific projects under that deal.
Developers sink plan for Australia’s first floating offshore wind far, but Bowen remains buoyant (Renew Economy): Federal Labor says its offshore wind plans for waters off the coast of the New South Wales Hunter region are not sunk, just on ice, after the pin was officially pulled on the only project in the development zone to be offered a feasibility licence. The developers behind the Novocastrian Wind project, Norwegian oil giant Equinor and Oceanex Energy, confirmed on Friday that they would not proceed with the feasibility licence offered by the government due to a combination of “global challenges” and “project-specific factors.” The up to 2GW project was offered the licence in June of last year, in the comparatively small Pacific Ocean zone, which covers an 1,800km2 stretch between Swansea and Port Stephens, and would have been the first in Australia to host floating turbines.
Former Queensland Labor minister to head up clean energy lobby (The Australian Financial Review): Former Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad has been appointed as new chief executive of Australia’s biggest renewables lobby group, the Clean Energy Council, in the latest of a series of moves to reset the political strategy of the clean energy industry. Trad, a former Queensland Labor MP who lost her seat to the Greens at the 2020 state election, will take over from long-serving CEO Kane Thornton, who announced his departure earlier this year after nearly 15 years at the organisation.
Canavan to focus on energy and IR at rival productivity roundtable (The Australian Financial Review): Former Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks will spearhead a rival economic roundtable of business leaders and conservative economists who will blame high energy costs and union-friendly workplace laws for Australia’s stagnating productivity. The roundtable has been organised by Nationals senator and former Productivity Commission economist Matt Canavan, who said it would be the “real” productivity meeting. The gathering at Parliament House will be open to the media and public, and compete against the closed-door meeting of 24 participants invited to Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ three-day summit.
Coalition’s climate tussles to get public airing as parliament debates Barnaby Joyce’s bill to dump net zero (The Guardian): The Coalition’s internal struggle over the climate crisis will be on full display on Monday as the House of Representatives prepares to debate Barnaby Joyce’s private bill to dump Australia’s net zero target. Over the weekend, the Queensland Liberal National party convention voted to abandon Australia’s net zero targets, adding to a growing list of Liberal state divisions opposed to the emissions reduction policy, including South Australia and Western Australia. The state divisions’ motions do not bind the federal party room but will ignite ideological tensions within the Coalition as it undertakes a review of its internally contested energy and emissions reduction policies.
David Littleproud vows to take nuclear energy to next election and claims ‘no malice’ behind brief Coalition split (The Guardian): The Nationals are vowing to introduce nuclear power to Australia’s energy mix, promising to take the policy to the next election after it contributed to a split in the Coalition. Nationals leader David Littleproud explained to party faithful on Saturday what led to his party’s week-long decoupling from the Liberals following the May federal election rout. Coalition practice after an election meant policies taken to the campaign would remain and only be dumped by exception, he told the Liberal National party annual convention in Brisbane.
Queensland Liberals vote to ditch net zero (The Australian Financial Review): Federal Liberal leader Sussan Ley has identified winning back Queensland seats as the “launch pad” for returning the Coalition to power, as grassroots members rebuffed her pleas to modernise and backed a motion calling on the federal party to dump a policy commitment to net zero emissions. Addressing the Liberal National Party’s convention in Brisbane on Friday, Ley also praised the legacy of her predecessor Peter Dutton, despite him leading the Liberal Party to its worst electoral defeat. A day after the Albanese government’s productivity summit ended, Ley vowed to take a “complete economic policy” to voters at the next election, due by 2028, including promising not to “wimp out” on workplace relations.
Cost of Victoria’s renewable energy transmission plan projected to double (The Guardian): One of Australia’s largest renewable energy transmission projects has expanded zones for solar, battery and wind developments with the cost of connection to almost double. The latest version of Victoria’s 2025 Transmission Plan, released by state government agency VicGrid on Sunday, revealed a 200,000-hectare increase in the area available to developers.
Clean energy investment boom buoys decade-long grid reliability forecast (PV Magazine): The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMOs) August 2025 Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO) 10-year report finds the investments needed to maintain reliability in the National Electricity Market (NEM) are on track. The ESOO report forecasts grid-scale renewable generation growth from 178 TWh in 2024-25 to around 229 TWh by 2034-35, which reflects a 21% increase in operational electricity consumption over that period. A record 4.4 GW of new generation and storage was commissioned in the past financial year, and over the next five years, additional investment between 5.2 GW to 10.1 GW is expected to come online annually.
AEMO’s heroic renewables call (The Australian): Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Daniel Westerman says the timely delivery of new generation, storage and transmission remain ‘critical’ to meet reliability and system security requirements. That’s a big renewables ‘if’.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Woodside clears gas project hurdle as fight looms for nearby venture (The Australian Financial Review): The Federal Court has thrown out a legal challenge to Woodside’s regulatory approval for its $19.5 billion Scarborough gas project, but the future of its adjacent North West Shelf venture remains uncertain amid separate legal action that could impact its extension. Federal Court Justice Shaun McElwaine on Friday dismissed a case brought by Doctors for the Environment Australia which sought to overturn the national offshore oil and gas regulator’s approval of Woodside’s environment plan for the Scarborough project.
Renewable Energy Developer Rating Scheme launches (Energy Source & Distribution): Farmers, landholders and regional communities will get clearer, independent information about companies seeking to develop renewable energy projects on their land following the launch of the Australian-first Renewable Energy Developer Rating Scheme. With the help of Equifax Australasia Credit Ratings Pty Ltd, the Australian Government will design and operate the scheme to assess large-scale renewable energy and transmission companies vying to develop projects on land across rural and regional areas.
Farmers pile pressure on Labor over buried climate report (The Australian Financial Review): A raft of influential agricultural business groups is pressuring Labor to release detailed government modelling that outlines the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change on Australia’s farming industries. The groups, which include the National Farmers’ Federation, GrainGrowers and state bodies in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, say the release of the government’s National Climate Risk Assessment is urgent for farming businesses on the front line of climate change.
Farmers under net zero siege, ‘Climategate’ still to come: Rinehart (The Australian): Gina Rinehart says it is heartbreaking that farmers are bearing the brunt of net zero ideology and already have enough to worry about without being tied to unrealistic Paris accord targets.
New rating system for renewable energy developers is “useless”: Yass Mayor (ABC News): The Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced a new clean energy Developer Rating Scheme, to improve the way companies engage with communities. It comes after a review into community engagement and as NSW conducts hearings into the impact of Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) on rural and regional residents and industries. Yass Valley does not fall within a REZ, but is grappling with the proposal for a third wind farm in the region: the Bendenine Wind Farm planned by Wind Prospect, which would sit between Bowning and Binalong and host around 90 260-metre tall turbines. The Mayor Jasmin Jones told Alice Matthews, a voluntary rating scheme won’t be any help to her community.
Consumer watchdog launches investigation into “sneaky, confusing” energy retailer tactics (Renew Economy): A “super complaint” alleging “sneaky, confusing energy pricing tactics” by Australian electricity retailers has sparked an investigation by the national competition watchdog, amid concerns consumers are being deliberately misled about which energy plans to choose. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has this week revealed it will investigate whether energy retailers are misleading consumers by promoting plans that promise savings or good value when they actually offer poor value. “We are concerned that consumers may be misled or deceived by plan names or descriptions of plans that offer ‘savings’ that are not genuine, or that consumers may be discouraged from switching to cheaper plans that are available to them,” said ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe.
Victoria ‘misleading households’ with renewable blueprint (The Australian): Victoria is pursuing Australia’s most aggressive energy transition plan, which the state government on Sunday justified with modelling showing it will drive down bills. But not everyone is convinced the findings and the rationale stack up.
Residents in Australia's first renewable energy zone speak out about mental health pressures (ABC News): Rural NSW residents say a renewable energy proposal has driven a wedge through their tight-knit community, as developers roll out more mental health support for affected landholders. The Hampton Park solar development, 11 kilometres outside Dubbo and part of Australia's first declared renewable energy zone (REZ), has triggered an emotional response from affected landholders. "This development is driving a nail in our community out here," Michael Edwards, who has lived in the area for 35 years, said. "The construction out here is going to turn our lives upside down."
Resources Technology Showcase: Hydrogen still afloat as WA powers the world to net zero (The West Australian): Western Australia’s biggest energy company remains optimistic about hydrogen even after a rough year for the green fuel.
Green Projects and Initiatives
WA courting Asian investors to pick up abandoned BP hydrogen stake (The Australian Financial Review): The West Australian government is working to entice major Japanese companies to invest in a massive renewable energy project in the Pilbara after BP controversially pulled out of the $50 billion green hydrogen facility. Senior WA government sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reveal details of sensitive talks, said the government had reached out to several international energy giants in a bid to salvage the project after BP’s departure in July.
Resources Technology Showcase: Rio Tinto’s Matt Holcz says company will be ‘daring’ to cut carbon (The West Australian): Mining giant Rio Tinto will need to “experiment” with green steel, slashing diesel and backing renewable power to drive down emissions, local iron ore boss Matt Holcz says. Mr Holcz also backed in the long-term survival of the country’s biggest industry, iron ore, even amid the threat of the so-called “Pilbara Killer” Simandou project in Guinea. He told Seven West Media’s Resources Technology Showcase industry forum on Tuesday that NeoSmelt — an iron manufacturing pilot plant to be built in Kwinana with BHP, Woodside, Mitsui and Bluescope — would be an opportunity to cut carbon emissions in steel-making.
Australia’s first two gigawatt hour battery is now commissioned, to soak up rooftop PV at massive scale (Renew Economy): Australia’s biggest battery – and the first to feature more than two gigawatt hours of energy storage, has raced through its commissioning process and is now fully operational, ready to deliver on its expanded “solar soaker” contracts within a few weeks. The Collie battery owned by Neoen Australia, now controlled by global asset management giant Brookfield, is sized at 560 megawatts (MW) and 2,240 megawatt hours (MWh) over its two stages, the first of which was completed last year. That represents more than `17 times as much storage as the original Tesla big battery at Hornsdale (100 MW and 129 MWh), and more than five times more than the Victoria Big Battery (300 MW and 450 MWh), that then became the biggest.
Plan to power remote coastal tourist town with 80 pct renewables gets underway (Renew Economy): Plans to power the Western Australia coastal town of Exmouth with an annual average of 80 per cent renewable energy are well underway, with the first instalment in what will be 16,700 solar panels installed over the past week. Pacific Energy, a WA-based off-grid energy supply specialist, said this week that it has started installing the 9.6 megawatt (MW) solar farm as part of a 20-year power purchase deal sealed with WA utility Horizon Power around this time last year.
Coal town seeks to add a third big battery alongside solar farm in shift from fossil fuels (Renew Economy): The Western Australia coal town of Collie is on track to add a third big battery to its regional grid, with a proposal for a 200 megawatt (MW) energy storage system alongside a 66 MW solar farm scheduled for assessment by a state planning panel next week. The $500 million project, which is being developed by Enpowered for its owner, property developer Hesperia, was recommended for approval this week by the Shire of Collie, for about 14 kilometres northeast of the Collie township.
Cyclone-proof solar farm underlines $33bn potential for remote area renewables, but APA is all in on gas (Renew Economy): The chief executive of APA group, Australia’s biggest gas infrastructure company, was clearly chuffed. The company’s recently completed cyclone proof solar farm and battery at Port Hedland in the north-west of Western Australia had withstood everything that a major cyclone could throw at it. The Port Hedland facility combines a 45 megawatt (MW) solar farm and a 36.5 MWh battery, and has been reinforced with steel piles driven 2.2 metres in the ground, strong cross-sections and a 10° tilt on its panels. “The Port Hedland project was designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 288 kms per hour, a one in 500 year event,” CEO Adam Watson told analysts at the start of the company’s annual results presentation on Wednesday.
Five new community batteries start soaking up solar on Australia’s biggest isolated grid (Renew Economy): Five new community batteries have been launched across Perth this week, designed to soak up excess rooftop solar, help cut energy bills, lower emissions and improve local power reliability. The five new community batteries are part of the Albanese government’s Community Batteries for Household Solar program, which awarded Western Power, the state-owned operator of the electricity network in the southwest corner of Western Australia, $2.5 million to develop the projects.
Renewables investment drives $23b regional construction boom (The Australian Financial Review): An explosion of renewable energy projects and the infrastructure needed to support them will power construction activity in regional Australia at twice the rate of work in capital cities over the next two years, new Macromonitor data shows. Projects developing wind, solar and transmission facilities will push construction in Australia’s regions up $23 billion – or 19 per cent – between 2024/25 and 2026/27, well ahead of the $12 billion (or 7 per cent) increase forecast for capital cities, the consultancy said.
Ausgrid hopes new solar pilot can help “break the boundaries” on narrow network limits (Renew Economy): Australia’s largest electricity network operator, Ausgrid, is testing an idea that could challenge the rules for how energy networks operate — and in doing so, it argues, speed up the clean energy transition. Its new Community Power Network (CPN) pilot goes beyond the traditional ‘poles and wires’ role of networks, and is designed to show how they might directly help deliver cheaper bills, fairer access to solar, and faster decarbonisation. If successful, the trial could mark a turning point: proving that regulated networks, long confined to their own “swim lanes,” can also be allowed to be engines of innovation and equity in the energy system.
Five banks in as Foresight’s renewables fund refinances $700m debt (The Australian Financial Review): British core-plus infrastructure investor Foresight has finalised a $700 million debt refinancing for its Australian Renewables Income Fund, the owner of 787 megawatts of up-and-running solar, wind and hydro assets.
Giant wind project cuts turbine size and numberers as it seeks new ways to join the grid (Renew Economy): One of a number of giant renewable energy projects stranded in the south west of NSW by the lack of grid capacity has proposed another cut in turbines numbers, and reduced its proposed hub heights as it seeks new avenues to join the grid. Engie’s The Plains renewable hub, proposed south of Hay, is one of dozens of projects totalling more than 30 gigawatts of capacity that have been frozen out of the grid by the lack of capacity in the newly created South-West renewable energy zone. Only four projects won the rights to connect to the REZ in a recently concluded tender, and three of those projects – Pottinger, Bullewah and Dinawan – had to accept a big haircut in capacity. Only Origin Energy’s proposed 1.45 gigawatt (GW) Yanco Delta wind project got the capacity it asked for.
Solar farm and four-hour big battery wins fast-tracked state approval (Renew Economy): A solar farm and four-hour big battery project has been cleared for construction in Victoria’s East Gippsland region after having its approval fast-tracked through the state government’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP). The 85 megawatt (MW) Ballantine solar farm and the 70 MW, 280 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery are being developed by UK-based Elgin Energy on farmland located around 3.8 km south-west of Bairnsdale, in Victoria’s south-east. State minister planning Sonya Kilkenny on Wednesday said the project had been approved through the Allan Labor government’s fast-track program following consultation with neighbouring properties and relevant government agencies, including the Country Fire Authority.
Gentari and PCL Construction turn first sod on renewable energy zone project (PV Magazine): Malaysia-headquartered clean energy solutions provider Gentari has broken ground on the Maryvale Solar and Energy Storage (MSES) project in the heart of the New South Wales (NSW) Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (CWO REZ). Located 364 kilometres northwest of Sydney, the hybrid renewable energy facility will integrate 243 MWp solar installation with a 172 MW/409 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). Gentari Australia Head Claire Elkin said the Maryvale project represents the company’s commitment to accelerating Australia’s energy transition with reliable, dispatchable renewable energy.
Battery-backed microgrids planned for remote communities (PV Magazine): The Australian government has announced a fresh round of funding to drive the construction of renewable energy-based microgrids in the remote First Nations communities of Yalata, Pipalyatjara and Oak Valley in South Australia. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will match $13 million (USD 8.36 million) in funding from the South Australian government to help deliver high-penetration solar and battery-based microgrids in each of the three communities. ARENA said Yalata, Pipalyatjara and Oak Valley residents are currently reliant on diesel generation and face some of the highest costs and lowest reliability in energy access in the country.
$500 million program launched to boost battery manufacturing sector (PV Magazine): Australian businesses can now apply for a share of $500 million (USD 324 million) in capital grants and production incentives designed to boost domestic manufacturing capacity and establish the nation as a globally competitive producer of batteries and battery materials. Delivered by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the Battery Breakthrough Initiative (BBI) will provide targeted funding to help manufacturers produce battery products and scale operations across the value chain. Federal Industry Minister Tim Ayres said the program will focus on key areas such as stationary energy storage and production of battery active materials using Australian energy and critical minerals. “Batteries are a critical component of the global move to reduce carbon emissions and there is a huge opportunity for Australia to be part of this global demand,” he said.
Other Matters of Interest
Capping Australia’s biggest fossil subsidy is the productivity reform we can’t afford to ignore (Renew Economy): Australia’s biggest fossil fuel subsidy is hiding in plain sight. The diesel Fuel Tax Credit (FTC) scheme – a taxpayer-funded rebate mostly benefitting big miners – is costing Australians tens of billions, fuelling emissions, and damaging productivity growth. Critically, it disincentivises miners from investing into clean energy to power their operations. This federal FTC Scheme rebates the full fuel tax of 51.6 cents per litre on high-emissions imported diesel used off-road in industry. The tax doesn’t fund roads – it’s a form of industry assistance. The oft-repeated justification by the fossil fuel lobby and some recipients that they don’t use public roads and therefore should not pay the tax is simply not credible. If Australia is serious about its climate commitments, fiscal sustainability and our generational opportunity to lead as a green energy and exports superpower, this handout that pays polluters to pollute is overdue for substantive reform.
AEMO says wind, solar and storage keeping energy reliability “healthy,” despite leap in data-driven demand (Renew Economy): In a week where National Party senator Matt Canavan staged a one-man productivity picnic-table outside federal parliament, sipping from a mug that declared “I heart fossil fuels”, and calling for a return to the coal age, the findings of the latest energy market reliability forecast are a sweet dose of reality. The 2025 Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO), published by the Australian Energy Market Operator on Thursday, find that a record 12 months of investment in solar, wind and storage has left Australia’s energy system even more reliable, not less, than this time last year.
How Australian households are helping rein in climate targets (The Australian Financial Review): The huge uptake of home batteries in the first month of Labor’s subsidy scheme has drastically outstripped the electricity grid operator’s forecasts, raising hopes that power generated on rooftops could make up for broader delays to the renewables rollout. An analysis of new sales data by consultancy Green Energy Markets (GEM) found that at the current growth rates, household solar and batteries could contribute an additional 4.5 per cent to the total share of renewables in the grid by 2030, and an extra 9 per cent by 2035.
Record clean energy surge set to break Australia’s coal reliance (The Sydney Morning Herald): The threat of blackouts as more coal-fired power stations shut has been downgraded after a record year of investment in renewables batteries and transmission lines will be available to help keep the lights on.
Disused coal plant could burn wood and call it renewable energy (The Sydney Morning Herald): Would restarting Redbank Power Station in the Hunter Valley as a biomass reactor be net zero or is this a “convenient untruth”? The owner of a disused coal power station in the Hunter Valley claims repurposing it to burn up to 700,000 dry tonnes a year of woody vegetation would make “zero contribution to climate change”.