Weekly Decarbonisation and Climate Update (11 April)

Climate Politics

Coalition promises it will stay in Paris Agreement, after debate slip (The Australian Financial Review): Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien was forced to reaffirm the Coalition’s commitment to meeting global emissions targets after earlier appearing to leave open the possibility it would withdraw Australia from the Paris Agreement if elected next month. Speaking at a policy debate on Thursday, O’Brien was asked if the Coalition was prepared to remove Australia from the Paris accord – which commits countries to short and long-term emissions reduction targets – if there was evidence the obligations were damaging the national economy.

Ted O’Brien’s mixed messages and modelling backtracks: Coalition may not cap renewable power (Renew Economy): The federal Coalition is not planning to cap renewable generation to make way for its nuclear dreams – despite touting modelling that said exactly that — or so says its energy spokesperson Ted O’Brien. O’Brien appeared to contradict some of the core tenets of the Coalition’s nuclear proposal during a debate today with energy minister Chris Bowen at the National Press Club, with his first comments briefly held up by a heckler. “There’s no policy that we have, which is capping any technology,” O’Brien insisted, drawing a quip from Bowen that either the nuclear modelling is wrong, or the policy is.

‘No hope’: Shock coal plant extensions to drag on 2030 climate targets (The Australian Financial Review): The Queensland government’s watering down of its climate commitments has compromised Labor’s emissions reduction plans, with experts warning a slower energy transition in one of Australia’s most coal-dependent states would probably push the ambitious national renewables goal out of reach. Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki on Tuesday announced the Crisafulli government would repeal the state’s legislated emissions reduction targets and extend the planned closure dates of its fleet of government-owned coal-fired power stations.

Labor targets cost of living and climate with $3.2bn household battery pledge (The Guardian): Federal Labor has confirmed it will spend $2.3bn to slash the cost of household batteries by 30%, as part of a dual cost-of-living and climate action pitch to voters. The party believes the change could save households about $4,000 on a typical battery, with expectations that more than 1m new batteries will be sold by the end of the decade. According to analysis prepared by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, a household with solar and a battery system could save up to $2,300 a year, equivalent to 90% of a typical family’s electricity bill.

Going nuclear will decimate jobs in regions first, stop billions in new investment (Renew Economy): Regional areas will suffer the most from job and investment losses stemming from the Coalition’s energy promises, according to analyses from alarmed energy sector stakeholders. The Coalition’s push for nuclear, a policy that was announced with much fanfare in December but has largely disappeared from the election hustings, will result in the loss of $58 billion in direct investment in renewable and storage, and cause the loss of 42,000 full time jobs, the Clean Energy Council says. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s Budget reply promised to abolish the $19 billion Rewiring the Nation fund will also cause the immediate loss of jobs, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says.

Greens to leverage Snowy Hydro to make rooftop solar PV available for seven million renters (Renew Economy): The Greens have unveiled a unique plan to use the federal government owned Snowy Hydro and a newly created $10 billion fund to enable Australia’s seven million renters get access to rooftop solar PV and the opportunity to cut their bills. The announcement, unveiled by Greens leader Adam Bandt at the Smart Energy Council conference in Sydney on Thursday, would allow renters to request an average-sized solar panel system, up to 8kW, to be installed at their rental properties. Landlords would only be able to refuse on reasonable grounds, including restrictive body corporate rules, engineering challenges or local energy congestion constraints.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Woodside CEO: too expensive to make deep cuts to carbon emissions (The Australian Financial Review):  Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill says it is too expensive for the country’s largest producer of natural gas to make deep cuts to its carbon emissions, putting the company on a collision course with major investors who want to see it take more action on climate change. Last year, 58 per cent of Woodside shareholders, including the federal government’s Future Fund and AustralianSuper, voted against the company’s climate transition plan.

Fortescue still looking for zero-emissions train for 2030 (Boiling Cold): WA's big four iron ore miners who committed to battery-powered trains more than three years ago are all waiting on late deliveries of the emissions-savings technology. Climate sceptic Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill, renewable energy evangelist Andrew Forrest's Fortescue, and mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto all want to reduce their consumption of expensive diesel and production of greenhouse gases from moving more than 800 million tonnes of iron ore to port every year.

Macquarie to shrink offshore wind operations after failing to find a buyer (Renew Economy): Banking and finance giant Macquarie is to shrink the size of its offshore wind investments after failing to find a buyer for its Corio offshoot. Corio is one of a number of special vehicles set up by Macquarie in recent years to tap into particular parts of the green energy transition, including Aula Energy that focuses on onshore wind and solar and Eku Energy that focuses on battery storage. The London-based Corio was set up in 2022 and has built up a pipeline of more than 25 GW of development projects in Europe, the Asia-Pacific and the Americas, prompting Macquarie to test the market for buyers late last year.

Airbus and Qantas invest in fund for decarbonisation technologies (PV Magazine): Qantas and Airbus have jointly committed to invest $15 million into Climate Tech Partners, a leading climate-focused venture capital fund, to support their shared ambition to accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuel and other aviation decarbonisation technologies. The announcement was made in Sydney by Airbus Chief Sustainability Office Julie Kitcher and Qantas Chief Sustainability Officer Fiona Messent. Climate Tech Partners’ (CTP) unique approach involves working closely with corporate partners to identify and support technology solutions tailored to aviation needs.

Green Projects and Initiatives

Habitat Energy partners with Epic Energy to optimise 100 MW / 200 MWh Mannum battery (PV Magazine): The battery is due to be operational later this year and will provide vital flexibility to support Australia’s clean energy transition whilst increasing grid resilience. Habitat Energy will use its Evolve platform, which features advanced AI-powered price forecasting and optimisation software overseen 24/7 by expert human traders, to provide a fully integrated trading service to Epic Energy. This purpose-built solution enables Habitat Energy to maximise value from large-scale battery storage and renewable energy assets. The collaboration extends the existing partnership between Habitat Energy and Epic Energy, with Habitat Energy already providing optimisation services to the company’s adjacent 39 MWp Stage 2 Mannum Solar Farm.

Australia’s most renewable grid has another bid battery, providing “baseload” wind to huge mine (Renew Economy): The first big battery signed up to help deliver a “baseload renewables” contract – in this case BHP’s giant Olympic Dam mine in South Australia – has now started full operations. Neoen’s 238.5 MW, 477 MWh Blyth battery will combine with output from the Goyder South wind project to meet the BHP contract, and will be the company’s second big battery in the state, nearly eight years after the world’s first big battery at Hornsdale was built. “Blyth battery will not only contribute to the grid, but also support Neoen’s first-ever renewable energy baseload contract, helping firm wind power from our Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm to power operations at BHP’s Olympic Dam,” Neoen said in a LinkedIn post.

Clean energy company raises $127m to take technology global (The Australian): Renewables pioneer RayGen Resources says the $127m Series D funding it’s raised is among the largest clean energy technology capital raisings ever in Australia.

Trinasolar launches the Shield extreme climate solution in Asia Pacific (PV Magazine): As Australia faces increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather patterns, Trinasolar, a global leader in smart PV and energy storage solutions, has launched a first-to-market solution that helps solar developers protect their assets and safeguard performance — no matter what the forecast holds. Unveiled at this year’s Smart Energy Conference in Sydney, the Shield Extreme Climate Solution delivers next-generation protection for utility-scale PV plants, offering a powerful combination of high-strength structural modules and intelligent weather-responsive tracking. This innovative development was specifically designed and tested for the Australian market. The solution was tested in Queensland, Australia.

Landmark solar and battery project reaches financial close and begins construction in Gippsland (Renew Economy): Renewable energy fund manager and developer Octopus Australia says it has officially begun construction of the Fulham solar and two hour battery project after reaching financial close, and hosting a sod-turning ceremony at its site near Sale in Gippsland. The $300 million project comprises an 80 megawatt (MW) solar component and a 64 MW, 128 MWh battery component, and has been financed with equity from super fund Rest, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), and clients of Westpac Private Bank.

New transmission line linking most renewable state with biggest coal state about to start operations (Renew Economy): The first stage of one of Australia’s most significant transmission projects – Project EnergyConnect – is about to start operations, linking the country’s most advanced renewable state South Australia with the most coal dependent, NSW. The first stage of Project EnergyConnect – being built by ElectraNet and Transgrid – has completed its hold point testing and will allow up to 150 MW of capacity to be traded between South Australia and NSW, with a spur line also going into Victoria. It could start operations as soon as the end of this week.

Engie supercharges electrification with new partnerships (Energy Magazine): ENGIE has signed two milestone commercial agreements to drive household electrification and boost electric vehicle (EV) uptake around Australia. The two commercial arrangements aim to increase the power of Australian energy users to gain more control over energy storage and manage electricity usage in a more affordable way. The first agreement will see Intellihub acquire ENGIE’s Australian EV charging business through leading EV charger installer EVSE – adding more than 200 public charging points in places like Chadstone Shopping Centre, Chatswood Chase, Royal Australian Mint, Mandurah Forum, QueensPlaza in Queensland, and the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Market ready vehicle-to-grid technology an energy transition game changer (PV Magazine): A collaboration of Essential Energy, the CSIRO, Sigenergy Australia, and Austrailan electric vehicle (EV) company, AUSEV have tested and confirmed, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is market ready in Australia. New South Wales electricity distributor Essential Energy, Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, China-headquartered battery solutions company Sigenergy Australia, and Australian-owned distributor of commercial electric vehicles (EV) AUSEV made the joint announcement at Smart Energy 2025 in Sydney. Essential Energy said it had successfully connected AUSEV’s EV Ford F-150 Lightning with a combined charging system (CCS2) DC bi-directional charger and the Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved Sigenergy storage system.

Other Matters of Interest

Expert says Labor must ensure battery subsidies don’t entrench inequality (ABC News): One of Australia's leading energy experts has predicted that plans to subsidise household batteries will hasten the demise of big power plants such as coal generators. Gavin Dufty, the national director of energy at St Vincent de Paul, said the announcement by Labor that it would spend $2.3 billion to spur the uptake of batteries among households — if re-elected — was a further blow to incumbent energy companies. Mr Dufty said the proposal would help fast-track the unravelling of the centralised grid in which power was produced by big generators and transported on high-voltage transmission lines to consumers.

Energy analyst warn NT government that relying on gas won’t guarantee lower power prices (ABC News): The Northern Territory government is relying on gas as the key to bringing down local power prices, but energy analysts say it's risky to put all the eggs in the gas basket. On Thursday, the NT Country Liberal Party (CLP) government officially scrapped its target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030. Renewables Minister Gerard Maley said he wanted a mix of energy sources. "We've either got gas or renewables, and renewables has failed dismally," he said.

“I could never find a business case:” Renewable bosses say gas power will require its own underwriting scheme (Renew Economy): One of Australia’s leading renewable energy chiefs – a former gas executive – has broken ranks within the industry and argued that government will have to support new gas peaking generators in the main grid, or else they will simply not be built. Gas has emerged as a central talking point in the election battle over energy policies, and while there is general agreement that less gas will be burned for electricity in coming years, there is a recognition among most that it will be essential when needed.

Not enough water available for Coalition’s nuclear proposal to run safely, report finds (The Guardian): About 90% of the nuclear generation capacity the Coalition proposes to build would not have access to enough water to run safely, according to a report commissioned by Liberals Against Nuclear. The report authored by Prof Andrew Campbell, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, assessed nuclear energy’s water needs and the available supply across the seven sites where the Coalition has proposed new reactors. Campbell found replacing coal generation with “off the shelf” nuclear technology as proposed by the Coalition would require 200 gigalitres of water annually.

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