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“The Australian Energy Market Operator report for the December quarter of 2024 shows domestic gas use accounted for only about 16% of total gas produced in eastern Australia,” says Buckley. “We exported the other 84% of all the gas produced in eastern Australia. That’s the most important point: we don’t have a shortage. Read more

This damaging policy reversal undermines what was formerly Queensland’s national leadership in building out large-scale renewable energy and storage, and its record uptake of rooftop solar, just as the climate emergency escalates and in the context of a national cost of living crisis driven by skyrocketing fossil fuel energy bills. Read more

The benefits of the new battery program extend beyond those with existing solar. Reducing energy demand in the peak evening period brings down wholesale electricity prices and network costs, meaning reduced power prices for all. Read more

The rebate would only apply to people with rooftop solar, meaning people living in an apartment and renters could miss out. Buckley said he would like to see this revised and caveats put in place for apartment blocks, so that those households aren’t left behind. “I would hope this is just the next iteration of a number of policies to make sure we deal with apartment dwellers,” he said. “There could be split incentives for renters and landlords, and policies to deal with council regulations and strata titles.” Read more

n the lead-up to Australia’s election, the cost of living crisis remains a key issue. Labor has proposed a 30% subsidy on household batteries linked to solar energy, which could save individuals over $1,000 annually on electricity bills. However, some homes, especially apartments, may not benefit due to limitations in installing solar systems. Read more

If Labor wins the next election, it promises a 30% subsidy on home batteries, capped at one battery per household, with the subsidy renewed yearly. Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, supports the plan, noting that it could reduce battery costs, which can exceed $10,000, by around $3,000, benefiting households with significant savings. Read more

Tim Buckley, Director at Climate Energy Finance, said in an interview with Jaynie Seal that Peter Dutton’s new gas plan sounds good but doesn’t solve the real problem. The plan offers $1 billion to increase gas production and lower energy bills, but Tim says there’s no actual gas shortage—just poor policy. For 50 years, gas was cheap in Australia, but after export facilities opened, prices jumped and local use dropped. Tim believes we should focus on keeping enough gas at fair prices for Australians before exporting it. He wants prices below $10, which is still high, but better than what people are paying now. Read more

Climate Energy Finance founder Tim Buckley, who was not involved in the report, said the death of coal has been called many times but now the numbers are showing the “beginning of the end”, particularly as the Chinese solar and wind juggernaut continues. “It’s going to be a slow death for coal,” he said. “It’s not a decline, it’s a plateau, so it’s not going to be rapid.” The implications for Australia “are profound”, Buckley said, with the country’s economic policy seemingly built on the assumption its Asian trading partners would make no serious efforts to transition their economies to renewables. “We don’t as a country realise the magnitude of the threat to our key exports today and our government continues to sleepwalk on the resources curse,” he said. Read more

Highlights Federal election has been called this morning – for 3rd May 2025 Budget – not much climate or energy information in the budget, perhaps there’s more to be announced during the election. BYD’s amazing stats. Matt Pollard’s oped in RenewEconomy. 120,000 R&D staff!!! EV momentum Tim shares overall EV market stats, perhaps a lowlight for Tesla. Caroline’s Wang work on electricity generation stats. Highlighting the first two months of 2025 performance. Harry Martin’s International Solar PV and Bess Manufacturing Trends. See Climate Energy Finance report. Read more

Chinese companies are finding these host countries, including Indonesia, happy to accept their know-how in clean tech – along with investments and factories that create local jobs and tax revenue – and the help in transitioning from fossil fuels. “It’s a win for the recipient countries, because they are getting factories, wind farms, solar farms, batteries and real jobs. A lot of them are getting research and development centres as well,” said Mr Tim Buckley, director of Sydney-based think-tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF). Read more

CEF observes continued price deflation in solar PV and batteries – prices dropped 20% for batteries, and Chinese panels plummeted by 37 to 46% in 2024. This cost reduction has turbocharged deployment rates, with almost 600GW of solar PV installed in 2024. Assuming continued growth in China deployments, 700GW this year seems likely, and CEF projects this will rise to 1,000GW per annum by 2030. BESS installation rates are expected to treble in this timeframe. With solar modules and battery manufacturing capacity at three times the current global installations, expectations of plateauing installations are entirely unlikely. Read more

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has used his budget reply to unveil a “National Gas Plan”, which he says will prioritise domestic supply of gas and reduce energy bills for Australians. If elected, Mr Dutton says the Coalition government’s plan will include fast-tracking new gas projects. But the Founder and Director of think-tank, Climate Energy Finance, says the “devil will be in the detail” with the proposal. Read more