Media

Highlights – Draft AER Default Market Offer Brilliant to see the Australian Energy Regulator has today flagged draft default market offer (DMO) electricity pricing down ⬇️ 1% to ⏬ 10% for residential consumers, and between ⬇️ 8% to ⏬ 21% for small business consumers The DMO sets an efficiently priced safety-net for households and small businesses on standing offer electricity plans and acts as a reference price to help consumers compare market offers. This is the draft ruling, with the final ruling released May 2026 for effect for the 12 months starting 1 July 2026. This is consistent with Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)’s quarterly energy dynamics highlighting Australia hit a record high 51% RenewableEnergy share in the 4QCY2025, and wholesale electricity prices fell by >40% yoy as a result. Read more

The war in the Middle East has sent Australia’s fuel prices soaring. And people are worried that if the battle between the US-Israel and Iran continues for another month – Australia may have to begin rationing fuel. Already, drivers are panic buying, stockpiling and some country petrol stations are running dry. Global oil supplies are under threat as Iran attacks tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Read more

Highlights The Clean Energy Council’s 4Q2025 report shows a rebound in large-scale renewable and storage investment across Australia, with record commissioning and strong financial activity. Five generation projects (1.2 GW) and five storage projects (1.1 GW) reached FID, while 2.1 GW of generation and 1.9 GW / 4.9 GWh of storage became operational, surpassing Q3 2025 records. The pipeline remains strong with 81 generation (13 GW) and 75 storage projects (13 GW / 35 GWh) under construction or financially committed. NSW awarded six major 8-hour battery contracts, including the 300 MW / 3,500 MWh Great Western BESS, and launched additional tenders to expand firmed renewables and accelerate zero-emissions generation. Read more

Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, notes that the energy transition is reshaping global power, elevating China through sustained clean energy investment. Australia, strategically located in the Asian century with over $300 billion in annual trade with China, can act as a bridge between East and West—deploying low-cost renewables, adding value to critical minerals, and exporting to global partners. Achieving net zero requires $500 billion by 2035, mostly private capital, catalysed by government de-risking. Strengthening the Safeguard Mechanism with clearer, rising carbon price signals will provide investor certainty and accelerate Australia’s clean energy future. Read more

Big themes 2026 – From Grant McDowell In 2025 we discussed the rise and rise of China. In 2026 I think we’ll see the rise and rise of the middle powers. New world disorder is opening up opportunities for China to collaborate with the middle powers, and beyond. China has learned from the mistakes of the Belt Road Initiative and seeking to collaborate. China’s EVs are displacing over one million barrels of oil demand a day. The middle powers are moving from molecules to electrons for clean electricity and transport. Middle powers are tired of being lumbered with decades long expensive fossil generators are now leaning into many small and cheap. See Ethiopia’s ban on petrol and diesel vehicle imports. Carbon trajectory – EU CBAM helps set a new market for world trade and carbon polluting countries. So once again we’ll be following the work of Ember and Lauri Myllyirta. And our conversations will naturally include Australia. I’ll be watching our energy transformation closely as we face a chicken and egg problem. As coal generation is extended investors are reluctant to back utility scale wind and solar projects. Which then allows the coal generation to extend. Utility scale batteries will play a role, however wind generation is key and every effort should be made to deploy, deploy, deploy. Read more

In the latest Energypreneurs episode with Tim Buckley, the discussion explores why Australia’s energy transition is outperforming expectations: ☀️ 50.2% renewables across the grid — without instability 🔋 World-leading battery uptake (1,000 installs per day) 📉 Wholesale power prices down ~28% year-on-year ⚡ How batteries reduce curtailment and defer grid costs 🤝 Why equity matters — ensuring renters benefit too Tim Buckley’s takeaway is clear: renewables, batteries, and smart policy together deliver cheaper, more resilient power. Read more

BESS deployments booming Batteries are the biggest disruptive force in global energy markets in 2025. Australia becomes world’s third-largest utility battery market. Rho Motion reports Grid-scale BESS market saw 12.7GWh of new capacity enter operations globally in October 2025, +29% y-o-y. Meanwhile, global YTD deployments have reached 156GWh, +38% yoy. China led new operational capacity with 8.8GWh of utility scale BESS added in the Oct 2025 month – double what Australia will do this year – including one giga-scale vanadium flow battery. Read more

Batteries are the biggest disruptive force in global energy markets in 2025. Australia becomes world’s third-largest utility battery market. Australia has overtaken the UK to rank behind China and the US in utility-scale battery capacity, with 14GW/37GWh of projects at or nearing financial close. Rystad Energy estimates the Australian pipeline of battery projects jumped 45GW in one year from 109GW in August 2024 to 154GW now. Meanwhile Minister Bowen is rightly crowing about the >100,000 home battery installs so far. Worth noting the world’s largest hybrid BESS by MASDAR in the UAE, a 5GW solar and 19GWh BESS designed to provide 1GW of 24/7 power supply commenced construction this week. And AEMO’s new 3Q2025 Quarterly Energy Dynamics report reveals that average wholesale electricity prices across the National Electricity Market, fell to $87/MWh, down 27% on the same quarter last year. AEMO says the surge in battery storage – up an average 461MW in the evening peaks – clearly had an impact on other peaking generation sources, with gas fired generation down 11%. All of these factors also helped the renewable share hit a new 3Q high of 42.7%, nearly 10% higher than the Q3 average of 39.3% last year. You’d never know this reading the mainstream climate science denialist media! AEMO’s Quarterly Energy dynamics report had great news for Minister Bowen. Read more

Highlights China’s Envision announces a green passport for wind turbines Envision Energy, announced this week that its main wind turbine has been internationally certified via the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) platform. 🔹 85–90% recyclability, maximizing circular economy potential 🔹 Supply chains on track for 100% green electricity by 2028 🔹 Transparent, internationally recognized carbon accounting China’s cleantech leaders are embracing an international alignment to build collaboration and a race to the top on climate, even as the US abrogates their global leadership daily. Read more

Highlights China Cleantech Exports Boom – Lauri Myllyvirta @CREA notes value of China’s exports of clean energy technologies hit a new all-time record in July, passing the previous high from March 2023. China exported $18.4bn worth of solar and wind power equipment, EVs and batteries during the month. Australia Brazil Chamber of Commence Forum – ABCC business forum in the lead up to COP30, Organised by the wonderful Mara Bun. We also head about Brazil looking todevelop world leading green iron projects. Read more

CEF’s new report on Diesel Fuel Rebate subsidy reform “Transition Tax Incentive: Reforming Fuel Tax Credits into a Decarbonisation Tailwind”. A policy proposal to phase-out the fuel tax credit scheme for its largest beneficiaries with a transition tax incentive scheme to accelerate electrification and decarbonisation. Since the Fuel Tax Act 2006 (starting FY07), the FTC Scheme has provided $123bn in diesel subsidies to FY25. Beyond this, by FY30, it will have provided $184bn in subsidies. Read more

Highlights Australia’s Federal Senate Disinformation inquiry ARENA award to Calix $45m Allegra Spender Productivity and Tax Roundtable Lowlights Lithium Hydroxide Refinery Write-off by IGO Main Story The Race to 82% Renewables AEMO’s Quarterly Energy Dynamics 2QCY2025 Methane gas generation plays an important but small and progressively declining role 25% upscaling of the CIS Big BESS News What’s coming up? CEF hoping Minister Bowen will go the top end of the CCA’s 65-75% reduction target. Australia is yet to win the presidency of #COP31, if we do, that will be a key priority for CEF’s Caroline Wang over the coming 15 months. Read more