Media

Tim’s interview starts at 3:06:00 Tim Buckley criticised opposition proposals to extend ageing coal-fired power stations and subsidise nuclear energy, arguing they would cost taxpayers “tens to hundreds of billions”, potentially up to a trillion dollars. He said falling wholesale electricity prices in eastern Australia, down 12% year-on-year in early 2026, showed renewable energy and batteries were already lowering costs. Buckley argued recent energy price spikes were caused by fossil fuel volatility following Russian invasion of Ukraine, not the renewable transition. Discussing Origin Energy’s Eraring plant, he warned ageing coal stations were unreliable and prone to catastrophic failures. Read more

Australia’s federal budget includes $10 billion to boost diesel and jet fuel supplies and create a government-owned emergency reserve, aimed at improving fuel security. Tim Buckley criticised the continued support for fossil fuels, saying the government missed opportunities to tax LNG exports and reform the $11 billion diesel rebate. He welcomed investments in electrification, batteries and decarbonisation, but said more funding was needed for electric freight, mining and transport. Climate experts said the budget largely maintains existing renewable energy support while continuing major fossil fuel subsidies, raising concerns Australia may struggle to meet its 82% renewable energy target by 2030. Read more

Tim Buckley’s interview starts at 1:06:51 in the following link: ABC Gold Coast Drive Tom Forbes reports that the Australian […] Read more

Australia’s electricity regulator, as reported by ABC Illawarra, has announced a lower default market offer, reducing benchmark power prices as […] Read more

Australia faces economic and energy pressures as China diversifies from reliance on its natural resources, investing $120 billion in supply chains across Africa and South America. Despite record trade, Australia risks overdependence on China. Disruptions to Qatar’s gas exports may push LNG prices up, benefiting multinationals and potentially the federal budget. Key resources like lithium, copper, and rare earths are vital for EVs and energy storage, prompting calls for stronger domestic energy security and renewable production. Read more

Tim’s interview starts at 1:06:33 in the link. The short film series Hunter at the Crossroads screens tonight in Muswellbrook, exploring local perspectives on the Upper Hunter’s coal industry. A panel will feature Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance. Tim rejected claims Australia is undermining itself by reducing domestic coal use while continuing exports, noting coal is increasingly uneconomic and investors are unwilling to fund new coal-fired power stations. In 2025, US$2.3 trillion was invested globally in clean energy, more than double fossil fuel spending, while climate-related damage costs US$1.4 trillion annually. He said coal is in structural decline, Hunter Valley exports peaked five years ago, and Australia will invest A$500 billion in energy transition over the next decade. Read more

During the current heat wave, with nighttime temperatures around 40°C, rooftop solar panels are struggling to supply energy, and household […] Read more

Tim Buckley, energy analyst and director of Climate Energy Finance, says Western Australia’s coal industry is a long-running financial and […] Read more

Origin Energy’s Eraring coal-fired power station, the state’s largest generator at just under 3,000 megawatts, was originally set to close […] Read more

Eraring power station near Newcastle will remain open until April 2029 after Origin Energy advised AEMO the extension was needed to support New South Wales during the energy transition. Tim Buckley said Australia is undertaking a rapid, real-time transformation never done before, with inevitable setbacks. Major projects such as Snowy Hydro 2.0 and EnergyConnect are delayed and over budget, affecting grid reliability. However, battery costs have halved, grid plans are shifting towards storage rather than transmission, and Australia reached a record 50.1 per cent renewable share in late 2025, with power prices falling 28 per cent. Tim said flexibility, not permanence, explains Eraring’s extension. Read more

Analyst Tim Buckley, the founder of think tank Climate Energy Finance, thinks that if Rio ends up buying Glencore’s coal mines as part of the deal “they’re probably paying more than they sold them for, having missed several years of very nice profits”. Buckley says coal miners have made “obscene profits” in recent years as the transition to clean energy slowed due to the influence of Donald Trump and prices soared due to Vladimir Putin. “There was some massive windfall war profiteering going on with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” he says. But he says costs have also soared and “when prices go back to anything like normal it’s going to be ugly”. Read more

Tim Buckley says Australia’s power grid is vulnerable in heatwaves because it was built 50–70 years ago and not designed for frequent 40–45°C temperatures. Extreme weather is increasing due to climate change driven by fossil fuels, making resilience upgrades essential. The issue is grid resilience, not just generation type. Old transmission lines over long distances are prone to heat, bushfires and shutdowns. Buckley argues for major investment in modernisation, including microgrids, batteries, rooftop solar and the ability for remote towns to operate independently during outages. These solutions are now cheaper, faster to deploy and more reliable than maintaining ageing infrastructure. Read more