Media

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

In a November 2025 report Climate Energy Finance (CEF) outlined a pathway for the SA government to enable and facilitate the state’s magnetite industry as a precursor to a broader green iron industry and to transform the Whyalla Steelworks in a phased approach: prioritising the construction of a new electric arc furnace (EAF) to replace steelmaking capacity, followed by a new green iron facility as green hydrogen economics continue to improve. It is also positive to see the administration process for Whyalla Steelworks has attracted interest from more than 70 parties worldwide, with five domestic and international groups now shortlisted and undertaking detailed technical, financial and operational due diligence over the coming months. 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

It has been a year since the Whyalla Steelworks was taken from Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance under a $2 billion government intervention. The facility now has five shortlisted buyers from Australia, Japan, Korea and India, with the Premier confident a sale will be finalised this year to maximise returns for taxpayers. Twelve months ago, the government faced industrial crises in Port Pirie and Whyalla threatening thousands of jobs. A tour of the Upper Spencer Gulf aimed to highlight that, for now, both the smelter and steelworks are secure, a message Labor hopes resonates with voters next month. Read more

The green hydrogen project was planned to complement the steelmaking operations in Whyalla. Those plans were “deferred”, the Premier said on the day of announcing the steelworks package. Asked by InDaily whether the state government was interested in pursuing a green hydrogen project again, South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said: “We don’t have plans for it now” but believed business would eventually take the lead. “Hydrogen is not a political pursuit or an ideological pursuit, it’s a matter of chemistry,” he said. Read more

For developing economies navigating simultaneous development and decarbonization challenges, China’s green technology cooperation enables potential leapfrogging of traditional high-carbon industrialization. Over the past three years, Chinese companies have committed over $180 billion to overseas clean-energy manufacturing and infrastructure, according to the Climate Energy Finance. And China has signed 55 memorandums of understanding on South-South climate cooperation with 43 countries, including programs such as low-carbon demonstration zones. Read more

“South Australia is a world leader in terms of its renewable energy transition and with that comes risks, but now it is showcasing its successes,” says Tim Buckley, an independent energy analyst at Climate Energy Finance, an Australian think-tank based in Sydney. “South Australian consumers are starting to really benefit from sustained, lower power prices.” South Australia generated 84 per cent of its electricity from solar and wind energy in the final quarter of 2025, the highest proportion of any major grid in the world. The state plans to reach 100 per cent by the end of next year. Read more

On LinkedIn, clean energy finance specialist Tim Buckley says the IEA’s analysis points the way from electrification to energy independence and decarbonization. With 448 gigawatts of new renewables capacity installed in 2025 alone, he adds, the data also underline China’s massive lead in deployment. “China leads the world in all cleantech sectors, the zero-emissions growth industries of the future,” Buckley writes. “China leads in research and development, domestic manufacturing, domestic deployments, exports, and outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) in cleantech. Dominates the world. China speed, China scale is amazing to watch.” Read more

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has announced “the Age of Electricity” in its latest report – Electricity 2026 – which highlights the rapid growth of global electrification over 2020-2025, now forecast to accelerate to 3.6% per year growth to 2030. With electrification comes both energy independence and decarbonisation, as regions and countries the world over speed their transitions to meet economic and climate goals in an increasingly fraught geopolitical landscape. Two weeks ago, the UK government joined with nine northern European countries to sign the historic Hamburg Declaration to secure a massive 100GW of new offshore wind projects. This is designed to ensure Europe hasn’t freed itself from Russian fossil fuel capture only to allow US capture instead. Read more

China is expanding coal power despite record renewable investments to meet energy needs and ensure energy security after 2022’s shortages. New coal projects reached 161GW in 2025, with 291GW in the pipeline, potentially leading to underused plants and stranded assets. Experts recommend flexible coal plant dispatch and offline reserves to boost renewables, warning the 15th FYP must reset coal’s role. Read more

Renewable generation supplied more than half of Australia’s electricity in the fourth quarter of 2025, driving wholesale power prices down by nearly 50% and coinciding with record battery output, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Coal-fired generation fell 4.6% year on year to a record quarterly low, while gas-fired output dropped 27% to its lowest level in 25 years. 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