Media

CEF’s critical minerals report with commentary by Tim Buckley and Dr Alan Finkel featured across 100+ mastheads via AAP. The report calls for urgent action, policy ambition and private investment to leverage Australia’s lucrative opportunity to lead the world in mining, refining and making clean energy products, as it identifies Australia’s “once in a century” opportunity to process critical minerals and manufacture onshore, powered by our abundant renewable energy. Read more

Former chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel on CEF’s new critical minerals report, noting Australia is well-positioned to establish itself as a superpower in the global shift from petrostates to electrostates. Electrostates will be those countries that supply energy transition materials such as critical minerals, or supply renewable energy. Dr Finkel says Australia can be both. With clear direction and heightened ambition from the new government, Australia can be a leading supplier of critical minerals and decarbonised products as the world undertakes its shift to the zero emissions future. Read more

On Adani’s deal with Bangladesh to purchase power from the company’s Godda coal-fired power plant, Tim Buckley said: “The way I would put it is heads Adani wins, tails you lose. The contract is so biased against the interests of Bangladesh to the point that one has to wonder why any sensible person would sign it on behalf of the Bangladeshi government. Read more

Tim Buckley forecasts a 10 per cent annual module price reduction over the next decade, with his confidence is driven by the increase in the production capacity of PVs in China, which will likely triple by the end of this year. Read more

As JP Morgan removes Adani from its ESG funds, Tim Buckley described the investor losses as an “absolute failure” on the part of regulators and index providers, saying regulators need to stay on top of “the biggest systemic risks, and one of the big systemic risks is the index funds and the lack of clarity and regulatory definition.” Read more

On the deal Adani has stitched up with Bangladesh to supply power from its Gooda coal fired power plant, Tim Buckley said “This appears to be the most expensive, lopsided contract to replenish the pockets of the ex-richest man in Asia, at the expense of the people in Bangladesh.” Further extensive commentary in the attached article. Read more

Japan plans to divert excess renewable energy to crypto operations, raising the issue of storage. Tim Buckley points to pumped hydro as a solution, saying that it can be a cost-effective way for Japan to store excess energy from sources such as floating wind turbines and solar, providing energy security and reducing emissions. Read more

In this feature on the flaws in the carbon offsets available under the Safeguard Mechanism emissions reduction framework applying to Australia’s biggest emitters, Tim Buckley notes that fossil-fuel multinationals operating in Australia made $120 to $140 billion gross profit last year alone on exports of Australian LNG and coal. Read more

Adani had made a deal for Bangladesh to import power from its 1,600MW Godda power plant in India, using coal from Adani’s Australian Carmichael mine. Tim Buckley said the Bangladeshi deal “is one of the most expensive power purchase agreements” he has ever seen and “strategically ridiculous” for Bangladesh. Read more

While the federal government’s safeguard mechanism reform is flawed – in particular, offsets should be strictly limited – it does provide the policy architecture for a high permanent price on carbon – essential to driving decarbonisation, alongside the suite of policy initiatives designed to accelerate the energy transition. After 10 years of LNP failure, this is a massive win. Read more

AEMO’s electricity opportunities update today confirms significant progress on grid decarbonisation in the last 6 months – with a staggering 209GW of new firmed renewables worth > A$250 billion in the pipeline – coupled with the urgent need for accelerating investment in generation, long-duration storage and transmission to ensure supply over the next decade. The acceleration of long delayed deployment of EVs and charging networks also means it’s time for AEMO to start modelling EV-to-grid charging opportunities. With ~20 million EVs in Australia within two decades, this equates to a collective new asset base of 800 gigawatt hours of batteries. Read more

Tim Buckley comments on today’s release by the Australian Energy Market Operator of its electricity market update, noting there has been significant progress on decarbonising the energy grid in the past six months, with a 209 gigawatt pipeline of new firmed renewables proposals worth over $250 billion, highlighting the massive regional employment and investment opportunities from decarbonisation – but also observing the urgent need for further capacity investment to offset exiting fossil fuels. Read more