Media

In the automotive sector, China argues overcapacity is concentrated in combustion-engine cars rather than EVs and says market mechanisms will eventually weed out weak players. Moreover, some models by Chinese EV maker BYD sell in Germany for more than double their price in China – an argument that critics use against Europe’s concerns over unfair pricing. China also says many of its firms are more innovative, hence more competitive. It can point to surpassing the United States as world leader in patent applications. One industry where global demand does not keep up with Chinese production, though, is solar. Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Climate Energy Finance in Sydney, estimates China’s wafer, cell and module capacity coming online in 2024 is sufficient to meet annual global demand now through to 2032. Read more

Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled a major overhaul of foreign investment rules, saying the changes were designed to help attract private capital and better manage national security risks. Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley said Chinese investors had made important contributions to Australia’s renewable industry, and the more competitive investors able to bid, the better for the energy transition. “We need to collaborate with them because they have got the world’s best technology in solar panels, polysilicon, batteries, wind turbines and electric vehicles,” Mr Buckley said. “Getting them to collaborate and invest in Australia in partnership with us will be critically important”. Read more

Australia should be prepared as China’s remarkable ascent in renewable energy generation is poised to reshape the global energy paradigm, argued Climate Energy Finance (CEF), in recent report. The report forecasts a monumental milestone: the cessation of new coal power construction in China before 2030. Read more

The scam is bad news for Australian coal exports. A report released today by Climate Energy Finance models a dramatic slowing in the rate of China’s new coal power plant build-out to stop the construction of new plants before 2030. This critical shift in the global energy landscape has profound significance globally and for Australia – including the inevitable decline in demand for coal in China. This is a wakeup call for Australia to accelerate the transition of its economy from dependence on coal exports and diversify its economic base. We should be pivoting now to leverage our world-leading wealth of critical minerals such as lithium and strategic metals like iron ore, processing and manufacturing onshore using our abundant clean energy. Read more

The New South Wales government will announce within days that it will extend the operations of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for as long as four more years. “They are responding to the demands of the fossil fuel sector,” said Tim Buckley, head of Climate Energy Finance, who has compiled reports on how NSW can retain a reliable power system without Eraring. “They will be using taxpayer funds to crowd out private capital” that would otherwise be investing in renewable energy, he said. In March, Buckley estimated that keeping the power station operating could cost the government as much as $150m a year for just two of its four units. Read more

Climate Energy Finance’s latest report, released this week, modelled China’s electricity system nationally at the annual level through to 2040, evaluating its likely GDP growth trajectory and the resulting energy demand growth, as well as the increased share and hence demand for electricity in the energy mix as China continues to pursue its ‘electrification of everything’ strategy of the last two decades. This is a wakeup call for Australia to accelerate the transition of its economy from its historic overdependence on coal exports and diversify its economic base. We should be pivoting now to deploy our natural advantages – our world-leading wealth of critical minerals and strategic metals – to produce value-added energy transition materials for export. Read more

Xuyang Dong spoke with Amelia Bernasconi at ABC about CEF’s new report POWER SHIFT: Staggering rise of renewables positions China to end new coal power before 2030. Xuyang says that China is massively accelerating renewable energy. In just the first three months of this year China installed 61 gigawatts of wind and solar. This means China is reducing its dependence on coal power. Coal power will fall to less than 50% of China’s energy mix by 2030. Our projections show it can stop building new coal power stations before 2030. Read more

China’s energy landscape is undergoing a staggering transformation propelled by its leadership in cleantech innovation, declining costs in renewable energy technologies and a massive acceleration of its renewables build out, underpinned by central policy support that sees decarbonisation as a key economic goal. Read more

Xuyang Dong spoke with Amelia Bernasconi at ABC Breakfast Upper Hunter about CEF’s new report POWER SHIFT: Staggering rise of renewables positions China to end new coal power before 2030. Xuyang says that China is massively accelerating renewable energy. In just the first three months of this year China installed 61 gigawatts of wind and solar. This means China is reducing its dependence on coal power. Coal power will fall to less than 50% of China’s energy mix by 2030. Our projections show it can stop building new coal power stations before 2030. Read more

Management at BYD, which already exports cars to more than 70 countries, has told investors that they believe they can increase overseas sales from nearly 250,000 cars in 2023 to between two to three million cars in the coming years, reflecting around 10 per cent of the market, excluding Europe and the U.S. “They are strategically farsighted,” says Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, an Australian think-tank. “They don’t have the myopic short-termism of western capitalism.” Despite the protectionist trade landscape under U.S. President Joe Biden, BYD is also finding new ways to operate in the American market. Read more

Australian renewable energy finance expert Tim Buckley was not convinced the takeover bid was a wise move. “I question what the takeover brings aside from complexity,” he told AFP before the bid was confirmed. Read more

This week’s voting down of Woodside Energy’s misnamed Climate Transition Action Plan at the oil and gas giant’s 70th annual general meeting is historic. It represents a milestone in shareholder activism – and a clarion call that the tide is turning on laggard fossil fuel majors that fail to responsibly and credibly address the greatest single risk they face: climate change. A credible and accelerating diversification and pivot of Woodside’s investment strategy to zero-carbon opportunities is critical to preservation of shareholder value. Alternatively, an accelerated return of capital to shareholders is an obvious option, allowing them to reallocate their investment to solutions rather than remaining beholden to the unwillingness of recalcitrant leadership to embrace technologies in which they demonstrably lack expertise. It is past time for board renewal. Read more