Media

The federal energy minister’s plan to make electricity free for three hours in the middle of each day for customers in Default Market Offer regions has made a big splash in the energy world, and sparked calls for more electrification and demand flexibility. “This is excellent, minister,” said Climate Energy Finance founder and CEO Tim Buckley on LinkedIn. “This means many, many more consumers will … benefit from free solar power … at zero cost to the market, and massively incentivise demand load shifting to the middle of the day. Read more

While the diesel rebate has been held up as a major disincentive to investing in battery-electric haulage, getting rid of it may be a step too far. But what if there was a way to do it and not cost the most miners anything? Clean Energy Finance director Tim Buckley may have a solution. He suggests a Transition Tax Incentive. It does not eliminate the diesel tax rebate entirely. Rather. Buckley’s version caps the diesel fuel tax rebate at $50 million per annum, which he believes will affect only 15 mining companies and not long-haul truck drivers or farmers. 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

Ironically, the government’s own Treasury modeling says the value of Australia’s coal and gas exports is predicted to plummet by 50% over the next five years as global demand declines. The modeling, released in September, found the annual value of fossil fuel exports is expected to drop by more than $40 billion (A$60bn) by 2030 under any future scenario of emissions reduction within Australia. Former analyst Tim Buckley, founder and director of the think tank Climate Energy Finance, says Australia’s “gift horse” of fossil fuel revenue could turn into a “resources curse.” Read more

Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance at the Public Interest think tank, says coal is definitely declining, even in […] Read more

Tackling battery attachment rates in Australia. The initiative is also a means to bolster the country’s budding distributed energy resources market. Rooftop solar PV is already a staple of the energy mix, having surpassed 26.8GW in H1 2025. Despite this, battery attachment rates have traditionally lagged behind. The initiative has been praised by various members of Australia’s renewable energy community, including Tim Buckley, director of think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF). In an interview with ESN Premium earlier this year, Buckley noted that the scheme could turn Australia into a ‘red-hot market’ for battery energy storage systems (BESS). Read more

Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, was optimistic about the deal, and argued Australia should leverage its natural advantages, as well as its position in the US-China trade war, to move up the export value chain by expanding its onshore processing and refining capacity. Read more

The Financial Times described China’s rising dominance as the world’s first significant “electrostate”, citing Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley, who observed that the Trump administration has “embraced fossil fuel industries” and “gutted” the previous government’s support for renewable energy. Read more

The OECD’s new Green Iron Opportunities in Australia report cites Climate Energy Finance’s analysis, underscoring the significant potential of Australia’s shift from raw iron ore exports to value-added green iron production. According to CEF’s modelling, transitioning a portion of current iron ore exports to green iron could generate substantial new export revenues and protect Australia’s economy from major losses as global steelmakers decarbonise. As international demand for low-carbon materials grows, the OECD notes that decisive investment and strong policy coordination will determine whether Australia positions itself as a global leader in the emerging green iron economy. Read more

The Albanese government’s top climate adviser has backed calls to overhaul a lucrative tax rebate for miners who use diesel fuel to power their operations, an incentive heavily backed by resources companies but opposed by green groups who say it undermines decarbonisation efforts. Climate Change Authority chairman Matt Kean, a former senior NSW Liberal figure, said the tax break, which is estimated to cost governments several billion dollars annually, would be better spent on incentivising electrification technologies rather than propping up “legacy” industries. Read more

The deal doesn’t necessarily mean Australia will become a high-end manufacturer Rare earths oxide in Australia would still need to be transported to global partners for metallisation, followed by magnet-making, given Australia does not currently have the manufacturing processes. Tim Buckley, director of thinktank Climate Energy Finance, says it is urgent to position Australia as “more than a quarry digging and shipping our raw commodities”. Government-commissioned modelling has shown building refining and processing capability for critical minerals means a greater share of trade and job creation. Read more

“We hold one of the world’s most abundant reserves of critical minerals, and need to leverage our natural advantages to move up the global value chain by expanding onshore processing and refining capacity, capturing the resulting geostrategic advantages, supply certainty and economic returns. These are key to our future prosperity, and our energy and national security in a decarbonising world characterised by shifting and contested geopolitical dynamics. “We now need to see Australia undertake similar arrangements with our key trade partners in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India and Europe to build even more robust diversification and develop skilled Australian workforce and supply chain capacities in this key global sector that underpins the energy system transformation.” Read more