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The Minns government will pay Origin Energy up to $450 million over the next two years to extend the life of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station, Eraring, should the company opt in to a deal that NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insisted was “not an act of corporate welfare”. But some experts, including many from the renewable energy sector, have criticised the government for agreeing to a deal they say is unnecessary. Tim Buckley, the head of pro-renewables think tank Clean Energy Finance, labelled it “yet another massive coal subsidy funded by electricity users in NSW”. Read more

Syndicated widely across 100+ mastheads via AAP | The life of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station will be extended for at least two years beyond its scheduled 2025 closure date. “This is essentially Coalkeeper 2.0 – yet another massive coal subsidy funded by electricity users in NSW” – Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley. Read more

The deal to extend the life of Australia’s largest coal generator – 2.88 GW – is being sold as necessary to “keep the lights on”, but there is no guarantee that it will do that. As Tim Buckley, from Climate Energy Finance, observes, Origin has “kindly offered” to share 20 per cent of any profits, capped at $40 million a year, but will share 80 per cent of the losses with the people of NSW, capped at $225 million per year. “This is essentially Coalkeeper 2.0 – yet another massive coal subsidy funded by electricity users in NSW,” he said. Read more

Climate Energy Finance’s Tim Buckley joins Kieran Gilbert on Sky News to discuss the extension of the life of Eraring coal-fired power station. Read more

Australia’s transition to renewable energy appears to have been dealt a blow, with the nation’s biggest coal-fired power plant to be kept open longer than expected. Read more

Sun-soaked Australia’s lofty renewable energy ambitions were given a harsh reality check on Thursday, as looming electricity shortfalls delayed the long-awaited shutdown of the country’s largest coal-fired power plant. In many cases, nuclear makes sense for energy-deficient countries that had no domestic renewable options, such as Japan, energy analyst Tim Buckley told AFP. “Nuclear has no future in Australia,” he said. “Australia has not continuously built it, we have none of the skillset, none of the engineering, and none of the capacity for nuclear.” Read more

The federal government has set aside more than $500m to encourage battery production in Australia. But it’s not yet clear exactly how the scheme will work. The Government says it’s time Australia played a bigger role in battery production but some experts believe its the wrong place to invest. CEF’s Tim Buckley joins ABC Radio alongside Ed Husic, Minister for Industry and Science; Tony Wood, program director for energy and climate change, Grattan Institute; and New South Wales Energy Minister Penny Sharpe. Read more

The new CSIRO GenCost 2023-24 report released this week makes for very interesting reading. In the report, the Australian Government’s independent scientific body subjects the nuclear barracking of Peter Dutton and Ted O’Brien to a comprehensive science and economics based, peer reviewed debunking. Peter Dutton has now pivoted to spruiking large scale nuclear reactors, having repeatedly thumped the table last year asserting in the face of all the available evidence that small modular reactors are the solution for Australia’s energy transition, with a similar reception from the CSIRO. Read more

As a new CSIRO report demonstrates once and for all that nuclear is not viable in Australia as a zero-emissions energy source, Tim Buckley explains that nuclear would lock in permanent, ultra-high energy prices for Australians. Read more

Senior energy market analyst and director of Climate Energy Finance Tim Buckley said the report was “exceptionally disappointing”. He said AEMO’s report effectively indicated the energy market regulator wasn’t doing its job. “AEMO models in its May report released today that NSW reliability has improved relative to 2023, but only if new investments underway in renewable energy, dispatchable capacity, transmission and Consumer Energy Resources (CER) such as rooftop solar and batteries progress as advised. Read more

Australia’s energy market operator, AEMO, is warning of power shortages in NSW, Victoria and South Australia in the coming years, as key energy projects fall behind schedule. Its latest report calls for urgent investment and coordination of smaller-scale energy projects to shore up the grid’s reliability. Energy analysts say rooftop solar and household batteries will be crucial in keeping the lights on. Read more

Tim Buckley, an energy analyst and director of Climate Energy Finance, labelled AEMO’s forecast “exceptionally disappointing” for NSW. “The real reliability gap here is the failure of authorities to accelerate the rollout of renewable energy, transmission and grid connections needed to ensure cheap and reliable energy to consumers statewide,” he said. Read more