Media

Tim Buckley responds to the IEA Renewables 2024 report: “Thanks largely to China, we now have the global cleantech manufacturing capacity to accelerate deployments of renewables significantly to achieve the goal set at last year’s UN Climate Conference to treble renewables to 2030. The massive deflation of prices for renewables technologies and the drive for energy security both favour accelerating investment as the world looks to mitigate the escalating climate crisis of climate change.” Read more

Tim Buckley, a leading energy analyst and director of Climate Energy Finance, added, despite a strong increase in investments in renewable energy since the December 2023 COP28 pledge to triple installed capacity by 2030, they are not yet on track to meet this goal, with global capacity expected to grow by 2.7 times by the end of the decade. “This reflects a 25 per cent lift in collective ambition compared to last year, driven by decreasing costs for solar and battery technologies. Increased support from developed nations is crucial for facilitating the energy transition in developing countries, helping to rapidly decarbonise in line with climate science,” Tim Buckley said. Read more

Energy analyst Tim Buckley is director of think tank Climate Energy Finance and said the battle for Korea Zinc, the world’s largest zinc refiner, was globally significant. “To me it looks like two Korean families who have cooperated together for a long time and now there is a divergence of views and one of the Korean families has brought in one of the most successful Korean private equity firms, MBK, to come in and buy control,” he said. But Mr Buckley said it was simply too soon to predict ramifications on the move towards “green” zinc in Australia and Ark Energy’s renewable energy projects. “There is a fear that the company could go through a major strategic pivot, but to some degree we’re incidental to the central game plan in Korea,” he said. Read more

Climate Energy Finance (CEF) has highlighted the billion-dollar opportunity in China’s outbound “green capital tsunami”. A new report from the think tank reveals Chinese firms have committed upwards of US$100 billion to outbound foreign investment since 2023 – spanning decarbonisation sectors like solar, wind, and green hydrogen – as the country’s corporates increasingly “go global”. And while other regions of the world have reaped the rewards of this unprecedented investment program, CEF notes that investment in Australia has been comparatively, “exceptionally weak”. Read more

[On Oil Price]China is investing heavily in electric vehicle assembly plants, battery plants, and transition technologies abroad to counteract Western tariffs. Chinese companies are not only expanding manufacturing capacity but also exporting technology, engineering, supply chain, and financing expertise globally. European and U.S. companies are struggling to compete with cheaper and often superior Chinese EVs. Read more

[On Accounting Times]In a new report, think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF) said the wave of investment opportunities from the world’s second-largest economy was mostly bypassing Australia and going to markets in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America instead. Analyst Xuyang Dong, one of the report’s co-authors, said investment from Chinese firms brought a range of benefits including technology, expertise, capital and experience. “Australia should work actively with China, transforming our historic dig-and-ship economy in order to not be left behind in the global race-to-top on energy transition,” he said. “Joint ventures with China have enormous potential to boost Australia’s decarbonisation trajectory.” Read more

“China’s growing domination of cleantech manufacturing and export supply chains is clearly a geopolitical issue the U.S. and the Western world can’t continue to ignore,” said Tim Buckley and Annemarie Jonson at Sydney-based think tank Climate Energy Finance. “It is far from a secure, sustainable position for any country to dominate 80% to 90% of global market supply of anything,” they told The Wall Street Journal after CEF released a report on the surge in China’s outbound foreign direct investment into clean energy. Read more

Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance shares insights on China’s $100 billion investment in global clean tech projects. He notes the dominance of China in this sector and highlights the opportunities presented by increased trade tensions with the US and Europe. Tim observes that while Australia benefits from China’s renewable and battery project investments, there’s a lack of manufacturing investment in Australia by Chinese tech leaders. Collaboration with China is crucial, and Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ visit to China aims to enhance such partnerships. Australia must clearly present rules of engagement for Chinese private companies. While the US takes a protectionist stance, Tim stresses Australia’s need to cooperate with China, its top trade partner, ensuring mutual economic benefits amidst potential US-China trade tensions. Read more

China’s international investments in clean energy technology have surpassed $100bn (701.83bn yuan) since the start of 2023, according to a new report from Australian research group Climate Energy Finance (CEF). CEF explained that Chinese companies have diversified their portfolios across the world as they look to avoid tariffs from the US and other countries attempting to keep the Asian nation in check. Read more

[On the Guardian blog] There’s no doubt China has grabbed market leadership in many of the technologies we need to decarbonise our economies, from solar panels and wind turbines to electric vehicles and the batteries that power them. Australia stands to benefit from those advances and potentially from soaring outbound investment in low-emissions technology, according to a new report by Climate Energy Finance, out today. Since 2023, US$100bn (A$145bn) of Chinese investment has poured out of China into at least 100 deals, a flow of funds that Australia has partly benefitted from, with more to come, the report finds. A 1.4 gigawatt windfarm with a big battery is one such project. Read more

While private Chinese investment into Australia seriously lags, there are unparalleled opportunities for Australia-China collaboration in zero-emissions industries – if we get the policy settings right. A new report by independent think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF), Green capital tsunami: China’s >$100 bn outbound cleantech investment since 2023 turbocharges global energy transition, calculates that Chinese firms have committed >US$100bn in outbound foreign investment since 2023. This has spanned decarbonisation sectors including solar, wind, batteries, grid, new energy vehicles (NEV), hydro and green hydrogen, as China’s world-leading corporates increasingly “go global”. Read more

Read more