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OP ED | Wind shapes as valuable piece in modern energy jigsaw
The Newcastle Herald
Offshore wind offers an option to supply large, stable electricity for major energy consumers and regional employers, making it a valuable component, particularly as we move to and beyond 82 per cent renewables. It also can help reframe, power and rebuild Australian regional communities, giving people a say through public consultation, partnering with First Nations, and different ways of asset ownership. Wind executive and Climate Capital Forum member Satya Tanner and CCF strategic comms lead Amanda Caldwell explain.
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NSW can achieve electricity reliability without coal
FS Sustainability
There is no need to use taxpayer fund to keep Australia’s biggest coal power plant open beyond its planned closure date in 2025 as the state of NSW has made “massive progress” on new renewable energy and battery capacity, according to think tank Climate Energy Finance.
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NSW set to steal energy transition spotlight
AusBiz
Tim Buckley tells AusBiz there is no reliability gap surrounding the closure of Aus’ biggest coal plant, Eraring in NSW. He points to a report by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) presented to the NSW Energy Minister which shows no need for public subsidies to keep the plant open.
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Lights to stay on if biggest ‘coal clunker’ powers down
Canberra Times
In Canberra Times and across 100+. mastheads, CEF’s new report detailing the pipeline of firmed renewables that means Australia’s biggest coal power station, Eraring, can close down on schedule in 2025 with no electricity supply reliability gap.
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Heads I win, Tails you Lose: hand-outs for Australia’s biggest coal plant Eraring a smoking example of the folly of privatisation
Michael West Media
Climate Energy Finance’ Tim Buckley,: “The NSW government’s decision on whether to extend the life of Eraring coal fired power plant, Australia’s biggest, beyond its planned closure date of August 2025 at taxpayers’ expense, ostensibly to ensure supply, will be a hot button issue this year and has national implications for energy transition.”
He estimates the cost of keeping all four Eraring units operating for another two years would be $300m to $400m. “There is no reason why the government would pay that subsidy” when “there is more than enough firmed renewables capacity in the pipeline” of development in NSW to offset Eraring’s closure.
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‘Even more confident’ Eraring will close in 2025: new energy report
The Newcastle Herald
A surge in renewable energy generation and battery storage projects will allow Eraring power
station to close in mid-2025, a new analysis says.
The report The Lights Will Stay On: NSW Electricity Plan 2024-2030, produced by think tank
Climate Energy Finance, shows an unprecedented number of clean energy projects have come
online over the past six months.
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AUDIO | Australia’s largest coal-fired power station can safely closely on time, think tank report says
ABC Radio National AM
A report from a climate finance think-tank says there’s now an even stronger case for closing Australia’s largest coal-fired power station as scheduled next year, thanks to more renewable energy and a growth in battery storage capacity.
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OP ED | Stick to the plan: Lights won’t go out when Eraring closes on schedule
Renew Economy
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) quietly released the Energy Security Target Monitor Report it had delivered privately to NSW climate and energy minister Penny Sharpe in October, showing that Australia’s biggest coal power clunker, Eraring, can close on time and there will be no gap in electricity supply. OUr new report, released today – The Lights will Stay On – confirms this, as we map the brilliant momentum in the state on utility scale firmed renewables and consumer energy resources (CER). There is no case for paying hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to keep the ailing, polluting behemoth chugging on.
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NSW can avoid electricity shortages without paying hundreds of millions to keep Eraring open, expert says
The Guardian
Analysis of the 2024-30 power sector by the Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley found NSW will have enough capacity to cover the exit of the 2,880-megawatt Eraring station now set for closure by owner Origin Energy in August 2025.
“There is no reason why the taxpayer should be on the hook for multiples of hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Eraring open,” Buckley said, adding he had become “materially more confident” after a burst of federal and state moves at the end of 2023 to support more storage and large-scale renewables projects.
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Neoen shut down Australian solar-plus-storage plant after 7 years
PV Magazine
Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley said the dismantling of DeGrussa came as no surprise with the end of mine life “absolutely well known” when they solar hybrid power system was commissioned.
“There is no surprise there,” he said, adding that in spite of its short lifespan, the DeGrussa power project has been a “brilliant success.”
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DeGrussa solar and battery hub labelled ‘brilliant success’ as decommissioning begins
PV Magazine
Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley said the dismantling came as no surprise with the end of mine life “absolutely well known” when they solar hybrid power system was commissioned. “There is no surprise there,” he said, adding that in spite of its short lifespan, the DeGrussa power project has been a “brilliant success.” Buckley said the project, which attracted $20.9 million (USD 13.7 million) in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $15 million in debt finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), was part of the “step change that took solar from being a potential technology to being now integral to the transformation and decarbonisation of the Australian electricity system.”
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Barossa “carbon factory” cleared as Teals lay down gauntlet on 2030 emissions target
Renew Economy
Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley says that shows just how emissions intensive oil and gas projects are, but also indicates a lack of industrialisation in Australia. “Barossa is a carbon factory with LNG as a byproduct,” he says. “But when we talk about Scope 1 emissions facilities of more than 100,000 mtCO2e/year, we don’t have a lot of them because Australia is a ‘dig and ship’ country. The majority of these facilities are fossil fuel exports anyway.”
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