Our work

Tim Buckley’s presentation to the June 2023 WA Renewables and Critical Minerals Superpower Summit details the extraordinary opportunity for WA to lead the world in renewables powered, value added critical minerals processing in the context of a massive global acceleration in energy transition policy and public and private capital flows. Read more

We analyse the Australian Critical Minerals Strategy 2023-2030 released today by the Federal Government. The focus on leveraging international trade agreements and partnerships to position Australia in global supply chain is laudable. However, the new funding – $500m to NAIF to support downstream processing – is a drastic underinvestment in the sector that fails to respond both to the scale of Australia’s opportunity as a potential world leader in value-adding our geostrategic minerals reserves onshore using our abundant renewables, and to the ambition of our trade partners and competitors the world over, such as the game changing ~$US800bn Inflation Reduction Act that is actively reshaping global energy dynamics. Read more

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CEF sees unprecedented trade and investment opportunities, in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars, for Australia to “ship sunshine”, embodying decarbonisation in its exports by using its solar and wind energy to process its world-leading critical minerals reserves, and to power manufacturing of energy transition materials. Australia has a once in a century opportunity for investment in renewables, exports, technology and employment, including in and driven by solar. It should seize it. Read more

As CEF’s new report details, we are seeing massive global solar momentum on three related fronts: rapid ongoing solar price deflation, multifold increases in solar manufacturing capacity and successive record solar deployments. This is coupled with the surge in electric vehicles, battery supply chains and most recently, the massive new opportunities to ‘electrify everything’. In CEF’s view this creates the conditions for a series of global cascading energy, transport and industry tipping points that have the potential to dramatically accelerate the decline of the incumbent fossil fuel industry, and the decarbonisation of the world economy. The economics of solar power are now compelling, and will only get stronger this decade. Our new report tracks progress in China – which is leading by a huge margin – the US, the EU, India and Australia, and includes key recommendations for Australia to leverage its potential as a renewables superpower. Read more

In this new position paper, Janaline Oh, executive director of Diplomats for Climate Action, and CEF director Tim Buckley identify 5 urgent finance reforms the federal government should put in place so as to mobilise capital at the scale and speed needed to secure Australia’s opportunity to position itself as a critical minerals and energy transition leader in a rapidly decarbonising world – including leveraging our world leading super capital pool and our nation-building, infrastructure and energy transition funding authorities such as the Future Fund and Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. Read more

China remains ahead in leading global cleantech investment during its domestic renewable energy expansion. While the investment in renewables is unevenly split across the world, China continues to mobilise capital to the Global South to help developing countries in energy transition. 2023 is the tipping point for China to peak its coal use as well as its emissions. Australia should seize this opportunity to work with China, as well as other countries, in order to become a renewable superpower. Read more

JERA and Beach, two fossil fuel dinosaurs, announce a strategic pivoting into offshore wind, leveraging their financial firepower and offshore engineering expertise, respectively, to capitalise on this major new renewable energy opportunity in offshore wind in Australia. Read more

We track the key energy news of the last fortnight, including the new Aus-US compact which will potentially make Australian companies and projects eligible for funding under the ~$800bn US Inflation Reduction Act. Read more

As AER flags significant electricity price hikes from July 1, we note that these increases are half what they would have been without the federal government intervention to cap wholesale coal and gas prices in December 2022, as AER acknowledged. Our expectation is that retail prices may have peaked, and we look at the prospects for power prices against the backdrop of the rise of deflationary renewables and global race to decarbonisation. Read more

As CEF China energy policy analyst Xuyang Dong writes, renewables are now leading China’s newly added power capacity for the first time, even as new coal power plants continue to come online. During the first quarter of 2023, China added a record 50 GW of RE capacity. Read more

Overnight, US President Biden and Australian PM Albanese announced a groundbreaking bilateral agreement which will increase cooperation between the two countries on energy transition, with a focus on critical minerals and cleantech supply chain. Read our initial analysis of what this means for Australia, especially in the context of the massive $800bn US inflation Reduction Act turbocharging energy transition there. Read more