Media

On Tuesday this week, the Australian Financial Review went large with the story headlined, “How a big new solar farm became a stranded asset”. That evening, energy analyst Tim Buckley debunked the story on social media. This was not a stranded asset at all, Buckley pointed out. “Zero stranding … [financially] a brilliant success”. Read more

Energy analyst Tim Buckley from public interest think tank Climate Energy Finance said as New Wilkie Energy was a private company, the reasons for it entering administration were not clear. But he said it was likely significant costs for mining operations played a role in the company’s demise. “It’s using contractors, not employees, it probably doesn’t have a lot of capital,” Mr Buckley said. “It was hoping to get product out the door and sold in order to cash in on the very high current coal prices but with that comes a whole lot of risk.” Read more

According to a recent analysis by analyst Xuyang Dong of Climate Energy Finance, a new Australian think-tank, China is on track to exceed Beijing’s target for a 50 per cent boost in the installed capacity of renewable energy generation over the period of the state’s 14th five-year plan, from 2021 to 2025. Read more

Tim Buckley, working for Climate Energy Finance, reviews the likely phasing out of coal energy in Australia by 2038 and the rise of alternative energy sources. He insinuates that the potential for increased use of zero emissions technologies is significant, given the absence of nuclear power. Particularly, Tim singles out the future of rooftop solar in Australia, predicting that its capacity could quadruple in the next 27 years, exceeding the entire current installed capacity within the country. Read more

Australia’s energy transition to renewables is moving at record pace but there are warnings the nation’s main power grid could struggle to manage the shift if more isn’t done. That’s according to the Australian Energy Market Operator, which today released a draft plan to achieve the transition, in order to meet the federal government’s emissions reduction targets. But energy experts say rising costs and community pushback are making the plan tricky to achieve. Read more

With a merger pending between gas companies Woodside and Santos Tim Buckley says from an environmental, social and governance lens, the benefits of scale are less visible. Combining two companies gives an immediate governance cost saving from merging two boards into one and only needing one of the two CEOs, but this is partly undone by the redundancy costs that would need to be paid to the departing chief. Read more

COP28 report card is mixed but secures a focus on a transition away from fossil fuels from nearly 200 countries. Tim Buckley, Australia based independent public interest think tank, Climate Energy Finance. “It’s a good step forward, it’s nowhere near aligned with the climate science.” Read more

In the context of international climate negotiations, which as realpolitik dictates, deal in the art of the possible, the failure to call for a phase out of coal does not overshadow the clear direction taken by the global community – to back in renewables and step back from fossil fuels. Now we need to see action from Australia in kicking its coal and gas habit. Read more

Our full page Canberra Times op ed with John Grimes, CEO of the Smart Energy Council, Rewiring Australia’s Dr Saul Griffiths, Blair Palese of the Climate Capital Forum, Dr John Hewson and Mara Bun: The prospect of nuclear power generation in Australia is now a live debate. There are a number of barriers that make nuclear unviable as a solution for Australia’s energy transition in a timeframe necessary to respond to the climate, energy and cost-of-living crisis. We need energy, decarbonisation and cost of living solutions this decade. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends a 50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030. As former Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel has noted, It is hard to imagine first operation of small modular reactor (SMR) technology before 2040. Read more

In Singapore’s major newspaper The Straits Times, Tim Buckley agreed that the tripling RE target at COP28 was achievable, with China taking the lead. “China has installed 20GW per month of wind and solar in 2023, up 109 per cent year on year,” he told ST. It is also scaling up production of solar modules to meet global demand. Read more

Tim Buckley, the director of think tank Climate Energy Finance, also says China will need less Australian thermal and coking coal in the future. Buckley says China, which makes up 80 per cent of the world’s solar manufacturing capacity, has transformed the world’s capability to deliver on decarbonisation, and is driving costs down for other countries. He says solar module costs have fallen more than 40 per cent this year, making them more viable. Read more

In October, Australia’s government doubled low-interest loan funding for miners and critical mineral processors, taking the pot to $4 billion – an “entirely insufficient” figure, said Tim Buckley, a financial analyst and director at thinktank Climate Energy Finance (CEF). What the government fails to appreciate, Buckley said, is the race for green industry and supply chains is not a free market because “America has thrown a trillion bucks at the problem.” With China now a command economy, said Buckley, “our number one customer doesn’t actually believe in free markets.” Read more