Decarbonisation
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The gas industry used to be unassailable in Australia: not any more
The Sydney Morning Herald
As Victoria bans gas in new homes, Tim Buckley says the decision signals a broader shift in attitudes towards gas. Having sold Australian gas offshore more cheaply than it did domestically the industry is losing its social license. It is now an easier target for reform by governments determined to cut greenhouse gas emissions and household costs.
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Power Up: Renewables are hammering down electricity prices
Stockhead
Tim Buckley said:
“Application approvals of new zero-emissions replacement capacity in FY2023 trebled to 7 gigawatts (GW) vs the previous two years, but we are still not seeing grid transmission and planning access bottlenecks removed. There is a record 30GW of new renewable energy capacity now in the connection pipeline, but just 3GW was completed in FY2023.
We need to see the rate of completions double to replace end-of-life coal power station capacity inevitably and predictably coming offline.”
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AEMO quarterly energy report sees a drop in electricity prices
Energy Monitor
AEMO reports the June quarter wholesale electricity prices are down 59 per cent year-on-year. That is a major relief after 18 months of unprecedented fossil fuel hyperinflation,” Tim Buckley said.
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AEMO Quarterly Energy Dynamics report
ABC NewsRadio
As Tim Buckley says, AEMO’s report shows electricity prices are down as fossil fuel hyperinflation driven by war profiteering of coal and gas producers moderates and renewables start to come online. Wholesale electricity in the June quarter have dropped 59% in the June quarter year on year.
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Climate Energy Finance says Hunter communities would be the major beneficiaries of progressive coal royalties
The Newcastle Herald
Hunter communities undergoing unprecedented social and economic upheaval due to the clean energy transition would be the main beneficiaries of a progressive coal royalty system, Tim Buckley argued.
The NSW government is investigating increasing mining royalties as part of an effort to boost the state’s bottom line when the temporary cap on coal prices implemented to curb soaring electricity prices expires. This could involve the introduction of progressive royalties, which would require coal companies to pay more as the coal price increases.
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Call to combat costs with solar powered social housing
Canberra Times
CEF’s report into NSW’s energy transition last week recommended the state use social housing and other government-owned buildings to build a steady pipeline of solar-panel “power plants”. Report author Tim Buckley said solar could replace half of the capacity lost when NSW coal-fired power stations Eraring and Vales Point retire in 2025 and 2029 respectively. “It requires next to no grid upgrades, so no cost-of-living pressure, and it can be done really bloody quickly.”
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OP ED | Productivity Commission fails as others forge ahead
Australian Manufacturing
A new Productivity Commission report misses the mark by arguing against public capital investment in cleantech. As Tim Buckley writes, At this inflection point, Australia can ill-afford an approach to industry policy that will further hollow out our manufacturing sector and consign us to the zero value-add, dig-and-ship mentality of yesterday’s fossil-fuel dominated mining behemoth. We must seize the once-in-a-century opportunity to leverage our natural advantages and position ourselves as a value-adding clean industry and export superpower. And as other economies have recognised, this requires government investment.
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Fixed income asset managers continue to fund fossil fuels
Capital Monitor
At the beginning of June, the Toxic Bonds initiative collected evidence that confirms that funding into Adani Green Energy is being redirected, through collateralisation and related party transactions, to other Adani Group entities directly responsible for coal expansion projects.
“Any so-called green investment in Adani Green directly supports the wider Adani Group to be the world’s largest private coal mine and coal power plant developer,” says Tim Buckley.
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Renewable energy companies to pay ‘access fee’ generating millions for NSW renewable energy zones
ABC online
Tim Buckley, director of think tank Climate Energy Finance, said the lack of funding for communities in the REZ had divided people.
“We just have to make sure that the communities most affected get some ongoing benefit to ameliorate some of that anxiety and spread the love around,” he said.
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Tim Buckley tells Sky News the closure of Eraring coal power station can happen on time in 2025
Sky News
Tim Buckley says there are more than enough renewables investment proposals in the pipeline to offset coal closure and deliver lower prices, but we need the NSW government to expedite approvals processes and support the scaling of rooftop solar to bring capacity online.
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‘Excessive’ power costs for consumers questioned as wholesale prices tumble
ABC online
As the coal lobby argues for Eraring’s life to be extended beyond 2025, Tim Buckley said: keeping Eraring open longer than planned would cost taxpayers between $200 million and $400 million a year in subsidies. He argued the money would be better spent on speeding up the development of renewable energy capacity needed to replace fossil fuels.
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Liddell power station closure contributed to higher energy prices, regulator says
ABC online
Tim Buckley: “There is more than enough new capacity in the pipeline to replace closing coal power stations. It’s a question of whether the NSW bureaucracy is going to actually approve it. We have seen a little bit of a lull in new investment decisions. And that’s really coming back to regulatory inertia. The energy minister must place pressure on the bureaucracy to approve renewables faster. We’ve seen batteries have been built in just 12 months once they get to final investment decision.”
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