Reports and Analysis
OP ED | Massive Victorian blackout a copybook illustration of need to build energy system resilience & accelerate transition to firmed renewables
Yesterday afternoon storms damaged power lines across Victoria taking all four generators at AGL’s massive end-of-life 2,210 megawatt (MW) coal-fired Loy Yang A power station offline as part of a cascading series of events, and with it 30% of the state’s power supply. This is a massive wake up call on the unreliability of ailing coal clunkers and the need to transition to firmed renewables. Read more
GUEST POST | Northern Beaches (Sydney) Indoor Sports Centre: A Case Study in Commercial and Industry (C&I) Rooftop Solar
Guest contributor Owen Evans breaks down a C&I solar project and the cost saving benefits. Read more
REPORT | CEF’s activities and impacts report July-Dec 2023
A full overview of our work and impacts across our program areas for the 6 months July-Dec 2023 Read more
MONTHLY CHINA ENERGY UPDATE | 2023 China Electricity Mix Yearly Review: Massive Decarbonisation Progress is Key Economic Stimulus
In 2023, China experienced a groundbreaking surge in renewable energy, installing 292.8GW of clean power, surpassing expectations. Solar capacity grew by an impressive 148%, with 216.9GW added, while wind power increased by 75.9GW. These achievements, constituting 52.4% of total installed capacity, drove China’s economic growth and decarbonising China’s job market. Challenges remain, including high reliance on thermal power, but China’s clean energy push sets a global example for sustainable development. Read more
Coking coal is entering long-term terminal decline with finance beginning to shift to enable it
As the global economy transforms to mitigate the climate crisis, decarbonising the A$2.6Trn global iron and steel industry, and the inevitable transition away from coking coal, is on the horizon with global finance beginning to enable this. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of both iron ore and metallurgical coal (met coal). We provide 57% of the world’s iron ore (A$124bn FY23 revenue) and 52% of global metallurgical coal (A$61bn FY23 revenue) and are therefore massively trade exposed as the world belatedly moves to limit global warming to 1.5°C and low carbon steel making becomes a reality. Read more
REPORT | Update The Lights will Stay on: NSW Electricity Plan 2024-2030
Our new report shows that the surge of utility scale firmed renewables in NSW, alongside CER, means there will be no electricity supply reliability gap if Australia’s biggest coal clunker – Eraring power station – is closed on-time as planned in 2025. Read more
2023 YEAR IN REVIEW
The latest Climate Energy Finance update – read our comprehensive End of Year wrap, including the 2023 Report Card on the government’s policy progress for boosting Australia’s transition to becoming a renewable energy superpower. Read more
STATEMENT BY SMART ENERGY COUNCIL & CEF |
Australia must back the right horse at COP28 to keep 1.5°C alive – and that means 3X renewables by 2030 […] Read more
Green Bonds for Low Carbon Buildings – do they contribute to real emissions reduction? A case study on the Woolworths Green Bond
CEF assesses the 2019 A$400m Woolworths Green Bond qualified under CBI’s Low Carbon Buildings criteria and find that it is difficult to credit CBI’s certification of these uses of proceeds as “contributing to climate mitigation” at all. Green bonds are designed to be a source of private capital mobilisation to achieve the massive uptick in clean energy investments required this decade. Given the volume of investment required to fund global decarbonisation, it is imperative that investors can identify credible emissions reduction opportunities to support. In our view, incorrectly conflating the notion that both assets and activities “contribute to” climate change mitigation creates a market distortion where the issue of real emissions reduction is obfuscated. Read more
