Reports and Analysis
OP ED | Aemo Confirms Any Reliability Risks To Electricity Supply Can Be Offset By Expediting New Renewables, Transmission, Storage & Orchestration
As Tim Buckley writes, AEMO’s new 10 year outlook shows expedited approvals of renewables, storage and transmission can offset any reliability risks to electricity supply. Read more
OP ED | Intergenerational Report: Opportunity Remains To Mobilise Super For Net-Zero Transformation
CEF Special Advisor Paul Oosting looks at Australia’s opportunity to reform superannuation benchmarks to support investment in energy transition in light of last week’s release of the Intergenerational Report by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Read more
MONTHLY CHINA ENERGY UPDATE | China Continues to Massively Scale Up Renewables while adding Thermal Power
Not only was it another near record month of 22GW of wind and solar added for July 2023, but it was also another month of 6.3GW of new coal power plants in China. National electricity demand grew 5.0% y-o-y, and hydropower generation continued to decline. Even with strong wind and solar growth, coal power generation continues to grow at above market growth rates of +7.9% y-o-y in July. Read more
JOINT STATEMENT | DELAYING ERARING CLOSURE DELAYS OUR CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION. Delays will cost consumers, build the climate crisis, and undermine investor certainty
A joint statement with the Clean Energy Investor Group, Smart Energy Council and Nexa Advisory responding to news that the NSW government’s electricity review will recommend delaying the 2025 closure of the Eraring coal power station, Australia’s largest. Read more
The US IRA one year on: a quickstart guide to how Australia should respond
Tim Buckley of CEF and Blair Palese, founder of the Climate Capital Forum, review the key impacts of the game changing US Inflation Reduction Act, which is turbocharging the green transition, one year after its introduction, and set out the 5 key things Australia should to respond and leverage our huge opportunities renewables powered processing of world leading critical minerals and energy transition materials. Read more
CBA’s oil and gas policy ratchets up shift of finance away from fossil fuels and meets the minimum global standard
CBA released a landmark fossil fuel financing policy that rules out project finance for new (greenfield) oil and gas (O&G) extraction and for expansions of existing (brownfield) O&G extraction. CBA will also require fossil fuel clients to commit to verifiable transition plans by 2025 encompassing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and aligned to a Paris Agreement “well below 2 degrees” pathway. Read more
COMMENT | AEMO Quarterly Energy Dynamics Report – fossil fuel hyperinflation moderating, emissions down, renewables buildout must now be expedited
June quarter wholesale electricity prices are down 59% year-on-year., a major relief after 18 months of unprecedented fossil fuel hyperinflation. There is a record 30GW of new renewable energy capacity now in the connection pipeline, but just 3GW was completed in financial year 2023. We need to see the rate of completions double to replace end-of-life coal power station capacity inevitably and predictably coming offline. Read more
OP ED | Epic Fail: The Productivity Commission’s Arguments Against Public Investment in Australia’s Massive Cleantech Opportunity Entirely Miss the Mark
We review the PC’s recent report which completely fails to understand the scale and urgency of Australia’s opportunity to invest public capital in leveraging our world-leading energy transition resources, attract private capital and respond effectively to unprecedented global policy interventions that are re-drawing the geopolitical landscape as the world decarbonises. Read more
MONTHLY CHINA ENERGY UPDATES | China Stays on Track: Declining Hydro, but Stable Variable Renewables Growth
While the drought and heatwaves are testing China’s climate resilience, China’s renewable scaling up remains strong during the first half of CY2023. Countering climate change requires efforts from all. We call for China to go even faster in accelerating its decarbonisation process, as well as call for concerted effort from the developed world economies. Read more
