February
Union warning on koala park a dilemma for Labor
Frontier Economics says the timber industry can adjust and end native forest logging, but the Australian Workers Union is fighting to keep it.
September 2024
Santos cleared of coercion over Narrabri land access
The result of an inquiry into an Environmental Defenders Office complaint comes as NSW extended a Santos “authority to survey” for a pipeline for Narrabri gas.
June 2024
Nation’s first renewable energy zone wins approval
The Central-West Orana infrastructure project is intended to drive up to $20 billion in private investment in solar, wind and storage projects.
May 2024
Fears Eraring subsidies will need to be extended
Keeping the country’s biggest coal-fired power station open until 2027 has raised questions about whether it will be needed to keep the lights on into the 2030s.
April 2024
Kean questions need for Eraring bailout
It will be the “NSW government”, not the renewables sector, that faces the music if sluggish wind, solar and transmission rollout leads to blackouts.
February 2024
Power market in the dark as negotiations over Eraring drag on
A burst of heat in NSW on Thursday looks set to reinforce how vital the generator is for keeping the lights on, adding pressure to the ongoing discussions.
The states hold the key to Chris Bowen’s energy transition dreams
Execution of the plan will depend on the co-operation of a group of sometimes hard-to-please energy ministers.
January 2024
‘No need to be defensive about gas’: NSW Energy Minister
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe say gas will continue to play a critical role firming up a grid increasingly dependent on intermittent renewables.
December 2023
AEMO may call on emergency power reserves as NSW grid wilts
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe has asked households to dial back on power use if they can to take pressure off the grid as temperatures head towards 40 degrees.
Forced land acquisitions loom to hook up Snowy 2.0 to Sydney
The slow rate of landowner sign-ups to the $5 billion HumeLink transmission project is threatening Transgrid’s timetable for a final investment decision.
November 2023
$413m up for grabs to host solar and wind farms
Australia’s most populous state hasn’t approved a new wind farm since May 2021, prompting concern the nation’s clean energy transition has stalled.
September 2023
‘Way behind’: NSW commits $1.8b to rescue transition
The state government will co-invest with private companies in batteries and pumped hydro, and seek to fast-track renewable energy zones.
Still at square one, but a state deal on Eraring is now inevitable
NSW has finally firmed up its starting point for talks on the extension of Eraring – but big questions remain on how long it will be and how much it will cost.
July 2023
HumeLink power line cost blows out to nearly $5b: Transgrid CEO
The increased costs would be borne by household and business customers because builders of regulated power lines are entitled to guaranteed returns on capital.
Coal power lifeline for NSW power grid
The news that the Vales Point generator shutdown may be delayed by four years comes amid mounting expectations that Origin’s Eraring will also run for longer.
June 2023
Landowners want to bury transmission project (literally)
HumeLink is one of several new links urgently required to connect wind and solar farms to major centres historically served by coal plants.
ESG reality bites on power bills, boards and the Voice
When polarisation is a problem in many Western democracies, Australian business encouraging respect for political diversity and disagreeing civilly is a worthy ESG outcome in itself.
May 2023
NSW tender backs $2.5b clean energy projects
The projects will deliver “some of the cheapest energy in the world,” said former NSW energy minister Matt Kean, who led the NSW electricity road map concept.