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Renewables

This Month

The Kwinana heavy industrial area south of Perth started with BP refining oil in 1955.

WA Labor calls for federal support to revive BP green fuel project

The Albanese government must do more to support Western Australia’s fledgling biofuels industry, Premier Roger Cook says.

  • Tom Rabe
BP’s proposed hydrogen and clean fuels precinct in Kwinana, WA.

Hydrogen backers push ahead as Qld flagship project crumbles

Chris Bowen described the Crisafulli government’s decision to drop funding for the state’s most advanced project as “surprising and disappointing”.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Wellington solar farm will take up two-thirds of the battery’s capacity.

Stonepeak-backed Ampyr buys Shell’s stake in NSW battery

Of note, Ampyr Australia is actively hunting through M&A as well as organic opportunities as it aims for a 3GW battery portfolio by 2030.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

January

Like coal and copper decades ago and LNG more recently, large-scale renewables is a new industry for most parts of Queensland.

Why renewables need social licence to power resource sectors

The Crisafulli government’s Draft Renewables Regulatory Framework is an opportunity to resolve community and investor concerns in the interests of faster regional development.

  • Katie-Anne Mulder
Australia hit a milestone in the December quarter with coal power supplying less than half the National Electricity Market for the first time.

Coal drops below 50pc for first time as solar powers to record

Renewables supplied a record 46 per cent of the National Electricity Market in the December quarter when a milestone was reached with coal power.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
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NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie says DeepSeek, or other more efficient AI models would still ultimately use the same amount of power overall.

DeepSeek dents outlook for AI-fuelled power boom

NextDC’s CEO says data centre power use will not fall after US energy stocks were smashed by expectations DeepSeek will pierce AI-fuelled electricity demand.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Paul Smith
The CEFC has evolved into a taxpayer funded green bank.

As CEFC billions roll in, the green bank faces a political test

Extra funds of $2 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation invite questions over its future, as the opposition’s Ted O’Brien says “the whole thing is absurd”.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Queensland government paused approvals for new wind farms.

Qld hits pause on wind farms, and big miners are among those worried

Resource-rich Queensland had become a poster child for the energy transition, but early signs from the new LNP government have created confusion about the state’s energy plans.

  • James Hall
Mike Lazelle, Dustin Murdock and Robert Turner founded Kwetta in 2021.

Blackbird leads fundraising round for EV ultra-fast charging start-up

NZ start-up Kwetta is chasing global growth after banking equity cheques from Blackbird, Virescent Ventures and Icehouse Ventures.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Offshore wind is well established in Denmark but remains in its infancy in Australia.

WA minister splits with Canberra on offshore wind

WA energy minister Reece Whitby said offshore wind may be better suited to the west coast after several developers dropped plans for WA projects, opening up a divide with his federal counterpart

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Tom Rabe
Donald Trump’s antagonism to renewable energy is most obvious when it comes to wind power.

How Trump’s war on green energy affects Australia

Donald Trump’s plans for an energy revolution will blow strong political winds across Australia’s energy market.

  • Jennifer Hewett
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill.

Woodside chooses timidity for the sake of short-term shareholder gains

Readers’ letters on companies withdrawing from clean energy projects, ASX diversity reporting, Donald Trump’s climate policy, and debate over gender choices.

Much of the CEFC funding in 2025 would go to clean generation and large transmission projects.

Labor pumps $2b into green bank despite Trump’s fossil fuel push

The first extra funding for the country’s green bank since it was set up in 2012 contrasts with the pullback on clean energy under Trump 2.0.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
An impression of a Westinghouse small modular reactor.

Costs, delays threaten ‘new era’ for nuclear power: IEA

Small modular reactors have the potential to be a “game-changer” but only if expenses can be slashed, the International Energy Agency says.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
Andrew Bullock and Rajiv Viswanathan are managing directors at Adamantem Capital and running point on its green strategy.

Adamantem bets on commercial solar with Microgrid deal; CBA adds debt

The investment manager will sink $24 million in via its environmental opportunities fund, in a deal advised by Corrs and PwC.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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NBN Co must streamline its installation process

Readers’ letters on the National Broadband Network, beach cabanas, the Los Angeles fires, and reducing feed-in tariffs for solar energy in Victoria.

Drilling for ‘natural hydrogen’ an enormous opportunity: Labor

Naturally occurring hydrogen has been detected in Tumut and parts of western NSW, raising government hopes it can be extracted from the ground like natural gas.

  • Ronald Mizen
The transition to a low-carbon economy is inevitable.

Alinta Energy taps investment banks as HK tycoon owner weighs options

Street Talk understands Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook has mandated investment banks UBS and RBC Capital Markets for advice ahead of a major renewables push.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Rooftop solar adoption has taken off.

Vic minimum solar tariffs to be slashed close to zero

Solar households in Victoria will hardly get anything for exports to the grid under a regulatory proposal that reflects the shrinking value of power on sunny days.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the Capacity Investment Scheme will help Australia achieve its 2030 climate targets.

Green power scheme’s flaws emerge after making crucial progress

Action is needed to turbocharge the build-out of clean generation, but the shortcomings in Labor’s game plan mean 2030 climate targets remain in doubt.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/renewable-energy-617