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Colin Packham is the energy reporter at The Australian. He was previously at The Australian Financial Review and Reuters in Sydney and Canberra.

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Colin Packham

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energyMining & Energy

Meg O'Neill, chief executive officer and managing director of Woodside Energy Group Ltd., during a panel discussion at the World Gas Conference in Daegu, South Korea, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. The World Gas Conference arrived in the midst of dramatic shifts in a trade upended by uncertainty over Russian flows. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

Cheap energy an imperative for Australia: Woodside chief

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill says it will be a major government policy failure if Australia cannot deliver cheap and reliable energy.

Colin Packham

energyMining & Energy

05/05/2023. Gerard Spinks, 59, Bayswater plant assistant manager, has worked in coal fired plants for more than four decades and is concerned about what will happen to workers as the economy detransitions. Photographed with Bayswater Power station in the background, 15 minutes south of Muswellbrook in NSW. Britta Campion / The Australian

Electricity reserve alarms spike to more than 2-year high

Emergency alerts about a shortage of electricity reserves hit an all-time record for a last quarter of the year in 2024, new data has revealed, as NSW’s two largest coal power stations suffered a spate of debilitating faults.

Colin Packham

EnergyMining & Energy

JANUARY 31, 2025: The new Moomba CCS (carbon capture and storage) plant, a joint venture of Santos and Beach Energy. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Storing carbon imports ‘a money maker’ if attitudes change

Australia will pass up a potentially lucrative industry to rivals storing captured carbon emissions unless the federal government lifts its restrictions on importation, says Santos.

Colin Packham

energyMining & Energy

Origin Energy's Eraring power station. SUPPLIED

Coal slump drives up electricity prices

Record electricity demand and a spate of coal outages that fell as NSW endured hot weather has sent the cost of producing electricity up more than 80 per cent, threatening to increase bills.

Colin Packham

energyRenewable energy & economy

MUSWELLBROOK, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 27: Liddell Power Station stands next to Lake Liddell as chimneys at the Bayswater Power Station seen emit water vapour on April 27, 2023 in Muswellbrook, Australia. Liddell Power Station, one of Australia's oldest coal-fired power plants, will shut down on Friday, 28 April, after 52 years in operation. The AGL-owned facility opened in 1971 and was once the most powerful generating station in Australia. With Australia making the transition from coal power to renewables, the site will be transformed into a new low-carbon industrial energy hub. Demolition of the plant will begin next year, with more than 90 per cent of the materials to be recycled, AGL says. The closure of Liddell Power Station will stop 8 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere every year, media reported. (Photo by Roni Bintang/Getty Images)

Carbon credits surge as corporates seek abatement

The value of Australian carbon credits increased by almost a third to $1.1bn last year, a report by research and advisory company RepuTex has found.

Colin Packham

energyRenewable energy & economy

KENTFIELD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 25: In an aerial view, solar panels are seen in the parking lot at College of Marin on April 25, 2024 in Kentfield, California. California has cut back on rooftop solar incentives as the state has an estimated 47 gigawatts of solar power installed, nearly 25 percent of the state's electricity, that powers 13.9 million homes. On days where there is little demand for electricity, the price of electricity flattens and gigawatts of the solar generated power is curtailed. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Energy operator granted power to step in if grid hacked

Australia’s energy grid is increasingly driven by foreign-manufactured components and that has prompted new powers for the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Colin Packham

energyMining & Energy

(FILES) Wind turbines generate electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 7, 2022 near Block Island, Rhode Island. They're âuglyâ, âruin the landscapeâ and âkill whalesâ: Donald Trump accuses wind turbines of all sorts of evils and plunged their industry into turmoil as soon as he returned to the White House. âWe're not going to do the windmill thing,â the American president launched on January 20, the day of his inauguration, before digressing on the subject. âThey kill birds and ruin beautiful landscapesâ, âthey're all made in Chinaâ and âif you like whales, you don't want wind turbines eitherâ, said the Republican, before signing a series of executive orders at the end of the day to put a spanner in the industry's works. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Offshore wind developers start surveying ahead of auction

The acceleration of works is a boost to Victoria’s hopes of developing an offshore wind industry to replace the state’s coal capacity.

Colin Packham

exclusiveRenewable energy & economy

(FILES) A photograph taken on December 9, 2022 shows the sun setting over an offshore wind farm, off the coast of the French Western city of Saint-Nazaire. Recyclable blades, carbon-free concrete... wind turbine designers are multiplying innovations to green their machines, an environmental issue but also a political object for critics of this energy. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)

Standoff threatens major offshore wind project

A Japanese-backed offshore wind developer may be forced to walk away from building one of Victoria’s biggest electricity projects as a legal standoff with Chris Bowen has paralysed progress.

Colin Packham

marketsMarkets

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA : NewsWire Photos - SEPTEMBER 30 2024 ; A general view of the digital boards at the ASX in Sydney. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Stocks to rise but investors still wary

The ASX is poised to open marginally higher when trading resumes on Tuesday, though investors remain wary as they await data expected to shape Australia’s monetary policy.

Colin Packham

energyRenewable energy & economy

Aerial view of leafy eastern suburban houses on 4-way cross road intersection in Adelaide, South Australia: directly above, rooftop solar, trees. Housing property generic

Emergency diesel backstop to prop up grid

A rule change will see two diesel generators used to prop up the South Australia grid as the state struggles to reconcile renewables with ensuring grid security.

Colin Packham

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