Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the government’s approach to focus on renewables, batteries and gas for Australia’s energy transition has been vindicated by the latest draft system plan from the Australian Energy Market Operator. Australia’s last coal fired power station will close five years earlier than expected by 2038, but the energy…
By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute On Thursday Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a scheme to underwrite the risk of investing in new renewable energy generation and storage. The expansion of the national Capacity Investment Scheme follows a successful pilot study with New South Wales. The government paid A$1.8 billion for just over a gigawatt…
By Peter Roberts The federal government has moved to accelerate Australia’s shift towards renewable electricity, replacing the Renewable Energy Target with a series of auctions to drive investment. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen revealed the shift to six monthly auctions to secure 32GW of new wind, solar PV and energy storage capacity to…
The federal and NSW governments have announced six projects through the Capacity Investment Scheme, aimed at providing over a gigawatt of dispatchable power across the state. The projects from the tender are: Akaysha Energy’s Orana Renewable Energy Zone battery, located in Wellington in central-west NSW, with 415 megawatt capacity and 1,660 megawatt hour, four-hour storage…
The federal minister for climate change and energy Chris Bowen has definitively included the controversial technology of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in its net zero plans for Western Australia. In Perth for a series of announcements on the state’s energy future, Bowen was challenged by journalists at a media conference about disappointments with…
The H2Kwinana Hydrogen Hub is progressing to the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) stage, it was announced on Friday, with construction scheduled to be finished “in mid-2027”. Energy minister Chris Bowen said that the project had made “one major step forward” ahead of producing “over 14,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum” for use in industry…
“Carbon leakage” review launched The federal government has opened public consultation on options to help address the risk of carbon leakage and its impact on heavy industries, such as steel and cement. Leakage occurs when industries move from countries with more ambitious emissions reduction policies to those with weaker policies. According to a statement on…
The federal government has announced that it has reached an agreement to invest $69.2 million in the Stanwell Corporation-led Central Queensland Hydrogen Hub in Gladstone, with construction expected to begin next year. According to a joint statement from the federal and state governments on Thursday, the hub will create “over 8,900 jobs including roles in…
BlueScope’s weak US sales hit profit Steelmaker BlueScope has cut expectations for 1H VY24 EBIT to be in the range of $620 to $670 million, down from previous guidance of $700 to $770 million. The main driver of the change is the company’s US North Star operation, which is now expected to be half the…
The largest ever Commonwealth funding programme for renewable hydrogen, the $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart scheme, is now open for applications. The federal government’s Hydrogen Headstart program will help tap into the enormous global pipeline of private investment in hydrogen, hoping to attract investment from other locations. The United States’ $740 billion Inflation reduction Act and…
