This Month
Threat to customer safety cited in call to end sparkie work bans
Endeavour Energy has launched legal action to stop six months of industrial action, as other power workers join to form a triple threat to major projects in NSW.
- David Marin-Guzman, Campbell Kwan and Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Exclusive
- Energy security
Vales Point coal plant owner eyes gas plant, batteries
Delta joins Squadron Energy and others in studying potential investments in new gas power plants to support the transitioning electricity system.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Closing Eraring would have driven up power bills: research
Electricity prices would be $55 a megawatt-hour higher if Origin were to close the coal power plant next year, the government was told.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
EnergyAustralia returns to profit as prices jump
After two June halves of heavy losses, EnergyAustralia has surged back into the black, buoyed by sharply higher wholesale prices when renewables fell short.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Marinus Link makes billion-dollar cable commitment
The order should ensure the $3 billion-plus project to build a second power link to Tasmania starts up in 2030 when the energy market operator says it’s needed.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Exclusive
- Energy prices
Humelink budget trimmed but cost worries persist
The energy regulator has disallowed about $314 million of costs to build the contentious transmission line from Transgrid’s original proposal.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
July
Elecnor blames earnings slump on SA-NSW high-voltage cable project
EnergyConnect’s Spanish contractor has recorded a provision of $13.98 million for losses on its Australian projects in the six months to June 30.
- Jenny Wiggins and Angela Macdonald-Smith
Eraring output at five-year high as coal dependence persists
Origin Energy lifted provisions on plant sites by $235 million and warned of a big jump in coal costs for the generator.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
No wind or sun? Try using compressed air and molten salts
“You want as many cards up your sleeve as you can,” says Hydro Tasmania chief executive Ian Brooksbank of emerging renewable generation technologies.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Origin Energy ups battery investments with $450m Eraring project
The second power storage system to be installed at the NSW Central Coast site will have more than double the duration of the first one.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Cold snap confirms energy price surge, and need for gas and coal
Light winds through much of the June quarter drove a return to gas and coal power, and pushed up wholesale prices drastically in some states.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
EnergyConnect exit leaves just months to turn around crucial grid link
Elecnor, the Spanish contractor building part of the key link needed for the transition away from coal power, is expected to cease its involvement by the end of September.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith and Jenny Wiggins
Arc Energy sees plenty of PE cash – and it wants its share
The embedded network business has met with potential investors over the years, but has recently renewed its deal-making efforts.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Origin-backed Octopus extends reach with Ergon Energy deal
Australia’s fourth-largest retailer has taken on Octopus’ Kraken technology platform – the first major local customer besides Origin itself.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Fortescue’s pivot shakes faith in Labor’s Hydrogen Headstart strategy
Power prices would need to drop steeply and electrolyser costs more than halve to produce hydrogen at anywhere near a competitive level, the industry has warned.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
AGL, Squadron CEOs warn of pitfalls in flagship clean energy policy
The Capacity Investment Scheme could end up supporting poor projects that only won contracts because they bid at a cheap price and which will never be built, a clean energy summit heard.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
ICA Partners shops stake in EnergyAustralia’s Wooreen battery project
EnergyAustralia has put a 50 per cent equity stake in its “shovel-ready” Wooreen battery energy storage system project on the table and tapped ICA Partners to drum up interest.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Labor’s green hydrogen rules for $6.7b subsidy splits producers
Criteria being proposed for renewable hydrogen could mean emissions rise instead of fall as projects “cannibalise” the grid, green advocates warn.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Akaysha signs $650m debt deal for giant NSW battery
The system to be built near Wellington will be one of the largest in the world. The BlackRock-owned group has also struck a supply deal with EnergyAustralia.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Snowy Hydro pushes gas power ambitions with major storage deal
The 25-year contract will underpin the expansion of the Iona project, and underscores expectations the fuel will remain part of the energy mix past 2050.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
