Today
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
Yesterday
- Updated
- Gas
Woodside says investors back $1.4b US buy, but some have questions
Meg O’Neill says no investors have questioned investing in US LNG, but Aware Super queried the impact on climate targets and shares fell further on Tuesday.
- Updated
- 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
This Month
- Updated
- Mergers & acquisitions
Woodside splashes $1.35b in the US to become ‘global LNG powerhouse’
The acquisition of Tellurian will give the ASX-listed oil and gas company a foothold to develop exports in the booming US market for shipping natural gas.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Woodside’s big bet on US LNG will collide with Trump’s second coming
Just days after Donald Trump declared he wants to “drill, baby, drill”, Woodside has placed $22 billion on an unloved US project. It isn’t without risks.
- James Thomson
EY builds buzz for Hive’s small-scale Hunter Valley battery project
Clean Energy Transfer Fund-backed Hive is also busy negotiating a financing package with a “Tier-1 institution” as it gets more of its battery systems away.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Opinion
- Energy transition
If Earth’s ecosystem was a company, Climate Ltd would have a problem
The core principles that drive good investment are also at play in climate change.
- Kate Howitt and Gates Moss
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
Energy CEOs urge industry not to quit hydrogen dream
Australian businesses need to be smarter and work harder to overcome the cost hurdles in hydrogen, which has a strong future in some industries, CEOs insist.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Green hydrogen too ‘expensive and inefficient’: Finkel
Former chief scientist Alan Finkel – who devised Australia’s first clean hydrogen strategy – now says we are “unlikely to use hydrogen for storage of electricity”.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith, Peter Ker and Jessica Sier
Albanese sticks to hydrogen despite Fortescue retreat
Andrew Forrest ditching plans to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 has sparked questions over the government’s climate policies.
- Andrew Tillett and Brad Thompson
Blackstone pays $300m for minority stake in Symphony Infra Partners
The private capital giant is understood to have squared off against HMC Capital’s Julia Gillard-chaired Energy Transition Fund in the auction’s final round.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
LNG export purse crunched 25pc as prices drop
Australia’s LNG revenue fell in 2023-24 despite flat export volumes, with Santos’ sales broadly reflecting the wider picture as prices softened.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
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
Nuclear awakening ‘a decade or two late’, says AER
Clare Savage said it would take 25 years to put the political and regulatory frameworks in place for nuclear power – much longer than the Coalition says.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Genex to depart ASX after investors back J-Power takeover
Shareholder approval of the deal, worth more than $1 billion including debt, was in little doubt after 19.9 per cent investor Skip Capital revealed it would back it.
- 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
AEMO chief warns no chance of nuclear replacing ageing coal plants
Daniel Westerman, who runs the energy market operator, said gas generation would remain the “ultimate backstop” as fossil fuels exit the electricity grid.
- 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
