According to The Australian Financial Review, Fortescue Energy boss Mark Hutchinson says Australia must get power prices down to about $US30 ($45.36) a megawatt hour if it wants to be a hydrogen superpower, under a goal that would effectively require a halving of power prices across much of the eastern states.
Mr Hutchinson’s power price challenge came as he warned that Fortescue and Incitec Pivot would find it “tough” to proceed with a plan to retrofit Queensland’s Gibson Island fertiliser plant towards a future in hydrogen and ammonia unless governments helped mitigate the high cost of clean energy. https://www.afr.com/business-summit/fortescue-says-hydrogen-hopes-rest-on-a-halving-of-power-prices-20240311-p5fbjk
0 Comments
According to The PV magazine, New South Wales has committed to reform the planning approvals process for renewable energy developments amid criticism that the current process isn’t fit for purpose and is slowing the state’s transition from coal-dominated generation to a renewables-dominated grid.
New South Wales (NSW) Planning Minister Paul Scully said the government is aiming for almost 50 large-scale solar, wind, and battery storage projects to be approved in NSW this year. “We have got a further 29 projects in the planning stage with an additional 20 projects expected to be submitted to the department or the coming months,” he said. “Most of these are expected to be determined this year.” https://www.pv-magazine-australia.com/2024/03/08/nsw-commits-to-improve-approvals-process-for-renewables-projects/
According to The Asahi Shimbun, Osaka Gas announced its medium-term management plan for the three-year period beginning in fiscal 2024. At the same time, the company also revealed its goal of increasing ordinary income from the current level of around 150 billion yen to 200 billion yen in FY30. In addition to expanding its domestic thermal power generation and liquefied natural gas (LNG) wholesale business, the company plans to focus on its overseas business.
Energy companies are under pressure to shift away from fossil fuels amid the global trend toward decarbonization. However, Masataka Fujiwara, president of Osaka Gas, explained at a press conference, "For the next 20 years or so, thermal power generation using LNG will be important. While focusing on sales of electricity and LNG, the company will further prepare concrete measures for the future of energy during the three years of the mid-term business plan. https://digital.asahi.com/articles/ASS376DW2S37ULFA01M.html
According to The Australian Financial Review, J-Power, one of Japan’s largest energy utilities, has lobbed a $375 million bid to buy Queensland renewables developer Genex Power, 14 months after Scott Farquhar’s Skip Capital and Stonepeak Partners walked away from their own takeover proposal.
Shares in Genex, Australia’s only listed pure-play renewables developer, surged as much as 32 per cent on news of the move, the latest in a string of deals between major Japanese groups and local energy companies. While agreements have historically focused primarily on Australia’s natural gas and coal sectors, clean energy has shot up the investment agenda. J-Power already owns 7.72 per cent of Genex and is a lender to the company, whose biggest project is the $777 million Kidston pumped hydro venture in Queensland. It is also Genex’s 50 per cent partner in the Kidston Stage 3 wind and Bulli Creek solar and battery projects in northern Queensland. https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/japanese-utilities-giant-lobs-genex-takeover-bid-with-50pc-premium-20240304-p5f9ho
According to The Australian Financial Review, ABEL Energy has sent out its bankers to find fresh backers, just as it gets cracking on its much-talked-about $1.7 billion Bell Bay Powerfuels project.
The Bell Bay Powerfuels project wants to ship 300,000 tonnes of “green” methanol production annually, starting in 2028. The three-part process uses renewable energy to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, while forestry residues are processed via gasification to generate syngas. Putting the two together produces methanol. Prospective bidders have been told to register expressions of interest by March 8 to receive an info pack. The sell-side advisers will collect non-binding offers in mid-April, and final bids would be due six weeks later, at the end of May. ABEL is hoping to have a deal signed by the end of the financial year. https://www.afr.com/street-talk/tasmania-s-abel-energy-preps-raise-for-1-7b-green-fuels-project-20240229-p5f8se
According to The AuManufaturing, the South Australian government and the private sector have funded studies, planning and negotiations to lead to a final investment decision on the Northern Water project servicing BHP’s copper mines and refineries and the burgeoning green hydrogen and steel industries.
If progressed, Northern Water would see construction of a 260 megalitre a day desalination plant on the Eyre Peninsula, and a 600-kilometre pipeline to transport desalinated water to the Far North. A comprehensive business case has found the project has the potential to generate more than $5 billion in annual economic benefit and 4,000 ongoing jobs by facilitating development of industries including copper, hydrogen and green iron, along with defence, pastoral, and community uses. https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/desalination-to-unlock-copper-green-hydrogen-and-steel-riches
According to The Australian Financial Review, Japan has laid down a $US1.4 billion ($2.1 billion) vote of confidence in Australian gas by taking a big slice of Woodside Energy’s Scarborough project in Western Australia, underscoring Asia’s appetite for supply of the fossil fuel for decades to come.
The deal by JERA, Japan’s largest importer of LNG, to acquire a 15.1 per cent stake in the Scarborough development comes six months after Japan LNG agreed to buy a 10 per cent stake in a $US880 million deal. The two deals, worth $3.5 billion in total, bring four major Japanese players – Tokyo Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power, Sojitz and Sumitomo – into Australia’s biggest resource project, a $16.5 billion development beset by legal challenges and environmental protests. https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/woodside-in-2-1b-scarborough-lng-sale-to-japanese-20240223-p5f7c4
According to The Australian Financial Review, the Queensland government has named the first five venture capital firms to receive a share of a new $130 million fund that will invest in the state’s start-ups.
More than 85 VC firms and accelerators put their hand out for the cash from the Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund (QVCDF). It was originally established as a $75 million fund, but the Queensland government tipped in a further $55 million because of the strong demand for capital. https://www.afr.com/technology/five-vc-funds-to-share-130m-qld-funding-named-20240214-p5f4rj
According to The Australian Financial Review, the Albanese government is planning a “think big” multibillion-dollar initiative to try to compete with the United States’ $624 billion Inflation Reduction Act and similar schemes elsewhere, in a bid to drive the domestic development of clean energy technology.
The scheme, which sources said is likely to be a combination of subsidies and co-investment, will aim to stem the flow of capital to the US, where President Joe Biden’s IRA is acting as a magnet. The government already has several initiatives in play but has been under pressure to do more, including from Squadron Energy’s Andrew Forrest, who is seeking government support to develop the commercially viable production of green hydrogen. He has argued previously that Australia should join forces with the likes of Japan and Germany to help counter the pull of the IRA. https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/think-big-pm-plans-cash-splash-on-green-fund-20240215-p5f53s
According to The Australian Financial Review, BHP, Rio Tinto and BlueScope have joined an Australian-first collaboration aimed at fast-tracking the path to nearly carbon-free production by steel makers relying on Australia’s No.1 export, iron ore.
Under the initiative, the three companies aim to develop a pilot plant that will prove production of molten iron from West Australian ores is feasible using renewable power in direct reduced iron process technology, and in doing so, future-proof the Pilbara. The project aims to head off the risk that iron ore from the Pilbara, which is lower grade than ores suitable for other, more advanced, green iron and steel technologies become increasingly discounted or face declining demand as importers strive to meet net zero emissions targets. Several locations across Australia will be assessed for the proposed plant, including BlueScope’s Port Kembla steel mill, where the companies announced the initiative on Friday. Pre-feasibility work should be completed by the year-end, and the pilot plant – expected to cost hundreds of millions – could come into operation as early as 2027, if approved. https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/green-steel-push-unifies-rivals-rio-bhp-and-bluescope-20240208-p5f3k8 |
Subscribe to our English Newsletter
AuthorHarry Kinase Archives
December 2023
Categories
All
|
Getting Around
Home | About us | Our Services | Column | Blog | Contact | Website term of use
Subscribe to our English Newsletter
|
日本語ニュースレター配信登録
© Japan Australia Business Creators Pty Ltd | All Rights Reserved. Website designed and developed by Japan Australia Business Creators Pty Ltd.