Latest news with #coalphaseout
ABC News
07-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Developer warns wind energy capacity may not be ready by WA coal deadline
A wind developer undergoing what it says is a "marathon" approval process says it may not be operational by the time Western Australia's coal-fired power stations are switched off. The WA government has set a 2030 deadline for the wind-down of coal-fired power generation, and has backed onshore wind as a key part of the state's new electricity mix. Projects planned for southern WA include wind farms around West Arthur, Narrogin, Williams, Boddington and Scott River. However, many are yet to begin construction and a developer says the 2030 deadline may need to be extended to keep the lights on. In Boddington, about 130 kilometres south of Perth, the companies behind the Marradong Wind Farm are yet to make a final investment decision. The 45-turbine, 300-megawatt project is a collaboration between developers Wind with Purpose and Quenda Wind Power. The latter is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, which partially owns the struggling Bluewaters Power Station in Collie. Quenda business development head Daniel Kurz said meeting the state government's 2030 "line in the sand" would be challenging. Wind with Purpose chief executive Chris Kearney said while the project was currently on track to be operational by 2029, there was not much wiggle room. "If we don't hit our targets for getting this project online, and likewise if Western Power don't have the infrastructure to connect these projects, then the reality is coal-fired power plants may have to stay online a few years longer than planned," he said. The Marradong Wind Farm would use existing power infrastructure in the area. But 100km down the road, RES Australia's wind farm — more than twice the size of the Marradong project with 110 turbines — would rely on transmission infrastructure being upgraded. Once operational, the project in Dardadine, 197km south-east of Perth, would generate enough electricity to power up to 450,000 homes. It is also yet to progress beyond the consultation and assessment stage. Development director Greg Wilkinson said construction should start by 2028, with a view to being fully operational by the end of 2031. But he said if the project went ahead and the power infrastructure was ready, he was willing to bring it forward. "We're working with Western Power and Powering WA to ensure that we can get this project up and powering WA homes as soon as we can," Mr Wilkinson said. The Clean Energy Council's Chris O'Keefe said a lack of transmission lines was a sticking point for the industry. "The WA government needs to build 250 kilometres of new transmission lines," he said. "[Otherwise] we might have a situation where we're generating two or three gigawatts of onshore wind, yet there's not enough transmission to get it to the places where it needs to get to." The Cook government's latest budget included $584.3 million to be spent on network upgrades and the expansion of the Clean Energy Link. It has also promised to set up transmission manufacturing hubs in Perth and the South West. The WA government said it was not relying on a controversial, federally backed offshore wind project to be ready by 2030. But Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said onshore wind would be "critical" heading into 2030. "We do support a sensible mix of renewable energy and big battery storage … [and] we will still continue to need gas as a firming fuel as we exit coal," she said. Ms Sanderson said she would work with proponents on what was needed. However, Mr O'Keefe said he was worried work was not happening quickly enough. "They need to crack on with that if that 2030 target is to be met."
Japan Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
South Korea's new president has a chance to clean up
The election of left-leaning former labor activist Lee Jae-myung as South Korean president Tuesday is just the latest example of how much of the world is moving in the opposite direction to the US. In common with recent elections in Canada and Australia, it's a rebuke of leaders on the right who've fought a rearguard action against the transition to renewables. Lee has promised to phase out coal, limit use of natural gas and accelerate the building of wind and solar. His position on nuclear power, a major success story that was strongly supported by his impeached predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, remains ambiguous. However, resolving energy policy in South Korea won't be easy. Years of inertia and obstruction of the transition have left the country with a system that's plagued with high costs and has the lowest renewable penetration among developed economies. State-owned utility Korea Electric Power Corp., or Kepco, is wallowing in debt after it was forced to suppress bill prices when Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed up the cost of liquefied natural gas. In the best of times, it usually depends on government subsidies to sell electricity for less than it spends on fueling, building and servicing its plants. The biggest challenge will come from fixing the crippling costs of renewables. South Korea pays more for its wind and solar than any other major economy. It's the only significant market where you can still build a new coal power plant more cheaply than a new solar or wind generator. If Lee's plans for an energy transition aren't going to become mired in red tape while adding yet more costs to Kepco's teetering balance sheet, it will be slow, unrewarding work. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer came to power last year promising to build 1.5 million homes in five years by breaking through a similar morass of regulatory roadblocks. Homebuilding this year, however, is expected to hit its lowest level in 14 years. The barriers to renewables are legion. Some are natural: South Korea is as densely populated as the Netherlands, but its land is far more mountainous. That means a dearth of the flat sites best suited to solar and wind. The few that exist have to contend with a farming sector that aims to be largely self-sufficient in growing rice for the country's 52 million people. Hillsides where solar can be built are vulnerable to landslides, particularly as a warming climate causes more intense downpours. There are no grid connections to other countries, because South Korea doesn't much trust its neighbors. The more serious barriers are the effect of regulatory capture, though. One little-noticed update from Kepco and the powerful Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last year largely outlawed new renewable development for seven years in a swath of the south and east, saying fresh generation licenses wouldn't be issued in the region until 103 electricity substations complete their upgrades in 2032. Similarly, onerous rules requiring solar developers to verify the carbon footprint of their panels throughout the supply chain were introduced in 2021 following concerns that Chinese modules were undercutting local manufacturers. That's helped prop up the local industry, but left the country with some of the highest module costs in the world. The carbon footprint of a grid that gets 60% of its power from fossil fuels seems to have been less of a concern. Lee's more vocal backing for offshore wind is a sign of how intractable these problems may be. It's the least price competitive form of clean energy in South Korea, but in a country where the rural lobby is opposed to onshore solar and wind and the green lobby wants a halt to further nuclear development, it's the one that's least likely to upset any interest groups. For all that, Lee has some advantages. The center-left has had control of Seoul's executive and legislative branches for just two years since 2008, from 2020 to 2022 when policy was dominated by COVID-19. He's now got that power, giving him a stronger hand in allowing more renewables onto the grid. Kepco's weakened financial state should mute its objections, too. He will need to move fast, though. Three under-construction nuclear generators near Ulsan and on the east coast must be expedited, while the red tape that's held back solar and wind will need to be slashed. If Kepco needs more bailouts, they should be conditional on it upgrading transmission networks to open up the windy, sun-baked east of the country as a renewables hub. Even costly offshore wind has potential, if prices can be brought down by shortening current decadelong development times. Costs for the technology in the U.K. fell by two-thirds between 2014 and 2019 as the sector grew. There's no reason South Korea can't repeat the trick. David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy.
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
South Korea's New President Has a Chance to Clean Up
The election of left-leaning former labor activist Lee Jae-myung as South Korean president Tuesday is just the latest example of how much of the world is moving in the opposite direction to the US. In common with recent elections in Canada and Australia, it's a rebuke of leaders on the right who've fought a rearguard action against the transition to renewables. Lee has promised to phase out coal, limit use of natural gas, and accelerate the building of wind and solar. His position on nuclear power, a major success story that was strongly supported by his impeached predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, remains ambiguous.
Reuters
11-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Norway wealth fund revokes exclusion on Germany's RWE
May 11 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth, the world's largest, has decided to revoke its exclusion on German utility RWE ( opens new tab, fund operator Norges Bank Investment Management said on Sunday. In 2020, Norway's sovereign wealth fund had excluded RWE, alongside Glencore, Anglo American, Sasol and AGL Energy, for the use and production of coal under updated ethical guidelines. In 2022, RWE, Germany's biggest utility, brought forward its coal phase-out by eight years and is ready to end lignite-based electricity generation in 2030 as part of a deal reached with the government. The Norwegian fund said that several milestones with regards to the phaseout have already been reached. "We consider that the coal-fired power capacity is now below the absolute threshold specified in the coal criterion. Coal mining will nevertheless remain above the threshold for some time to come," fund operator NBIM said in a statement. About half of RWE's installed renewable capacity is based in the United States.
