ENERGY NETWORKS Australia (ENA) has welcomed the recognition of hydrogen and batteries as key parts of the clean energy transition in the Federal Government's Technology Roadmap.

ENA CEO, Andrew Dillon, said the appointment of Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) CEO Ben Wilson to the ministerial reference group showed the clear role renewable gases would play in our energy future.

"This is not about one technology or another, it's about the right mix to achieve our goals of clean, reliable and affordable energy for Australia," Mr Dillon said.

"Household, distribution and transmission level batteries will play their part along with renewable gases like hydrogen.

"To maximise the value we get from batteries, we need to also improve pricing signals to encourage smart technologies such as household batteries and electric vehicles to charge and discharge when it’s best for everyone. Examples of this are already in practice by SA Power Networks, Western Power and Horizon Power."

Mr Dillon said the goal of producing hydrogen for $2 per kg should also be coupled with targets for blending hydrogen in our distribution networks.

"Our customers prefer using gas for cooking and heating, but they want to see emissions reductions," he said.

"Networks like those owned by AGIG, Jemena and ATCO are already trialling the blending of hydrogen for use in homes and businesses.

"The development of a domestic hydrogen market is an essential step towards getting the price of production down and supporting a viable export market."

An update to the energy industry's Gas Vision 2050 is expected to be released later this week. A collaboration of gas industry associations, this report models the role of gas and renewable gases like hydrogen in future domestic and industrial scenarios.

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THE CO₂ Cooperative Research Centre (CO2CRC) has welcomed today’s release of the first Low Emissions Technology Statement by Angus Taylor, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, and its recognition of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as one of the five identified priority low emissions technologies for Australia.

“Developing economic ‘stretch’ goals for each priority technology and annual reporting on progress towards these goals provides a measurable commitment to the long-term strategic importance of these areas and an imperative for their cost-effective deployment," CO2CRC chief executive David Byers said.

“As Australia’s leading Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) research organisation, CO2CRC believes that the stretch goal for CCS ($20 per tonne for CO₂ compression, transport and storage) is achievable with the right level of investment in technology development and project deployment.

"This is also consistent with the conclusions of leading independent academic and industry technoeconomic studies. Establishing the goal will encourage the development, application and scaling up of low emission and low-cost technologies, strengthening industry and delivering more jobs.

“Australia is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of the global scale-up of CCS technologies," he said. "It has ready access to the latest carbon capture and storage technologies and expertise, some of the world’s best deep sedimentary basins in which to store CO₂ and an internationally recognised resources industry and researchers.

"Local and international researchers and industry have also been supported for more than a decade by CO2CRC’s Otway National Research Facility in south west Victoria, which is one of the most advanced field scale CCS research sites globally.

“With around two-thirds of emissions in Australia coming from outside the power generation sector, technologies like CCS with broad application across the economy, are vital to achieving long-term emissions reduction goals while maintaining Australia’s economic resilience.”    

“The value of CCS is its versatility as a technology. Its applications extend from natural gas processing and power generation to steel and cement production, where emissions are hard to abate due to inherent process emissions and high temperature heat requirements," Mr Byers said.

"Producing clean hydrogen from gas or coal paired with CCS also offers the most cost-effective, reliable, and flexible pathway to large-scale hydrogen production.

“CCS projects also offer a large-scale emissions reduction opportunity (millions of tonnes per annum (Mtpa) for 20+ years), which is an order of magnitude higher than many other abatement options.

"For example, the Gorgon LNG Project is progressively ramping up to full capacity of up to 4Mtpa of safe and permanent storage of CO₂. The Victorian CarbonNet Project plans to geologically store around 5Mtpa CO₂ each year and Santos is examining a large-scale commercial CCS project to be located in the Cooper Basin with a scalable potential to store up to 20 Mt of CO₂ per year," he said.

www.co2crc.com.au

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THE CITY of Sydney is working with the NSW Government on a vision to create a 24-hour alfresco city that will support Sydney’s recovery from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Sydney’s community recovery plan focusses on the need to reactivate the city centre and local precincts with outdoor dining and bars, late night trading, live music, and cultural institutions staying open in the evening.

Together the City and the government will work to cut red tape and create a streamlined process that will make it easier than ever before for businesses to take up outdoor dining in reclaimed spaces and laneways.  Under the new plans, associated outdoor dining fees will also be waived until March 2021.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City had been working towards the creation of a 24-hour alfresco city for more than 10 years.

“Over the last decade we have proposed the light rail and helped create a pleasant, people-friendly George Street, we have paved laneways and campaigned for small bars,” the Lord Mayor said.

“Now by removing fees and red tape and working with businesses to find as many outdoor dining opportunities as possible, we’re supporting Covid-recovery while realising our vision of an alfresco city.

“We need to allow and encourage businesses to operate outdoors, and we need to support our creative and cultural life to activate and draw people back to our city, safely. We want to ensure our city businesses survive, and create new opportunities to thrive in the long term.

“Having brunch with friends, a wine after work or grabbing a quick bite and watching the world go by are some of the best moments of urban life. Encouraging outdoor dining makes it easier for us to enjoy those things and support local businesses while maintaining a safe physical distance.

“The City is working with businesses along Sydney high streets, in laneways and in the CBD to identify parking spots, traffic lanes and footpaths for outdoor dining including Pitt, Barrack and Crown streets and Tankstream and Wilmot lanes.”

The 12-month outdoor dining pilot is set to begin in November and support measures for the small business, community and cultural sector will be extended to March 30, 2021.

Measures include:

• waiving fees for Health and Building compliance activities;
• reviewing rents in conjunction with tenants in City premises for those tenants that require support on a case-by-case basis;
• waiving standard contractual terms and return venue booking and banner fees to people and organisations who have booked City of Sydney venues and banners and may then be unable to proceed with their bookings;
• waiving footway dining, market permit and filming fees on the grounds of hardship;
• providing additional rental support for our Accommodation Grant Program tenants and childcare services by waiving all rent;
• and allowing recipients to vary their deliverables under existing grants to enable recipients to retain those funds to support the continuing viability of the City’s cultural and creative community.

The City’s community recovery plan was developed in consultation with the community and made a commitment to putting the cultural sector at the heart of economic recovery by enabling creatives to reactivate the CBD and precincts.

The City unveiled its community recovery plan in June with a key action to promote a city that is safe, clean and open for business, and encourages Sydneysiders to visit the CBD and shop local.  

The plan builds on the $72.5 million support package released by the City in April for small businesses, artists and others in the creative and community sectors left devastated by the loss of work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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FROM JULY 2022, Coles will source more than 90 percent of its Queensland electricity requirements from CleanCo, after entering into a landmark 10-year agreement with the state-owned clean energy generator and retailer.

Coles will purchase 400 GWh of electricity annually through the agreement. The Western Downs Green Power Hub, set to be Australia’s largest solar farm once built, and the MacIntyre Wind Farm, one of the largest wind farms to be built in the southern hemisphere, will supply three quarters of the Coles’ electricity requirements, with the remainder supported by CleanCo’s low emissions portfolio.

The partnership will reduce Coles electricity carbon dioxide emissions nationally by an estimated 20 percent or 240,000 tonnes annually*, which is the annual equivalent of taking 100,000 vehicles off the road^. It also secures the development of both projects, which together with CleanCo’s Karara wind farm, will create 800 local jobs in Queensland’s Western and Southern Downs.

Last year, Coles became the first major Australian retailer to commit to buying renewable energy through a 10-year power purchase agreement with global renewable power generation company Metka EGN, purchasing more than 70 percent of the electricity generated by three solar power plants in regional NSW.

Coles Group CEO Steven Cain said the significant increase in renewable energy is a major part of Coles’ commitment to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket.

“We have already made changes throughout our business to use energy more efficiently, which has enabled us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 36.5 percent since 2009, while growing our team member base and store network,” Mr Cain said.

Coles chief sustainability, property and export officer Thinus Keeve said Coles was committed to purchasing renewable energy across the country.

“Long-term agreements like this are a great example of how we are able to reduce our energy costs, support the community and make a meaningful impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Keeve said.

“The CleanCo and Metka EGN agreements are great examples of how we can grow renewable energy generation capacity in Australia because they give the developers the certainty they need to invest and we look forward to growing our partnerships with renewable energy providers in the future.”

CleanCo CEO Maia Schweizer said providing competitively-priced clean energy to Coles allows CleanCo to create growth and jobs in south-west Queensland associated with its 2025 goal of 1000 MW of new renewable generation.

“We are proud to partner with Coles and provide renewables-backed power for its Queensland sites under one contract,” Dr Schweizer said.

About the Western Downs Green Power Hub

The Western Downs Green Power Hub is located 22km south-east of Chinchilla and will connect to the electricity grid via a new overhead line to publicly-owned Powerlink’s existing Western Downs substation. Generation is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. The project will generate enough energy to power about 235,000 Queensland homes.

About the MacIntyre Wind Farm

The MacIntyre Wind Farm is located about 50km west of Warwick and will connect to the electricity grid via a new overhead power line. Generation is scheduled for 2024. The project will generate enough energy to power about 700,000 Queensland homes.

* Estimated using market-based greenhouse gas emission accounting method with a residual mix factor of 1.08 TCO2e/MWh.

^ National Transport Commission, Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity for New Australian Light Vehicles 2019, June 2020 & 9208.0 - Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia, 12 months ended June 30, 2018.

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