Emission Control: A round up of some of 2022’s top renewable energy events

Fossil fuel price inflation has been a major theme for 2022
Climate Energy Finance believe it is time for an Australian Inflation Reduction Act / Climate Bill
Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar pulls $346m bid for renewables group Genex Power

As 2022 draws to a close, it is probably as good time as any to look back at some of the top energy events that helped shape the clean energy landscape over the course of the year.

From the election of the new Albanese Federal Labour Government in May to the coal exodus by Australia’s biggest emitter, AGL, resulting in the commitment to its first ever Climate Transition Action Plan thanks to the persistence of impact investors.

Climate Energy Finance (CEF), a think tank established in 2022 working probono in the public interest on accelerating decarbonisation, says fossil fuel energy price hyperinflation has been the dominant theme in 2022.

Australian domestic and business consumers were hit hard with higher than ever power bills on the back of fossil fuel majors raking in private war profits off the blood of the Ukrainian people.

“Calls mounted for intervention in this epic market failure – we estimate fossil fuel multinationals will make $120-140bn gross profit from Australia’s assets this year, and the newly instituted price caps will not put a material dent in this, given they have close to zero impact on LNG and coal exports,” CEF says.

Massive capital inflows came pouring in from the likes of Twiggy Forrests’ Squadron Energy, which bought CWP Renewables for $4bn, the $18bn Brookfield- EIG Group bid for Origin Energy, and across the pond – President Biden’s US$396bn Inflation Reduction Act, which marks the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history and aims to reduce inflation.

This alone triggered a tsunami of capital inflow, CEF says, and modelled the efficacy of targeted and strategic state spending in crowding-in private investment – a salient lesson for other nations, including Australia.

In fact, the think tank reckons it is time for an Australian Inflation Reduction Act/Climate Bill to crowd-in private capital and turbocharge the zero-emissions energy economy.

“This will make for an even better 2023,” the research firm says.

Among some of the other items on CEFC’s wish list for 2023 include state and federal governments working collectively with the finance sector and committing to no new coal and gas developments in order to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, and comprehensive reform of fossil fuel taxation regimes at the state and federal level.

Here’s how renewable energy stocks are tracking:

CODE	COMPANY	PRICE	% TODAY	% WEEK	% MONTH	% 6 MONTH	% YEAR	MARKET CAP
AVL	Aust Vanadium Ltd	0.024	-4%	-4%	-8%	-25%	-14%	$108,590,630
BSX	Blackstone Ltd	0.125	-4%	-4%	-22%	-31%	-77%	$61,540,068
DEL	Delorean Corporation	0.068	0%	-4%	-6%	-24%	-68%	$14,669,022
ECT	Env Clean Tech Ltd.	0.011	-15%	-15%	-33%	-27%	-69%	$22,311,272
FMG	Fortescue Metals Grp	20.66	-1%	1%	9%	11%	7%	$64,134,839,242
PV1	Provaris Energy Ltd	0.046	2%	-2%	-15%	-4%	-54%	$24,672,621
GNX	Genex Power Ltd	0.135	4%	-18%	-23%	23%	-33%	$180,073,028
HXG	Hexagon Energy	0.016	-6%	0%	-6%	-16%	-78%	$8,719,570
HZR	Hazer Group Limited	0.59	4%	-2%	-14%	-2%	-49%	$96,300,715
IFT	Infratil Limited	8.13	2%	1%	1%	12%	9%	$5,791,868,656
IRD	Iron Road Ltd	0.13	-4%	0%	4%	-10%	-37%	$108,208,076
LIO	Lion Energy Limited	0.033	0%	-3%	-13%	-6%	-50%	$14,061,637
MEZ	Meridian Energy	5.01	7%	3%	17%	22%	11%	$5,938,517,854
MPR	Mpower Group Limited	0.019	0%	19%	-5%	-27%	-54%	$5,580,362
NEW	NEW Energy Solar	0.195	-5%	0%	3%	40%	45%	$65,720,537
PGY	Pilot Energy Ltd	0.015	0%	0%	-12%	-21%	-72%	$11,720,161
PH2	Pure Hydrogen Corp	0.16	0%	-3%	-24%	-27%	-69%	$56,346,609
PRL	Province Resources	0.0575	1%	-6%	-13%	3%	-62%	$67,345,109
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.0015	0%	0%	-25%	-25%	-83%	$3,636,913
QEM	QEM Limited	0.18	0%	-3%	3%	-8%	-3%	$24,325,842
RFX	Redflow Limited	0.225	2%	0%	-27%	-42%	-57%	$39,538,260
SKI	Spark Infrastructure	0	0%	-100%	-100%	-100%	-100%	$5,036,718,784
VUL	Vulcan Energy	6.09	-2%	-4%	-14%	3%	-41%	$889,298,866
CXL	Calix Limited	4.3	-1%	-6%	-17%	-31%	-28%	$781,351,492
KPO	Kalina Power Limited	0.016	0%	0%	-30%	-11%	-27%	$24,243,133
RNE	Renu Energy Ltd	0.048	-4%	-4%	-21%	41%	-40%	$22,004,273
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.095	-1%	-3%	-21%	-47%	-39%	$106,229,821
LIT	Lithium Australia	0.043	-2%	-2%	-14%	-22%	-63%	$53,732,434
TNG	TNG Limited	0.075	4%	4%	-21%	53%	-4%	$99,966,112
SRJ	SRJ Technologies	0.099	10%	-77%	-77%	-77%	-77%	$8,025,773
NMT	Neometals Ltd	0.795	-2%	-4%	-19%	-14%	-27%	$450,484,058
MR1	Montem Resources	0.04	0%	0%	0%	82%	-22%	$12,893,190
FGR	First Graphene Ltd	0.11	2%	10%	-12%	-4%	-46%	$62,491,512
EGR	Ecograf Limited	0.225	0%	0%	-26%	-24%	-66%	$101,325,028
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.004	-20%	-20%	-33%	-64%	-79%	$13,556,151
CWY	Cleanaway Waste Ltd	2.63	0%	-1%	-5%	1%	-14%	$5,876,640,317
CPV	Clearvue Technologie	0.175	3%	0%	-3%	-19%	-27%	$36,900,430
CNQ	Clean Teq Water	0.385	8%	7%	3%	-3%	-44%	$20,487,156
M8S	M8 Sustainable	0.008	0%	0%	-20%	14%	-43%	$3,927,268
EOL	Energy One Limited	4.5	0%	0%	-1%	-12%	-27%	$134,111,022
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.022	0%	0%	-37%	38%	0%	$21,594,663
FHE	Frontier Energy Ltd	0.41	1%	0%	-21%	100%	215%	$101,578,547
LPE	Locality Planning	0.054	4%	2%	-14%	-19%	-61%	$9,264,126

Neoen signs a 15-year PPA for Mount Hopeful wind farm

Neoen Australia, dubbed the country’s most successful renewables and storage developer, has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Stanwell for 215MW of energy from Mount Hopeful wind farm in central Queensland.

Stanwell Corporation is a major provider of electricity and energy solutions to Queensland, the National Electricity Market and large energy users throughout Australia.

Under the agreement, Stanwell will purchase 65% of the generation capacity of the 330MW wind farm, which will be fully owned by Neoen, and allows them to provide clean, renewable energy to their commercial and industrial customers, through their retail electricity business, Stanwell Energy.

The two entities will also explore future renewable energy projects in the state.

Neoen has more than 2.5GW of assets in operation or under construction, with 817 MW of this capacity located in Queensland.

Construction gets underway at Western Downs

One of Neoens’ projects under construction includes the 200MW/400MWh Western Downs Battery also in Queensland – its fourth big battery on the continent.

On Thursday, the company said it provided notices to battery storage experts Tesla and plant contractor ULG to “proceed”, signalling the start of construction.

The battery, consisting of Tesla Megapack systems, will leverage the existing infrastructure of Neoen’s Western Downs Green Power Hub which includes a 460 MWp solar farm, currently nearing completion.

It will be located next to the Western Downs substation with Powerlink delivering the connection works, including a dedicated high-voltage line which will connect the battery to the transmission network.

Early construction works are underway, with the asset expected to start operating in the Australian summer of 2024/25.

Who’s got news out?

GENEX POWER (ASX:GNX)

One of the biggest headlines to come out of the renewable energy sector this week is the news that a Consortium comprising Skip Essential Infrastructure and Stonepeak Partners will no longer pursue the acquisition of renewable energy generation stock GNX.

Genex started the engagement process with the Consortium back in mid-August after it made an indicative offer to acquire GNX shares at 23c – valuing the company at more than $320mn.

At the time, this marked a 70pc premium to the company’s last closing price however GNX said the takeover offer undervalued the company and therefore was not in the best interest of shareholders.

On Wednesday, after an extended period of due diligence and discussions with the Costrium which comprised an extensive Q&A through an online data room, the Consortium advised it would cease to pursue its indicative proposal and a possible change of control transaction.

“The board maintains its belief that Genex has compelling future prospects as the energy transition gathers pace and remains focused on the continued delivery of the 250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project and the 50MW Bouldercombe Battery Project, alongside its attractive pipeline of growth opportunities,” GNX said in an ASX announcement.

STRATEGIC ELEMENTS (ASX:SOR)

Strategic Elements has successfully demonstrated the power output of its Energy Ink battery, which generates electrical energy from moisture in the air, compared to the baseline power consumed by a glucose monitoring skin patch.

The extremely thin, flexible, environmentally friendly Energy Ink battery generated over 200% more power than required.

Strategic Elements MD Charles Murphy says the technology is evolving at a rapid rate.

Millions of people worldwide use skin patches powered by rigid alkaline batteries or lithium materials to reduce the frequency of daily finger prick blood glucose checks and better manage glucose levels.

However, the ACC is concerned with child safety of the button/coin cell batteries used in these types of devices and in 2022 ordered manufacturers/retailers to comply with strict new Australian mandatory safety and information standards.

“With the use of these devices expected to surge globally, the clear goal for manufacturers is to make devices as inconspicuous as possible, provide more advanced sensing, keep costs low, and be friendlier to the environment,” SOR says.

“The advantages of the Energy Ink technology align with these goals and include flexibility, thinness, and the ability to print various sizes whilst using environmentally friendly materials.”