Emerging Issue: The signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership presents implications for energy investments in Australia. The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) – which will see the elimination of 98% of tariffs among 12 Pacific Rim nations(1) that in total account for 40% of global GDP – was formally signed on 4 February 2016, by Australia’s…
Growth options assessment for high-voltage transmission services market
Where expectations between businesses and communities significantly diverge, grass-roots initiatives can often emerge in response to the local preferences and values of residents. The energy industry is not immune to such intervention and technological advances and associated cost reductions in small-scale distributed energy sources, paired with growing consumer awareness and changing expectations regarding service needs…
Emerging Issue: The bipartisan deal on the renewable energy target (RET) to source 33 GWh of renewable generation in 2020 was, at the time, seen as the certainty that the renewable energy industry needed to progress with projects stuck in limbo since the RET review launched by the Abbott government. However, since the RET deal,…
Governments require additional capital to fund necessary infrastructure expansion and replacement programs. Asset recycling, privatisation and public-private arrangements attract alternative sources of funding to meet government needs and support economic growth. Marchment Hill Consulting (MHC) has participated in many recent transactions, assisting both buy and sell side parties. The target entities in our transaction support…
The Australian smart metering market emerged in 2006, when the Victorian Government approved the rollout of meters for all customers with an annual consumption of less than 160MWh. The rollout has since been completed with over 2.5 million smart meters deployed. The Victorian rollout was marked by a number of issues (e.g. cost overrun, implementation…
Recent Engagement: Small-scale renewable distributed generation, demand-side management (DSM) and storage are playing an increasingly important role in our energy mix. These new technologies represent a new future for distribution networks, and the broader electricity industry. However, their proliferation within the incumbent system is highly dependent upon the regulatory, policy settings and these may be adversely…
Much has been written about the economic challenges facing the network infrastructure that serves the National Electricity Market (NEM). Recent contributions by the Grattan Institute and the Energy Networks Association (ENA) are good examples of this. And while these contributions could be interpreted as taking opposing positions, both offer a guide to the path ahead….