Energy

Privately-owned contractor GenusPlus Group has completed its fifth acquisition in the space of two years, confirming today it has bought EC&M out of administration with plans to retain a small group of key staff to help rebuild the business.

Five Western Australian women have been appointed to senior board positions, including Marion Fulker joining the Infrastructure Australia board and Samantha Tough chairing Horizon Power.

Woodside Petroleum and power contractor EDL will team up for a 27-megawatt gas and renewable microgrid to be built at Strandline Resource's Coburn mineral sands project, which will include trucked LNG.

Mining company Gold Fields and energy producer EDL have completed the first stage of a renewable energy project that will eventually see wind and solar deliver half the power needs of the Agnew gold mine.

Regulators will be considering moves to cut the amount thermal generators need to pay when the electricity market is oversupplied, as independent retailers warn they may soon need to charge customers for exporting solar energy into the grid.

There's no bad news in Western Australia's battery industry, Energy Minister Bill Johnston says, shrugging off the deferral of major projects in recent months.

Magellan Power is considering operations for a capital raising early next year, including an IPO, as it sharpens its strategy to expand production of standalone power systems and microgrids.

Quantum computing is the next technology frontier for gas producer Woodside Petroleum, with the Perth-based business today becoming the first in Australia to join IBM's Q Network.

The Conservation Council WA has ramped up its continuing criticism of the LNG industry, with a report released today arguing other parts of the state's economy will have an “impossible ask” to reduce emissions to compensate for recent petroleum developments assuming the national target is applied uniformly.

OPINION: The investment opportunities offered by new energy models could change the debate over climate policy.

A $1 billion fund to subsidise grid reliability and an expert panel to review Australia's emissions abatement program are signs the federal government might be rethinking its approach to climate policy.

From the use of big data to recycling plastics, WA businesses are developing a sustainability niche, but the path to commercialisation can be tough.

AGL Energy subsidiary Perth Energy has secured a $4.5 million three-year contract with the North Metropolitan Health Service, its biggest natural gas supply agreement with a state government agency this year.

The use of renewable energy in the mining sector is being given a boost, with the federal government and Alinta Energy jointly funding a $200 million solar facility that will help to power Fortescue Metals Group's iron ore mines.

Fortescue Metals Group, South32, Iluka Resources, Western Power and Synergy are among a group of 10 resources and energy companies collaborating to develop a toolkit to pre-screen for modern slavery risks within their supply chains.

OPINION: Sensible debate about the cost of progressive environmental policy is missing amid the noise from politicians and green activists.

Perkins Builders has continued its streak of contract wins, after it was awarded the main construction works for a $15 million Western Power depot in Pinjarra.

Coventry Village in Morley has joined the list of Perth shopping centres to go solar, with the installation of a new 1.3-megawatt solar power system.

Power utility Synergy has taken a $446 million impairment and reported a loss of $656.9 million in the year to June, which the state government-owned business said was driven by higher fixed costs as revenue fell.

Oil and gas explorer Whitebark Energy and uranium-focused Toro Energy are seeking to advance their respective projects with equity, with Whitebark completing a share placement and Toro launching a share purchase plan.

Family-owned fertiliser producer Baileys has been the given the green light as a carbon neutral certified business, as part of an overall strategy to become more environmentally friendly.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation claims to have increased its investment in WA 10-fold since 2018.

Carnegie Clean Energy has reached the minimum of $5.5 million from its rights issue, but announced a shortfall of around $6 million, as the collapsed wave power company inches closer to recapitalisation and relisting on the ASX.

The board of Pacific Energy has backed QIC's improved takeover bid, after it matched a rival $470 million offer.

The two-way battle to acquire Pacific Energy has turned hostile, after original bidder, QIC, lodged an application with the Takeovers Panel today.

Synergy has secured a substantial electricity supply deal with the North Metropolitan Health Service, one of several electricity contracts awarded by government agencies in the health and education sectors in recent months.

Australia is now less reliant on coal than at the beginning of the century even as energy consumption steadily climbs with a growing population.

Perth-based energy services group Valmec says it expects continued revenue and earnings growth after securing $43 million worth of contracts.

Investment group QIC will need to increase its $422 million offer for Pacific Energy, after a consortium consisting of OPTrust and Infrastructure Capital Group lobbed a superior offer to the remote power provider.

Carnegie Clean Energy, which is seeking to raise up to $11.5 million after going into voluntary administration earlier this year, has issued a supplementary prospectus that tones down some of the key claims it made to investors only six weeks ago.

Synergy's renewable power joint venture has chosen Juwi Renewable Energy to complete the expansion of Greenough River solar farm, nearly a year after previous contractor RCR entered administration.

SPECIAL REPORT: Gas peaking generation and utility scale batteries will become increasingly valuable in WA as coal power units are retired and new wind farms come online.