Energy

Redflow chairman Simon Hackett says policymakers need to pave the way for batteries and the changing function of the grid.

Batteries to make the grid 'the internet of energy'

Angela Macdonald-Smith 11:23 AM   Rather than facing a "death spiral", the electricity grid is set to become the backbone of the "internet of energy", with the help of batteries – as long as policymakers get on board.

Basslink failure costs Tassie $560m and rising

Tasmania's power crisis has been relieved by recent rains.

Angela Macdonald-Smith 10:51 AM   The remedy to avoid a repetition of the Basslink cable failure doesn't lie in an expensive second cable, according to consultancy EnergyQuest.

Mulacek takes legal action on InterOil board voting

Interoil's Elk-Antelope gas fields are at the centre of a disputed takeover by ASX-listed Oil Search.

Angela Macdonald-Smith 5:36 PM   InterOil's former chief executive Phil Mulacek has started legal action in a bid to postpone the annual shareholder meetings until after the vote on Oil Search's $US2.2 billion-plus takeover deal.

ALS under takeover threat

The main factor in the latest loss was the $314 million write-down of asset values in the wake of the downturn in the ...

Brian Robins   A matter of days after being hit with a raft of 'sell' calls following disappointing annual results, laboratory testing outfit ALS is facing a potential change of control, seeking a suspension to trading in its shares.

Transgrid appoints Kerry Schott as chair

"You can use the laws in one jurisdiction to basically provide donations into another": Kerry Schott.

NSW power grid owner Transgrid has appointed former Sydney Water chief executive Kerry Schott as its new chair.

'We should be giving the British an absolute whipping'

Solar PV capacity in Australia lags that of less sunny nations such as the UK and South Korea.

Peter Hannam   In the race to a renewable energy future, we're being beaten by the unlikeliest of countries.

Consumers take charge in battery market

Enphase Energy's Raghu Belur launched the AC battery in Sydney last year.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Home battery systems are hot, but developers caution that policy reforms will be needed to maximise the benefits.

Proxy advisor criticises InterOil CEO pay

ISS has described pay for InterOil CEO Mike Hession as "high".

Angela Macdonald-Smith   ISS has pointed to excessive pay within InterOil but has backed the board on Oil Search's $US2.2 billion-plus takeover deal.

InterOil wins backing in fight with founder

InterOil founder and former boss Phil Mulacek, who is seeking to have his nominees appointed to the board.

Brian Robins   InterOil has won external support in its row with founder Phil Melacek, with an advisor to institutional investors calling on them to reject his efforts to gain board control.

Spark drops unpopular DUET stake

Spark Infrastructure investors had voiced concern over the investment in DUET Group.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Spark Infrastructure has responded to concerns over its holding in rival DUET Group, selling most of its stake for $305 million.

ALS shares dumped as energy losses continue

ALS sees life sciences unit continuing to prosper.

Brian Robins   Laboratory testing outfit ALS has signalled it will take at least three months for its energy unit to break even, after losses for the past two years have topped $400 million.

Oil Search tackles PNG regulatory hiccup

Regulatory battle: Oil Search and Total want control over InterOil's Elk-Antelope gas resource.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Oil Search has started talks with Papua New Guinea's competition regulator amid concerns about its $US2.2 billion-plus takeover deal for InterOil, as retail shareholders in the target hope for a sweeter offer.

'We signed it under duress'

Pankaj and Radhika Oswal in happier times.

Sarah Danckert   ANZ faces a $2.5 billion-plus claim from the billionaire founders of Burrup Fertiliser Pankaj and Radhikha Oswal.

Transportation may help soak up LNG glut

LNG producers hope the emerging transportation market will soak up the glut of LNG.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   A move to cleaner transportation fuels could mop up the surplus in the global liquefied natural gas market more quickly than anticipated and open up a new growth market for producers such as Woodside Petroleum.

Hazelwood closure could force power prices up

The Hazelwood Power Station in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, perhaps the dirtiest power station in the world, is an ...

Adam Morton and Brian Robins   Victorians are facing power price rises if warnings by the French owner of Australia's dirtiest power station – Hazelwood in Victoria's Latrobe valley – close it down.

Oil dips after hitting $US50

A climb above $US50 a barrel could spur producers, particularly US shale drillers, to revive scrapped operations, which ...

Oil prices hit $US50 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in seven months, then bounced below that level and settled lower on the day as investors worried robust price gains could encourage more output and add to the global glut.

Gorgon expansion gets environmental OK

The fourth LNG train would be built next to the existing three units on Barrow Island off Western Australia.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Chevron has secured federal environmental approval to expand its $US54 billion Gorgon LNG project but the focus is now on starting up the initial plant.

The tricky question at the heart of the InterOil fight

The size of the Elk-Antelope gas field in PNG will determine how much Oil Search's offer is worth for InterOil investors.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   The obscurely named "contingent value right" is core to the debate about the value of Oil Search's multibillion takeover offer for fellow PNG gas player InterOil.

Hunt 'not aware' of political ties

Steamy issue: how to cut Australia's carbon emissions.

Peter Hannam   The lead author of a consultants' report hailed by Environment Minister Greg Hunt as supporting the government's climate policies is a current member of the Liberal Party and a former candidate for the federal seat of Sydney.

Santos second GLNG unit up and running

Santos's GLNG venture now has its second production unit in operation.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Santos has brought online the second production unit at its $US18.5 billion ($25.7 billion) GLNG gas export project in Gladstone.

Hazelwood coal mine could close: owners

The Hazelwood coal mine in Morwell.

Victoria's Hazelwood coalmine could be closed or sold, owners Engie have told a French Senate committee.

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Spark value queried amid cheap takeover fears

Spark Infrastructure could be exposed to a lowball takeover offer, James Dunphy says.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Spark Infrastructure Group is worth much more than it is being valued at on the market or by investment analysts, leaving it exposed to a potential takeover on the cheap.

Citi says oil prices have 'turned a corner'

Wildfires in Canada and outages in Nigeria are brightening the immediate outlook for oil prices.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Crude oil prices have 'turned a corner' thanks to the Canadian wildifires and Nigerian disruptions that are pushing the market towards balance, Citigroup says.

Batteries will 'change the world', says AGL chief

AGL CEO Andy Vesey is putting more emphasis on solar power and batteries.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   AGL Energy chief Andy Vesey has singled out the advance in battery storage as the factor that will "change the world" of energy investment.

'It's the end of energy as we know it'

A wind turbine in Bungendore, NSW.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   There is "no excuse" for any board in Australia to not know that conventional energy and transport will be obsolete in 15 years.

Ex-InterOil CEO slams Oil Search deal

Oil Search wants a bigger stake in InterOil's large Elk-Antelope gasfield in Papua New Guinea.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Dissident shareholders in Oil Search's $US2.2 billion takeover target, InterOil, say it's "a bad deal at the bottom of the market".

The oil industry's new $US50m man

Michael Hession of InterOil who may pocket as much as $39 million in termination payments.

Brian Robins   A $US2.2 billion plan to buy InterOil is set to line Michael Hession's pockets to the tune of $US50 million in termination payments

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Spark chairman admits 'fair cop' on board performance

TransGrid's board remains under pressure after a large protest vote at Friday's AGM.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Spark Infrastructure Group's new chairman Doug McTaggart has admitted failings in the board's past dealings with its investors.

Linc collapses may trigger environmental clean-up concerns

Linc Energy's former boss, Peter Bond, was replaced as chief executive in 2014 but remains one of the company's largest ...

Brian Robins   It famously spurned the Australian sharemarket a few years back. But investors got the last laugh Monday.

Oil Search seeks to woo InterOil investors

Huge resource: The Antelope gas field is due to supply the Papua LNG project.

Angela Macdonald-Smith   Peter Botten begins meetings in Port Moresby this week to ensure InterOil investors are on side for the $US2.2 billion takeover by Oil Search.