The Economic Perspective 1 August 2025

The Latest Trending Economic News Curated for You by Balmoral Group Australia

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Good morning dear readers,

In this week’s edition, we explore the energy sector and efforts to accelerate the transition to renewables. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced a $3.5 billion boost to renewables investment, focusing on long-duration storage and affordability. Next, we cover CSIRO’s recent GenCost report, a must-read for energy enthusiasts, revealing the costs of current and prospective energy technology, and the government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), which has raised capacity targets for electricity storage and generation. Additionally, the GRDC has announced a substantial funding injection of $60 million per year, focused on blue sky research for grain productivity. To visualise the progress of renewables Australia-wide, we’ve attached an interactive map made by the Australian Renewables Academy (ARA).

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Hope you enjoy the articles and have a great weekend!

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Australia’s Green Bank Hits Record $2.3 Billion in Clean Energy Investments 

The government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced a $3.5 billion investment in renewable projects across FY 2024-25. The largest component was a $2.8 billion grid program to expand and modernize the national grid, with $2.1 billion funneled into construction of a new electricity transmission link on the east coast. This announcement reflects the CEFC’s $4.7 billion commitment last fiscal year, and CEFC’s CEO Ian Learmonth is focused on renewables, long-duration storage, clean energy affordability and emissions cutting measures. Read more here.

CSIRO releases final 2024-25 GenCost report following consultation 

CSIRO’s recent GenCost report, released on Tuesday in collaboration with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), updates cost estimates for electricity generation technologies. The report found renewables (wind and solar) to be lowest-cost when backed by storage and transmission. Next lowest was gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS), although these face deployment costs, and the most costly was nuclear small modular reactors (NSMR). Overall, supply relies on a mix of tech, and challenges remain with long-term rising construction costs. Read more here.

A 40 GW target to boost Australia’s energy system 

The government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) has raised its capacity target from 32 GW to 40 GW, an 8 GW uplift aiming to incentivise investment in projects and add 5 GW of storage and 3 GW in generation by 2030. The uplift supports investment of $21 billion in storage capacity and $52 billion in solar and wind technologies. With battery and solar costs falling, CIS is already on track to deliver projects with 18 GW capacity. Read more here.

$600M research uplift offers growers once-in-a-lifetime impact 

Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) currently invests $245 million per year in research, development and extension (RD&E) focused on grain-grower profitability, but their recent review recommended increasing the forecasted $275 million investment to $335 million by 2028-29, an increase of $60 million per year for the next decade. Findings show grower appetite for “blue sky” research is high, and GRDC aims to boost early-stage science with the new investment. Read more here..

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Renewables Energy Map Australia

This interactive map, developed by the Australian Renewables Academy (ARA), shows the distribution of both planned and in-progress renewable energy projects across Australia. Click here to access the map.

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