『Spark Club Podcast』のカバーアート

Spark Club Podcast

Spark Club Podcast

著者： Grant McDowell
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Spark Club brings entrepreneurs in the energy field together with a common objective, to build energy businesses. We draw on each others experience to support, learn and grow energy businesses. The podcasts are hosted by Grant McDowell and are recordings of our Fireside chat with leaders in the energy transition.Grant McDowell 経済学
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  • Australian Delegation Witnesses China Speed, China Scale - Tim Buckley - Ep71

    Australian Delegation Witnesses China Speed, China Scale - Tim Buckley - Ep71
    2026/07/01
    Tim Buckley joined the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and Renewable Energy Council Asia-Pacific (RECAP) delegation to China. Before joining the delegation, Tim travelled across China by train — a very fast trip with a friend from Hong Kong, via Chongqing. Nothing beats travelling 12 hours at 300kph across the length of this amazing country to orient himself and see some of the landscape. Chongqing is the largest city in China (and the world), with a population of some 34 million people. Simply incredible and beautiful. Walking the streets of Beijing, Tim played spot-the-ICE-vehicle — green EV number plates abound! Tim joined the delegation for the Fourth China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng spoke at the opening ceremony, addressing the importance for China of global supply chain stability and security for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, even as other nations create geopolitical challenges. Australia was featured as the country guest of honour. Great to have John Grimes (Renewable Energy Council Asia-Pacific, RECAP) and Dominic Trindade (Australia Consul-General, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Austrade) co-hosting, with Don Farrell, Trade Minister. Tim and the delegation were there to see "China Speed, China Scale" first hand — and even sat in an autonomous flying EV taxi! Brilliant to meet with State Grid Corporation of China's CEPRI (China Electric Power Research Institute) RERC team to discuss energy system transformation trends in China, and how they match and differ from Australia. Brilliant to hear China plans to expand variable renewable energy (VRE) capacity from 1.84TW as of December 2025 to ~3.0TW installed capacity by 2030. CEPRI estimates China's solar potential at 45.6TW, while onshore wind is estimated at a more modest 3.4TW (plus 0.5TW of lower-speed wind), offshore wind at 0.4TW in deep sea (out to 50km offshore), and another 0.36TW of near-shore wind (at 100 metre height). By 2030, China's 3.0TW VRE capacity will be just 6% of this 50TW maximum. CEPRI acknowledges this theoretical maximum is being progressively raised — the higher the tower, the faster the average wind speed, and generation expands somewhat exponentially. By end of 2025, China had 46 HVDC grid transmission lines operational — that's 46 of the world's roughly 50 largest lines. Total world leadership, clearly evident, and very impressive. The Austrade RECAP delegation visited XCMG Group's factory in Xuzhou, China. XCMG is the number one OEM in mining equipment in China (with a 2025 share of 33% in domestic mining excavators) and third globally. XCMG's 2025 revenue reached Rmb90bn, up 897% since 2019, with 2025 net profit of Rmb4.9bn. XCMG's R&D investment in 2025 was Rmb10.2bn (A$2bn), and the company holds 12,715 patents, including 4,798 domestic and 366 international invention patents. XCMG's 15th Five-Year Plan for its mining equipment strategy targets trebling mining machinery sales to US$6bn a year by 2030, lifting international sales share to 60% (from 40% in 2025), with new energy vehicles rising to a 50% share. China going global: XCMG targets being number one globally in new energy mining equipment as soon as 2030. Tim has no doubt they will achieve this. XCMG started as a construction equipment OEM, expanding to create a separate mining sector vertical with a focus on new energy vehicles and autonomous operation. Adjacent to the mining OEM facility is the XCMG and BYD battery joint venture factory, which targets 100GWh a year capacity. Phase 1 (30GWh) is already in operation, built in just 12 months and commissioned in December 2023; phase 2 (70GWh) is in preparation. This factory produces the Blade battery pack, with a long life of 7,000 cycles. XCMG manufactures the biggest truck in the world, with a 363-tonne payload at a cost of US$15m per unit. XCMG will deliver its first 240-tonne payload EV to Fortescue in early 2027, with the full US$1bn order due for commercial delivery commencing 2028. Tim believes it is time for Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher to reform the $4.5bn annual Australian mining sector imported diesel fuel subsidy to BHP, Rio Tinto and others, turning this headwind to energy security into a tailwind for decarbonisation. In his view, PM Anthony Albanese and Industry Minister Tim Ayres should ignore MCA lobbyist threats — Australia's Future Made in Australia agenda needs to be powered by domestic clean energy, not expensive, high-emissions imported diesel. Brilliant to see XCMG Australia has doubled to 70 staff across two offices, with a third in Queensland planned. XCMG has already deployed 500 autonomous trucks globally, mostly hybrid or EV. June 2025 saw XCMG deploy 100 autonomous EV trucks at an Inner Mongolia open-cut coal mine, with a 90-tonne payload and a six-minute recharge time. (https://lnkd.in/gRKbaAJY) XCMG has a MoU for cooperation with ...
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    59 分
  • Diesel Fuel Rebate Underpins BHP's Inaction - Tim Buckley - Ep70

    Diesel Fuel Rebate Underpins BHP's Inaction - Tim Buckley - Ep70
    2026/05/29
    Grant McDowell & Tim Buckley– Spark Club Podcast 27 May 2026 Highlights – ACCELERATING RENEWABLES DRIVES NEM ELECTRICITY PRICE DEFLATION Amazing to see electricity price DEFLATION being delivered in Australia in the middle of the latest fossil fuel war, with its resulting hyperinflation of global fossil fuel prices. The Australian Energy Regulator has released its final Default Market Offer (DMO) starting 1 July 2026. Residential flat rate standing offer prices will fall by between 3-5% in NSW and by 7.2% in South East Queensland compared to last year, while South Australian households will have a modest increase of 1.4%. Small businesses will see reductions across all three regions, with prices decreasing by 7-12% in South Australia, 10-14% in South East Queensland, and 9.0-21% in NSW. Earlier this week the Essential Services Commission delivered a further reduction in the Victorian Default Offer; FY2026–27 will be on average 5% lower than last year for households. For small businesses the price is down on average 6%. A major contributing factor is the record high investments into clean energy by Australia's public – with over 400k home battery installs totalling >11GWh achieved in just 11 months, supporting the 3GW pa of rooftop solar installs. Lowlights – China installed just 75GW of RE in 4MCY2026, -41%$ yoy Solar installs of 51GW in 4M 2026 -51% yoy. Still more than the RoW combined, but disappointingly down in the middle of year. China added a depressing 28GW of fossil powered capacity YTD 2026, +26% yoy. Why? China is consolidating after knocking the lights out last year. But also GDP growth is still on track at +5% yoy, and Industrial value-add +5.6% yoy. Keeping their govt. firepower in-case Trump attacks China again, and this time has an impact, unlike the last few times! In the electricity sector, total electricity generation was +5.4% yoy YTD 2026, unfortunately with nuclear down yoy, coal power was +3.8% yoy. Not what we want to see continue over the rest of 2026. Main Story – The ABC / Guardian Australia Epic reveal A major exposé on ABC Four Corners on Monday, in collaboration with the Guardian, revealed irrefutable evidence of BHP reversing its commitments to meaningfully cut emissions in a credible timeframe. The egregious walkback, as the climate crisis escalates, was laid out in hundreds of pages of leaked internal company records. What BHP does matters. It is the world's largest mining company by market capitalisation, generating revenues of US$51bn in the last financial year with underlying earnings of US$26bn and a US$18bn pre-tax profit to its shareholders. Andrew Mackenzie, BHP's CEO until 2019, said publicly that decarbonisation was a strategic imperative, with failure to act posing an existential risk. Its Pilbara decarbonisation plans were urgent and comprehensive, and involved rapid electrification of locomotives and haulage trucks, and a massive buildout of solar to reduce diesel and gas dependence. It had plans to deploy US$3bn in decarbonisation investment by 2030 to underpin its climate targets and secure its licence to operate. Then it all went to the proverbial. In 2024, CEO Mike Henry introduced BHP's Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP, aka CRAP), which sounds great except for it being entirely hollow. BHP massively delayed its entire decarbonisation trajectory until after 2030 – trashing its stated intention to address climate risk and abrogating its corporate responsibility to act in this critical decade. Astonishingly, the "plan" forecasts BHP's global emissions will rise from FY2025-FY2030. Up is not down. There is currently categorically zero chance of BHP's plans meeting its net zero by 2050 commitment. In the knowledge that this story was coming, BHP vigorously cranked up the spin machine. A curiously timed pamphlet, released last week by economics consultancy Mandala, which has close ties to the PMO, broke down top ASX listed industrial corporates' global scope 1 and 2 emissions profiles in FY2025 vs FY2020, conveniently pitching BHP as a corporate leader. BHP then mounted an ad campaign trumpeting the trumped-up claims. To call Mandala's brochure misleading is generous. BHP primarily relies on the electrification of BHP's huge Chilean copper mining operations and the closure of the high emissions NickelWest business to boost BHP's decarbonisation credentials and obscures BHP's dereliction of its responsibilities in the Pilbara. Production-based emissions intensity would tell a different story on BHP's progress, and that of other giants like Rio featured by Mandala – despite the coordinated reporting in The Australian engineered to promulgate the Mandala talking points while bashing genuine decarbonisation leader Fortescue. Why the heel dragging by BHP? Follow the money – the billions paid to the big miners each year by the federal government to maintain their imported diesel addiction. In Australia, BHP ...
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    51 分
  • Silicon to Solar, Australia's Risk, Return, Reward - Oliver Hartley - Ep69

    Silicon to Solar, Australia's Risk, Return, Reward - Oliver Hartley - Ep69
    2026/05/19

    The Silicon to Solar study allowed Oliver Hartley and his colleagues assess the opportunity for Australia to play a role in the global solar PV value chain.

    In this Spark Club podcast Oliver shares how Australia can indeed play a meaningful role in the global solar value chain.

    All the right elements are there for the taking. A deep global market, big project experience and expertise, willing partners, and a key pillar in our low-cost clean energy intensive industries of the future.

    A fascinating conversation. Enjoy the podcast.

    Link to:
    ARENA AusSi Study-Knowledge Sharing Report
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    35 分
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