Australia’s Verdant to appeal biomass power rejection

Spanish Market: Biomass
25/09/25

Australian utility Verdant Earth Technology will appeal the New South Wales' (NSW) Independent Planning Commission's (IPC) recent decision to reject its planned 1 GWh/yr biomass-fuelled Redbank power station.

The company does not yet have a clear timeline for its appeal, Verdant's general manager Mike Haywood told Argus on 25 September.

The IPC on 15 September rejected Verdant's planned station because of the off-side environmental effects associated with sourcing biomass. Verdant planned to burn 700,000 t/yr of biomass.

Verdant's proposal relies on sustainable fuels from legal sources, Haywood said. NSW's Department of Planning concluded that the project was approvable subject to conditions in a report submitted to the IPC in July.

The Redbank power station was a coal-fired site until 2014, when Australian utility Redbank Energy placed it into care and maintenance over financial and coal supply issues. Verdant bought the plant in 2018. It first submitted an application to convert it into a biomass plant in 2020, which was rejected, and put forward a second application in 2023.

The rejection of the station came just one week before the share of renewable energy in Australia's total generation hit an all-time high of 77pc on 22 September, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said on 23 September.

Utilities in NSW generated 3GWh of electricity using biomass over the week to 13 September, AEMO data show. In contrast, they generated 588GWh of electricity using coal and 125GWh of electricity using wind sources over the same period.

AusEnergy Services — a division of AEMO — called on NSW's government to increase its 2030 renewable generation target from a 12GW increase from 2020 levels to a 16GW increase on 12 August. The state plans to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50pc relative to 2005 levels by 2030.

By Avinash Govind

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02/12/25

Floods disrupt PKS supplies in peninsular Malaysia

Tokyo, 2 December (Argus) — A series of floods in the peninsular Malaysia since late November has disrupted supplies and logistics of palm kernel shells (PKS), market participants told Argus . Almost all regions of the peninsular Malaysia were hit by heavy rain last week, especially the Perak area in the northwest peninsular and Melaka in the southwest peninsular. The east coast of the peninsular, including Kelantan and Terengganu areas, were also severely flooded. This has caused significant damage to roads and infrastructure in the regions, impacting PKS supplies and logistics, according to traders. Such disruptions could limit PKS supply capacity in these areas, which may affect spot prices of the cargoes loaded in peninsular Malaysia, market sources said. Northern Sumatra in Indonesia was also hit by heavy rain, including the Aceh area. But Jambi and Riau, which are major PKS supplying areas in Sumatra, were not significantly impacted, although logistics in Padang region in western Sumatra were disrupted slightly. Argus- assessed prices for PKS that meet Japan's FiT requirements were at $87.60/t fob peninsular Malaysia on 26 November, lower by $1.06 on the week. Prices of PKS that comply with Japan's FiT requirements were pegged at $101.47/t fob east coast Sumatra on the same day. By Takeshi Maeda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

EU readies new bioenergy strategy

26/11/25

EU readies new bioenergy strategy

Brussels, 26 November (Argus) — The European Commission is today expected to adopt a new strategy aimed at boosting "nature-positive" investment and making better use of biomass. The latest version of the strategy seen by Argus deleted wording from a previous leaked draft that mentioned disincentivising "inefficient" biomass combustion, including changes to EU and national subsidies to avoid prioritising combustion over material use. Industry groups last month had criticised the previous draft strategy for "punishing" biomass combustion and ignoring the role of sustainable biofuels. The commission may still amend the current strategy document, which sets out a direction for policies but is not itself a legal proposal. Demand for biofuels will likely rise from 2025, in part thanks to the bloc's ReFuelEU Aviation and FuelEU initiatives, but sustainable biomass remains finite and its use is most effective in hard-to-abate sectors, the commission said in the document. The commission wants to add value to energy, industry, food, health and other sectors through biomass processing and biotechnology. The body said it would, for example, support uptake of bio-based plastics and novel materials by 2027 alongside recycling. Officials could also assess whether EU-wide definitions could support certification and scaling of bio-based polymers. And an EU methodology could certify long-lasting biogenic carbon storage in buildings under the carbon removal and carbon farming certification framework. The commission will issue legislation such as the upcoming BioTech Acts to bolster industrial production of bio-based chemicals and may target bio-based content requirements in some products. In the strategy, the commission and the European Investment Bank will use finance instruments to support biorefineries that incorporate new technologies. And a forthcoming Circular Economy Act aims to support biogas and biomethane production as well as using digestate as a fertiliser. A review next year of the bloc's emissions trading system will also explore potential for scalable biogenic carbon, capture, use and storage projects. The EU is also scheduled to review its Renewable Energy Directive by 2027 and assess how national biomass support schemes affect biodiversity. Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Cop: Brazil draws R8.8bn to Climate Fund

13/11/25

Cop: Brazil draws R8.8bn to Climate Fund

Sao Paulo, 13 November (Argus) — Brazil's development bank Bndes and environmental ministry (MMA) drew R8.84bn ($1.67bn) in reimbursement resources to its Climate Fund, the bank said at the UN Cop 30 climate summit in Belem,Brazil, on Wednesday night. European banks Germany's Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, France's Agence Francaise de Developpement and Italy's Cassa Depositi e Prestiti committed to invest €1bn ($1.16bn) by 2027 through reimbursement aimed at climate financing. The Interamerican Development Bank will contribute with another $500mn for the fund in the same period. A foreign finance commission under Brazil's planning ministry and each institution must approve before the resources before signing financing agreements. Bndes's Climate Fund is a financial mechanism focused on climate actions, such as energy transition and sustainable development projects, especially for small- and medium-sized companies. New operations for forests Bndes and MMA also announced five new credit operations totaling R912mn to restore native vegetation in the Amazon rainforest, in the tropical savanna biome known as Cerrado and in the coastline Atlantic Forest. Brazilian private-owned companies focused on recovering degraded lands and promoting sustainable agriculture practices will restore over 86,000 hectare (ha), but Bndes did not specify any timeframes. Scale forest restoring company Re.green holds the largest fund, with R250mn, to restore around 19,000ha along the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest. The Climate Fund has already granted other R187mn to the firm in 2024, targeted at preventing the emission of 1.27mn metric tonnes (t)/yr of CO2 equivalent. Other projects include Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual's ecological subsidiary Camapua, investments holding Lorinvest's forestry subsidiary Tree+, public projects developer Ibema group and investment group Patria. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Cop: Enviroment groups slam Brazil's TFFF

07/11/25

Cop: Enviroment groups slam Brazil's TFFF

Belem, 7 November (Argus) — Over 100 international environment groups have criticised Brazil's Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), pointing out flaws to the plan, formally launched this week just ahead of the UN Cop 30 climate summit. Brazil, which has a "very strong policy of public participation when drafting climate policies", did not follow that process when designing the fund , Victor Menotti, a senior fellow at environmental think-tank Oakland Institute, told Argus . Menotti is also the US co-ordinator of a global climate justice campaign. The organisations criticising the TFFF say that the fund does not address the impacts of agriculture, mining or hydrocarbon extraction — adding that these are the "true structural causes of forest destruction". And TFFF's profitability is not guaranteed, the groups said. They also slammed the fund for being a "greenwashing mechanism... and a distraction from the effective fight against deforestation". They raised concerns that "developing countries and civil society will have no decision-making power" on the fund. TFFF would help pay around 80 developing countries $4/hectare (ha) for preserved tropical forests, Brazil has said. "If you own land and you're deciding whether to grow soy or [farm] cattle, is $4/ha enough?", Menotti said. "I don't know where they got that figure." TFFF's main investment plan comes from emerging country bonds, he added. "So that means [individual people] are paying for it." Several countries have endorsed TFFF so far , with Norway, Indonesia and France pledging a combined $4.5bn, Brazilian government officials said on Thursday. Colombia pledged $250mn, the Global Strategic Communications Council said. And Brazil pledged $1bn to the fund in September . Portugal and the Netherlands made smaller contributions to cover the fund's operational costs. Germany has said it will contribute to the fund, but is yet to announce how much. Deforestation will be a key topic at Cop 30, which begins on 10 November in Belem, northern Brazil. The issue was addressed at the Cop 26 and Cop 27 summits, in 2021 and 2022, but beyond the pledges, the EU's deforestation regulation is most likely to have direct consequences, particularly for agricultural commodity producers. By Lucas Parolin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan's firms to cut CO2 emissions at Cirebon plant

21/10/25

Japan's firms to cut CO2 emissions at Cirebon plant

Tokyo, 21 October (Argus) — Japan's largest power producer by capacity Jera and trading house Marubeni plan to reduce CO2 emissions at the 1GW No.2 unit of the Cirebon coal-fired power generation plant in Indonesia. Jera and Marubeni agreed on 3 October to study decarbonisation measures for the Cirebon No.2 unit with Indonesian state-owned power utility PLN, as part of the third ministerial-level meeting of the Japan-led decarbonisation platform Asia Zero Emission Community (Azec), Jera told Argus on 21 October. Cirebon Electric Power, the power plant operating firm funded by Jera , Marubeni, as well as other Indonesian and South Korean companies, and PLN are considering exploring potential implementation of decarbonisation measures like biomass co-firing, ammonia co-firing, and carbon capture and storage or carbon capture, use and storage. Jera is unsure which measure has the most potential. The firms plan to conduct research for the next two years. But the schedule after 2027 and details of its CO2 reduction goal are not clear. The No.2 Cirebon unit, which is equipped with an ultra-supercritical generator — a piece of advanced technology to improve power generation efficiency — started its operations in May 2023. It consumed coal from Indonesia. The 660MW No.1 Cirebon coal-fired power generation unit may be retired early with the Indonesian government's push. Jakarta is aiming to remove up to 6.7GW of coal-fired generation capacity by 2040 and to completely remove coal-fired power plants from its overall generation mix by 2058, in pursuit of its net zero target by 2060. The Japanese government is eager to promote both economic growth and decarbonisation in Asia-Pacific countries, instead of focusing only on decarbonisation. The ministerial-level meeting concluded with a joint statement reaffirming Azec's "one goal, various pathways" approach, which recognises country-specific decarbonisation strategies. It also endorsed a "triple breakthrough" framework aimed at achieving climate mitigation, inclusive growth and energy security. By Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Australia’s Verdant to appeal biomass power rejection

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