The decarbonisation of the economy involves major changes to the current structure of energy markets, which will have significant implications for the energy industry, but also the financial sector and entire economy.

The transition will pose many risks, but it will also provide opportunities for investments in new technologies and the creation of new financial products and markets. On 20 October, experts from industry, regulation and academia gathered to discuss solutions for the transformation of energy markets at the Financial Risk Day, co-hosted by Macquarie University Transforming Energy Markets (TEM) Research Centre and the Centre for Risk Analytics in the Macquarie Business School.

The agenda included a strong lineup of speakers from various energy agencies and industry, including Tim Jordan, the Commissioner of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC); Cameron Kelly, General Counsel at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA); Christiaan Zuur, Director of Market, Grid and Investment at the Clean Energy Council; Blair Palese, Founder of Climate and Capital Forum; and Cameron O’Reilly, Associate Director at Marsden Jacob Associates. The event was also a forum to share ideas and research from the new TEM Research Centre with two showcase sessions presented by TEM academics Dr Rohan Best, Professor Tina Soliman-Hunter, Dr Madeline Taylor and Professor Stefan Trueck.

By the end of the day, attendees had covered a wide range of topics from getting the market settings right for a high-renewables electricity market, financing green hydrogen projects, key factors affecting the uptake of solar panels and batteries by households, lessons in electricity market design, how to decommission and recycle renewable energy infrastructure, international initiatives for facilitating the energy transition, as well as distributional impacts of the energy transition with a specific look at NSW.

“The day showed that the transformation of the energy sector still has a long way to go and will pose many challenges for market participants and policymakers,” said Professor Trueck, the Director of the TEM Research Centre and one of the event organisers. “However, we also saw that many excellent initiatives, innovative technologies, regulatory changes, and new economic models are being developed and applied to facilitate Australia’s transition to a low carbon economy.”

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Back row (left to right)

Rohan Best (Macquarie University (MQ), Lecturer, Department of Economics); Jeffrey Sheen (MQ, Professor of Economics, Co-Director Centre for Risk Analytics); Tim Jordan (Commissioner, Australian Energy Market Commission); Tim Buckley (Director, Climate Energy Finance); David Orsmond (MQ, Professor of Economics); Christian Zuur (Director of Market, Grid and Investment, Clean Energy Council); Madeline Taylor (MQ, Deputy Director, Transforming Energy Markets Research Centre); and Pavel Shevchenko (Professor of Business Analytics, Co-Director Centre for Risk Analytics).

Front Row (left to right)

Blair Palese (Founder, Climate and Capital Forum); Tina Soliman-Hunter (MQ, Professor of Energy and Resources Law, Deputy Director, Transforming Energy Markets Research Centre); Cameron Kelly (General Counsel, Australian Renewable Energy Agency); Stefan Trueck (MQ, Professor of Business Analytics, Director, Transforming Energy Markets Research Centre); and Cameron O’Reilly (Associate Director, Marsden Jacob Associates).