Extract from ABC News
Hamilton Marino powers three cranes from one battery at this Melbourne construction site. (Supplied: Hamilton Marino)
In short:
Volatile fuel prices are accelerating the shift to renewable energy by businesses, including batteries to power equipment or fleets of electric vehicles.
NAB says uptake of loans to finance green equipment between March and May this year was almost double the uptake over the same period a year ago.
What's next?
The Grattan Institute says a lack of support services could be a barrier to faster electrification for some businesses.
The Iran war and the oil supply squeeze have supercharged the shift in businesses away from diesel towards renewable energy, bank lending data shows.
Surging fuel prices have left firms clambering to find alternative energy sources or risk a major squeeze on budgets.
"It is rapidly, thanks to [US President Donald] Trump's war on Iran, coming up the learning curve," Climate Energy Finance founder Tim Buckley said, of businesses understanding how they could use renewable energy.
At least one of the big four banks said it had seen a surge in business loans to fund renewable energy-related investments and upgrades.
Australia's biggest business lender, NAB, said uptake of loans to finance green equipment between March and May this year was almost double the uptake over the same period a year ago.
NAB's green program offers discounted finance in partnership with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
It said electric vehicles (EVs) now dominate the program, with EVs accounting for about half of all assets financed, as businesses reduce exposure to volatile fuel prices and supply disruptions.
The Green Building Council says there are early signs the construction industry is shifting away from diesel. (ABC News)
Slashing costs with battery-powered cranes
Melbourne-based construction company Hamilton Marino Builders previously ran its cranes using diesel fuel, but it became exorbitantly expensive.
It now runs three battery-powered cranes.
"We can run three cranes off one [battery] unit in a day," project director Chris Madden said.
Chris Madden (left) says using battery-powered cranes is slashing costs. (ABC News: Darryl Torpy)
The building company sucks electricity from the network and into its battery, which then flows into the construction lift, amenities and power tools.
"Once we get through a two-year project, the battery unit itself is effectively paid off versus using a diesel generator and using fossil fuels," Mr Madden said
"Going forward, we're not paying higher [costs] of those units, we're just using the electricity that is coming from the network."
He said it had slashed the cost of doing business.
"That electricity from the network, in comparison to diesel costs, it could be saving us between 20 to 30 per cent given current oil prices."
Tim Buckley believes the price of imported diesel, oil and aviation fuel is going to stay high. (ABC News: Scott Preston)
Mr Buckley said many businesses were looking to slash costs as the price of fuel remained a concern.
"I think the price of imported diesel, oil [and] aviation fuel is going to stay elevated for the medium to long term," he said.
Batteries 'transform global landscape'
The Green Building Council told the ABC it was seeing "early signs" that the broader construction industry was seeking to shift away from diesel.
The council's chief executive, Davina Rooney, said: "Leading Australian projects [are] demonstrating that lower-emissions construction is not only possible, but increasingly practical."
Davina Rooney says the construction industry is finding ways to lower emissions. (ABC News: John Gunn)
The explosion of batteries on the market means energy can be stored and released during what would otherwise be peak time and cost of electricity usage.
That has had a major impact on the broader electricity grid, Climate Energy Finance's Tim Buckley said.
"We just saw from the Australian Energy Market Operator that batteries are now setting the price of electricity upwards of 30 per cent of the time," Mr Buckley said.
Last month, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) announced lower benchmark prices in several states, with small businesses benefiting from bigger power price cuts than households.
"Four years ago, gas was the number one price setter," Mr Buckley said.
"And so when your price of fuel goes up, your price of electricity goes up.
"But to 2026, batteries are now transforming the global landscape."
Business costs go down after switch
Colormaker Industries, a paint business on Sydney's Northern Beaches, is now all in on renewable energy, with solar on the roof and battery power charging its fleet of electric vehicles.
"To be honest, if you told me seven years ago that we'd be where we are now, I would have said you're dreaming," owner David Stuart told The Business.
David Stuart's business has gone all in on renewable energy. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
Mr Stuart drove the renewables switch in his business to save cash.
"Over the long term, our bills have gone from, you know, $2,000 a month on average to negative," he said.
"And on top of that, we're now powering five EVs over 60,000 kilometres a year … we didn't intend to do it that way, but it's worked out incredibly well."
Costs have fallen at Colormaker due to the use of solar and EVs. (Supplied: Colormaker)
Support services a hurdle for business
Despite the acceleration, analysts say many businesses could be about to hit a hurdle with their green switch.
The problem, the Grattan Institute says, is that unlike households, industry lacks the professional support services around installing and running renewable energy systems.
"We don't have that kind of ecosystem of service industry," Grattan's energy and climate change program director Alison Reeve told The Business.
"I think that is going to act as a barrier in some parts of industry to faster electrification.
"Because if you're spending most of your time working on your business, you don't necessarily have the time to school yourself up in the way that maybe a household would," she said.
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