👉 Background: Origin Energy is one of Australia's biggest electricity and natural gas providers. But last year was a year to forget for Origin. It copped a $1.4 billion loss because of:

• Coal supply issues from their power-plants.
• Skyrocketing wholesale price of energy due to the war in Ukraine.

👉 What happened: Now, Origin Energy has just reported a $1.06 billion profit. When you take out one-off costs, that's a massive 84% increase in Origin's underlying profits.

👉 What else: Origin is also in the process of closing down Australia's largest coal-fired power station, Eraring. But with coal closures, Origin Energy needs to also manage energy security very carefully.

What's the key learning?

💡Energy security is the idea that all people should have an uninterrupted availability of energy sources... at an affordable price. That last part is kinda questionable right now.

💡In the transition to clean energy, companies and countries need to strike a balance. On the one hand, they need to progress towards renewables to reach net-zero targets. On the other hand, they need to ensure energy sources are available at all times.

💡Origin is bringing forward the closures of their coal power stations to speed up the transition to renewables. So, they need to look carefully at the timing of each closure to ensure there's enough energy firing up the country... before pulling the plug.

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