EUROPE GAS - Prices rise on geopolitical concerns and colder weather
Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Monday, due to the uncertainty surrounding gas flow, the colder weather forecast at the end the month, and minor delays in Norwegian maintenance. LSEG data show that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was up by 1.03 euros to 35.47 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWH), which is $11.51 mmBtu at 0949 GMT. The day-ahead contract in the British market rose by 1.25 cents to 84.50 p/therm while the front-month gained 2.46 cents to 85.26 pence per therm. In a recent report, Northern Gas…
Total Keeps Dividend But Cuts Investment Target
Total trimmed its 2020 investment target on Friday after a sharp drop in third-quarter net profit, though the French oil and gas producer maintained its dividend.The company cut its investment target to $13 billion from $14 billion and said it was keeping a lid on operating costs too, even as it strives to grow in renewable energy and electricity markets.Energy companies were hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns and the related collapse in fuel demand.The price of Brent crude has largely stayed above $40 a barrel since June, though Total on Friday said…
Poland to Merge Four Energy Groups with Aim to Make International Player
Poland laid out plans on Tuesday to merge four of its largest energy groups in a move the government hopes will create a player able to compete in international oil, gas and electricity markets.PKN Orlen, the country's largest refiner on Tuesday received conditional EU antitrust approval to take over smaller rival Lotos, and also said it planned to buy Poland's largest gas company PGNiG. Earlier this year, PKN Orlen had acquired utility Energa."We are building a powerful global multi-energy group in Poland," said State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin.Since coming to power in 2015…
SSEN Replaces Subsea Cables
UK-based Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) continues to make good progress with its project to replace of one of the two subsea electricity distribution cables that connect Orkney, archipelago off the northeastern coast, to mainland Scotland, with the completion of a marine survey of the proposed route.The marine survey was carried out by specialist contractor, Global, during September and October and was accompanied by a series of open-door events in Orkney and Caithness to give interested parties an opportunity to learn more…
Ofgem Rejects 600MW Shetland Cable Gig
Energy regulator Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has been "unable to approve" plans for two huge subsea cables to take energy from the Scottish islands to the mainland.The transmission links from Shetland and the Western Isles were proposed by Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) to connect planned new wind farms on the islands to the national grid.In March 2019 Ofgem said it was minded to approve the estimated £709 million link.The proposal from SSEN for a 600MW transmission link was based on the largest planned project…
Renewable Power Capacity to Rise 50% in Five Years
Global renewable energy capacity is set to rise by 50% in five years' time, driven by solar photovoltaic (PV) installations on homes, buildings and industry, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).Total renewable-based power capacity will rise by 1.2 terawatts (TW) by 2024 from 2.5 TW last year, equivalent to the total installed current power capacity of the United States.Solar PV will account for nearly 60% of this growth and onshore wind 25%, the IEA's annual report on global renewables showed.The share of renewables in power generation is expected to rise to 30% in 2024 from 26% today.Falling technology costs and more effective government policies have helped to
COBRA Cable Readies for Action
The 700MW COBRAcable interconnector linking the Dutch and the Danish grid will be available for the electricity market as of delivery day, 7 September, Dutch high-voltage grid operator TenneT said."After three years of construction, including the laying of the submarine cables as well as the construction of two onshore converter stations, and a successful test phase earlier this year, COBRAcable will be available for the electricity market as of the delivery day of 7 September, which is exactly on schedule," it said.The first direct connection…
Ofgem Grants Offshore Wind Licence to Dudgeon OFTO
The government regulator for gas and electricity markets in Great Britain Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has granted TC Dudgeon OFTO plc a licence for the link to the Dudgeon offshore wind farm.The licence allows Dudgeon to own and operate the GBP297.9 million (USD 391 mln) high-voltage transmission link to the Dudgeon offshore wind farm for the next 20 years.Transmission Capital Partners, a consortium comprising International Public Partnerships Limited, Amber Infrastructure Group and Transmission Investment, was selected by Ofgem…
RWE Seeks Bigger Market Share in Croatia
German energy group RWE aims to lift its market share in Croatia to 10 percent, the head of the company's Croatia business said on Friday, adding that the country's energy authorities need to do more to encourage sector investment. State power company HEP dominates Croatia's electricity sector with 85 percent of the market, while RWE commands a 7 percent share of the electricity market and 5 percent in gas. "We aim to reach 10 percent in both gas and electricity markets in the mid-term, but more importantly we want to bring innovative energy infrastructure and enable households to earn money when selling energy from (their) own photovoltaic production…
QOS Energy Management System Delivered to SunHydrO
QOS Energy completed the delivery of an innovative Energy Management System to SunHydrO, a combined renewable energy and storage R&D project led by French aggregator Sun’R Smart Energy. The SunHydrO project aims to foster the grid integration of variable renewable energy sources with the added flexibility offered by pumped hydro storage units. The increased penetration of renewable energy in the electricity network impacts grid balancing capabilities, and requires the introduction of additional flexibility to the energy system. Renewable energy, variable by nature, must also mitigate its exposition to electricity market prices and their associated risks.
U.S. Top Court Rules Against Maryland Over Power Plant Subsidies
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against Maryland in its bid to revive a program to subsidize natural gas-fired electricity plant construction to serve the power needs of its residents in a case weighing state versus federal authority. Writing on behalf of the court in the 8-0 ruling, liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the Maryland program infringed upon the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) authority to regulate interstate wholesale electricity rates. The case focused on whether Maryland's actions to encourage power generation through subsidies and incentives ran afoul of the federal government's energy regulatory authority.
U.S. Top Court Upholds Electricity Markets Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld a major Obama administration electricity markets regulation aimed at encouraging efficiency in the market by having grid operators pay large users to reduce consumption at peak times. The court ruled 6-2, with Justice Samuel Alito not taking part in the case, to reverse a May 2014 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to strike down the 2011 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulation. The regulation concerns what FERC calls "demand response," which is when, in an attempt to manage demand for electricity…
Top Court to Hear MD Bid to Reinstate Gas-Plants
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear appeals seeking to reinstate a program in Maryland aimed at subsidizing construction of new natural gas-fired electricity plants. The court agreed to review an appeals court ruling that said the state's program was blocked by federal law. The court did not act on related petitions concerning a similar program in New Jersey, meaning that case will likely be held for the ruling in the Maryland case. The Maryland and New Jersey programs were challenged by power company PPL Corp and other generators. The states were backed by companies that wanted to build new plants, including CPV Holdings.
U.S. Nuclear Operators Look to Save Plants
The U.S. nuclear industry has made a last-minute push to urge the Obama administration to protect the country's 100 nuclear units in its forthcoming carbon rule and prevent the early retirement of several plants. Representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute met on July 21 with White House officials who are currently reviewing the final version of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. The industry contends the original version of the plan, released in mid-2014, fails to encourage states to keep some "at risk" plants from closing.
Investing in Australia’s Battery Storage Market
A new player is entering the Australian battery storage market with the help of a $6.3 million investment by the Southern Cross Renewable Energy Fund, supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the investment would enable Brisbane based Octillion Power Systems Australia (Octillion) to further develop advanced lithiumion battery storage solutions for Australian and global markets. “Reliable, cost effective energy storage will allow more renewable energy to enter Australia’s electricity markets,” Mr Frischknecht said.
SunEdison Appoints SVP and Chief Strategy Officer
Renewable energy development company SunEdison, Inc. announced that Julie Blunden has been appointed senior vice president and chief strategy officer of SunEdison, including responsibility for marketing, communications, investor relations and public policy. "Julie brings a rare depth of industry experience from the early days of competitive power generation through the development of global wholesale and retail electricity markets and has been instrumental over the last decade in leading solar into mainstream power and consumer markets," said Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison’s president and chief executive officer.
Norway, Britain to Build World's Longest Subsea Power Cable
The world's longest subsea electricity transmission cable is to be laid between Norway and Britain by 2021, Norway's Statnett said on Thursday. The 730km 1.4 gigawatt (GW) power cable will connect the two electricity markets directly for the first time and will be able to power nearly three quarters of a million British homes. The estimated cost of the project is between 1.5 billion euros and 2 billion euros ($1.65 billion-$2.2 billion), shared jointly by Statnett and Britain's National Grid. "Britain will benefit from Norwegian green hydropower…
Regulator Approves Franco-Italian Power Market Coupling
France and Italy will become the latest countries in Europe to link up their day-ahead electricity markets in February, French regulator CRE said on Tuesday, in a move aimed at better pricing electricity across Europe and reducing supply risks. It is estiamted that the Franco-Italian coupling will cut the two countries' overall supply costs by 30 million euros ($34 million) a year, CRE said in a statement. The power coupling mechanism at the border of the two countries will take effect on Feb. 24, a spokeswoman said, which means transmission capacity is allocated by calculating power flows and prices at the same time, replacing the current auction system.
US Court Upholds FERC Rules on Electric Grid Planning
A U.S. court on Friday upheld rules from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calling on utilities to take various actions, including increased planning of large transmission projects. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed FERC's "Order 1000," a series of measures from 2011 that requires large-scale regional planning of the nation's electric grid designed in part to create greater access to renewable energy. The case addressed whether states could be forced to coordinate on transmission planning, carbon standards and paying for actions to create new transmission capacity.
Romania to Postpone October Household Gas Price Rise
Romania will not enforce a planned hike in gas prices for households due in October because of a dispute over gas exports with the European Commission, Energy Minister Razvan Nicolescu said on Tuesday. In a bid to limit price increases, Romania's energy regulator requires local gas producers to channel supplies to domestic households. However, the Commission would like Romania, one of the EU's least import-dependent states with regards to energy, to eliminate that requirement. Nicolescu said the country would postpone its deregulation of the market until the dispute was resolved. "We intend not to enforce the domestic gas price hike agreed ... for Oct.
