EU Energy Watchdog Sanctions Bosnia over Non-compliance with Rules
The European Union's energy watchdog has extended sanctions against Bosnia for another two years over the Balkan country's failure to comply with the body's gas and electricity sector regulations.Bosnia has been sanctioned for much of the period since 2015 due to its persistent failure to amend legislation in accordance with the Second Energy Package in the gas sector…
Siemens Exits Power, Gas, Renewable Biz
German conglomerate Siemens AG said it will spin off and give up its majority stake in its energy division and merge it with separately listed wind turbine supplier Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), creating a new multi-technology global energy powerhouse. The company’s supervisory board announced the spinoff on May 7 as part of its Vision 2020+ strategy concept.
Batteries hasten winds of change for electricity stocks
Bigger, better batteries are speeding up change in the U.S. electricity sector and could help power a rally in Xcel Energy Inc, American Electric Power Co Inc and other utility and renewable energy stocks, Barron's reported.After a decade of steep cost declines, wind and solar installations, often paired with battery storage, are increasingly displacing older coal and gas-fired power plants…
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.
Botswana Launches Regulator to Oversee Private Power Firms
Botswana has established an energy regulator to manage private firms it hopes will expand an electricity sector currently dominated by the state, a local newspaper reported Wednesday. "The authority will be mandated to make sure that power producers follow set prices, and that will encourage fair competition while also protecting consumers, government and electricity generators…
Australia says clean energy fund could underwrite new coal plants
Australia is considering altering legislation to enable funds slated for clean energy developments to be used to bankroll construction of new low emission, coal-fired power plants. The suggestion by Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg comes after a major power outage during a heat wave in South Australia state worsened a row with the national government over energy security and the state's heavy reliance on wind and solar power.
French Energy Sector Unions Call for Strike
French energy sector unions have called for a strike in the gas and electricity sector to protest wage freezes in the sector for 2017, CGT trade union said in a statement on Monday. The date for the strike and duration will be decided during a general assembly meeting of the unions on Tuesday, CGT said. It added that the unions would be looking at all options including downing tools…
IEA Urges Poland to Clean Up its Energy Sector
Poland's new energy strategy should put the country on a pathway towards a cleaner energy system while strengthening energy security, the International Energy Agency said in its latest review of the country's energy policies. The forthcoming energy strategy is likely to prioritise long-term energy security, placing a strong emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution…
French Energy Transition Key to Security - IEA
In its latest country review of energy policies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) praised France for setting in motion significant reforms towards more secure, affordable and sustainable energy supplies and the green growth of its economy. Over the past ten years the French economy has reduced its carbon intensity and benefitted from greater energy efficiency…
US Interior Department Outlines Federal Coal Reforms
The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday recommended federal coal leasing reforms to ensure taxpayers receive the fair value of the fuel and account for its impact on climate change, but the incoming administration could derail those measures. The department's Bureau of Land Management released the findings from its first study of the federal coal program in three decades.
IEA's Medium-Term Renewable Energy Report
In its Medium-Term Renewable Energy Report IEA pointed out that the rapid spread of renewable energy is a bright spot in the global energy transition toward a low carbon economy. Despite lower fossil fuel prices, renewable power expanded at its fastest-ever rate in 2015 thanks to supportive government policies and sharp cost reductions. Renewables accounted for more than half of the world's additional electricity capacity last year.
Britain to Miss its 2020 Renewable Energy Targets
Britain is set to miss its 2020 European renewable energy targets, a parliamentary committee report said on Friday, setting a poor example for less wealthy countries as the world tries to rein in global warming. Britain has a target to meet 15 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020, but had achieved just over 8 percent by the end of 2015.
Blow to $1 bln Trafford Gas Plant as Britain Withdraws Subsidy
Britain's government has withdrawn a subsidy for an 800 million pound ($1.04 billion) gas plant project in Manchester, its developers said on Tuesday, following its failure to secure investment needed to build the plant. Carlton Power's Trafford gas-fired power station was the only new large-scale gas plant to secure financing under the government's capacity market scheme, designed to secure the country's electricity supplies.
Resource-rich Venezuela Struggles to Keep Lights, Taps On
Residents of Venezuela's southern city of Puerto Ordaz enjoy pleasant views of the Orinoco and Caroni rivers and are a half hour's drive from one of the world's biggest hydroelectric dams. Yet most days they suffer water and power cuts. The irony is not lost on Marelis Gonzalez, who runs the "Las Chinas" food store. She is fed up with constant outages that halt her fridges, making drinks lukewarm and spoiling meat.
Dynegy to Shut Money-losing Illinois Coal Power Units
Dynegy Inc will shut down three coal-fired units at two Illinois power plants because they are no longer economical in the Midwestern U.S. power market, the Houston-based electric utility said on Wednesday. Dynegy said it had decided to close more than 1,800 megawatts at the coal-fired units of the Newton and Baldwin power plants because they failed to recover their basic operating costs at the Midwestern U.S.
Sibur Targets LPG Exports Growth, Eyes Asia
Russia's largest petrochemical producer, Sibur plans to boost exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 2016-2020 before an increase in domestic demand, Sibur's director general Dmitry Konov told reporters. Sibur, in which Kirill Shamalov, son of an old friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a major shareholder, plans to build a huge new processing plant, Zapsibneftekhim, in Tobolsk, Siberia.
EU to Curb Russian Gas Dependency with Better Grid
Funding especially targeted at central, eastern Europe; British-French grid link also gets money. BRUSSELS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - EU member states on Tuesday endorsed a plan to invest more than 200 million euros ($217 million) in cross-border energy infrastructure projects designed to help curb dependence on Russian gas. The European Commission is seeking…
Britain's Coal Transition Holds Lessons for China
Britain's last deep coal mine closed on Friday, bringing the curtain down on an industry that once employed more than 1 million miners at over 3,000 collieries. Coal helped Britain become the first modern industrial power, fuelling her factories, steel works, ships and railways in the 19th century, when the country became famous as the workshop of the world ("Energy transitions", Smil, 2010).
Brazil Belo Monte Dam Unable to Deliver Enough Power in 2016
Brazil's Belo Monte dam, the world's third largest hydropower plant, will lack the needed transmission lines to deliver the energy expected for the grid in 2016 due to construction delays, Brazil's electricity watchdog Aneel said in a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Delays in transmission lines for new generation projects is one of the principal factors for Brazil's chronic electricity sector crisis.
Mexico to Award Renewable Energy Contracts in March
Mexico will start soliciting bids later this month in its first auction of renewable energy certificates, part of an electricity sector overhaul that ends the state-owned power company's monopoly, government officials said on Wednesday. Initial awards of the new certificates, which provide the right and impose the obligation to produce clean energy, are set for March, officials said.
