Qcells claims that a new technology could reduce the space required for solar panels
Hanwha Corp.'s Qcells announced on Wednesday that it had made a significant breakthrough in a new solar technology. This has the potential of reducing the space needed by panels to generate electricity from the sun's light. The solar industry is facing a number of pressing challenges, including the need for more space. In some areas of the United States, large-scale projects that occupy vast tracts of land are being met with opposition. Qcells announced that it had achieved a record in the world for the efficiency and cost of large-area silicon cells with perovskite as the top layer.
Romania allocates 1.5 GW of renewable energy projects
The Energy Ministry announced in a Monday statement that Romania had allocated 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy project funding through an EU-funded contract for difference scheme. The long-awaited low carbon energy support scheme fixes the price of electricity to providers at a level agreed for 15 years. The Ministry selected 10 projects for onshore wind worth 1.09 GW and 11 projects with a total capacity of 432 MW. The energy ministry stated that the projects would have an average weighted cost of 51 euros for solar projects and of 65 euros for wind projects.
Gazprom and Moldovan ministers to meet to discuss power supply
The Moldovan energy minister announced on Friday that he will meet with Russian gas giant Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia next week to ensure stable power supplies following Russian attacks on the energy systems in Ukraine. Victor Parlicov warned that systematic strikes against Ukraine's electricity grid could cut off the country from a supply which had become reliable. The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on the ex-Soviet Republic Moldova, which is one of Europe's most impoverished countries. Russian drone fragments have repeatedly fallen onto its territory.
MSE Int'l Wins Funding for Port Recharging Project
MSE International has won funding from TRIG 2024 to lead a new project, PRIMET; Port Recharging Infrastructure for Maritime Energy Transition.The project will accelerate the roll-out of port and harbor infrastructure needed to support the rapid expansion in vessel recharging and shore-powering facilities which are essential to realize the government’s Clean Maritime Plan. PRIMET will develop outline solutions for supplying energy to shore power/recharging facilities in three…
TotalEnergies and BP, Equinor, and Shell each commit $500 mln for energy access
TotalEnergies BP Shell Equinor, oil and gas giants BP and Equinor, pledged to invest $500m on Friday in order to increase the availability of affordable energy, primarily for sub-Saharan Africa and south and southeast Asia. The announcement was made at the United Nations COP29 Climate Summit in Azerbaijan where discussions have focused on raising $1 Trillion in climate finance to assist developing countries from richer nations. TotalEnergies has declined to reveal the name of the global private equity firm that will manage the fund…
Chinese giant CATL expands beyond batteries to power grids and EV platforms
Robin Zeng is the billionaire founder and CEO of CATL. He wants to transform the world's biggest battery manufacturer into a provider of green energy, as well as reduce the costs of developing electric cars, thus upending the economics that have driven the growth of the industry. Zeng said in an interview he expected the business of developing "zero-carbon" electric grids to be "ten times larger" than supplying batteries for electric vehicles, a sector CATL currently leads with 37% share.
COP29: Which are the main issues at the UN Climate Summit in Baku
The U.N. Climate Summit COP29, which will take place in Baku on November 15th, has been called the "climate financing COP" because its main goal is to decide how much money each year should be allocated to help developing countries deal with climate-related expenses. This discussion may be difficult following the reelection of Donald Trump as former U.S. president on Tuesday. A climate denier, Trump's campaign promised to remove the United States from the historic 2015 Paris Agreement for fighting climate change a second.
As Norwegian maintenance curtails supply, the price of EUROPE GAS is on the rise
The wholesale gas price in the Netherlands and Britain increased slightly on Thursday as Norwegian maintenance ramped up. The benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was 1.26 euros higher at 36.35 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWH), which is $11.88 mmBtu by 0810 GMT. Meanwhile, the November contract was 0.62 euros higher at 38.05 Euros/MWh according to LSEG data. The day-ahead contract on the British market rose 2.15 pence, to 85.50 cents per therm. LSEG data shows that total Norwegian exports will be down by 13 million cubic metres/day compared to the previous day…
Ministry: Romania will launch CfD-based support scheme for green energies in mid-November
Romania will launch its first auction of onshore renewable energy projects by mid-November through a contract-for-difference (CfD) support scheme funded by the European Union, the energy ministry said on Monday. It said that the scheme would set a strike-price of 78 Euros per Megawatt Hour for solar projects, and 82 Euros for wind. The long-awaited low carbon energy support scheme will fix the price of electric for providers to an agreed level for a period of 15 years. After the Ministry reduced the scope of the initial 2 GW auction…
Key China Energy Indicators to Track for the Rest of 2024
Slower consumption in China spurred the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut estimates for global oil demand growth this week, highlighting the vital role that the world's second largest economy plays in energy markets.Yet overall electricity generation in China climbed to new highs in the first half of 2024 - indicating robust use by households and factories - and imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose 10% to the highest in three years.The…
Burrows Tapped to Lead DNV CCUS Unit
DNV appointed Jamie Burrows to head its Energy Systems business area’s Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) unit. The appointment comes as a response to growing demand from these fossil fuels-reliant industries to reduce their CO2 emissions, and aligns with DNV's recent studies, emphasizing the role of CCUS in future energy systems. Burrows, who joined DNV in 2021 as Head of Business Development for CCUS, brings over 20 years of experience in the engineering and energy industries.
MTR100: For USVs and AUVs, is it a Hydrogen Future?
Hydrogen has been making big headlines in the energy world. It’s one of the potential routes to deliver high density energy to transport and heavy industry – but also to marine applications, as well as a way to move and store renewable energy. Various uncrewed surface vessel (USV) developers, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) builders and even subsea power delivery system providers are taking a serious look – and even trialing – hydrogen as an option.SEA-KITThe Maxlimer hydrogen configuration.
Energy @ Sea: Powering Up in the Blue Desert
Last year marked the beginning of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, lasting from 2021 until 2030. With 10 years comes 10 challenges—goals for regional, national and global participants to work towards for positive, collective impact on our oceans. Included in the 10 are ocean-based solutions for climate change, expanding the Global Ocean Observing System, creating a digital representation of the sea, and access to data and technology across all marine stakeholders. These and others on the list depend on collecting increasingly more ocean data.
Carbon Capture & Storage: A New Lease of Life for Submarine Pipelines?
Since 2019, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) have risen up the political agenda, globally, offering a route to decarbonization, as well as (more recently), increased energy security. Many are eying use of existing pipeline to make both happen. Elaine Maslin takes a look.Hydrogen production and CCS offers a more or less “green” decarbonization options for oil and gas companies, alongside carbon capture and storage (CCS), especially if existing offshore infrastructure could be reused to make it happen.
Neptune Energy Targets 2030 to Store More Carbon Than It Emits
With increasing pressure on the oil and gas industry to cut its emissions footprint, Neptune Energy said it aims to go beyond net zero and store more carbon than is emitted from its operations and the use of its sold products by 2030.According to the company, it is currently progressing a pair of carbon capture and storage (CCS) developments in the Dutch and UK sectors of the North Sea that it claims could store more than 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year for third parties by the end of this decade…
Ship Emissions: MIT Takes the Lead Toward Net Zero
The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) launched a new research consortium—the Future Energy Systems Center—to address the climate crisis and the role energy systems can play in solving it. Randall Field, Executive Director, discusses current research and the challenges ahead for the maritime sector.The reputation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is such that it can take mammoth issues — such as driving the world to net zero — head-on, and suddenly make the impossible…
"Green Energy" will drive the need for more Mining and Metals Production
Clean energy may mean less mining for coal, but it also means opening or expanding mines to unearth minerals such as cobalt for use in alloys and batteries, tellurium for solar cells and semiconductors, and germanium for transistors in electronic devices. That’s according to Dr. Michael Moats, professor and interim chair of materials science and engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, who says reducing carbon emissions from energy systems in the United…
Oil Drillers, Bitcoin Miners Bond over Natural Gas
On U.S. oil patches stretching along the Rockies and Great Plains, trailers hitched to trucks back up toward well pads to capture natural gas and convert it on the spot into electricity.The trailers - carrying pipes, generators and computers - are called “mining rigs.” But their owners aren’t there to drill for oil. They are using stray natural gas unwanted by oil companies to power their search for another treasure: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.Cryptocurrencies are virtual coins exchanged without middlemen, such as central banks, to purchase goods and services.
Who Will Pay for the Energy Transition?
The transition from a fossil-fuel dominated energy system to one with zero emissions would require trillions of dollars of investment in new production, distribution and consumption equipment worldwide.New investments could support millions of new jobs in construction and manufacturing, but policymakers are struggling to decide whether to recover the costs from consumers or taxpayers.In most countries, the cost of providing energy commodities and services, including gas, electricity…
MethanQuest: Test Results In for Renewable Hydrogen, Methane as a Fuel
As the maritime industry embarks on 'the path to zero', it is widely acknowledged that there is currently not a 'silver bullet' solution, nor is it likely that a solution will emerge from a vaccum. Collaboration is the path forward, and efforts such as MethanQuest offer promise.The project MethanQuest was launched in September 2018 with 29 partners from research, industry and the energy sector to work on processes for producing hydrogen and methane from renewables and for using them to achieve climate-neutral mobility and power generation.
