The OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report covers major issues affecting the world oil market and provides an outlook for crude oil market developments for the coming year. The report provides a detailed analysis of key developments impacting oil market trends in world oil demand, supply as well as the oil market balance. Please find the Report here.
Source: opec.org
EDF Energy Renewables has opened a new office in Edinburgh to support the company’s growth plans in Scotland.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was present at the opening ceremony, as was EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz.
EDF said it already has 270MW of wind power in operation in Scotland, 215MW under construction, 400MW consented and 800MW in planning and development.
EDF Energy Renewables chief executive Matthieu Hue said: “Scotland has huge potential for renewable energy and we see it as key area of growth.”
The company also officially opened the six-turbine 19.2MW Pearie Law wind farm in the Central Belt of Scotland today.
Source: renews.biz
Photo: EDF
Don’t throw out your climate science books just yet, folks. Australian resources minister Matt Canavan recently said burning a certain kind of coal could help the country slash its overall carbon emissions. He commissioned a study conducted by the Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science that reportedly claimed the country could reduce emissions by 27 percent if they replaced current coal power stations with “ultra-supercritical” coal technology. But experts slammed the findings, saying such technology wouldn’t reduce emissions nearly as much as was claimed.
Australia’s goal is to reduce emissions by 28 percent beneath 2005 levels by 2030, so a reduction of 27 percent with the help of new coal technology seemed almost too good to be true. But that’s the figure The Australian reported this week, although now it appears those statistics were inaccurate or misreported. The coal technology would actually only reduce emissions by around 12 percent, according to The Guardian, which also reported electricity sector emissions would need to be cut down to near zero to meet the 2030 target.
Canavan said in a statement that the coal “has an important role to play as Australia, and the rest of the world, reduce carbon dioxide emissions.” He also attacked “people who oppose the coal industry for ideological reasons,” and some of those people quickly fired back.
Australia Institute economist Rod Campbell said if Australia were to replace old coal stations with ones boasting the new technology, electricity prices would go up, even higher than if renewable energy replaced coal.
Member of Parliament Mark Butler said, “The latest intervention by Minister Canavan trumpeting coal isn’t about securing a reliable and affordable energy future; at its core it is just the latest ideological attack on renewables by a government desperate to draw attention away from the fact it has no plan on energy and climate.”
Source: inhabitat.com
“As we advance deeper into a new energy paradigm, we need to pick-up the pace of our decarbonization efforts.” That was the message this week from the director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Adnan Amin.
Speaking after the launch of an IRENA report called Rethinking Energy, Amin said that policies and regulations “continue to remain crucial to this end and to develop the renewables market.”
“We are seeing more and more countries hold auctions to deploy renewables, and as variable and distributed sources of renewables take on a greater role, regulators have implemented changes to enable grid integration at scale,” he said, adding that, “heating and cooling, and the potential of renewables for transport, are areas where future efforts are needed.”
The Rethinking Energy report states that falling costs, driven by innovation in technology and policy, is spurring renewable energy deployment and on the back of this is a “myriad of socioeconomic benefits.”
Speaking after the launch of an IRENA report called Rethinking Energy, Amin said that the report states that global investment in renewables has steadily grown for more than a decade, rising from less than $50 billion in 2004 to a record $305 billion in 2015.
The report states that solar PV will grow the fastest in terms of capacity and output, and new ways to store electricity “will be a game changer for growing variable renewable energy generation”. Indeed, IRENA estimates that battery storage for electricity could increase from less than 1 GW today to 250 GW by 2030.
Amin also stressed the importance of off-grid renewables in the bid to bring about global electrification.
“Achieving universal electricity access by 2030 will require us to boost global power generation — nearly 60 percent of that will have to come from stand-alone and mini-grid solutions,” Amin said. “Meeting this aim with off-grid renewables depends on the right combination of policies, financing, technology and institutional capacity. Making needed changes and accelerating deployment will allow countries to address global issues in sustainability, education, gender equality, health, water and food.”
Source: renewableenergyworld.com
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, notably in the residential sector, according to the IEA report, Energy Policies of IEA Countries: France 2016 Review. The IEA praised France’s leadership role in climate change mitigation and green finance around the world and at home, particularly thanks to the adoption of the ambitious set of measures under the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act in 2015.
But the IEA found that the government’s plan to cut the share of nuclear power from 78% of electricity produced today to 50% by 2025, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in 2030, will require significant investments in energy efficiency and new low-carbon generation.
“France has to implement nothing less than a transformation of its energy system and power market,” said Paul Simons, the IEA Deputy Executive Director, speaking at the launch of the report in Paris. “France’s Transition Act is a first-class energy and climate framework, based on a low-carbon strategy, carbon budgets, and the related investment planning. France leads on carbon pricing with a long-term carbon price trajectory set by law up to 2030.”
Source: iea.org
As it works to recover from its diesel emission scandal, the Volkswagen Group is rapidly embracing electric cars. By 2025, the company hopes to be selling 1 million electric cars per year, and plans to launch 30 different electric models across multiple brands in the coming years.
According to a news report, China—for several years, the world’s largest single car market—will be a major focus of the VW Group’s electric-car activities.
The automaker is planning no fewer than eight new or updated plug-in models for the Chinese market, according to Chinese car website Autohome.
Citing what appears to be an internal planning document, the report shows a mix of battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids from the main Volkswagen brand, as well as Audi and domestic Chinese brands established by VW and Chinese partners.
The list includes the Volkswagen e-Golf, an updated version of which was unveiled at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show with a larger battery pack, a more powerful motor, and minor styling updates.
China will also get a plug-in hybrid version of the second-generation VW Tiguan crossover. That model may come to the U.S. as well, although Volkswagen has not confirmed anything so far.
The VW Group is also reportedly planning two larger plug-in hybrid sedans for the Chinese market
One is an updated version of the Audi A6 L e-tron already on sale there, the other is a version of a sedan from local automaker SAIC that shares a platform with the Audi.
China will also get the Audi e-tron electric SUV, slated to start European production in 2018, as well as the production version of the Volkswagen ID concept first shown at the 2016 Paris Motor Show.
The ID is a compact hatchback, but VW also showed an alternate version called the ID Buzz at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, with styling inspired by the classic Microbus.
While the government wishes local firms to be competitive in the electric-car segment, it also wants to get more electric cars on its roads faster—which it has concluded means putting fewer restrictions on the foreign automakers already producing them elsewhere.
Source: greencarreports.com
In a move that puts the “R” in regressive, a group of Republican lawmakers in Wyoming just launched a bill that would effectively ban selling wind and solar power in the state. The measure proposes to fine utilities for purchasing energy produced by large-scale renewable power projects.
According to Inside Climate News, the bill is chiefly sponsored by representatives from the state’s main coal-producing counties. If enacted, it would force utilities to use power from only approved energy sources like natural gas, nuclear power, hydroelectric, oil – and of course coal. Your average homeowner could still install a rooftop solar, backyard wind or other renewable energy setup, but the state’s utilities would get slapped with big fines for buying power from renewable projects.
According to Inside Climate News, the move is confusing some locals who know the lay of the land. “I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said Shannon Anderson, director of local organizing group, Powder River Basin Resource Council. “This is essentially a reverse renewable energy standard.”
But Inside Climate News adds that Republican Senator David Miller, the bill’s sponsor, says the goal of the legislation is to make sure Wyoming residents have access to inexpensive power.
“Wyoming is a great wind state and we produce a lot of wind energy,” Miller said. “We also produce a lot of conventional energy, many times our needs. The electricity generated by coal is amongst the least expensive in the country. We want Wyoming residences to benefit from this inexpensive electrical generation. “He added that he doesn’t want to see Wyoming “averaged into” other states that require utilities to supply “more expensive” renewable energy.
The proposed bill would allow renewable energy producers in the state to sell power to customers outside Wyoming without a penalty. The cost of selling power in their own state would be $10 per megawatt hour of energy sold.
Republicans significantly outnumber Democrats in both the state’s House and Senate, but Miller still puts his chances of passing the bill at “50 percent or less.”
Source: inhabitat.com
The UK’s expanding electric vehicle charging network received a further boost yesterday with the news Lidl is to become the latest supermarket to install rapid charge points at some of its stores.
Charging point supplier POD Point announced it has inked an exclusive partnership agreement with the supermarket chain that will see rapid charge points installed at 40 selected Lidl stores, allowing customers to charge their electric vehicles (EVs) free of charge while they shop.
The Triple Standard Rapid Charge points are designed to deliver an 80 per cent charge to an EV such as a Nissan Leaf in around 30 minutes.
Erik Fairbairn, chief executive of POD Point, said the expansion of the network of public charge points would make EVs even more attractive to prospective customers.
“While most electric vehicle charging happens where drivers live and work, we know that a fast, reliable public charging network is also a vital component – and a real shop window for EV,” he said. “We’re excited to be working with Lidl to ensure its customers get a faster and better charging service.
“Our partnership with Lidl is also an important element in the wider rollout of the Open Charge Network, and a significant step towards our target of putting a POD Point everywhere people park for an hour or more by 2020.”
The deal is the latest in a series of high profile contracts for POD Point, which last year inked agreements to install its charge points at Birmingham and Luton Airports and secured deals to become an approved charge point supplier for Motocorsa, Volkswagen, and Nissan GB.
Source: businessgreen.com
Chinese premier Xi Jinping has urged world leaders not to abandon the historic Paris climate change agreement in a high profile speech today to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In an address that stressed the importance of world trade for delivering economic growth and stability, President Xi said it is vital countries stick to their commitments for tackling climate change for the sake of future generations.
He described the Paris Agreement as a “hard won” diplomatic achievement which he insisted “all signatories should stick to it instead of walking away”. He added that fulfilling the aims of the agreement – primarily to limit global warming to “well below” two degrees – is a “responsibility” that countries must assume on behalf of future generations.
The call for global unity on tackling climate change will be interpreted by many as a thinly veiled message to the US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as President on Friday. During his election campaign last year Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw the US from the historic agreement. If he did so, it would not only plunge the future of international climate negotiations into uncertainty, but also seriously damage the diplomatic partnership President Obama forged with China on climate issues in recent years.
Xi also expressed his support for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), saying the sustainable development agenda should be implemented to ensure “balanced development” that protects the environment while ensuring social progress across the world.
He added that China’s efforts to pursue green development are “paying off”, and encouraged other nations to “relentlessly pursue” innovation and foster new industries and business models as a route to future growth.
Earlier this month China pledged to invest $360bn in renewable energy projects by 2020, while earlier this week the country’s energy regulator announced it has stopped the development of more than 100 coal-fired power plants, with a combined capacity of more than 100GW, in its latest bid to curb the country’s use of fossil fuels.
China’s National Energy Agency announced yesterday it had suspended development of the plants, some of which were already under construction, in order to fulfil its pledge in the 13th Five Year Plan to cap coal capacity at 1,100GW.
Source: businessgreen.com
Prysmian Group, world leader in energy and telecom cable systems industry, announces that the interconnection between the Veja Mate offshore wind farm and the offshore grid connection system Borwin2 in the German North Sea has been successfully plugged in. The project was awarded to Prysmian by TenneT, the Dutch-German transmission system operator (TSO).
The interconnection consists of two 155 kV HVAC (High Voltage Alternate Current) submarine cables along a route of 11.4 km and links the Veja Mate to the “BorWin beta” offshore platform, where conversion from alternate current generated by the wind farms into direct current takes place in order to enable power transmission to the mainland by ways of the HVDC BorWin2 submarine cable link. The Global Tech I offshore wind farm is already connected to the “Borwin beta” platform.
The Borwin2 HVDC submarine cable connection has a transmission capacity up to 800 MW and consists of HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) cables produced by Prysmian.
Prysmian has been supplying and installing cables system solution for a total of six TenneT HVDC offshore grid connection projects, four of which (BorWin2, HelWin1, HelWin2 and SylWin1) have already been completed. Another two HVDC connections (DolWin3 and BorWin3) are currently underway.
”Thanks to our focus on technological innovation and our project execution capabilities we play a leading role in partnering with our customers in the strategic sector of HVDC submarine cable transmission systems in a key area such as northern Europe” explained Massimo Battaini, Senior Vice President Energy Projects Prysmian Group.
Source: prysmiangroup.com
Trianel Erneuerbare Energien has commissioned the 17.25MW Buchenau wind farm in Hesse in Germany. The project was developed by ABO Wind and acquired by Trianel last August. It features five Vestas V126 3.45MW turbines with tip heights of 200 metres.
Trianel said ABO Wind will operate the wind farm, which is expected to feed some 46 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity a year to the grid.
Trianel has also acquired the 6MW Solarpark Uchtdorf photovoltaic plant in Tangerhutte in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Developer Goldbeck Solar wrapped up installation of 22,464 modules at the 11-hectare site in December, Trianel said.
Solarpark Uchtdorf will receive a feed-in tariff of 8.91 euro cent per kWh and is expected to produce some 6 million kWh of electricity a year.
The power supplier said it will continue to cooperate with Goldbeck Solar on other PV projects.
Trianel Erneuerbare Energien executive Markus Hakes said: “With our latest projects we already accomplished more than half of our goal to operate at least 275MW of wind and solar plants across Germany by 2018.”
The company’s portfolio consists of 26MW of PV plants in Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt and six onshore wind farms in five German states totalling at 113MW.
Source: renews.biz
The global market for wind turbines is set for a bumpy ride over the next five years, as analysts predict it will grow to $81.14bn in 2019, before dropping back to $71.21bn in 2020.
The forecasts, published yesterday by research and consulting firm GlobalData, suggest the market growth over the next three years will be powered by falling costs and continued government support for clean energy.
However, the scheduled expiration of US clean energy tax credits in 2020 is expected to prompt a $10bn nosedive in the turbine market as project pipelines dry up.
The US tax credit programme, which was extended by Congress in December 2015, works through a system of degression. According to Swati Gupta, GlobalData’s power analyst, this structure of the scheme will drive a surge of investment in wind power across the US over the next three years ahead of the 2020 cut-off date.
“The production tax credit (PTC0 for wind energy, which pays $23 per MWh, will remain until 2016, followed by incremental reductions in value for the years up to January 2020,” she said in a statement.
“The projects which start construction in 2017 will get 80 per cent of the credit, those that qualify in 2018 will get 60 per cent, and those in 2019 will get 40 per cent. The PTC for wind facilities will be phased out completely if the construction starts after December 31, 2019. Thus, the wind power market is expected to see a huge rush of capacity additions during 2016-2019 to take the benefits of tax credit extensions before they expire.”
However, other countries are expected to maintain a relatively stable growth trajectory over the period, with China expected to account for 26 per cent of the turbine market by 2020, followed by Germany, with 10 per cent.
Source: businessgreen.com
Oslo will ban diesel cars from the road for at least two days this week to combat rising air pollution, angering some motorists after they were urged to buy diesel cars a few years ago.
The ban will go into effect on Tuesday on municipal roads but will not apply on the national motorways that criss-cross the Norwegian capital. Better atmospheric conditions are expected on Thursday. Motorists violating the ban will be fined 1,500 kroner (£174).
This is the first time Oslo has implemented a ban of this type after the city council – made up of the Labour and Greens parties – agreed in principle in February 2016 on the use of such a measure.
“In Oslo, we can’t ask children, the elderly, and those suffering from respiratory problems to remain holed up at home because the air is too dangerous to breathe,” a Greens city councillor Lan Marie Nguyen Berg said.
The measure has angered some motorists, who were encouraged in 2006 by Norwegian authorities to opt for diesel vehicles, which at the time were considered a better environmental choice than petrol-fuelled cars.
“Make up your minds. It wasn’t very long ago that diesel was recommended over petrol by Jens (Stoltenberg, Norway’s former prime minister, now Nato’s secretary general). Not sure you really know what is best,” wrote an annoyed Irene Signora Maier Tziotas on the Facebook page of the newspaper Verdens Gang.
Mazyar Keshvari, an MP from the populist right Progress Party, which is a member of the coalition government, urged motorists to seek compensation.
“The biggest swindle of Norwegian motorists has now become a reality,” he told the Norwegian broadcaster TV2. “This was part of the red-green government’s (Stoltenberg’s coalition) ingenious climate measures.
“Not only did they recommend motorists to buy diesel cars, they also changed the taxes to make them less expensive. That led a lot of people buying a car that they can’t use now.”
Other Norwegians were more philosophical. “Very good measure. We should introduce a permanent ban on diesel in all big cities. The fines should also be doubled,” Kenneth Tempel wrote on VG’s Facebook page.
According to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, air pollution causes 185 premature deaths in Oslo each year.
Source: theguardian.com
Demand for oil and gas will continue to grow for the next few decades and any fall in capital investment for the industry will cause “spikes” in prices and affect the global economy, according to the president and CEO of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).
Speaking Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Amin Nasser told a Wall Street Journal panel that renewable energy will gain a market share over the long term but it would not be dominant.
“It will take decades for them (renewables) to replace petroleum resources. So what we are doing in Saudi Aramco we are building our capacity in the oil,” he said.
He said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had oil capacity of 12.,5 million barrels per day and it continues to build on that capacity, as well as expanding its gas portfolio.
“We will be doubling our gas over the next decade,” he said at the event. “(This will) enable us to put more crude (oil) onto the market,” he added.
Oil prices have seen a dramatic fall since mid-2014 due to oversupply in the industry with analysts also noting a fall in demand. Saudi Aramco has underlined plans to diversify their production.
The Saudi Aramco CEO iterated that there was still healthy demand, however, even withlong-termm predictions that stretch out to 2060. He added that oil “will be with us for decades.”
He said that more expansion is need needed in the sector and more capital would be required.
Source: cnbc.com
It’s an interesting moment to contemplate the future of DC fast charging for electric cars right now.
Electric cars with 200 miles or more of range are starting to hit the market, with half a dozen expected to be in showrooms three years hence.
And international standards groups are working to boost fast-charging rates from the 50-kilowatt level found today to as much as 150 or even 300 kw.
While Tesla Motors has laid out the model for a national network of fast-charging sites along highways in multiple countries, the rest of the industry is at least a few years behind.
And no carmaker is likely to replicate the vision, dedication, and commitment to fast charging that the Silicon Valley carmaker displayed starting three years ago.
That said, the number of fast-charging stations for non-Tesla cars that will likely be live five years from now will likely dwarf the Supercharger network at its current size.
The company’s goal in designing the Express Plus system was to create “future-proofed” hardware that cut the cost as much as possible for charging-site owners.
More than that, he said, the company felt it was crucial to avoid requiring specific models of car to park in specific slots in order to charge at their maximum capability.
The Express Plus charging station themselves have two cables, which will likely be configured with one for each of the CCS and CHAdeMO charging plugs.
That gives it a maximum output power of 500 kw at 400 amperes, which can be distributed among up to eight separate charging stations—meaning that it can charge vehicles with even the very highest charging rates envisioned for 2020 or later.
Importantly, that output can be dynamically split among different charging stations as vehicles near their end of their charging curves and different models come and go—assuming the multiple charging spaces at the site where it’s installed are cross-connected when they’re built.
ChargePoint’s hardware comes with a suggested construction plan with interconnections among parking spaces that takes advantage of the capability to allocate power among vehicles dynamically as needed.
Source: greencarreports.com
Drivers in Paris must display an anti-pollution sticker in their vehicles or face fines in the latest attempt by the French authorities to improve air quality.
The sticker scheme, which became mandatory on Monday, includes cars, lorries, motorcycles and scooters, and bans some vehicles from the city during weekdays.
It follows numerous spikes in pollution in which smog has descended over the French capital, forcing traffic reduction measures and the introduction of free public transport on the worst days.
The six different coloured Crit’Air (air criteria) stickers indicate the age and cleanliness of a vehicle. Certain vehicles – including petrol and diesel cars registered before 1996; vans registered before 1997; pre-2000 scooters and motorbikes; and lorries, trucks and buses from before 2001 – are banned from the city between 8am and 8pm.
Foreign-registered vehicles have been given until March to obtain their stickers, which cost €4.18 each, payable online.
The scheme was unveiled last year and stickers have been available since July.
The French government announced 1.4m Crit’Air stickers had been ordered through the official website, but a police check carried out across Paris last week found only one in 50 vehicles stopped had the sticker.
About 600,000 vehicles are estimated to drive in and around the city every day. Those found without stickers can be fined €68 for cars and €138 for lorries. Other cities in France have anti-pollution sticker schemes, but Paris has chosen to make it permanent. The authorities say that in the event of high pollution it will make it easier to ban less clean vehicles from the city, instead of banning half of all cars depending on the registration plate, as has been done up until now.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has made it clear she will continue her campaign to reduce by half the number of cars in the city by making life increasingly difficult for motorists.
City hall plans include closing roads to traffic and pedestrianising areas of the capital as well as an eventual ban on all diesel vehicles.
“More cars means more pollution, fewer cars means less pollution. It seems obvious but in this post-truth age there are those who would argue that fewer cars means more pollution. We prefer to stick to the truth,” Hidalgo told journalists last week.
Experts dispute the estimated number of premature deaths caused by air pollution in France, but Hidalgo said there were about 40,000 a year.
“The lead particles are found not just in the lungs, but the heart and brain, especially those of children. So we will continue to try to make Paris a city where people can breathe.”
Source: theguardian.com
