The European Commission has accused Gazprom of imposing unfair gas prices in five EU member states – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria and Poland – through abuse of its dominant market position. This constitutes a breach of EU anti-trust rules. … [Read more...]
The Great Grid Special: where is Europe going with its grids?
The EU has adopted a 10% electricity interconnection target that all member states have to meet by 2020. However, experts question this one-size-fits-all approach. They do agree that new investment in power grids is crucial - but not which type should get priority: interconnection, transmission, distribution, "smart" or even microgrid. A new French report shows that most investment is actually going to gas grids where it may be less … [Read more...]
New clean energy investment falls in first quarter 2015
New investment in the global clean energy sector totalled $61.0 billion in Q1 15, a 14% decrease on Q4 14 ($71.3 billion) and a 5% decrease on the corresponding quarter in 2014 ($64.4 billion). … [Read more...]
French government study: 95% renewable power mix cheaper than nuclear and gas
A new French government study shows that the cost to the French consumer of a 100% renewable scenario is more or less equal to a scenario close to today’s, with only 40% renewables. It is yet another instance of leading energy experts asserting that a 100% renewable future is possible, writes Terje Osmundsen, Senior Vice-President of Norwegian independent solar power producer Scatec Solar. … [Read more...]
Top 12 media myths on oil prices
The upstream oil and gas industry is not a black hole, writes Dan Doyle, president of Reliance Well Services, a hydraulic fracturing company based in Pennsylvania. “There's no mystery wrapped in an enigma here.” Doyle “sets the record straight” on 12 “media myths” about oil and gas prices. Well, 11 really. … [Read more...]
Interview André Merlin: “Europe needs regional System Operators like in the US”
Developing electricity interconnectors should be a shared competence of the EU and individual Member States, with costs shared out at least across regions, says AndrĂ© Merlin, President of Medgrid, a consortium looking to facilitate the exchange of electricity across the Mediterranean, in an interview with Energy Post. Merlin, former Chairman of both RTE, the French transmission system operator (TSO) and ERDF, the main French distribution system … [Read more...]
Greece: Russian backdoor to fortress Europe?
An alliance between Greece and Russia could have far-reaching consequences for EU-Russia energy relations and for the success of the EU’s energy policy in South Eastern Europe, writes Constantine Levoyannis, Deputy Head of the Greek Energy Forum in Brussels. According to Levoyannis, it could open the door for Gazprom’s proposed gas pipeline Turkish Stream and even lead to a rapprochement between Turkey and Greece. … [Read more...]
Dramatic shale gas plea falls on deaf ears in Paris, but Brussels “opens back door to fracking”
A report from the French Ministry of the Economy and Industrial Recovery concludes that France could have its own shale gas revolution, with hundreds of billions in revenues and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. What is more, with the help of a unique new technology, based on propane stimulation, the shale gas could be produced without harm to the environment. The report, already produced in June 2014, was, however, ignored by the French … [Read more...]
Clean Disruption: how Silicon Valley will make oil, nuclear, gas, coal obsolete (book review)
In his new book “Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation”, famous author, lecturer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tony Seba predicts that by 2030 all power generation will be solar and wind and all cars will be self-driving electric vehicles. The existing energy industry will be “obliterated”. In a review of the book, JosĂ© Cordeiro, founding energy advisor at Singularity University and Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of … [Read more...]
Off-grid solar power vs grid-connected solar power: what will be the road ahead?
Electricity customers using solar power plus batteries will increasingly be able to choose whether they want to maintain grid connection or go off-grid. In a new report, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) predicts that most customers will not defect from the grid. Nevertheless, grid use will be drastically reduced. Utilities will need to develop new business models and "innovative thinking" to cope with this new reality. The report focuses on the … [Read more...]
A global deal that drives good decisions: what success at the Paris summit should look like
 “Targets and timetables are only exciting to policy insiders”, writes Professor Nick Rowley of the University of Sydney, former strategic director of the Copenhagen Climate Council as well as former climate policy advisor to Tony Blair, in the final part of his three-part essay on the prospects of a global climate deal at the Paris summit in December. To be successful, argues Rowley, the Paris climate talks should spell out what concrete steps … [Read more...]
Why the Paris climate talks won’t be another Copenhagen
Nick Rowley of the University of Sydney, who was closely involved in the failed Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009, presents five reasons to be optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming Paris talks. Many countries now see a climate agreement as more than an end in itself, he notes. They regard it as a vital means to address other challenges as well. And he notes that the cast of characters in Paris looks much better than in Copenhagen. … [Read more...]
The Road to Paris: three myths about international climate talks
With only nine months to go before the most important international meeting on climate change since Copenhagen in 2009, what are the chances of success at this year’s Paris talks? What might “success” mean? And can the mistakes and challenges that have befallen previous meetings be avoided and tackled? Nick Rowley, Professor, Sydney Democracy Network at the University of Sydney, and former climate advisor to Tony Blair, addresses these questions … [Read more...]
No shale gas in Eastern Europe, after all: implications of Chevron’s exit from Romania
Chevron’s decision to give up on Romanian shale gas exploitation, after earlier having departed from Poland and Lithuania, marks the final departure from the US company’s Eastern European shale gas adventure. According to Anca Elena Mihalache, Senior Analyst with the Bucharest-based Energy Policy Group, Chevron’s exit makes it clear that there is little hope for successful shale gas development in Central and Eastern Europe. She hopes that … [Read more...]
“Solar and wind most competitive energy sources in United Arab Emirates”
Solar and wind may now be the cheapest sources of new energy supply in the United Arab Emirates, according to a new report by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. In January, a tender for a solar park in Dubai was awarded for under six cents per kilowatt hour for a 25-year fixed contract, the lowest solar price ever achieved worldwide. … [Read more...]
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