William Colton, Vice President Corporate Strategic Planning at ExxonMobil, came to Brussels this week, to the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), to present ExxonMobil’s view of our energy future to representatives from EU institutions. It was a clash of two worlds. Brussels failed to be impressed. Mike Parr of the independent consultancy PWR was there. … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: “Conflict between Russia and EU could mark end of European gas industry”
Tatiana Mitrova, Head of the Oil & Gas Department at the Energy Research Institute in Moscow, joins Hughes Belin on viEUws.eu to analyse the consequences of the troubled EU-Russia relations for energy trade. According to Mitrova, the current situation is a "perfect storm" which she warns "could mark the beginning of the end of the European gas industry." … [Read more...]
Here’s what will send oil prices back up again
Oil's rapid decline since August of last year has been dramatic. To listen to some commentators you would also think it is unprecedented and irreversible. Those claiming that oil will continue to fall from here and remain low for evermore, however, are flying in the face of both history and common sense. The question we should be asking ourselves is not if oil prices will recover, but when they will. … [Read more...]
Interview Andriy Kobolev, CEO Naftogaz: “Gazprom breaches EU law by blocking reverse flow to Ukraine”
Gazprom is blocking reverse gas flow from Slovakia to Ukraine in violation of EU law, says Andriy Kobolev, the CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned gas monopoly Naftogaz, in an exclusive interview with Slovakian energy analyst Jozef Badida. As a result European companies are not able to meet the demand from gas in Ukraine and Ukraine is left at the mercy of Gazprom. Kobolev calls on the EU to take action against the Russian company. But he also notes … [Read more...]
Italian market coupling launched, Europe closer to one copper plate
A further significant step towards an integrated European power market was taken recently as the Italian Borders Market Coupling was successfully launched. The Italian-Austrian, Italian-French and Italian-Slovenian borders have now been coupled with the Multi-Regional Coupling (MRC) instrument. Thanks to this coupling, 19 EU power markets - from Finland to Portugal and Slovenia – are now integrated into a single market platform. … [Read more...]
Offshore wind in the Kattegat: a unique opportunity for Europe
New figures show that the Anholt offshore wind farm in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden had an impressively high capacity factor of 50% last year. This is all the more impressive since, as Mike Parr, Director of energy consultancy PWR points out, 2014 was a year with unusually low wind speeds. In an average year the capacity factor would have been more like 75%. This means, writes Parr, that if just 10% of the Kattegat region were … [Read more...]
Brussels tests limits of its powers with Energy Union
Energy Post takes stock of what the proposals for an Energy Union mean and ponders the key question: can Brussels deliver? The Commission is pushing hard on a far-reaching redesign of the electricity market, which is to be driven by the EU Emission Trading Scheme and increasingly run by EU institutions. In gas Brussels also wants to take a central role. When it comes to climate policy, the Commission has some substantial new proposals on energy … [Read more...]
New Silk Roads and the “Chinese Dream” of a Brave New (Trade) World
Seen from the Chinese capital as the Year of the Sheep starts, the malaise affecting the West seems like a mirage in a galaxy far, far away. On the other hand, the China that surrounds you looks all too solid and nothing like the embattled nation you hear about in the Western media, with its falling industrial figures, its real estate bubble, and its looming environmental disasters. Prophecies of doom notwithstanding, as the dogs of austerity and … [Read more...]
Georg Zachmann, Bruegel Institute: “The EU must go for an Energy Union – or renationalise energy markets”
“We can either go for a European market or a renationalisation of energy policy. Trying to incentivise investment with volatile national schemes and have a European market at the same time is the worst option.” That’s the opinion of influential German energy expert Georg Zachmann, Research Fellow at the Brussels-based think tank the Bruegel Institute. In an interview with Energy Post, Zachmann, who has published widely about EU energy policy, … [Read more...]
European demand for renewable energy surges in 2014
The European market for renewable energy, documented with Guarantees of Origin, increased by 26.5 % in 2014 compared to 2013. For the first time, the demand surpassed 300 TWh, according to statistics from the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB). This is nearly one tenth of all electricity demand in Europe (ca. 3,300 TWh) and one third of all electricity from renewable sources in Europe (ca. 900 TWh). … [Read more...]
The new China-Europe connection: how China’s new Silk Road strategy will change the face of the world
China’s “New Silk Road” strategy is intended to connect the Chinese industrial powerhouse first with Eurasia and then Europe. This will be done through a gigantic, intricate network of road and rail transport lines and energy pipelines, which will cut overland travel time from China to Europe to just two days. It is the greatest trade story in the world, writes reporter Pepe Escobar, even though we hear little about it in the West. Europe, notes … [Read more...]
New German legislation will shake up EU biofuels market – but how?
New German legislation, which will become effective in 2015, has resulted in a drastic improvement of the climate performance of biodiesel produced in Germany. But the effects the new rules will have on the German and wider EU biofuels market are still highly uncertain, says Elmar Baumann, Managing Director of the VDB, the Association of the German Biofuel Industry, in an interview with Energy Post. “All we know is that they will be profound.” … [Read more...]
Could falling oil prices spark a financial crisis?
To what extent are financial investors exposed to the oil sector? And what will happen on the financial markets if oil stocks and oil companies go under on a large scale? We are far from a crisis yet, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. But, he adds, falling oil prices are not just a problem for oil companies. … [Read more...]
Eon’s new strategy: focus on renewables, distribution, customer solutions, get out of old power generation
Eon, the largest German energy company, will henceforth “focus on renewables, distribution networks, and customer solutions and combine its conventional generation, global energy trading, and exploration and production businesses in a new, independent company, a majority of which will be spun off to Eon SE’s shareholders. … [Read more...]
What are we to make of the US and China’s "historic" climate deal?
The US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change made on 11 November, has given rise to a lot of commentary in the media worldwide. In this article, Mat Hope of The Carbon Brief provides an excellent critical overview of some of the most significant analyses. Energy Post chief editor Karel Beckman adds some insights of his own. … [Read more...]
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