German transmission system operator Tennet recently announced an 80% increase in its transmission fees because of the high construction costs of new power lines to accommodate renewable energy. A study of the DĂĽsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics found that by 2025 costs of the Energiewende could exceed €25,000 for an average four-person household. Jeffrey Michel concludes that the Energiewende is running up against its limits – but may … [Read more...]
The collective effort behind Finland’s new nuclear power plant
Five years after announcing that it had chosen Pyhäjoki, in northern Finland, as the site for a new Russian-designed 1200 MW nuclear reactor, Finnish company Fennovoima is within sight of a 2018 construction start date. No, this is not the notorious Olkiluoto-3 EPR being builty by Areva– this is Hanhikivi 1, to be built by Rosatom. Journalist Eric Marx travelled to Finland to find out why Fennovoima is succeeding where other new nuclear projects … [Read more...]
The delusion of cheap, safe shale gas extraction
The UK’s Communities Secretary Sajid Javid recently approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire in what the BBC has called a “landmark decision”. For the first time, after many years of regulatory struggle and public debate, fracking may really start in the UK. Professors Alex Russell and Peter Strachan argue that the plans if they go ahead will result in environmental and economic disaster. … [Read more...]
Demand response can drastically lower energy bills – if suppliers don’t get “compensated”
New research commissioned by the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) finds that demand flexibility can save many billions of euros in electricity costs. As the European Commission is pondering the design of a new and interconnected energy market for Europe, it needs to make sure these benefits are realised, writes Phil Baker, Senior Advisor at RAP. Brussels should resist calls to “compensate” energy suppliers for perceived losses as a result of … [Read more...]
The energy prescriptions of The Atlantic Council: “There’s a direction relation between climate change and geopolitics”
The implications of climate change targets not being met are massive migration, the potential for resource wars and “a further disintegrating of the international order”, according to Richard L. Morningstar, Founding Director and Chairman of the Global Energy Center and David Koranyi, Director of the Eurasian Energy Futures Initiative, both part of the Washington DC based think tank The Atlantic Council. Morningstar and Koranyi see a “direct … [Read more...]
To keep European offshore wind world-leading, we need an industrial policy
To retain the global lead European companies have in offshore wind, the EU should develop an industrial policy that will guarantee a steady pipeline of projects, writes independent energy expert Mike Parr. This would ensure continued investment by companies in cost reduction and technology improvements. Failure to do so could mean the offshore wind sector would suffer the same fate as the European solar PV industry. … [Read more...]
Visions clash at World Energy Congress in Istanbul
The World Energy Council gave out a clear message at the World Energy Congress that took place this week in Istanbul: the world needs to move away from fossil fuels much faster than it is doing today. That contrasted sharply with the message given out by most of the high-level speakers from government and business at the Congress, who stressed that the world needs more oil and gas. Mohammad Barkindo, the new Secretary General of oil cartel OPEC … [Read more...]
Interview Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO EDF: “Our future lies in combination nuclear and renewables”
EDF, one of the largest electricity producers in the world, has embarked on a “2030” strategy focused on renewable energy and customer solutions in addition to its large nuclear business. According to CEO Jean-Bernard LĂ©vy, "EDF’s future lies in a generation mix that combines nuclear and renewable energies.” LĂ©vy says EDF will tackle the problems with its EPR nuclear reactor design by introducing a "New Model"  EPR that will be cheaper. He also … [Read more...]
Interview IEA Chief Fatih Birol: “We are once again increasing our expectations for renewables”
In its upcoming World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is “once again happily increasing our growth projections of renewable energy”, says Executive Director Fatih Birol in an interview. But a world without fossil fuels is not yet in sight. “There are fossil fuels and fossil fuels. Coal and oil should be discouraged. Natural gas will continue to play an important role in even our most stringent scenarios.” This interview was … [Read more...]
Interview Spencer Dale, BP Group Chief Economist: “The energy transition could come faster than we think”
The energy industry faces uncertainties of daunting magnitude on many levels, says Spencer Dale, BP’s Group Chief Economist, in this exclusive interview: the pace of climate change policy, the growth of renewables, the apparent demise of coal, falling energy prices, the role of natural gas in the energy mix, and the likely impact of energy efficiency on demand growth. According to Dale, “it’s possible that we will see forces leading to a faster … [Read more...]
Interview Francesco Starace, CEO Enel: “We have stopped investing in projects that take more than 2 or 3 years”
“Our aim is to grow the use of electricity as energy vector”. This is how Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, one of the world’s largest utilities and perhaps the biggest producer of renewable energy in the world, describes the strategic goal of his company. According to Starace, the utility of the future owns and manages a digitised grid that connects up decentralised green energy sources and is at the centre of a whole new system of energy products … [Read more...]
World Energy Scenarios show: Strong government policies needed to limit climate change
The world will find it difficult to meet the 2°C target set in the Paris Agreement unless it goes down a path of strong enforcement by national governments of international agreements to curb greenhouse gas emissions. That's one of the key conclusions of the World Energy Scenarios 2016 report from the World Energy Council, which looks at how global trends will shape the energy industry over the next 45 years. The report was launched today at the … [Read more...]
Interview Maroš Šefčovič, VP Energy Union: “I made the promise 2016 would be year of delivery and I intend to keep it”
“If we want a cost-effective transition to a low-carbon economy, we have to create an internal energy market where European rules apply”, says Maroš Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ, the European Commission’s Vice President for the Energy Union, in an exclusive interview with Energy Post. According to Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ, “big parts of our energy market are [still] overregulated”. To take a decisive leap towards the Energy Union, the Commission has decided to put all its energy … [Read more...]
Hinkley C must be the first of many new nuclear plants
The debate around Hinkley Point C has mainly focused on the price EDF will get for electricity generated, but this is not out of line with what may be expected given the urgent need for more sustainable power, writes Simon Hogg, Executive Director of Durham Energy Institute. What is more important, according to Hogg, is that Hinkley C should be followed by the construction of more and different new nuclear power stations, as part of an overall UK … [Read more...]
Corporate America’s huge appetite for clean energy
An increasing number of corporations are directly buying or building their own clean electricity, writes Elias Hinckley, a US-based strategic energy advisor. Companies across the business spectrum, ranging from Apple to Dow, General Motors and Bank of America, have set goals for 100% renewable power. Hinckley explains the reasons for this trend and notes that energy suppliers and investors cannot afford to ignore this huge new market. … [Read more...]
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