Spanish government renewable energy auctions in January produced record-breaking low strike prices for both wind and solar. For solar the average price was €24.47/MWh (the lowest was €14.98/MWh), guaranteed for 12 years through contracts-for-difference (CfDs). As such auctions continue around Europe, Michael Claußner at Energy Brainpool asks what impact these prices will have on future power prices in general and on solar power purchase agreement … [Read more...]
Can the U.S. switch on a Nuclear Fusion plant by 2035?
Momentum is building in the U.S. for the switching on of a nuclear fusion pilot plant by 2035. A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine lays out for the first time the required technical, economic, and regulatory standards. It comes soon after the prospects for fusion were boosted in January by a government bill that funds fusion activities. Peter Dunn at MIT reviews the report and speaks to the experts. The main … [Read more...]
“The Role of Gas” in Europe and China: EVENT VIDEO on security of supply, gas to power, competitive markets & renewable gases
We present the videos of the second of our three, 4-session workshops on the opportunities for European energy solutions providers to take part in China's energy transition. In this workshop, held in February, we looked at gas. Demand in China is expected to keep growing. That’s because China doesn’t just need to replace coal, it simply needs more energy. Europe’s gas sector has decades of relevant experience, technology, policy, planning and … [Read more...]
We’re making much more progress decarbonising Electricity than Transport. Why?
In the OECD, since 2000, electricity sector emissions have fallen by 8% while transport emissions have actually increased by 5%. The best performers like the UK recorded drops in both: 40% and 6% respectively. In the U.S. it’s 25% and 0%. Catherine Wolfram at the Haas School of Business asks why transport is still going in the wrong direction, given the power sector’s progress. She posits three theories. Rich nations are outsourcing … [Read more...]
Accelerating renewables in Central and South East Europe
What is the potential for renewables in Central and South East Europe? Luis Janeiro, Seán Collins and Ricardo Gorini at IRENA summarise their clean energy pathway for CESEC (the Central and South Eastern Europe energy connectivity initiative). The region has very good resource conditions to scale up renewables. Spectacular cost reductions in wind and solar over the last few years can provide a cheaper source of new electricity than the least-cost … [Read more...]
WEO 2020 means updated price predictions to 2040: Oil, Gas, Coal, Renewables, Power
The combined effect of the global lockdown, more ambitious climate policies and the rise of renewables will have a significant effect on European power prices up to 2040, as well as the sales revenues of renewable energies. Carlos Perez-Linkenheil at Energy Brainpool uses their Power2Sim model to look at the data in the IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook 2020 and make quantitative forecasts. The pandemic has caused structural distortions to the … [Read more...]
ELCC: how to measure grid stability as renewables are added
We cannot just swap 24/7 fossil fuel power plants for intermittent renewables. To prevent electricity shortfalls the capacity of a solar or wind plant must exceed that of the fossil fuel plant it replaces. But by how much? That’s the question that the Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC) metric is designed to answer. It’s not a new concept, but is now becoming very important. Mark Specht at the Union of Concerned Scientists explains the … [Read more...]
No more “offsetting”: Google commits to 24/7 locally sourced carbon-free electricity by 2030
By “offsetting” fossil electricity consumed at one data centre through buying green power from somewhere else, Google has been 100% renewable since 2017. But offsetting always has its flaws. In this case, 40% of Google’s actual power still comes from fossil fuels. Google’s new plan, to be 100% green 24/7 straight off the local grid, is designed to solve that. It will also send market signals to increase clean capacity locally, not just where you … [Read more...]
Green Ammonia Market: a New Era for Energy and Power Industry
Green ammonia uses renewable energy instead of natural gas or coal for producing hydrogen; hence, is an effective way to reduce greenhouse emissions. The electrochemical Haber-Bosch process produces ammonia without any greenhouse emissions. Green ammonia refers to ammonia, which has been produced through a process that is 100% renewable and carbon-free. Reducing the carbon dioxide emissions during the production process is essential to achieve … [Read more...]
Negative electricity prices: lockdown’s demand slump exposes inflexibility of German power
The lockdown has unexpectedly allowed us to model certain aspects of the energy sector’s possible future. One is the oversupply of variable renewables into the grid. In Germany, a slump in demand plus an exceptionally sunny and windy few months sent wholesale electricity prices negative and to record lows. Fossil generators calculated that paying buyers to take electricity was cheaper than performing a shut-down re-start sequence, so they did … [Read more...]
Investing for tomorrow, because Energy subsidies will decline 25% by 2050 – analysis
IRENA has modelled energy subsidies to 2030 and 2050 for their pathway to meet the Paris targets. Here, Michael Taylor summarises their findings. Firstly, they estimate today’s global direct energy sector subsidies to be $634bn/year (2017 figures). The vast majority, $447bn, went to fossil fuels. (By the way, he points out that none of these figures include the externality costs - pollution, healthcare, environment - which equate to trillions and … [Read more...]
An EU Hydrogen strategy: from industry feedstock to energy vector
The bravest recovery strategies will invest robustly in new yet-to-take-off clean energy technologies. If you are going to have to spend hundreds of billions to revive your economy isn’t it better to replace the old with the new rather than prop up what you’ll have to abandon soon anyway? In anticipation of that happening, new technologies are lining up. Here, Cédric Philibert at the IFRI Centre for Energy & Climate summarises their detailed … [Read more...]
IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook and how Europe can lead the way
If the coronavirus slump has knocked everything off track IRENA’s first ever Global Renewables Outlook is a timely reminder of what that track should look like. It can help policymakers design stimuli packages that will get us back onto it, and even accelerate the transition. IRENA’s Gayathri Prakash, Nicholas Wagner and Ricardo Gorini run through the comprehensive report’s main recommendations. Annual investment, shares and GW targets to 2030 … [Read more...]
Don’t wait for international agreements. Sector-wide action can accelerate the Transition
December’s COP25 in Madrid showed how difficult it is proving to get agreement between nations on how to ramp up the deep decarbonisation the world needs. David Victor at the University of California, San Diego, writing for Rocky Mountain Institute, accepts that international consensus is never going to be easy. Instead, he recommends that individual sectors take control of their destiny. His co-authored report “Accelerating The Low Carbon … [Read more...]
PRESS RELEASE: Jose Luis Martinez Dalmau is elected as new President of ESTELA.
Mr. Jose Luis Martinez Dalmau was appointed unanimously as President by the ESTELA General Assembly for a 2-year term – 2019-2021 right after the announcement by Dr Crespo to retire. The newly mandated Executive Committee (ExCom) of ESTELA is composed of three Vice-Presidents – J. A. Nebrera (ACS Cobra), J. Sandhu (ENGIE), C. Prieto (Abengoa), and six Members – E. Absil (CMI Solar), R. García (Protermosolar, the Spanish STE association), R. … [Read more...]
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