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Posted at 20/12/2021 18:05 by waldron Engie, Hannon Armstrong complete 2.3-GW renewables portfolio in USImage by Engie North America December 20 (Renewables Now) - Engie North America Inc on Monday said it has brought online the final project in a 2.3-GW US wind and solar portfolio owned together with climate investor Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc (NYSE:HASI). The portfolio's 13 projects are now online after a 50-MW solar farm in Virginia was commissioned and transferred into the portfolio partnership. Its nine onshore wind facilities totalling 1.8 GW and four solar projects with a combined capacity of 500 MW were built between late 2019 and the autumn of 2021, the Houston, Texas-based division of French utility Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) said. Located across five states, the installations are estimated to be generating enough power for more than 500,000 US homes. Each of them has off-take agreements, where they are contributing to the customers’ low-carbon commitments, Engie noted. The French company developed the portfolio and will operate the assets. It agreed to sell a 49% equity stake in the portfolio to Hannon Armstrong in 2020. The 2.3 GW of projects are part of Engie North Americas' US renewables generation fleet of over 3 GW. It also has a pipeline of 10 GW. |
Posted at 10/11/2021 19:34 by grupo guitarlumber Engie Nears Deal to Buy Spanish Renewables Producer EoliaFrancois de Beaupuy and Dinesh Nair, Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) -- A consortium led by French utility Engie SA is nearing a deal to acquire Eolia Renovables de Inversiones SCR SA, a Spanish renewable power producer owned by Alberta Investment Management Corp., said people with knowledge of the matter. An agreement is set to be announced as soon as Wednesday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The sale price could be above 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), local media including the Expansion newspaper have reported. A representative for Engie declined to comment, while spokespeople for AIMCo. and Eolia didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Demand for renewable energy assets has soared in recent years, with infrastructure funds and strategic investors spending billions of dollars to gain exposure to the sector as governments promote low-carbon energy and crack down on fossil fuels to fight global warming. The value of deals involving alternative energy companies has more than doubled this year to an annual record of $92 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Eolia develops, builds and operates wind farms and solar photovoltaic plants, with a portfolio of 824 megawatts in Spain, according to the company’s website. The acquisition fits Engie’s strategy of accelerating in renewables, and energy infrastructure such as district heating and electric-car charging networks. The transaction will also reinforce its presence in Spain, where Engie and financial partners bought a portfolio of hydropower assets from EDP-Energias de Portugal SA for 2.21 billion euros last year. To help fund its priorities, Engie announced last week that it that it agreed to sell its energy-services business Equans for 7.1 billion euros to French construction conglomerate Bouygues SA. The power and gas utility already sold most of its holding in French water company Suez SA a year ago, and an interest in its French gas-transmission network in July. Separately, Engie raised its guidance for full-year revenue and profit on Wednesday, citing a strong operational performance and “external tailwinds” amid a surge in gas and power prices. “We have maintained our focus on robust operational performance, notably for our nuclear generation, we have increased production from renewables, and recovered significantly from last year’s Covid impacts,” Chief Executive Officer Catherine MacGregor said in a the statement. (Updates with details of Eolia’s operations in sixth paragraph.) |
Posted at 29/4/2021 10:50 by adrian j boris Total SE said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Germany's Wpd AG to acquire a 23% interest in Yunlin Holding GmbH, the owner of a 640-megawatt wind farm under construction in offshore Taiwan.The French oil-and-gas major said the project, which is located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of Tapei, will include 80 wind turbines with a unit capacity of 8MW and is set to produce 2.4 terawatt hours of renewable energy a year. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2022. The project also benefits from a 20-year guaranteed-price power purchase agreement with state-owned company Taipower--$250 per megawatt hour in the first 10 years and $125 per MWh for the following 10 years. Wpd owns 48% of the project, while the rest is owned by Electricity Generating PCL and by a consortium of Japanese investors led by Sojitz Corp. Total is set to pay Wpd a consideration based on its share of past costs. The acquisition is subject to government approval. Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.c (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 29, 2021 04:16 ET (08:16 GMT) |
Posted at 08/4/2021 11:25 by waldron Norway’s wealth fund makes renewable energy investment debut with Dutch offshore wind dealPowerWindOffshore By Andrew Fawthrop 07 Apr 2021 Norges Bank Investment Management will pay $1.6bn for a 50% stake in Orsted's Borssele 1 & 2, the Netherlands' largest offshore wind project Orsted Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind Borssele 1 & 2 was commissioned at the end of 2020 (Credit: Orsted) The manager of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has made its renewable energy debut, buying a 50% interest in the Orsted Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm. The investor, which oversees Norway’s trillion-dollar fund, will pay €1.4bn ($1.6bn) for the stake in the 752-megawatt (MW) project located 23km off the coast of Zeeland, Netherlands. It has been on the lookout for a suitable opportunity to invest in renewable energy assets since approved to do so by Norway’s parliament at the start of last year, and is reported to have looked at several projects before settling on Borssele 1 & 2. Orsted will remain co-owner and operator of the site, providing long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) services from the Port of Vlissingen. Borssele 1 & 2 was commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2020, and is the largest operational offshore wind farm in the Netherlands, and the second-largest in the world. Mie Holstad, chief real assets officer at NBIM, said: “We are excited to have made our first investment in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure and pleased to partner with Orsted as the market leader in offshore wind. “Borssele 1 & 2 is a high-quality offshore wind asset, and the acquisition is in line with our strategy to build a high-quality portfolio of wind and solar power generation assets. “The unlisted renewable energy infrastructure strategy supplements our existing unlisted real estate portfolio well, and we draw on our long experience with direct investments.” NBIM signals growing renewables ambition with Borssele 1 & 2 acquisition from Orsted NBIM also announced today (7 April) a revised investment strategy for the next two years, saying it will “gradually build up the renewable energy portfolio” of its assets, primarily wind and solar power. “We will focus on projects with reduced power price risk, stable cash flow and limited risk to the principal investment,” it said in a statement, adding it will prioritise ventures “alongside high-quality partners with proven operational experience”. The investment manager oversees Norway’s $1.3tn sovereign wealth fund, which has been supplied for years by revenues from the country’s oil and gas industry. Martin Neubert, chief commercial officer and deputy group CEO at Orsted, said: “As one of the world’s largest institutional investors, Norges Bank Investment Management is making a difference by making sustainable investments. “We’re delighted to welcome NBIM as partner on Borssele 1 & 2, which is a landmark project for the Netherlands’ transition to renewable energy, and we’re pleased to support NBIM in its strategy to invest in renewable energy infrastructure assets.” The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the summer. |
Posted at 11/12/2020 16:34 by waldron A decade ago, NextEra, Iberdrola and Enel were sleepy regional utilities with little name recognition.Now they are fast-growing giants with market values rivaling the likes of oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC, thanks to their early all-in bets on wind and solar farms. And still, many people have never heard of them. Their early lead in the global transition away from oil has put these companies on track to become the major energy companies of the coming decades -- the "green energy majors." But they now face the threat of increased competition as some of the oil titans that have traditionally dominated the energy industry diversify into wind and solar power. If the green majors are nervous about a coming clash, they aren't showing it. NextEra Energy Inc. Chief Executive James Robo dismissed the idea that oil majors in the U.S. and Europe posed a competitive threat at an investor conference this fall, saying that the companies' green projects were among the worst he had seen. "I don't worry about the oil majors at all," he told the audience. "If I have 100 things I worry about at night, it's not even on the top 100." Mr. Robo declined to be interviewed. For now, NextEra, Enel SpA and Iberdrola SA are Wall Street darlings, after Spain's Iberdrola and Italy's Enel became global builders of green energy projects, while NextEra became America's largest generator of wind and solar power. Each of the companies has seen its share price soar in recent months as investors bet on their ability to lead the transition to a lower-carbon future with massive investments in renewable energy, battery storage and improvements to the electric grid. That transition is expected to accelerate in the U.S. under President-elect Joe Biden, who has promised to focus on climate change, and within the European Union and China, where ambitious carbon-reduction efforts are under way. Enel and Iberdrola have outlined plans to substantially expand their portfolios of renewable-energy projects over the next decade with about $170 billion in collective investments. NextEra, which hasn't disclosed a long-term spending plan, expects to have invested $60 billion in renewable energy projects between 2019 and 2022. Still, analysts caution that increased competition within the renewables industry could reduce profit margins for the most established players. "Oil companies entering the renewables market will need to accept lower returns on projects initially to gain market share, and this is going to result in a reduction in margins across the board," said Fernando Garcia of RBC Capital Markets. Already, Denmark's Ørsted A/S, a company formerly known as DONG Energy that focused on oil and gas, has transitioned into a leading player in offshore wind projects. BP is planning a big shift too: It says it will increase its clean-energy investments in coming years as it dramatically scales back oil and gas production. However, the coronavirus pandemic has decimated demand for fossil fuels this year, briefly turning U.S. crude prices negative and forcing the oil industry to lay off thousands of workers and slash spending. That has sapped the oil giants of much of their financial strength, making it harder for them to quickly transition into renewables projects, which require large upfront investment in order to reap steady returns over a longer period. While big oil companies once reported double-digit returns on invested capital -- in the heady days prior to 2014, when crude oil prices last topped $100 a barrel, some topped 20% annually, according to FactSet -- the big renewables players have been winning the race of late with slow and steady single-digit returns. "There is no better example than 2020 to show how extremely different the risk profiles are," said Bernstein analyst Meike Becker. Iberdrola, Enel and NextEra have taken different paths to morph from humdrum utilities into green growth companies. Originally an Italian utility, Enel was actually later than some others to home in on wind and solar. Two years after forming its renewable development arm, Enel Green Power, the company sold about a third of it in 2010 to pay down corporate debt. Enel then focused on trying to build nuclear plants in Italy before citizens there rejected that plan. But Enel's current chief executive, Francesco Starace, then the head of that green unit, said he recognized that wind and solar power had the potential to become competitive in the broader energy market as costs fell. The unit focused on developing projects in regions without large subsidies or incentives to show investors that they could stand on their own. "At the time, this sounded like blasphemy or idiocy," Mr. Starace said in an interview. "But we did it stubbornly, and kept doing it, and eventually this prediction of ours became true." Mr. Starace became Enel's CEO in 2014, and promptly repurchased the portion of Enel Green Power that had earlier been sold. He also reoriented Enel to pursue projects that could be completed within three years to account for the pace of technological change. That pretty much eliminated nuclear and coal plants, as well as large hydroelectric projects, leaving wind and solar farms in the mix. Enel is now the world's largest renewable energy producer outside China, with an EUR84 billion market value, equal to about $102 billion, and projects in 32 countries. The company has a large presence in the U.S. and has developed wind and solar farms in remote areas in countries including Zambia and Chile. The company plans to spend about EUR70 billion, equivalent to $85 billion, to nearly triple its generation capacity in the coming decade, which it expects will give it around 4% of the global market. Iberdrola, initially a domestic Spanish utility, was an early pioneer of renewables. It started in 2001, when the company unveiled a plan to expand internationally and invest in clean energy sources to help meet growing global demand for power. It tapped Ignacio Galán to spearhead the strategy as CEO at a time when wind and solar power were still hugely expensive relative to other electricity sources. The company had historically focused on building hydroelectric and nuclear plants, as well as some coal- and gas-fired ones. Iberdrola has expanded into renewables in part by aggressively buying up smaller players with attractive growth prospects. In October, it agreed to pay $4.3 billion for New Mexico-based electricity company PNM Resources Inc. -- its eighth deal this year. It plans to invest heavily in the U.S., where the company is third in renewables generation capacity behind NextEra and Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Mr. Galán said in an interview that Iberdrola at first faced skepticism about its decision to focus on renewables, but now the tide has turned: The company's value has multiplied by six on his watch to around EUR71 billion, or $86 billion, far exceeding his initial ambition to double its size. "All we have been fighting for for 20 years, every person recognizes that was the right decision," he said. Iberdrola is now the world's second largest renewable energy generator outside of China, with projects in 30 countries, including an offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea and a wind and solar farm in Australia. It plans to spend EUR75 billion, equivalent to $91 billion, over the next five years to double its renewable power capacity. Florida-based NextEra grew into America's largest renewable energy producer by keeping debt levels low, capitalizing on federal tax subsidies available to help finance wind and solar projects around the country and reinvesting its profits to expand further. Over time, it developed the size and scale needed to consistently underbid other companies in auctions to develop projects. It operates two Florida utilities and sells renewable energy output to others. It also operates electric transmission lines in the U.S. and Canada, as well as natural gas pipelines. Despite its rapid growth, NextEra has largely flown under the radar. Some lawmakers in Washington and elsewhere didn't know much about it until recently. The company several years ago launched a targeted effort to introduce itself so that its representatives wouldn't have to start meetings with tedious explanations, according to a person familiar with the company's strategy. NextEra declined to comment. The company's executives still rarely speak to the press. Investors, however, have been eyeing NextEra for years. Its share price has roughly tripled over the past five years to reach a market value of $146 billion, and for the first time it briefly topped Exxon's value this year in a watershed moment for renewables producers. Its project backlog totals 15,000 megawatts -- an amount just larger than its current portfolio, built over two decades. BP Capital Fund Advisors, a Dallas-based investment adviser that has historically focused on oil and gas, bought shares in NextEra in March as part of an effort to diversify with investments in renewables. The firm was founded by the late T. Boone Pickens, the oil industry magnate who took an interest in wind and solar power late in his career. He died last year. "NextEra stands alone in terms of what it offers in exposure to the renewable theme," said portfolio manager Ben Cook. "If you're investing in energy now...that has to be part of the equation." Write to Katherine Blunt at Katherine.Blunt@wsj. (END) Dow Jones Newswires December 11, 2020 11:14 ET (16:14 GMT) |
Posted at 01/10/2020 20:25 by waldron BP must make ‘significant investments’ to meet 2030 low-carbon energy targetsFeatures & AnalysisPowerFossil Fuel / Coal and Gas By James Murray 01 Oct 2020 The British multinational oil and gas company is aiming to achieve 50GW of renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade Equinor renewables BP has a long history in renewables investments after it became the first of the “Big Oil” companies to commit significant capital into clean energy projects (Credit: Needpix.com) BP must make “significant investments” in renewable energy and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in order to meet its 2030 low-carbon energy targets, says an industry analyst. As part of its commitments, the British multinational oil and gas company is aiming to achieve 50 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity and 30 million tonnes per annum of (tpa) of LNG by the end of the decade. This comes as major oil firms have started pumping billions into renewables in a bid to help clean up the economy and look towards a potential future beyond high-polluting fossil fuels amid intensifying pressure from investors for companies to take action on environmental issues. But data and analytics firm GlobalData believes that BP’s capital available for investment activity will be challenged as “market weakness dents cashflow” from its “core hydrocarbons business”. Daniel Rogers, oil and gas analyst at GlobalData, said: “BP has proven its willingness to invest big outside its core business, but will continue to rely on hydrocarbons as the cash cow for future investments. “The current market fundamentals reduce the profitability of BP’s core business, potentially shrinking its pool of capital available for future low-carbon acquisitions.” BP has a long history of making renewable energy investments BP, short for Beyond Petroleum, has a long history in renewables investments after it became the first of the “Big Oil” companies to commit significant capital into clean energy projects, such as wind and solar, from 1980 onwards. But, in the aftermath of the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the London-headquartered firm was forced to close most of its previous green energy investments, believed to be worth about $8bn to $10bn. Despite that, the company still has more than 2.2GW of wind capacity in the US and, in 2017, it spent $200m on acquiring a 43% stake in Lightsource, which has rebranded to Lightsource BP and is Europe’s largest solar power project developer. Lightsource BP solar Lightsource BP is Europe’s largest solar power project developer (Credit: Flickr/Dept of Energy Solar Decathlon) BP also acquired Chargemaster, the UK’s leading network of charging points, for $160m – which could well be an astute purchase as Britain looks set to ramp up its plans to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2030 to speed up the transition to electric vehicles. But, in the meantime, the move has also allowed the oil firm an opportunity to combine Chargemaster’s 6,500 charging points network with its 1,200 petrol stations. Looking towards the future, Bernard Looney, who was confirmed as BP’s new CEO earlier this year, has outlined his vision for the oil major to “reimagine energy” and become a net-zero emissions company by 2050. Equinor deal secures BP an “entry into the offshore wind sector” With a combined installed renewable power capacity of 2.3GW, BP is currently leading the way amongst the major international oil companies, according to GlobalData. The analyst said its recent deal with Norwegian state-owned energy firm Equinor “secures entry into the offshore wind sector” with a capacity addition of 2.2GW once complete. The $1.1bn agreement saw BP purchase 50% of the non-operated interests in the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind assets on the US east coast. GlobalData’s Rodgers said BP’s current project pipeline will increase its capacity by 6.5GW, but that this is still short of its 2025 ambition to reach 20GW. He added: “As BP will leverage off its core hydrocarbons business to fund its investment strategy, weakened oil and gas prices will put pressure on the company’s capital availability necessary to meet its low-carbon energy ambitions.” LNG will continue to play a “major role” in BP’s low-carbon energy But for Rodgers, it isn’t just renewables that will help shape the company’s future. “LNG will continue to play a major role in BP’s low-carbon energy and electricity goals, and it is targeting significant growth in the sector,” said Rodgers. “In its current equity LNG portfolio, BP is forecast to reach 16 million tpa in capacity by 2025, while relying on merchant volumes for the rest of the targeted amount.” He believes the delay of the African Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project – in partnership with Bermuda’s Golar LNG – was a “major blow”. BP was expected to receive the floating LNG facility on the maritime border between Mauritania and Senegal in 2022, but following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, it submitted a force majeure in March to delay the delivery by a year. Upon receiving the facility, the firm is expected to charter it for 20 years to liquefy gas, but Rodgers claims any further delays could hinder its chances of achieving the 2025 LNG target. He added: “Future developments in Mauritania and Senegal will be the cornerstone of the company’s growth opportunities but will hinge on investment decisions going ahead in spite of a potentially oversupplied LNG market going into the late 2020s.” |
Posted at 15/9/2020 19:29 by sarkasm BP’s Clean Energy Push Starts With Five-Year Dash on Solar, WindLaura Hurst and William Mathis, Bloomberg News Solar panels which form part of a Lightsource BP smart home solution sit on a flat roof at a residential property in Dorking, U.K., on Friday, May 3, 2019. Companies like Lightsource, in which British oil major BP Plc holds a stake, are trialing smart systems in people’s homes that will that will do everything from generating solar power, storing it and managing consumption. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Solar panels which form part of a Lightsource BP smart home solution sit on a flat roof at a residential property in Dorking, U.K., on Friday, May 3, 2019. Companies like Lightsource, in which British oil major BP Plc holds a stake, are trialing smart systems in people’s homes that will that will do everything from generating solar power, storing it and managing consumption. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg , Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc’s journey from oil major to clean energy giant will start with a five-year sprint to dramatically boost wind and solar power. By 2025, the company intends to have approved more than 20 gigawatts of renewable energy projects, an eightfold increase from 2019, Dev Sanyal, BP’s executive vice president of gas and low-carbon energy, said in a online presentation on Tuesday. Most of that would be solar — putting BP on a par with today’s biggest generator of electricity from the sun. The company also plans big investments in wind, following on from last week’s $1.1 billion deal with Equinor ASA. “With falling costs comes real growth,” Sanyal said. “Renewables have become the fastest growing source of energy and we see this continuing over the next decade and beyond.” This rapid expansion would just be the start of the London-based oil giant‘s transformation into a low-carbon integrated energy company. Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney has pledged to eliminate all net greenhouse gas emissions from BP and its customers by 2050. A series of presentations this week aims to show he can achieve this while still delivering competitive returns. Investors may need some convincing, after seeing their dividends cut in half last month. Trading Gains BP’s in-house trading operations are at the heart of Looney’s pledge to move away from fossil fuels without sacrificing profits. Renewable energy projects typically gives returns of 5% to 6%, Looney said, but the company’s expert traders can add about 2 percentage points to that. Lightsource BP, which currently manages about 2 gigawatts of solar plants, is already achieving returns of 8% to 10% and “we actually believe it can do better,” Looney said. Access to low-cost funds, and integration with the rest of BP and its project management experience can boost returns, said Sanyal and Looney. BP will gradually expand its electricity trading over the next five years, increasing the amount of power it buys and sells annually by about 40% to 350 terawatt hours. Of the 20 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity BP intends to begin developing over the next five years, 83% will be solar, 15% wind and 2% bio-energy, Sanyal said. That much solar would give BP about the same capacity as is currently owned by the world’s biggest operator, China’s State Power Investment Corp. Ltd, according to data from BloombergNEF. Solar power will be crucial for achieving the breakneck pace of growth BP laid out. It is relatively quick to install, taking as little as 18 months from concept to construction, Sanyal said. That’s much faster than massive offshore wind farms, which can take a decade to plan and construct. By 2030, BP plans to have taken the final investment decision on 50 gigawatts of low-carbon energy capacity, and be trading 500 terawatt hours of power each year. On bio-energy, the company says it will more than double its 2019 production to 50,000 barrels a day by 2025, and 100,000 by 2030. These fuels will help sectors that are hard to electrify, like aviation, marine and heavy goods vehicles, Sanyal said. BP currently makes biofuels in a joint venture with Bunge Ltd. in Brazil, produces biogas in the U.S. and processes some renewable fuels within its refining portfolio. “We see these businesses as generating returns of around 15% or higher,” Sanyal said. “It competes well within our disciplined financial framework.” (Adds comments on bio-energy in final three paragraphs.) |
Posted at 01/9/2020 10:48 by sarkasm Total Enters Giant Korean Floating Wind Projects in Green PushBy Francois De Beaupuy 1 septembre 2020 à 10:23 UTC+2 Oil major joins with Macquarie to build more than 2 gigawatts Partners to start construction at first of five sites in 2023 the Green Daily daily newsletter Total SE will team up with Macquarie Group’s green bank to develop more than 2 gigawatts of floating wind farms off South Korea, the latest push by the French oil and gas giant to diversify into clean energy. Total and European peers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc have vowed to reduce their exposure to fossil fuels and trim emissions as governments, consumers and investors demand increased efforts to tackle global warming. Floating wind parks at the scale planned by Total -- dwarfing current sites -- will be key to bringing down the cost of the emerging technology. The French major and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group will develop five floating wind farms off the eastern and southern coasts of South Korea, Total said in a statement on Tuesday. They plan to start building the first 500-megawatt project by the end of 2023. That compares with the 30 megawatts of capacity at Equinor ASA’s Hywind site off Scotland, the biggest operating floating wind project so far. The plan is “in line with Total’s strategy to profitably develop renewable energy worldwide and contribute to our net-zero ambition,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in the statement. “Thanks to its extensive experience in offshore projects, in cooperation with many Korean shipyards, Total is particularly well positioned to contribute to the successful development of this new technology.” Developers have recently started to test large floating wind turbines, aiming to install them in areas that lack shallow waters, where traditional offshore turbines can be anchored to the seabed. Total itself took a majority stake in a floating wind project off Wales this year, reflecting its commitment to invest in the technology while tapping its experience developing oil and gas offshore. Total has also stepped up spending on renewable energy more broadly, with investments this year in large solar developments in India and Qatar, a giant wind farm in the North Sea, and growth in clean power in Spain and France. The company aims to have stakes in at least 25 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity in 2025, up from more than 5 gigawatts currently. Total didn’t discuss funding of the Korean wind farms in its statement. — With assistance by Will Mathis |
Posted at 19/6/2020 08:10 by la forge IEA targets cleaning up energy systems in extensive Sustainable Recovery PlanFeatures & AnalysisPowerEmissio By James Murray 18 Jun 2020 The IEA has pinpointed a series of actions that can be taken over the next three years to “revitalise economies and boost employment” while making energy systems “cleaner and more resilient” Wind turbine IEA executive director Fatih Birol believes governments have a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to reboot their economies (Credit: Flickr/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters) The International Energy Agency (IEA) has earmarked cleaning up the world’s energy systems as a key priority following the launch of its Sustainable Recovery Plan today (18 June). The Paris-based organisation has pinpointed a series of actions that can be taken over the next three years to “revitalise economies and boost employment” while making energy systems “cleaner and more resilient”. Its latest analysis, titled Special Report on Sustainable Recovery, offers an energy sector roadmap for governments to “spur economic growth, create millions of jobs and put global emissions into structural decline”. By integrating energy policies into countries’ responses to the devastating impacts of the coronavirus crisis, the watchdog claims the plan would “accelerate the deployment of modern, reliable and clean energy technologies and infrastructure” ‘Once-in-a-lif IEA executive director Fatih Birol believes governments have a “once-in-a-lif “Policymakers are having to make hugely consequential decisions in a very short space of time as they draw up stimulus packages,” he added. “Our Sustainable Recovery Plan provides them with rigorous analysis and clear advice on how to tackle today’s major economic, energy and climate challenges at the same time. “The plan is not intended to tell governments what they must do. It seeks to show them what they can do.” What could the Sustainable Recovery Plan achieve? The IEA claims its plan, covering 2021 to 2023, could boost global economic growth by an average of 1.1 percentage points a year, while saving or creating about nine million jobs annually and reducing annual global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by a total of 4.5 billion tonnes by the end of the term. The watchdog said the measures would also deliver “improvements to human health and well-being”. This would be possible through a 5% reduction in air pollution emissions by bringing clean-cooking solutions to about 420 million people in low-income countries and by enabling almost 270 million people to gain access to electricity. Offshore wind turbine regulations Recent analysis by the IEA has shown that global energy investment is set for an “unprecedented plunge” of 20% in 2020 (Credit: Flickr/mmatsuura) The agency believes that, for these results to be achieved, it would require global investment of about $1tn annually over the next three years. That sum represents about 0.7% of today’s global GDP and includes both public spending and private finance that would be mobilised by government policies, according to the report. Coronavirus impact on energy employment After assessing more than 30 specific energy policy measures, the Sustainable Recovery Plan considers cost-effective approaches, the circumstances of individual countries, existing pipelines of energy projects, and current market conditions – spanning across electricity, transport, industry, buildings, fuels and emerging low-carbon technologies. The IEA’s new energy employment database shows that in 2019, the energy industry – including electricity, oil, gas, coal and biofuels – directly employed about 40 million people globally. But the report estimates that about three million of those jobs have either been lost or are at risk due to the impacts of the pandemic, with a further three million jobs lost or at risk in related areas such as vehicles, buildings and industry. The IEA said the largest portion of the millions of new employment opportunities created through its plan would be in “retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency” and in the electricity sector, “particularly in grids and renewables”. Other areas it expects to experience enhanced job prospects include energy efficiency in industries such as manufacturing, food and textiles, low-carbon transport infrastructure, and more efficient, new energy vehicles. What the Sustainable Recovery Plan recommends for energy investment areas Recent analysis by the agency has shown that global energy investment is set for an “unprecedented plunge” of 20% in 2020, which raises “serious concerns for energy security and clean energy transitions”. It claims that, as a result of the Sustainable Recovery Plan, the global energy sector would become “more resilient” — making countries “better prepared for future crises”. Investment in enhancing electricity grids, upgrading hydropower facilities, extending the lifetimes of nuclear power plants, and increasing energy efficiency would “improve electricity security”, the report notes. It claims this would be possible by lowering the risk of outages, boosting flexibility, reducing losses and helping integrate larger shares of variable renewables such as wind and solar PV. The IEA describes electricity grids as the “backbone of secure and reliable power systems” and believed they would see a 40% increase in capital spending after “years of declining investment”. It added that this would “put them on a stronger footing to withstand natural disasters, severe weather and other potential threats”. How the Sustainable Recovery Plan aims to reduce carbon emissions The watchdog claims its plan is “designed to avoid the kind of sharp rebound in carbon emissions” that accompanied the economic recovery from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and instead “put them into structural decline”. Its analysis highlights key aspects of the situation in hand that make it a “unique opportunity for government action”. Great Britain coal-free power The IEA said global carbon emissions flat-lined in 2019 and are set for a record decline this year (Credit: pxfuel) Compared with the 2008-2009 crisis, the costs of leading clean energy technologies such as wind and solar PV are “far lower”, and some emerging technologies including batteries and hydrogen are “ready to scale up”, claims the IEA. It said global carbon emissions flat-lined in 2019 and are set for a record decline this year. But it added that while this drop, which has come as a result of economic trauma, is “nothing to celebrate”, it does provide a “base from which to put emissions into structural decline”. The Sustainable Recovery Plan would make 2019 the ‘definitive peak in global emissions’, said Birol Birol said the report lays out the data and analysis showing that a cleaner, fairer and more secure energy future is “within our reach”. “The Sustainable Recovery Plan would make 2019 the definitive peak in global emissions, putting them on a path towards achieving long-term climate goals,” he added. “The IEA is mobilising its analytical resources and global convening power to bring together a grand coalition that encompasses government ministers, top energy industry CEOs, major investors and other key players who are ready to pursue a sustainable recovery that will help steer the world onto a more resilient trajectory.” He said that is why the Sustainable Recovery Plan will be a “key element” in informing discussions at the IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit on 9 July. That virtual event will gather ministers from countries representing 80% of global energy use, as well as industry CEOs, big investors and other key leaders from the public and private sectors around the world. The IEA said the summit will review both near-term actions for sustainable recovery and “measures to accelerate clean energy technology innovation for reaching long-term decarbonisation plans”. |
Posted at 17/6/2020 16:29 by waldron THE SCOTSMANHuge Scottish wind farms to power a million homes form part of £7bn SSE investment Perth-based energy giant SSE has pledged an £7 billion investment to “spur the green economic recovery” including the construction of the UK’s biggest onshore wind farm. By Scott Reid Wednesday, 17th June 2020, 12:07 pm Updated 4 hours ago Perth-headquartered SSE is a major producer of green power. The commitment came as the FTSE-100 company released full-year results showing a double-digit hike in adjusted operating profits and a continued shareholder dividend payout. Its plans will see the group invest almost £4 million-a-day for the next five years on projects including two major new wind farms – generating sufficient electricity to power more than one million homes. SSE confirmed plans to build the £580m Viking onshore wind farm on Shetland, which would be the UK’s biggest onshore facility, and the £3bn Seagreen offshore wind farm, alongside French giant Total. Together, those projects are expected to create some 800 jobs and support thousands more in the supply chain. In England, SSE said it was continuing to move ahead with plans to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm, off the coast of Yorkshire. That would generate more than 1,000 construction jobs at its peak. Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “It’s easy to talk about a green recovery, but we’re putting our money where our mouth is with £7bn of low-carbon infrastructure projects that can deliver a win-win for climate and economy. “The investment plans we’ve set out underline our intentions as a British business providing a boost to the economy and we want to work with government to make the green recovery and delivery of net zero a reality. “The world is facing twin crises with the economic impact of coronavirus and the climate emergency and the only route forward is to unlock investment. Plenty of businesses talk a good game on climate action, but we’re serious.” Adjusted operating profit rose 37 per cent to just under £1.5bn as the group, which has offloaded its energy supply business to focus on green power production, recovered from a “challenging&# A final dividend of 56p per share was declared, making a full-year payment of 80p – in line with a five-year plan on shareholder payouts. John Moore, senior investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, said: “SSE has committed to its progressive dividend policy, which will be a massive relief to many income investors in the current climate. “Aside from that, it’s a mixed bag for the underlying business, with its generation assets picking up slack from regulated activities. “The investment in a major onshore wind project in Shetland is a significant move, as it helps grow the successful renewable energy division. “However, in overall terms, the immediate trading picture appears more challenging and, although it appears to be in decent shape, SSE remains a business in transition.” |
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