Now more than ever — does coal threaten the global energy transition? The transition away from coal-fuelled power is in full-swing in many parts of the world. But some countries facing massive growth are just now starting to use coal for electricity – because it’s often the cheapest, easiest way to keep the lights…
Latest Energy News 05 February 2019 TOP STORY: Taiwanese government maintains nuclear phase-out policy The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs has decided to stick to its policy of phasing out nuclear power by May 2025, despite the outcome of the November 2018 referendum that calls for a review of…
Latest Energy News 04 February 2019 TOP STORY: Russia’s UES power generation increased by 1.6% in 2018 The Unified Energy System of Russia, which manages seven power systems in Russia (all Russia excepted northern islands and isolated systems in north-eastern Siberia) has issued its 2018 annual report. Domestic installed…
Latest Energy News 01 February 2019 TOP STORY: Vietnam proposes draft feed-in-tariff scheme for solar and wind projects The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has released several draft documents for encouraging the development of rooftop and grid-connected solar power projects along with onshore and offshore wind power plants….
Latest Energy News 31 January 2019 TOP STORY: ExxonMobil and Petrovietnam plan 3 GW gas-fired power project in Vietnam US-based oil and gas company ExxonMobil and the state-run hydrocarbon producer Petrovietnam have awarded a contract for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) of an integrated gas-to-power project in central Vietnam….
Latest Energy News 30 January 2019 TOP STORY: US energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 2.8% in 2018 According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 2.8% in 2018. This is the largest increase in energy-related CO2 emissions since 2010. Domestic emissions from natural…
Latest Energy News 29 January 2019 TOP STORY: China installed 20 GW of wind capacity and 44 GW of solar in 2018 According to the Chinese National Energy Administration, total installed power capacity in China rose by 6.5% in 2018 and reached 1,900 MW. Thermal capacities accounted for around 1/3…
Latest Energy News 28 January 2019 TOP STORY: France submits revised version of PPE energy plan for consultation The French Ministry for the Ecological and Solidary Transition has issued the updated proposal of the revised PPE energy plan (Programmation Pluriannuelle de l’Énergie), which will define France’s energy policy for the…
Latest Energy News 25 January 2019 TOP STORY: French natural gas consumption dropped by 5% to 442 TWh in 2018 According to data issued by the French natural gas transmission network operator (TSO) GRTGaz, the overall gas consumption on its transmission network decreased by 5% in 2018 to 442 TWh…
Latest Energy News 24 January 2019 TOP STORY: LNG imports surged in 2018 in China and South Korea, dipped in Japan According to provisional data, LNG imports surged in 2018 in China (+38%) and South Korea (+17%), while Japanese LNG imports slightly decreased (-0.9%). Japan remained the world’s largest LNG…
Latest Energy News 23 January 2019 TOP STORY: French and Spanish regulators reject gas interconnection project The French and Spanish energy regulators, respectively CRE (Commission de régulation de l’énergie) and CNMC (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia), have dismissed the STEP (South Transit East Pyrenees) gas interconnection project…
Latest Energy News 22 January 2019 TOP STORY: Nord Stream gas pipeline shipped record volumes of 59 bcm in 2018 A record gas volume of 58.8 bcm were conveyed from Russia to the European Union (EU) market through the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2018. From the start of…
Latest Energy News 21 January 2019 TOP STORY: Power utilities TEPCO and Ørsted join forces in offshore wind in Japan Danish power company Ørsted (former DONG Energy) and Japanese power group Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work jointly on offshore wind…
Latest Energy News 18 January 2019 TOP STORY: Hitachi suspends Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant project in the UK Japanese conglomerate Hitachi has decided to scrap the £16bn (€18bn) Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant project in Anglesey, in North Wales (United Kingdom) due to economic reasons. The company has not…
Latest Energy News 17 January 2019 TOP STORY: New York state (US) pledges to develop 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035 The governor of New York (United States) has announced a new offshore wind capacity target of 9,000 MW for 2035, which is a nearly fourfold increase compared…
Latest Energy News 16 January 2019 TOP STORY: Saudi Arabia forecasts 60 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 The Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Atomic and Renewable Energy City (KACARE) has stated that Saudi Arabia will reach 60 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, including 40 GW of solar capacity and…
Latest Energy News 15 January 2019 TOP STORY: Shell and PGGM will jointly bid for Dutch power and gas supplier Eneco Shell will team up with the Dutch pension fund manager PGGM to submit a bid offer for the acquisition of the Dutch electricity and gas provider Eneco, which entered…
Latest Energy News 14 January 2019 TOP STORY: Chinese NDRC mulls over subsidy-free policies for wind and solar projects The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has unveiled new solar and wind policies for the development of future subsidy-free projects. A series of subsidy-free wind and solar projects will…
Latest Energy News 11 January 2019 TOP STORY: Oil giant Saudi Aramco delays IPO plans until 2021 (Saudi Arabia) State-run oil and gas company Saudi Aramco has postponed its planned stock market flotation (initial public offering or IPO) until 2021. The sale of a 5% stake in the company was…
Latest Energy News 10 January 2019 TOP STORY: US 2018 wholesale electricity prices were higher than in 2017 According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic wholesale electricity prices were much higher in 2018 than in 2017, with increases ranging from 14% in the Midwest Independent System Operator…
Latest Energy News 09 January 2019 TOP STORY: China Three Gorges buys 10% of Moray East offshore wind project (UK) EDP Renewables (EDPR), the renewable subsidiary of the Portuguese energy utility EDP, has completed the sale of a 10% stake in the 950 MW Moray East offshore wind project to…
Latest Energy News 08 January 2019 TOP STORY: Turkey’s wind power capacity forecast to reach 8 GW in 2019 According to data released by the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB), the country’s total installed wind energy capacity rose from over 6,800 MW in 2017 to around 7,400 MW at the…
Latest Energy News 07 January 2019 TOP STORY: Chinese LNG terminals received record amounts of LNG in 2018 Petrochina, a subsidiary of Chinese state-run oil and gas company CNPC, has received a record amount of LNG at its three major LNG import terminals – namely Tangshan, Dalian and Rudong –…
Latest Energy News 03 January 2019 TOP STORY: Germany closed its last black coal mine Germany decommissioned the Bottrop mine, its last bituminous coal mine at the end of December 2018. The closure happened eleven years after government’s decision of 2007 to phase out the aid and shutter the last…
Latest Energy News 02 January 2019 TOP STORY: BP announces FID on Greater Tortue LNG project (Senegal-Mauritania) Oil and gas company BP and its partner Kosmos Energy have taken a final investment decision (FID) on the first phase of the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim offshore gas project, which straddles the maritime boundaries…
Latest Energy News 21 December 2018 TOP STORY: Ireland discloses draft version of energy and climate plan for 2021-2030 The Irish Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) has unveiled the country’s first Draft National Energy & Climate Plan (NECP) 2021-2030, which should be filed to the European…
Latest Energy News 19 December 2018 TOP STORY: South Carolina regulator approves SCANA-Dominion Energy merger (US) The Public Service Commission of South Carolina (SCPSC) has cleared the takeover of SCANA by the US energy utility Dominion Energy, with conditions to be outlined later as part of a written order…
Latest Energy News 18 December 2018s Companies SSE Retail abandons merger plans with Npower (Innogy) in the UK British energy supplier SSE Retail has scrapped its merger plans with Npower (a subsidiary of Innogy), considering that the proposed transaction was not in the best interests of its shareholders or…
Latest Energy News 17 December 2018s TOP STORY: EDF’s Taishan-1 nuclear reactor enters commercial operation (China) The 1,660 MWe Taishan-1 EPR nuclear reactor in Guangdong (China) has entered commercial operation after achieving all prerequisite conditions for the reactor’s safe operation, including in particular the final statutory functional test of…
Latest Energy News 14 December 2018 TOP STORY: ADB lends US$284m to upgrade Pakistan’s power transmission grid The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Pakistan have signed loan and grant agreements worth US$284m to upgrade the country’s power transmission grid. This is the third stage…