Policy & Regulatory Poland plans to deploy smart meters at 80% of end users by 2028 18 Feb 2021 The Sejm, Poland’s lower house, is currently examining an amendment to the Energy Law, which would force distribution system operators (DSOs) to roll out electricity smart meters at 80% of consumers by…
Companies South Africa’s Eskom should unbundle its transmission grid by end-2021 17 Feb 2021 South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom intends to complete the legal separation of its power transmission unit by the end of 2021. The generation and distribution should follow in 2022. As presented in November 2019, Eskom…
Policy & Regulatory Germany’s Bundestrat approves law to fast-track 30 transmission projects 16 Feb 2021 The Bundesrat, Germany’s upper house, has approved the Federal Requirements Plan Act, which will fast-track 35 power network expansion projects, including the 1.4 GW NeuConnect HVDC submarine power cable between Germany and England (United Kingdom), the 700 MW…
Policy & Regulatory South Africa will launch a tender for 2,600 MW of wind and solar capacity 15 Feb 2021 South Africa plans to issue a request for proposal for 2,600 MW from wind and solar projects as part of Bid Window 5 in the coming weeks. Another bid window is…
Policy & Regulatory China considers 40% of renewables (including hydro) in its 2030 power mix 12 Feb 2021 The National Energy Administration (NEA), which regulates the energy sector in China, has proposed to increase the share of renewables in power generation from 28.2% (including hydropower) in 2020 to 40% in 2030….
Policy & Regulatory France’s GHG emissions declined by 1.7% in 2019 to 437 MtCO2eq 11 Feb 2021 According to the CITEPA, France’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reached 437 MtCO2 in 2019, a decrease of 1.7% compared to 2018. This represents a 19.7% decrease compared to 1990 and a 20.7% decrease compared…
Policy & Regulatory France awards 520 MW of onshore wind capacity in auction 10 Feb 2021 The French Ministry for the Ecological Transition has selected 15 onshore wind power projects representing a total capacity of 520 MW at an average price of €59.5/MWh (-0.3% compared to the previous tender) in its AO7…
Policy & Regulatory The Crown Estate (UK) awards leases for 8 GW of offshore wind projects 9 Feb 2021 The UK Crown Estate has selected six proposed new offshore wind projects in the waters around England and Wales (United Kingdom), which represents just under 8 GW of potential new offshore wind…
Policy & Regulatory Russia plans to tender 500 MW of solar capacity in June 2021 8 Feb 2021 The Russian government intends to tender 500 MW of solar capacity in 2021. The auction, which is managed by the trading system administrator JSC ATS, is likely to take place in June 2021….
Policy & Regulatory Denmark approves a 3 GW offshore wind hub in the North Sea 5 Feb 2021 The Danish coalition government has approved the creation of a 3 GW offshore wind energy island located 80 km from the shore of Jutland. It could be expanded to a capacity of 10 GW at…
Policy & Regulatory Poland adopts its new energy policy until 2040 4 Feb 2021 The Council of Ministers of Poland has approved Poland’s energy policy until 2040, which aims to shift its power mix to less emitting energy sources and will limit the share of coal in electricity production to…
Policy & Regulatory India issues tender for 5 GW of solar power projects 2 Feb 2021 The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency has launched a tender, inviting state-owned power generation companies to develop 5 GW of grid-connected solar power projects under the third tranche of phase II of the Central Public Sector…
Policy & Regulatory The US extends the wind energy production tax credit through 2021 1 Feb 2021 The US Congress has extended the production tax credit (PTC) for wind power projects at 60% of the full credit amount (US$1.8c/kWh) for another year until the end of 2021, and qualifying wind projects will have…
Publication – A new dawn for the US energy policy President Biden’s first days of office are set to reverse many of the policies of the past four years, and to restore an emphasis on climate policies. Our latest analysis takes an in-depth look at energy trends under President Trump’s…
Policy & Regulatory The US president signs a series of executive orders on climate change 29 Jan 2021 The US president has signed a series of executive actions to address climate change. The orders intend to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, to pause to all oil and gas drilling on federal…
Policy & Regulatory Italy awards only 307 MW of renewable capacity in a 1.4 GW tender 28 Jan 2021 The Italian energy agency GSE (Gestore dei Servizi Elettrici) has published the results of the fourth tender for renewable capacity under the country’s new scheme. A total quota of 1,882 MW was offered…
Policy & Regulatory South Africa will tender 6.8 GW of renewable capacity in 2021-2022 27 Jan 2021 South Africa intends to launch three tenders for 6.8 GW of renewable energy sources and 5 GW of new coal, gas, and storage projects in 2021-2022. The country will tender 2.6 GW of wind and solar…
Policy & Regulatory Ukraine intends to create a GHG emissions trading scheme in 2025 26 Jan 2021 Ukraine plans to set up a national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading system (ETS) and to introduce carbon taxes in 2025. In 2021, the country is expected to implement a system of monitoring, reporting, and…
Companies Brazil’s Vale takes over Mitsui’s coal assets in Mozambique 25 Jan 2021 The Brazilian mining company Vale has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Mitsui to acquire its 15% stake in the Moatize coal mine project and its 50% stake in the Nacala Corridor rail and port infrastructure project…
Now we are five Nature Energy launched its first issue five years ago. To mark the occasion, this month we take a look back at some of our past content and catch up with some of our early authors. See Editorial Image: Anton Eine/Alamy Stock Photo. Cover Design: Thomas Phillips….
Policy & Regulatory Solar and wind accounted for 20% of Jordan’s power mix in 2020 22 Jan 2021 Jordan intends to increase the share of renewables in its power mix to 30% in 2030, to become more self-sufficient. According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, solar and wind…
Policy & Regulatory A US court vacates the ACE rule on coal-fired power plants’ emissions 21 Jan 2021 The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has vacated the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, issued in 2019, which gave States more time and authority to decide how to…
Policy & Regulatory Australia unveils a plan to develop the Beetaloo shale gas sub-basin 20 Jan 2021 The Australian government has released an AUD224m (US$173m) plan to accelerate exploration and development of the Beetaloo sub-basin in the Northern Territory (NT), which is expected to hold more than 200,000 PJ (nearly 5,700…
Policy & Regulatory The Netherlands’ first SDE++ round receives €6.4bn subsidy applications 18 Jan 2021 As part of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Transition Incentive Scheme (SDE++), the Netherlands has received 4,112 subsidy applications for projects that contribute to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the country. A total of €6.4bn…
Policy & Regulatory New York State (US) selects Equinor and BP for 2.5 GW offshore wind projects 15 Jan 2021 The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) (United States) has selected the Equinor – BP partnership to provide 2,490 MW of power as part of its second offshore wind solicitation….
Policy & Regulatory The Polish senate adopts offshore wind act, targeting 5.9 GW by 2030 14 Jan 2021 The Senate of Poland has passed the offshore wind act, which governs the method of obtaining state support for developers interested in building offshore wind projects in the country. The new regulation…
Policy & Regulatory EU endorses Spanish scheme to support energy-intensive companies 13 Jan 2021 The European Commission has authorised, under EU state aid rules, a Spanish scheme to partially compensate energy-intensive companies (i.e. with high electricity consumption relative to the value-added of production) for the cost incurred in Spain to fund…
Policy & Regulatory Norway unveils a comprehensive climate action plan to 2030 12 Jan 2021 The Norwegian government has unveiled a comprehensive climate action plan to 2030. The plan focuses on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are not included in the Emissions Trading System (ETS), including emissions from transport, waste, agriculture,…
Policy & Regulatory Turkey plans to tender 1 GW of solar capacity in early 2021 11 Jan 2021 Turkey has decided to launch 74 solar energy mini tenders with a total capacity 1,000 MW spread across 36 different regions, for its Renewable Energy Resources Zones (YEKA) before the end of March 2021….
Policy & Regulatory South Korea’s updated NDC targets 24.4% GHG emissions cut by 2030 8 Jan 2021 South Korea has updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The updated target is to reduce the total national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 24.4% by…