Daily Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
Colombia will auction 5 GW of renewable capacity in early 2021
13 Nov 2020
The Colombian government plans to organise the country’s second renewable energy auction during the first quarter 2021. The country intends to allocate around 5 GW of renewable capacity. Projects selected in the procurement process will sign a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and must be grid connected by 31 December 2022.
South Korea presents a bill to reach its carbon neutrality target
13 Nov 2020
South Korea has presented a bill that would turn the target of net-zero emissions by 2050 into law. The proposal would also oblige the government to develop policies and strategies for meeting the target, and creates new parastatals, including a National Climate Crisis Committee and a Climate Crisis Response Fund.
Spain plans to auction off 3.1 GW of renewable capacity by end-2020
12 Nov 2020
Spain plans to auction off at least 3.1 GW of renewable capacity by the end of 2020, including 1,000 MW of wind, 1,000 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) power, and 80 MW of biomass-fired capacity; the remaining capacity will be left for other renewable technologies. The country intends to hold auctions at least once a year, offering nearly 3.5 GW of renewable capacity in annual auctions (1,500 MW of wind, 1,800 MW of solar PV, 100 MW of concentrated solar power (CSP), and 60 MW of biomass-fired capacity), with the goal of accumulating at least 19.4 GW across all technologies in 2020-2025.
India awards 19 mines (51 Mt/year) in its first commercial coal auction
12 Nov 2020
The Indian government, as part of the country’s first-ever auction to commercially mine and sell coal, successfully auctioned 19 mines with a combined capacity of 51 Mt/year. Almost 65% of the bidders were from «non-end users», i.e. not active in coal mining or coal-fired power generation.
Companies
CIP acquires two US pumped-storage hydropower projects (1.6 GW)
13 Nov 2020
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has acquired two closed-loop pumped-storage hydropower projects totalling 1,600 MW in the United States, which were previously owned and developed by a joint-venture between Rye Development (Rye) and National Grid.
Tullow Oil completes sale of Ugandan oil assets to Total
13 Nov 2020
Tullow Oil has completed the sale of its stakes in Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A in Uganda and of the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline System to Total for a total consideration of US$575m. Under the term of the deal, Total acquires Tullow’s 33.3% stake in the Lake Albert project licenses EA1, EA1A, EA2 and EA3A and the proposed EACOP System that would stretch over 1,445 km to Tanzania. Total already owns a 33.3% stake in the project, together with China’s CNOOC (33.3%), which will not pre-empt the sale.
Petroineos will close 90 kb/d of refining capacity at Grangemouth (UK)
13 Nov 2020
Petroineos, a joint venture of Petrochina and Ineos, plans to mothball 90,000 bbl/d of refining capacity at its 200,000 bbl/d Grangemouth refinery in Scotland (United Kingdom), due a decrease in fuel demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company will shut down a 65,000 bbl/d crude distillation unit (CDU) and a 25,000 bbl/d fluidised catalytic cracker unit.
Energy & Climate Markets
Local authorities approve restart of Onagawa 2 nuclear reactor (Japan)
13 Nov 2020
Local authorities have authorised the Japanese power utility Tohoku Electric Power to restart the 796 MW Onagawa-2 boiling water reactor (BWR) in the Miyagi Prefecture (Japan). The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan had already cleared the restart of Onagawa 2 in February 2020, approving a report stating that countermeasures applied at the plant are meeting revised safety standards.
Infrastructure & Investments
Xuan Thien Group commissions a 600 MW solar project in Vietnam
13 Nov 2020
Xuan Thien Group has commissioned the first phase of its Xuan Thien Ea Sup solar power project in the Dak Lak province (Central Vietnam). This first phase has a capacity 600 MW and an average generation of 1.5 TWh/year. The project required an investment of VND20,000bn (US$860m). The entire project will have a capacity of 2 GW and will generate 5 TWh/year when fully commissioned in 2021-2022.
Brazil’s ANEEL will launch a power transmission auction in December 2020
13 Nov 2020
The National Electric Energy Agency of Brazil (ANEEL) has approved the country’s next power transmission auction (Leilão de Transmissão nº 1/2020). The auction, which is scheduled on 17 December 2020, will include 1,959 km of power transmission lines split into 11 lots and 12 substations (6,420 MVA) in nine States, namely Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo. Completing the projects will require BRL7.34bn (US$1.34bn) in investment.
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