Daily Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
The US president signs a series of executive orders on climate change
29 Jan 2021The 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 land or offshore waters and to identify steps in order to double offshore wind power generation by 2030 (in 2019, offshore wind accounted for less than 1% of the US power mix). In addition, the executive actions aim to electrify the fleet of government vehicles and to conserve at least 30% of federal lands and oceans by 2030.
Read moreCzechia will exclude CGNPC from bidding for the Dukovany-5 nuclear project
29 Jan 2021The Czech government, which is currently finalising conditions for the upcoming tender to build a new 1,200 MW unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, has reached a consensus with all political parties to exclude Chinese companies (China General Nuclear Power (CGNPC)) from the tender to due to security concerns. However, they have not decided yet whether to allow Russian companies (Rosatom) to take part in the tender.
Read moreItaly awards only 307 MW of renewable capacity in a 1.4 GW tender
28 Jan 2021The 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 but the calls for project was largely undersubscribed, with only 576 MW of bids submitted (around 31% of the available capacity). The auction for large renewable projects (>1 MW), with 1,374 MW of capacity available, attracted 21 bids totalling 357 MW and only 16 bids totalling 307 MW were admitted (22% of the available capacity).
Read moreSpain’s latest renewable auction for 3 GW was 3 times oversubscribed
28 Jan 2021The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has released the results of the first renewable energy tender under the new regulatory framework, which offered 3 GW of renewable capacity, including 1 GW of photovoltaic, 1 GW of onshore wind and 1 GW of renewable technology without restrictions. A total of 84 companies participated in the tender, submitting bids for 9,700 MW, i.e. more than three times the power auctioned.
Read moreCompanies
Ecopetrol seeks to acquire power transmission company ISA (Colombia)
29 Jan 2021The Colombian oil and gas group Ecopetrol (88.5% state-owned) has presented a non-bidding offer to acquire the 51.4% stake in ISA (Interconexión Eléctrica S.A) owned by the government of Colombia. ISA is a power transmission company, which owns and operates over 46,000 km and 92,600 MVA of transmission infrastructures in Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Peru.
Read moreEnergy & Climate Markets
RBCT’s coal exports declined by 3% in 2020 to 70 Mt (South Africa)
29 Jan 2021Coal exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in South Africa decreased by 3% in 2020 from 72.2 Mt to to 70.2 Mt. About 92% of RBCT’s coal exports went to Asia (mainly India and Pakistan), 5% to Africa and 3% to Europe. The 91 Mt/year terminal aims to export 77 Mt of coal in 2021 and 87 Mt in the the short term, betting on China’s coal import diversification strategy.
Read moreEquinor will raise again Johan Sverdrup’s oil production (Norway)
29 Jan 2021Equinor expects to increase its daily production capacity from the Johan Sverdrup field in the Norwegian part of the North Sea by 100,000 bbl/d to 535,000 bbl/d in mid-2021. This would be the third capacity increase since the field started production in October 2019. Financed by Equinor (42.6%, operator), Lundin (20%), Petoro (17.4%), Aker BP (11.6%) and Total (8.4%), Johan Sverdrup is the largest field development on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) since the 1980s, with recoverable reserves estimated at 2.7 Gboe.
Read moreInfrastructure & Investments
Meralco’s 1.8 GW tender for PPAs oversubscribed (The Philippines)
29 Jan 2021The Manilla Electric Company (Meralco), which is the Philippines’s largest power distributor, has received 9 bids totalling 5,850 MW for its tender for 20-year power supply agreements that offered a quota of 1,800 MW. Bidders includes SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation (San Miguel group), Aboitiz Power Corporation with its 1,336 MW GNPower Dinginin coal-fired power project (jointly developed with the Ayala group) and Meralco PowerGen with 1,200 MW Atimonan coal-fired power project in Quezon province. Winning offers will be announced in early February 2021.
Read moreThailand’s TTCL signs PPA for a 388 MW LNG-to-power project in Myanmar
29 Jan 2021The Thai conglomerate TTCL has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state-owned Electric Power Generation Enterprise (EPGE) for its 388 MW Ahlone LNG-to-power project in the Yangon region of Myanmar. The US$685m project was awarded to TTCL under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract in 2018 and now includes Sojitz Corporation, Shikoku Electric and INPEX Corporation as partners. It comprises a 28 km transmission line, a 25 km gas pipeline and a LNG receiving terminal. Commissioning is scheduled in 2024.
Read moreRussia’s Litasco will finance the Nassiriya oil project in Iraq
29 Jan 2021The Iraqi cabinet has authorised Litasco, a marketing and trading affiliate of the Russian oil and gas company Lukoil, to finance the expansion of the Nassiriya oil project. The project, which is operated by the Iraqi state-owned oil and gas company Dhiqar Oil, is expected to double the field’s production capacity to 200,000 bbl/d. The State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) will repay Litasco with crude oil shipments.
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