Daily Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
The EU launches a investigation on Germany’s lignite phase-out plan
4 Mar 2021The European Commission has launched an investigation on Germany’s lignite phase-out plan, to confirm if the compensation granted to the operators of lignite-fired power plants for phasing out earlier involved state aid and if it was kept to the minimum necessary.
Read moreThor offshore wind project (Denmark) cleared under EU state aid rules
3 Mar 2021The European Commission has approved Denmark’s support for the Thor offshore wind project, which will be located in the Danish part of the North Sea, under EU state aid rules. Denmark had approved an aid measure with a total maximum budget of DKK6.5bn (€870m), to support the design, construction and operation of the 800-1,000 M offshore wind project and of associated substation and grid connection.
Read moreUK National Grid approves price control proposed by Ofgem
3 Mar 2021The UK power transmission system operator (TSO) National Grid has accepted a price control proposal from the national energy regulator Ofgem, which should take effect from April 2021.The company will invest around £10bn (€11.6bn) in its power transmission network by 2026. However, National Grid will appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding Ofgem’s proposal to reduce the rate of return for network companies to 4.3%; National Grid previously suggested to limit the rate of return to 5.6%.
Read moreCompanies
NRG Energy will sell 4.9 GW of thermal power assets (United States)
4 Mar 2021The US power utility NRG Energy (United States) has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with Generation Bridge, an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners, to sell approximately 4,850 MW of thermal power generation assets from its East and West regions of operations for total consideration of US$760m. The group will also enter into a tolling agreement for its 866 MW Arthur Kill gas-fired power plant in New York City through April 2025.
Read moreEnergy & Climate Markets
China’s carbon intensity decreased by more than 18% over 2015-2020
4 Mar 2021According to the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China’s carbon intensity, which measures the amount of CO2 emitted to generate one unit of GDP, decreased by 18.8% over the 2015-2020 period, exceeding the targeted 18% reduction. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s carbon intensity declined by 1% in 2020, as the country reduced its coal use to from 57.7% of energy consumption in 2019 to 56.8% in 2020. The share of gas, hydropower, nuclear power and wind power increased by one percentage point to 24.3% of consumption.
Read moreFrance’s electricity consumption declined by 3.5% in 2020
4 Mar 2021According to the French power transmission system operator RTE, weather-adjusted electricity consumption in France fell by 3.5% in 2020 to 460 TWh due to the health crisis, which has led to a fall in economic activity. Electricity demand from large-scale industry declined by 10% (including a fall of up to 20-25% in some sectors such as automobile construction, steel production or rail transport), whereas residential consumption remained stable.
Read morePoland’s solar installed capacity tripled in 2020 to 3.9 GW
4 Mar 2021Poland’s solar installed capacity tripled in 2020, increasing from 1.3 GW in January 2020 to 3.9 GW in January 2021. Solar capacities have been soaring over the past two years thanks to favourable subsidies to rooftop installations: the number of residential solar panels rose from 4,000 in 2015 to over 450,000 in December 2020.
Read moreForecasts
India’s fuel consumption should increase by almost 10% in 2021-2022
4 Mar 2021According to the Indian Petroleum Planning Analysis Cell (PPAC), fuel consumption in India is expected to increase by 9.8% from 196 Mt in the financial year 2020-2021 to 215 Mt in 2021-2022. This would be its highest growth in 6 years, spurred by a strong recovery in industrial activity after the pandemic (India’s fuel consumption fell by 13.5% over the April 2020-January 2021 period due to lockdown measures). Demand for gasoil and gasoline, which account for 50% of refined fuel sales in India, should rise by more than 13%.
Read moreRenewables should account for at least 22% of Japan’s power mix in 2030
4 Mar 2021According to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), renewable power sources are expected to account for 22% of the country’s power mix in 2030, if half the already-approved capacities including solar, wind and biomass projects under the country’s feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme come online. If all the approved projects are commissioned by 2030, the share of renewables in the power mix should reach 25%, with 9.3% of solar, 7.8% of hydro, 5.8% of biomass, 2.2% of wind and 0.3% of geothermal.
Read moreInfrastructure & Investments
Fluxys joins a 12 bcm/year LNG import terminal project in Germany
4 Mar 2021The Belgian gas transmission system operator Fluxys has signed an agreement with the Hanseactic Energy Hub to join the Stade LNG import project in Germany as an industrial partner. The consortium intends to build a 12 bcm/year regasification terminal in Stade on the Elbe river near Hamburg in Lower Saxony (Germany). The terminal will include two storage tanks each with a capacity of 240,000 m3.
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