Daily Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
Vietnam plans to cut feed-in tariff for rooftop solar by a third
19 Mar 2021Vietnam intends to reduce the feed-in tariff for rooftop solar by 31-38% as of April 2021, from US$8.38c/kWh to US$5.2-5.8c/kWh. The country seeks to limit pressure on the national power grid and transmission system following a recent boom in installed capacity. Vietnam’s total installed rooftop solar panel capacity rose from 378 MW in 2019 to 926 MW in 2020.
Read more 2Turkey’s 1 GW mini solar tender oversubscribed nearly 10 times
18 Mar 2021The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey has received 709 applications totalling 9,440 MW for 74 upcoming mini solar Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) tenders with a quota of 1 GW in 36 provinces throughout the country. The tenders were oversubscribed 9.6 times on average and they are expected to raise US$1bn in investments. Bidders had to submit an offer for at least 20 MW, at a ceiling price of TRY0.35/kWh (€3.89c/kWh). Winners will sign 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the state.
Read more 2Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies approves law to liberalise gas market
18 Mar 2021The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has approved the new Natural Gas Law, which intends to open the gas market to the private sector and to end the monopoly held by the national oil and gas company Petrobras. The lower house of the Parliament had approved the text in the first reading in September 2020 and has now approved a final version, rejecting all the amendments adopted by the Senate in December 2020. The law will now be signed into law by the President.
Read moreCompanies
National Grid (UK) will acquire Western Power Distribution for €9.1bn
19 Mar 2021The UK power and gas transmission network operator National Grid has signed a definitive agreement with PPL Corporation to acquire PPL’s UK utility business – Western Power Distribution (WPD) – for £7.8bn (€9.1bn). Western Power Distribution is the company responsible for electricity distribution in the Midlands, South West England and Wales (United Kingdom) to over 7.9 million customers.
Read moreEnergy & Climate Markets
Orano’s COMINAK uranium mine in Niger set for closure
19 Mar 2021The COMINAK uranium mine in Arlit (northern Niger) is scheduled to shut down on 31 March 2021, after its resources were depleted. The site’s redevelopment and environmental monitoring is expected to continue for at least two decades. COMINAK (Compagnie Minière d’Akouta) is 34% owned by France’s Orano (formerly Areva), 31% by the Nigerien state-owned mining company Sopamin, 25% by Japan’s Overseas Uranium Resources Development (OURD), and 10% by Enusa (Spain). The COMINAK mine has produced 80,000 tons of uranium in 40 years of operation.
Read moreTechnology
BP unveils a 1 GW blue hydrogen project in Teesside (UK)
19 Mar 2021BP has unveiled a 1 GW blue hydrogen project in Teesside in north-east England (United Kingdom). The plant, which should be fully operational in 2030, would convert natural gas into hydrogen and CO₂. The h3Teesside project would capture and send for storage up to two 2 MtCO2/year. The final investment decision (FID) is expected in early 2024 and a first 500 MW phase of blue hydrogen capacity should enter production in 2027.
Read moreInfrastructure & Investments
900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind project enters construction (Taiwan)
19 Mar 2021Ørsted has started building its 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind project in Taiwan. The Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind projects will be built under two phases of roughly 450 MW each and are expected to be commissioned by 2022.
Read moreVerbund (Austria) will start building 525 MW of hydro capacity in 2021
19 Mar 2021Verbund plans to invest more than €500m in the construction of the 480 MW Limberg III and 45 MW Reisseck II + pumped-storage hydropower projects in Austria. Located in Kaprun, the Limber III project, an underground power plant, should enter construction in 2021. Commissioning is scheduled in 2025. The Reisseck II + project should also enter construction in 2021. The plant is expected to reach commercial operations in 2023.
Read moreNew gas pipeline planned between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
19 Mar 2021The Serbian state-owned natural gas provider Srbijagas has signed an agreement with the Bosnian natural gas distributor Gas-Res to build a 1.2 bcm/year gas pipeline between Serbia and Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS). The 410 km long gas pipeline will stretch from Indjija to Mačvanski Prnjavor (Serbia), Bijeljina (RS entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Banja Luka and Novi Grad. The €125m pipeline is part of the Balkan Stream project, which extends Gazprom’s TurkStream project to Europe.
Read moreStatkraft completes its 1 GW Fosen Vind wind project (Norway)
19 Mar 2021Statkraft has completed its 1,057 MW Fosen Vind onshore wind project in the Fosen peninsula (Norway), which comprises 277 turbines across six power plants: 255.6 MW Roan, 288 MW Storheia, 93.6 MW Hitra 2, 180.6 MW Geitfjellet, 113.4 MW Kvenndalsfjellet, and 126 MW Harbaksfjellet. The €1.2bn wind complex is expected to produce 3.6 TWh/year. Fosen Vind is owned by Stakraft (52.1%), Nordic Wind Power (40%) and TrønderEnergi (7.9%).
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