Daily Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
China’s ETS begins trading with a price of US$7.4/tCO2
19 Jul 2021
The Chinese national carbon emission trading scheme (ETS) has officially begun trading with 4.1 MtCO2 quotas worth CNY210m (US$32m) exchanged on 16 July 2021. The opening price was CNY48/tCO2 (US$7.4/tCO2), and the price closed at CNY51.2/tCO2 (US$7.9/tCO2).
Brazil raises the mandatory blend of biodiesel to 12% in 2021
19 Jul 2021
The Brazilian authorities have raised the mandatory blend of biodiesel into diesel from 10% to 12% (i.e. below the 2021 target of 13%), in order to avoid an increase in fuel prices for end-consumers. In April 2021, the country reduced the mandatory blend in diesel from 13% to 10%, due to concerns about the inflation impact. The introduction of biofuels in diesel has been mandatory since 2008 (2%), with a goal to reach 15% in 2023.
Germany awards 665 MW of solar capacity in oversubscribed tenders
19 Jul 2021
The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) has released the results of the latest tenders for ground-mounted solar project larger than 750 kW, with a bidding date set for 1 June 2021. The auction for 510 MW of capacity attracted 242 bids totalling 1,130 MW of capacity, with price ranging from €4.69c/kWh to €5.09c/kWh (weighted average of €5.00c/kWh). 93 bids totalling 513 MW were selected, including 52 bids totalling 233 MW in Bavaria.
Brazil signs bill on Eletrobras privatisation into law
16 Jul 2021
The Brazilian president has signed into law the basic text of a bill allowing the privatisation of the state-owned power utility Eletrobras, following approvals of the text by the Chamber of Deputies in May 2021 and the Senate in June 2021. The Senate version withdrew a requirement for auctions to buy electricity from gas-fired power plants as a counterpart to the privatisation, but it maintained a requirement to contract gas-fired power capacity in the North, Northeast and Midwest (requirement raised from 6 GW to 8 GW).
Germany awards 2.1 GW of contracts for early coal-fired plant closure
16 Jul 2021
The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) has released the results of the third tender for the early closure of hard coal- and small-scale lignite-fired plants under the Coal Power Generation Ending Act. The auction for 2,481 MW of coal-fired capacity was under-subscribed, receiving 11 bids totalling 2,133 MW, with price ranging from €0/MW to €155,000/MW (volume-weighted average of €102,799/MW).
Companies
Enel acquires 24 solar projects totalling 3.2 GW in the United States
19 Jul 2021
Enel Green Power has acquired 24 development-stage and solar-plus-storage projects totalling 3.2 GW in the United States from Dakota Renewable Energy, a joint venture between Dakota Power Partners and Eolian. The projects are located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Missouri and Colorado. They should enter commercial operation starting in 2023. With this acquisition, Enel Green Power now has a development pipeline totalling 12 GW in the US and Canada.
ScottishPower and Shell jointly bid in the ScotWind leasing round (UK)
19 Jul 2021
ScottishPower, an affiliate of the Spanish energy group Iberdrola, and Shell have jointly submitted a bid for floating projects in the ScotWind offshore leasing round in Scotland (United Kingdom). The ScotWind leasing round is part of the Scottish government’s plan to reach up to 11 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. An area of 8,600 km2 of Scottish seabed is potentially available for development. The closing date for submitting applications was 16 July 2021.
Four other consortiums had already publicly announced their intention to bid for sites in the tender, namely:
Puget seeks proposals for 1.5 GW of capacity in the US state of Washington
19 Jul 2021
The US energy group Puget Sound Energy has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 1,506 MW of capacity resources and up to 1,669 GWh of Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) eligible resources to meet its customers’ electricity needs.
Technology
ExxonMobil vows to participate in the Acorn CCS project in Scotland (UK)
19 Jul 2021
ExxonMobil has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to join the 5-6 MtCO2/year Acorn CCS and h3 project in Scotland (United Kingdom) The Acorn project is expected to store CO2 from the St Fergus gas terminal in Aberdeenshire, from Scotland’s carbon-intensive industries and imported CO2 from the rest of the UK and Europe into Peterhead Port. It is anticipated to be operational after 2025.
Infrastructure & Investments
Australia greenlights UPC\AC Renewables’s 400 MW solar-plus-storage project
19 Jul 2021
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia has approved the 400 MW Stubbo solar-plus-storage project developed by UPC\AC Renewables Australia in Gulgong.
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