Daily Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
The EU is on track to meet its GHG emissions cut target by 2030
19 Oct 2020The European Commission has adopted the 2020 State of the Energy Union Report and released individual assessments of the 27 National Energy and Climate Plans, which analyses the pathway and ambition of each Member State towards the current 2030 climate and energy targets. While the EU is on track to outperform its current target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30%, several countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, are projected to fall short of GHG reduction objectives, while others, such as Croatia and Spain, should overachieve theirs.
Read moreThe US FERC supports carbon pricing in wholesale electricity markets
19 Oct 2020The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released a proposal to encourage regional electric markets operators to incorporate a state-determined carbon price in wholesale electric markets. The FERC, which is not an environmental regulator, can be called upon to review proposals that incorporate a state-determined state carbon price into these regional markets. According to the FERC, these rules could improve the efficiency and transparency of the organised wholesale markets by providing a market-based method to reduce GHG emissions.
Read moreSouth Africa’s recovery plan should add 11.8 GW of new capacity by 2022
19 Oct 2020The South African president has presented the ZAR500bn (US$30bn) South African Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan. The plan, which accounts for 10% of GDP, aims to expedite the recovery of South Africa’s economy that was deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read moreThe Philippines allows oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea
19 Oct 2020The government of the Philippines has lifted the suspension of oil and gas activities and authorised the resumption of hydrocarbon exploration in the South China Sea. The Philippines Department of Energy issued a "resume-to-work" notice to the service contractors active in the areas of SC 59 and 72, operated by the PNOC Exploration Corporation, the upstream subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company, and SC 75, controlled by PXP Energy. The activities there were suspended in 2014, due to the territorial dispute with China.
Read moreThe RES surcharge in Germany will decrease by 3.8% in 2020
16 Oct 2020The four German power transmission system operators (TSOs), namely 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT and TransnetBW, have published the update for the 2021 German renewable energy surcharge (EEG-Umlage, a levy on end-consumer power prices to support the expansion of renewable energies). The EEG surcharge will be reduced by 3.8% to €6.5c/kWh in 2021 thanks to federal support payments. In 2020, the EEG-Umlage had increased by 5.5% to €6.756c/kWh, from €6.405c/kWh in 2019. The fee will drop to €6c/kWh in 2022.
Read moreIndia plans to allow Coal India units to set prices independently
16 Oct 2020The Indian government plans to allow units of state-owned coal mining company Coal India Ltd (CIL) to independently set coal prices in a bid to foster competition and cut the price of coal in the country. Lowering coal prices would also help cut the price of electricity.
Read moreCompanies
Norway’s Scatec Solar buys hydro developer SN Power for US$1.2bn
19 Oct 2020The Norwegian solar developer Scatec Solar has signed a binding agreement to acquire the hydropower company SN Power from Norfund for a total consideration of US$1.2bn (€996m). The merged company will have a 3.3 GW total gross portfolio of renewable (solar, hydro, wind and storage) power plants in operation and under construction.
Read moreInfrastructure & Investments
European Energy’s 560 MW offshore wind project (Denmark) seeks approval
19 Oct 2020European Energy has applied for authorisation to build its Omø South and Jammerland Bay offshore wind projects in Denmark, which will have a combined capacity of 560 MW and are expected to be commissioned in 2023. The Omø South wind project will have a capacity of 320 MW, while Jammerland Bay wind project’s capacity will reach 240 MW.
Read moreIllinois (US) clears expansion of Dakota Access oil pipeline to 1.1 mb/d
19 Oct 2020The Illinois Commerce Commission (United States) has delivered the final approval for increasing the capacity and optimising the 570,000 bbl/d Dakota Access crude oil pipeline, which links North Dakota’s Bakken shale region to the Patoka Oil Terminal in Patoka (Illinois). The Dakota Access Optimisation project will nearly double the pipeline’s capacity to 1.1 mb/d. Commissioning is scheduled by the third quarter of 2021. The Dakota Access crude oil pipeline, which is operated by Energy Transfer, was commissioned in 2017.
Read moreNNPC bets on the ANOH gas project to boost production (Nigeria)
19 Oct 2020The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) expects the Asa North-Ohaji South (ANOH) gas project to produce 600 Mcf/d (6.2 bcm/year) of gas, which would allow to generate 2.4 GW of electricity. Nigeria does not take full advantage of its large gas resources because of its limited infrastructure. The Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben "OB3" gas pipeline project should help commercialize over 2 bcf/d (20.6 bcm/year) of gas and generate billions in revenues.
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