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Producción y mercados energéticos 04/03/19

Latest Energy News

04 March 2019

TOP STORY: Chinese total energy consumption increased by 3.3% in 2018 According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, China’s total energy consumption increased by 3.3% in 2018. Coal consumption increased for the second year in a row (+1%), but its share in primary energy consumption declined to 59%, as the demand for other energy sources was higher: crude oil consumption rose by 6.5% electricity demand by 8.5% and gas consumption by nearly 18%. Overall, the share of gas, hydropower, nuclear power and wind power in total energy consumption increased to 22% in 2018, contributing to a 4% decrease in the CO2 intensity (CO2 emissions per unit of GDP). The share of coal in China’s total energy consumption has been declining since 2014 (66%). China’s policy objective of reducing the proportion of coal in the domestic energy mix to below 58% by 2020 seems achievable.

Companies Greece’s PPC wants to conclude tender for coal-fired plants in May 2019 Greek state-owned power utility Public Power Corporation (PPC) has outlined plans to restart a tender for the sale of three coal-fired power plants and conclude it in May 2019. The deadline has been repeatedly pushed back since the tender was launched in 2018 and the lack of interests from investors threatens the process. Read more EDP Renewables (Portugal) built 826 MW of new capacity in 2018 EDP Renewables (EDPR), the renewable subsidiary of the Portuguese electricity company Energias de Portugal (EDP), has announced its 2018 results. The group’s power generation rose by 3% to 28.4 TWh, thanks to capacity additions; EDPR’s power generation grew by 4% in North America to 15.6 TWh and by 43% to 1.2 TWh in Brazil. In Europe,… Read more Policy & Regulatory India’s SECI unveils 3 large-scale renewable tenders totalling 3.6 GW Indian state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued three tenders for the expansion of renewable capacity in India: one for setting up to 1,200 MW of solar power projects connected to the Interstate Transmission system (ISTS),… Read more Finnish Parliament bans coal-fired power generation as of 2029 The Finnish Parliament has approved a government proposal to phase out coal-fired power generation as of 1 May 2029. Coal-fired power plants operated by the power utility Fortum (1 GW of coal-fired capacity) and others will have to cease operations by then and some of the related costs will be supported through a large-scale subsidy scheme (around €90m). Read more Forecasts China intends to use biogas a means to replace coal in rural areas The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission has outlined a new objective to produce 30 bcm of biogas from agricultural waste and manure by 2030, as part of wider measures to reduce the domestic coal consumption in rural regions by 50 Mt (China’s total coal consumption stood at 3.7 Gt in 2017). Read more Infrastructure & Investments Zimbabwe outlines plans to build 2 GW coal-fired plant in Sengwa Chinese state-run company Power China has signed an exclusive agreement with the Zimbabwe-based mining operator RioZim for the construction of a 2,000 MW greenfield coal-fired power plant project in Sengwa, Gokwe North (Zimbabwe). The project will be built in several phases, the first of which involving two 350 MW units. Read more CNOOC and PNOC will work jointly on LNG import terminal (Philippines) China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines have agreed to associate the state-held oil and gas firm Philippines National Oil Company (PNOC) to the US$2bn Tanglawan LNG import and regasification terminal project in Batangas, south of Manila (Philippines). The three companies will work jointly on the 2.2 Mt/year (2.97 bcm/year) proposal,… Read more