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The Federal government of Germany has approved the draft Climate Protection Bill, which sets legally binding climate protection targets for every single economic sector, enshrining the country’s target to become greenhouse-gas-neutral by 2050 in law. This corresponds to a 55% cut in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 compared with 1990. The draft, which removes a previous target of 70% cut by 2040, will now be sent to the Parliament to be adopted.

The draft prescribes how much CO2 each economic sector (energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture, waste and others) can emit each year between 2020 and 2030, with the the Federal Environmental Agency and an independent expert council monitoring real emissions. The Climate Protection Act would oblige the responsible ministries to take immediate action in the case sectoral emissions exceed the planned level. It also stipulates the goal of GHG neutrality by 2050, with the aim of preparing all industries for a fossil-free economy. In 2025, the federal government will have to set annual reduction in emissions for the period after 2030 to describe the GHG-neutrality roadmap by 2050 more precisely.

The French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition (MEIT) has announced the results of the latest tenders for building-mounted solar PV (8th period of the call for tenders) and for onshore wind projects (4th period of the call for tenders). …

The Ministry for Finance of Ireland has announced a €6 annual increase in the carbon tax, as part of a government’s commitment of raising the carbon tax price from €20/t in 2019 to €80/t by 2030. The increase will apply immediately for transport fuels but will be delayed for the other fuels until May 2020 after the winter heating season. …

JERA, the joint venture between Japanese power utilities TEPCO and Chubu Electric, has signed an agreement with Australian asset manager Macquarie Capital to buy a 49% participation in the 376 MW Formosa-2 offshore wind project, located off the coast of Miaoli County in Taiwan. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

According to WindEurope’s latest wind capacity forecast (Wind Energy Outlook to 2023), new wind installations in Europe will depend on the ambitions presented in the National Energy & Climate Plans (NECPs) and on project permitting issues that have already led to under-subscribed auctions. …

China National Chemical Engineering has commissioned the third phase of the Cilacap coal-fired power project in Cilacap (Java) in Indonesia. The 945 MW ultra-supercritical (USC) unit (1,000 MW gross) was connected to the grid in mid-September 2019 and has started power generation. It is expected to relieve power shortages on the Java Island.

Indian power generation equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has won an INR16bn (US$225m) contract to supply the turbine generators and associated packages for the 1,320 MW Khurja supercritical coal-fired power plant in the state of Uttar Pradesh (northern India). …