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The British government has unveiled plans to make the United Kingdom carbon neutral (net zero emissions) by 2050 and laid a «statutory instrument’ in the House of Commons (the Lower House of the Parliament) in order to fast-track the project through both houses of Parliament. It would amend the Climate Change Act 2008, which had set a legally binding GHG emissions reduction target of at least 80% by 2050 (1990 as baseline). The fifth carbon budget (2016) sets a 57% GHG emissions reduction target by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels).

In September 2018, the Scottish government unveiled an ambitious climate change plan targeting a 66% cut in GHG emissions by 2032, compared to 1990 (49% achieved in 2016). In May 2019, it set a legally binding target of net-zero GHG emissions by 2045 at the latest.  

The government of Manitoba (1 million inhabitants, Canada) has announced plans to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 1 MtCO2eq over the 2018-2022 period, compared to a business as usual scenario (cumulative reduction target);  Manitoba’s GHG emissions are forecast to rise from 21 MtCO2eq in 2017 to 22 MtCO2eq in 2022, 23 MtCO2eq in 2027 and 24 MtCO2eq in 2032.

Seven central and eastern European countries, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia, will join the European Cross-Border Intraday (XBID) market by the end of 2019. …

Algeria’s state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach has signed an agreement with the Portuguese oil and gas company Galp Energia, under the terms of which Galp Energia will import 2.5 bcm/year of Algerian gas over a 10-year period. This agreement will extend the existing gas supply agreement signed in 1994 for the delivery of 2.3 bcm/year. …

Petrobras and its partners in the Libra Consortium have made a positive final investment decision (FID) on the second phase of the Mero oil project (Libra block), in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin in Brazil.

The Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) of Greece has announced that the upcoming wind and solar auctions to be held in July 2019 will be undersuscribed. The solar auction offered 300 MW of PV capacity for projects up to 20 MW but only attracted 68 proposals with a combined capacity of 200 MW.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has selected five projects in its latest 1,200 MW Interstate Transmission System (ISTS)-connected solar auction: three 300 MW projects proposed by Ayana (CDC Group), ReNew and Azure at a price of INR 2.54/kWh (US$3.66c/kWh) were selected, along with a 250 MW project proposed by Mahindra also at a price of INR 2.54/kWh and a 50 MW project proposed b…

According to the Brazilian energy regulator ANEEL, the micro and distributed mini generation capacity in Brazil has passed the 1 GW mark. Most of the distributed generation capacity is solar PV, with 82,600 small installations totalling 870 MW, followed by 86 small hydropower plants totalling 81 MW.