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Producción y mercados energéticos 17/12/18

Latest Energy News

17 December 2018s

TOP STORY: EDF’s Taishan-1 nuclear reactor enters commercial operation (China) The 1,660 MWe Taishan-1 EPR nuclear reactor in Guangdong (China) has entered commercial operation after achieving all prerequisite conditions for the reactor’s safe operation, including in particular the final statutory functional test of continuous operation at full power for 168 hours. It becomes the world’s first EPR to come online. It will deliver up to 24 TWh/year of electricity, which corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 5 million Chinese users. The Taishan nuclear project is developed by the Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited, a joint venture between China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), who holds a 51% stake, French state-run energy company EDF (30%) and the provincial Chinese electricity company Yuedian (19%). The project will feature two Areva’s EPR reactors of 1,660 MWe net (1,750 MWe gross) each, namely Taishan-1 and Taishan-2. The second reactor is still under construction and is expected to be commissioned in 2019. The EPR technology is also being deployed in Olkiluoto (Finland, one reactor expected in early 2020 instead of 2009), in Flamanville (France, one reactor expected in 2019 instead of 2012) and at Hinkley Point (United Kingdom, two reactors expected in 2027).

Companies Sempra Energy completes sale of solar power assets to Con Edison (US) US power and gas utility Sempra Energy has completed the sale of a renewable energy portfolio to the electricity and gas provider Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) for a total consideration of approximately US$1.6bn in cash. The transaction includes several operational solar power plants along with solar and battery storage development projects. Read more Policy & Regulatory COP24 concluded with the adoption of a new rulebook on climate change The 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in Katowice has ended with the adoption of a new rulebook to foster the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change across the world. Read more India outlines new code for buildings to promote energy efficiency The Indian Ministry of Power has launched ECO Niwas Samhita 2018, an energy conservation regulation for residential buildings meant to promote energy efficiency. It entails in particular the design and construction of new homes, apartments and townships and prescribes minimum standards for building envelope designs with the purpose of developing more energy efficient residential buildings. Read more Indian government scraps plans to develop 12 GW of solar power with NTPC The Indian government has dropped its plan to build 12,000 MW of solar power generation capacity out of the total 15,000 MW initially envisaged for development through the state-run utility NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation). The company has already awarded the first tranche (combined capacity of 3,000 MW) of the programme,… Read more Infrastructure & Investments Ethiopia sets 2022 for GERD dam project completion due to delays According to the Ethiopian government, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) hydropower project on the Nile river will not be completed until 2022 because of possible defects with the hydro-electrical equipments handled by state-held Metals and Engineering Corporation. Read more Bulgaria plans to launch open season for TurkStream extension Bulgarian gas transmission system operator (TSO) Bulgartransgaz plans to hold an open season for binding capacity booking on a new gas interconnector that will link Gazprom’s TurkStream pipeline at the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Serbia and will ship Russian gasto central Europe. More specifically,… Read more US court blocks route for Dominion’s Atlantic Coast gas pipeline project A US federal appeals court has dealt another setback to Dominion Energy’s 15.5 bcm/year Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline by throwing out permits that authorized the project to cross two national forests and a major hiking trail in the Appalachian region, on grounds that the company needs to preserve national forest resources. Read more UK regulator challenges SSE’s Orkney power transmission project (UK) The British energy regulator Ofgem has proposed changes to a plan brought forward by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN, part of the SSE Group) for the 220 MW Orkney-Scotland high voltage subsea power transmission project. SSE had asked Ofgem to approve the project on condition that by the end of 2019,… Read more