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Producción y mercados energéticos 21/02/19

Latest Energy News

21 February 2019

TOP STORY: South Africa considers renegotiating old PPAs to improve Eskom’s finances The South African government has outlined a bailout plan for the national power utility Eskom and will inject ZAR69bn (approximately US$5bn) over the next three years to help service its debt and free up cash for current operations. However, the government will not support the company’s debt on the long run in order not to over-burden the South African economy with an unmanageable situation and is looking for alternative solutions. Indeed, it is considering renegotiating the former 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) schemes signed between 2011 and 2012, i.e. during the first two phases of the country’s renewable procurement programme known as REIPPP (Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme). Between the first and fourth rounds (2011 and 2016, respectively), renewable tariffs have collapsed, from ZAR4.02/kWh (US$29c/kWh) to ZAR0.96/kWh (US$7c/kWh) for solar PV, and from ZAR1.67/kWh (US$12c/kWh) to ZAR0.76/kWh (US$5.5c/kWh) for wind. However, the plan triggered an uproar and the South African wind association (SAWEA) estimates that the renegotiation of the terms agreed with successful bidders of the first two rounds would be a breach of contract. Other actors of the domestic renewable market pointed out that it would damage investors’ confidence in the domestic renewable sector. These two proposals are meant to relieve the financial pressure on the state-run power utility Eskom, which is struggling to solve its financial issues and recently announced plans to reshuffle its structure into three separate entities with one specific segment each: power generation, transmission and distribution.

Companies Iberdrola’s electricity generation increased by 5.9% in 2018 (Spain) Spanish energy company Iberdrola has outlined its 2018 operational results. Global net power generation increased by 5.9% in 2018 to 145.6 TWh, of which 61.7 TWh (+22%) from renewables (including hydropower). Most of the renewable generation came from onshore wind (36.6 TWh, +8%) and from hydropower (22.4 TWh, +46%). Iberdrola also generated 50.6 TWh from CCGT (-6.3%),… Read more Ukraine’s power utility DTEK plans to add 500 MW of renewable capacity Ukraine’s largest private energy holding company DTEK has issued its 2018 operational results. Coal production decreased by 1.9% to 27.2 Mt, while gas production dropped by 0.4% to 1.6 bcm. The company supplied 34.8 TWh of electricity (-6.3%) and distributed 43.7 TWh of electricity (+1.2%) via its power grid network. Read more Policy & Regulatory Lowest bids on the rise at Gujarat and Maharashtra solar auctions (India) Indian electricity distribution company Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) has published the results of the latest solar auction in the state of Gujarat (India), which offered 500 MW of grid-connected PV capacity. The lowest bid reached INR2.55/kWh (about US$3.6c/kWh) and winners include Adani Green Energy (150 MW), Orange Renewables (120 MW), ReNew Power (105 MW) and UPC Energy Group (50 MW). Read more Indian government allows captive mines to sell coal on the open market The Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has introduced a new policy that allows owners of domestic coal mines that produce solely for their own use, known as captive coal mines, to sell 25% of their production on the open market. This is meant to increase competitiveness in the auction process and eventually lead to higher revenue for the government. Until now,… Read more Forecasts Indonesia’s PLN plans to add 4 GW of additional power capacity in 2019 Indonesia’s state-run electricity utility PT PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Negara) has outlined plans to commission an additional 4,000 MW power generation capacity in 2019, most of which will be coal-fired and the remainder either gas-fired or renewable. Read more Infrastructure & Investments Rosatom starts loading fuel at Novovoronezh II-2 nuclear project (Russia) Russian state-run nuclear company Rosatom has begun to load fuel at the second unit (Novovoronezh II-2, also identified as Novovoronezh’s unit N°7) of the Novovoronezh-2 nuclear power plant, which is currently under construction in southwestern Russia. This marks the beginning of the reactor startup and first criticality will be achieved shortly. Read more Brazil clears construction licenses for 1.6 GW of power projects The Brazilian Ministry of Energy and Mines announced that the construction licenses for 1,572 MW of power projects secured during the August 2018 renewables auction (Leilão de Energia Nova A-6) have been signed. 53 projects have been approved in total, out of which 44 wind parks, 7 hydropower generation schemes, 1 gas-fired plant and 1 biomass project,… Read more