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Producción y mercados energéticos 21/12/18

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21 December 2018

TOP STORY: Ireland discloses draft version of energy and climate plan for 2021-2030 The Irish Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) has unveiled the country’s first Draft National Energy & Climate Plan (NECP) 2021-2030, which should be filed to the European Commission by the end of December 2018. It will remain open for public consultation until the end of February 2019. The final version of the document will be developed taking into account potential feedback and is expected for the end of 2019. The draft provides an overview of Ireland’s current policy strategy and sets out a vision for a transformation of its energy systems, moving to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, decrease the reliance on fossil fuels and raise the share of renewables in the domestic power generation mix. The document sets a renewable electricity target of 55% in the power generation mix by 2030, mostly with the development of offshore wind, solar power and biomass. Coal and peat are expected to be gradually removed from power generation, which will result in CO2 emissions from the power sector halving by 2030. Besides, electric vehicles (EVs) are slated to account for about 20% of the domestic fleet by then. The NECP also promotes energy efficiency measures in buildings, including building renovation and replacement of oil-fired boilers by heat pumps and solar panels.

Companies Snam, Enagas and Fluxys complete acquisition of Greek gas grid operator Senfluga Energy Infrastructure Holdings, the consortium including the Italian gas transmission system operator (TSO) Snam (60%) and its Spanish and Belgian counterparts Enagas (20%) and Fluxys (20%),… Read more Policy & Regulatory US Department of Energy eases requirements for LNG exporters The United States Department of Energy (DoE) has introduced measures to ease and streamline destination reporting requirements for US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, as US LNG production and exports will be soaring in the next few years. Read more EU Commission suspends UK-related processes in ETS Union registry The European Commission has decided to temporarily suspend all processes related to the United Kingdom (UK) in the European Union’s (EU) registry of the emissions trading system (EU ETS). According to the current legislation, allowances issued by the UK would need to be identified and marked by a proper country code and excluded from surrender from 1 January 2019. Read more Energy Markets PGNiG (Poland) will buy 2 Mt/year of LNG from Port Arthur LNG (US) Polish state-run oil and gas company PGNiG has signed a definitive 20-year supply contract with United States-based company Port Arthur LNG, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. Under the agreement, PGNiG will buy 2 Mt/year (2.7 bcm/year) of LNG from the Port Arthur LNG terminal (Jefferson County, Texas) starting from 2023 on a FOB (Free On Board) basis. Read more Infrastructure & Investments ExxonMobil terminates 30 Mt/year WCC LNG project in Canada Oil and gas company ExxonMobil and its partner Imperial Oil Resources have withdrawn the WCC LNG giant liquefaction and export project at Tuck Inlet on the Prince Rupert island (British Columbia, Canada) from the British Columbia environmental assessment process, which technically terminates the proposal. Read more Saipem selected for construction of Arctic LNG 2 export project (Russia) Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem and its Turkish partner Renaissance have been awarded a new €2.2bn (US$2.5bn) onshore engineering and construction (E&C) contract for the construction of the Arctic LNG 2 export project on the Gydan Peninsula (Russia). Saipem and Renaissance will work under the framework of a 50/50 joint venture (JV). Read more Polskie LNG launches tender procedure for terminal expansion (Poland) Polskie LNG, the operator of Poland’s only LNG import terminal in Świnoujście, has launched the tender procedure to select a contractor to oversee a 50% expansion of its capacity by 2021, due to the increasing demand for natural gas in the country. The process entails the bidders’ prequalification stage,… Read more AESO (Canada) awards 763 MW of wind projects through Alberta’s REP rounds The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO, Canada) has unveiled the results of the second and third rounds of the Renewable Energy Programme (REP), referred to as REP Round 2 and REP Round 3. Read more EDF and Shell set up offshore wind power JV in New Jersey (US) Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables North America have established a 50/50 joint venture (JV), Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, to jointly develop the OCS-0499 offshore wind lease area within the New Jersey Wind Energy Area (WEA) in the United States. The area is located in relatively shallow waters and is estimated to hold the potential to generate approximately 2,500 MW of wind power,… Read more