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According to preliminary statistics released by the British Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United Kingdom declined by 2.5% in 2018, reaching 449 MtCO2eq, i.e. 44% below their 1990 level.

CO2 emissions contracted by 2.4% to 364 Mt (39% of their 1990 level), thanks to a 7.2% decrease in emissions from the energy sector (including power plants), as the fuel mix for power generation changed, away from coal and towards renewables and gas. CO2 emissions from the energy sector have more than halved (-59%) since 1990. Emissions from the power plants fell by 9.9% to 65.2 Mt, i.e. 68% below their 1990 level: coal accounted for only 7% of the fuel used for power generation -from 65% in 1990- while nuclear and renewables accounted for 47% of the power mix in 2018 (from 22% in 1990).

CO2 emissions from the transport sector also contracted by 2.6% in 2018, as a result of traffic volumes or improvements in fuel efficiency. These improvements were partially offset by higher CO2 emissions from the residential sector (+2.8%) and from the public sector (+4.5%), as the colder weather in the first quarter of 2018 raised heating demand. Emissions from the business sector remained stable (-0.3%). Overall, in 2018, 1/3 of CO2 emissions came from the transport sector, 27% from the energy sector, 18% from businesses and 18% from households.

Enel Green Power, the renewable subsidiary of Italian energy group Enel, has completed the acquisition of US renewable project developer Tradewind Energy, which holds a pipeline of 13 GW of wind, solar and storage projects located throughout the United States. Enel Green Power will then sell Tradewind’s subsidiary Savion, which has 6 GW of solar and storage pipeline projects,…

German energy group EnBW has released its 2018 results, posting positive earnings trend despite challenging operating conditions throughout the 2018 financial year (6.2% decline in revenues to €20.6bn).

Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Saudi petrochemical group SABIC from the souvereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) for US$69.1bn.

The German government aims to make investments in new LNG projects easier, in order to diversify gas supply sources. The government’s draft legislation proposes to reduce cost related to the connection of LNG projects to domestic gas pipelines: LNG project developers would only have to pay 10% of the connection costs,…

The European Court of Justice has overturned a 2014 ruling by the European Commission, considering that the renewable surcharge exemption granted by Germany to energy-intensive users was in line with EU state aid rules.

The Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) of Greece has received eight applications representing a total capacity of 638 MW in the country’s first mixed renewable energy auction that will be held on 15 April 2019.

The African Development Bank Board has approved a US$20m loan to the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the development of pilot renewable-based mini-grids for off-grid cities of Isiro, Bumba and Genema. The mini-grids will range from 3 to 10 MW and will benefit to at least 150,000 people.