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The European Commission has approved the support for six offshore wind projects in France. the support was deemed to be in line with EU State aid rules and to help the country meet its climate and renewable energy targets. France plans to offer support in the form of a 20-year feed-in tariffs scheme to six offshore wind projects. The projects were selected through two tenders in 2011 and 2012 and are the EDF-led 450 MW Courselles-sur-Mer, the 498 MW Fécamp, the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire, the 496 MW Iles d’Yeu / Noirmoutier, the 496 MW Dieppe / Le Tréport (proposed by a consortium of Engie and EDP), and the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc. Their construction is expected to start in 2019 and the projects should be operational in 2022.

Emirati power company Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to invest AED8bn ($2.2bn) in the construction of 68 new 132/11 kV substations in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) over the next three years, to meet rising electricity demand. In 2018, the company commissioned 18 new substations worth AED2.05bn (nearly US$560m), raising the number of its main substations to 258 at the end of…

The European Commission has addressed an additional reasoned opinion to Romania and urged the country to remove barriers on natural gas exports.

According to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization of Iran (also known as SATBA), Iran’s installed renewable power capacity reached 760 MW in July 2019.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), operators of coal-fired power plants announced the retirement of 546 coal-fired power units totalling 102 GW of capacity between 2010 and the first quarter of 2019.

Tanzania has officially started to build the 2,115 MW Rufiji hydropower plant at Stiegler’s Gorge on the Rufiji River. The controversial hydropower project will be built by Arab Contractors Company and the El Sewedy Electric and construction is expected to be completed in 2022.

Nine financial institutions, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC, part of the World Bank), Proparco (part of the French Development Agency AFD), the West African Development Bank (BOAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Development Fund of OPEC (OFID) have approved a FCFA 170bn (US$289m) investment to support the extension of the Azito gas-fired power plan…

The Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans to raise the capacity of its east-west oil pipeline by 40% within the next two years, to reduce risks related to oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz (between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman). Saudi Arabia aims to secure shipments after attacks on oil tankers in the Strait, which concentrates about 20% of global oil trade. …