THE ENERGY INDUSTRY T I M E S June 2017 • Volume 10 • No 4 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365 www.teitimes.com Electrifying moves Floating ideas Progressive electrification of sectors such as transport, heating and cooling will bring tangible benefits for Europe. Page 13 Floating offshore wind is far beyond the proof of concept phase and is now set to see demonstration at scale. Page 14 News In Brief EU power plants face emissions crackdown Large combustion plants in the EU will have to meet stricter emission limits by 2021 under a new EU law. Page 2 Wind energy marches on in US The US onshore wind sector had one of its most successful quarters ever at the start of 2017. Page 4 Coal, nuclear cuts loom under new Korean president Coal and nuclear power generation are to be scaled back under South Korea’s new president. Page 6 National Grid pauses Moorside work Work on a new 160 km-long power line planned for northwest England has been put on hold because of uncertainty over the future of a new nuclear power plant. Page 7 Eskom investigated over PPA stance Eskom could be fined heavily if an investigation finds that it is in breach of its license conditions for refusing to sign power purchase agreements under South Africa’s renewable energy programme. Page 8 PGE acquires EDF assets EDF has moved forward in its €10 billion disposal plan with an agreement to sell Polish assets to PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna. Page 9 Fuel Watch: Green light for BRUA pipeline Permits have been issued for the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary- Austria (BRUA) gas pipeline. Its construction will be an important step in improving Europe’s energy security. Page 12 Technology: Storage on the fly A flywheel with a new rotor design looks set to deliver low-cost storage with improved safety. Page 15 Advertise advertising@teitimes.com Subscribe subscriptions@teitimes.com or call +44 208 523 2573 Final Word Junior Isles asks whether we should take our history lessons seriously. Page 16 Bonn climate negotiators remain confident UN climate secretary Patricia Espinosa described the mood as positive Climate negotiators meeting in Bonn to work out the details of how the Paris Agreement will operate are still confident of the progress they are making despite threats by the US to withdraw. Junior Isles Climate negotiators from nearly 200 nations gathering in Bonn, Germany, last month expressed confidence and optimism, despite the threat of an American exodus from the Paris Agreement. At the close of the conference to discuss implementing the agreement to limit global warming, United Nations climate secretary, Patricia Espinosa said “it was a truly successful meeting”, with the mood among delegates being positive despite negative signals from the US government. Delegates were meeting in Bonn to specifically create a “rule book” for implementing the Paris Agreement. The meeting marks the halfway point between the climate conference in Paris and the conference next year where a rule book will be adopted. The Paris Agreement needs such an operating manual because many details have not been decided. For instance, Article 13.13 requires countries to “adopt common modalities, procedures and guidelines (…) for the transparency of action and support”. But what countries report, when, and how, is still unclear. The most important issue in Bonn, however, was the form of the “ratchet mechanism”. The climate plans that countries have submitted (Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) would push global warming to 2.6- 3.7°C above pre-industrial levels, meaning countries will fall short of the goal of limiting warming to “well below 2°C” and “to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”. Countries are supposed to ratchet up their commitments and to submit increasingly ambitious NDCs. The ratchet process will be based on “global stocktakes” every five years, at which countries will determine whether they are on track. But how the stocktakes will work is currently under negotiation. The first informal one, known as the “Facilitative Dialogue”, will take place in 2018 parallel to the adoption of the rule book and the publication of the IPCC special report on the 1.5°C goal. As the Bonn meeting wound to a close, Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s International Climate Lead, said: “The Bonn session was a technical meeting meant to work out the details of how the Paris Agreement will operate, and we’re pleased that the negotiators, have weathered uncertainty from the US, rolled up their sleeves and got on well with the job at hand. “Some feared that the indecision around American involvement would have rattled the negotiators, but on the contrary, they have actually shown their resolve and recommitted to the Paris Agreement.” The climate agreement has been Continued on Page 2 Businesses urge Trump to remain in Paris Agreement A growing number of businesses are joining the call for the US to remain in the Paris climate agreement amid speculation that US President Donald Trump may be about to withdraw the US from the global emissions reduction plan. GE Chairman Jeff Immelt recently said: “We are for staying in the treaty. I think global engagement is a good thing.” Speaking at Georgetown University, Immelt said the business community had “kind of moved on” in the climate change debate. “As a company we think that climate change is real. Withdrawing from the Paris accord is not going to change one thing that we do regarding energy efficiency... and I think all business is going to feel the same way.” Immelt said the Paris agreement represented a business opportunity as well as a reason to develop technology and pursue innovation. In May, Royal Dutch Shell said it “very much supports” the action plan, adopted in December 2015, and backed by 195 countries, to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Shell said it was committed to making its business resilient over time to the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy required to meet the Paris targets. Although he heads an oil gas major, Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden said the US should stay in the climate agreement. “We believe climate change is real,” he said. “We believe that the world needs to go through an energy transition to prevent a very significant rise in global temperatures. And we need to be part of that solution in making it happen.” Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP have also pledged their support for the Paris climate pact. Exxon CEO Darren Woods wrote in a blog post the Paris accord creates “an effective framework for all countries to address rising emissions”. Both Shell and GE are part of a group, known as the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), which in late April backed a plan for a transition to a low-carbon energy system. The group, which includes business leaders, representatives from international institutions and environmental groups, says it is possible to meet the world’s growing need for energy while stimulating economic development and social progress. Lord Adair Turner, who heads the ETC, estimated that many countries could source around 90 per cent of their electricity from renewables by 2035 at a system cost – including battery storage and gas-fired plants for back-up – of less than 7 ¢/kWh. Launching its report, ‘Better energy, Greater prosperity’, Lord Turner said: “We are ambitious but realistic. Despite the scale of the challenges facing us, we firmly believe the required transition is technically and economically achievable if immediate action is taken. THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES is published by Man in Black Media • www.mibmedia.com • Editor-in-Chief: Junior Isles • For all enquiries email: enquiries@teitimes.com
Energy Industry Times June 2017
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