THE ENERGY INDUSTRY T I M E S
August 2018 • Volume 11 • No 6 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365 www.teitimes.com
Special Supplement Some like it hot
The massive Samcheok Green
Power Project in South Korea
takes circulating fluidised bed
technology to the next level.
Greenhouse gas emissions have reached
an all-time high, yet some world leaders
seem reluctant to stand behind the green
push. TEI Times hears what more can be
done. Page 14
News In Brief
Denmark sets new
renewables target, as cost of
offshore wind slides
Offshore wind looks set to play
a key role in Denmark’s recently
agreed new target for renewables.
Page 2
Argentina tenders first of
seven transmission lines
under PPP
Argentina is continuing to make
investments in its power sector with
the announcement of tender terms
for a high voltage power line.
Page 4
Australia seeks strategy to
tackle rising energy costs
Australia’s Federal Energy Minister
Josh Frydenberg has indicated
the coalition government could
financially support new power
generation as part of a set of
measures to tackle rapidly rising
power costs.
Page 6
Renewables rise in Germany
Renewable energy is continuing to
overtake fossil fuels as Germany’s
main source of power as the country
continues its Energiewende policy.
Page 7
SPIC building GT
programme
Siemens says it will support China’s
goal of independently developing
and building its own heavy-duty
gas turbine technology through a
memorandum with State Power
Investment Corporation (SPIC).
Page 9
Energy Outlook: Charging
ahead
Exciting new storage capabilities
being developed for renewable
energy resources have the potential
to dramatically transform the global
energy sector, as they deliver the
capacity to balance electricity supply
and demand.
Page 14
Technology: Three-way
storage breaks the mould
A new energy storage system
capable of supplying electricity,
heating and cooling could shape the
future of the thermal energy storage
market.
Page 15
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Final Word
Climate change means
more heat waves and
more solar,
says Junior Isles.
Page 16
Slowdown in clean
energy investment
threatens climate
goals
Birol: decline in investment for renewables and energy efficiency “is worrying”
The energy transition seems to have paused as investments in clean energy falls, according
to the International Energy Agency’s latest World Energy Investment report. Junior Isles
The latest data published in the International
Energy Agency’s World Energy
Investment (WEI) 2018 report
reveals a “worrying” fall in clean energy
investment.
According to the report, renewable
power investment fell to $298 billion
in 2017 from $318 billion in 2016,
representing the biggest absolute drop
since the agency started keeping track
of clean power in 2000.
The report also finds that after several
years of growth, combined global
investment in renewables and energy
efficiency declined by 3 per cent in
2017 and there is a risk that it will
slow further this year.
The IEA’s figures show that although
electricity investment has
shifted towards renewables, networks
and flexibility, expected output from
low carbon sources fell 10 per cent in
2017 and did not keep pace with demand
growth.
This indicates that investment is not
growing in a way that supports deep
decarbonisation of the power system,
said the IEA. At the same time as
investment in renewables falling by
nearly 7 per cent, nuclear investment
in 2017 plummeted 45 per cent.
“Such a decline in global investment
for renewables and energy efficiency
combined is worrying,” said
Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive
Director. “This could threaten the expansion
of clean energy needed to
meet energy security, climate and
clean air goals. While we would need
this investment to go up rapidly, it is
disappointing to find that it might be
falling this year.”
While energy efficiency showed
some of the strongest expansion in
2017, it was not enough to offset the
decline in renewables. Moreover,
efficiency investment growth has
weakened in the past year as policy
activity showed signs of slowing
down.
Michael Waldron, one of the report’s
lead authors noted: “The fastest
growing area was in energy efficiency.
Although slower than in 2016, this
Continued on Page 2
Clean energy investment remains steady in
first half of 2018
Overall clean energy investment was
steady in the first half of the year,
thanks to a strong second quarter for
wind power investment, led by the US
and China, according to research
company Bloomberg New Energy
Finance (BNEF).
Its latest figures show world investment
in clean energy in the first six
months of 2018 at $138.2 billion,
down just 1 per cent from the same
period in 2017. The second quarter,
from April to June, actually saw a rise
year-on-year of 8 per cent to $76.7
billion.
The first half of 2018 shows solar
investment down 19 per cent compared
to the same period last year at
$71.6 billion, with wind up 33 per
cent at $57.2 billion. The slippage in
solar reflects two main developments
– significantly lower capital costs for
photovoltaic projects, and therefore
fewer dollars spent per megawatt installed;
and a cooling-off in China’s
solar boom. These trends are set to
gather pace in the second half, says
BNEF.
Justin Wu, head of Asia-Pacific at
BNEF, said: “On June 1, the Chinese
government released a policy document
restricting new solar installations
that require a national subsidy,
with immediate effect. We expect this
to lead to a sharp drop in installations
in China this year, compared to 2017’s
spectacular record of 53 GW.”
Pietro Radoia, senior solar analyst at
BNEF, added: “It will also mean overcapacity
in solar manufacturing globally,
and yet steeper price falls. Before
the Chinese announcement our team
was already expecting a 27 per cent
fall in PV module prices this year.
Now we have revised that to a 34 per
cent drop, to an end-2018 global
average of 24.4 U.S. cents per watt.”
In its World Energy Investment
2018 report, the International Energy
Agency also said that policy changes
in China could result in a slowdown
in investment in solar PV this year.
In the first half of 2018, China invested
$35.1 billion in solar, down
29 per cent from 1H 2017. However,
BNEF expects the full extent of the
government-ordered cutback to become
clear only from the second half
of the year onwards. Its analysts see
a possibility that that world solar installations
in 2018 could fall for the
first time on record. In 2017, they totalled
98 GW, far more than for any
other technology, renewable or nonrenewable.
The jump in wind power investment
in the first half of 2018 came
thanks to a stream of large project financings
from the US to Taiwan and
from India to the Netherlands and
Norway.
The news comes as the World Bank
released figures that show it invested
$20.5 billion during the 2018 fiscal
year on projects which address the
impacts of climate change. This represents
32.1 per cent of all funding
and exceeds its target of spending at
least 28 per cent of its finances on
tackling the problem by 2020.
“We have not just exceeded our climate
targets on paper, we have transformed
the way we work with countries
and are seeing major transitions
to renewable energy, clean and resilient
transport systems, climate-smart
agriculture and sustainable cities,”
said the bank’s Chief Executive Officer
Kristalina Georgieva.
As a result, the bank will set new
targets at the December UN climate
conference in Poland.
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
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