THE ENERGY INDUSTRY T I M E S
September 2018 • Volume 11 • No 7 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365 www.teitimes.com
An emission-free
society
Managing your
data
Major electrification is needed to
meet the goals set by the Paris
Agreement, according to Eurelectric’s
‘Decarbonisation pathways’. Page 13
Companies still face challenges in
accessing and managing the data
needed to enhance asset operation.
Page 14
News In Brief
Energy and climate change
policy brings political turmoil
Failure to tackle energy and climate
issues has proven to be the downfall
of Australia’s Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull.
Page 2
Ørsted buys onshore wind
pipeline
Ørsted is branching out into the US
onshore wind energy sector in a bid
to reinforce its position in the global
renewable energy market.
Page 4
Safeguard duties on solar
modules will hit sector
investment
Investment into India’s solar sector
is expected to be lower over the next
few quarters.
Page 6
Onshore wind growth stalls
in Germany
Policy uncertainty in Germany’s
onshore wind sector is causing
a slowdown in installations, the
industry has warned.
Page 7
Enel moves forward on SA
wind projects
Enel is set to build five new wind
farms in South Africa after sealing a
financing deal for the projects.
Page 8
Power market woes force GE
job cuts
GE is reducing its workforce in
Schenectady, NY, USA, in response
to declining demand for its power
products.
Page 9
Fuel Watch: Egypt gears up
for return as gas exporter
Egypt is on the verge of returning to
the role of natural gas exporter.
Page 12
Technology: Disrupting the
balance
Energy aggregator Limejump has
developed a platform that allows
aggregated distributed generation
sources such as wind, solar and
batteries to participate in the UK’s
balancing market.
Page 15
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Final Word
Distributed energy
and renewables are not
just passing trends,
says Junior Isles.
Page 16
Coal to decline
despite Trump’s
proposal
The Trump administration has prepared a new proposal aimed at reviving the flagging
coal mining industry. But even if it is implemented, it will only slow coal’s demise at best.
Junior Isles
Electricity generation from coal fired
plants is likely to decline despite US
President Donald Trump’s recent announcement
of his latest proposal
aimed at reviving the coal sector.
Last month the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) set out proposals
for replacing the Obama administration’s
Clean Power Plan (CPP) with
what it calls the Affordable Clean Energy
rule. The new rule would abandon
the limits for states’ emissions
that were set under the CPP, and focuses
on improving the efficiency of
individual coal fired plants instead of
looking at the electricity system as a
whole.
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) published projections
for the outlook depending on how its
rules were implemented, which
showed that coal fired generation
could be up to 13.1 per cent higher in
2030 than if the CPP was in place. But
even this scenario would see a 19 per
cent fall in coal fired power generation
compared with 2017 levels, as plummeting
costs of cleaner energy sources
including natural gas, wind and solar
blunt the proposal’s ultimate effect.
Although the CPP never came into
effect, having been blocked by the
Supreme Court in 2016, it was expected
to accelerate the closure of
coal fired power plants. If the CPP
had stayed in place, the drop in coal
fired generation by 2030 was projected
to be 29 per cent.
EPA officials argued that their plan
was in compliance with the Clean Air
Act’s requirements on controlling
pollution, whereas the Obama administration’s
more ambitious strategy
had been a regulatory over-reach.
“However much people may want
EPA to demand new renewable energy
plants be built instead of fossil fuels
plants, we do not have that authority,”
said Bill Wehrum, who heads the
EPA’s air and radiation division. “We
are bringing the agency back to its
core function.”
Michelle Bloodworth, President of
the American Coalition for Clean Coal
Continued on Page 2
US corporations lead clean energy purchases
Corporations are playing an increasingly
important role in tackling climate
change, especially those in the
United States. According to Bloomberg
NEF’s 2H Corporate Energy
Market Outlook, corporations have
purchased 7.2 GW of clean energy so
far in 2018, already surpassing last
year’s record 5.4 GW.
Notably 4.2 GW, or 60 per cent, of
global corporate energy procurement
has come from the US. Facebook is
the largest corporate buyer thus far in
2018, purchasing over 1.1 GW of
clean energy. AT&T is the second
largest buyer with 820 MW, with aluminium
manufacturers Norsk Hydro
and Alcoa following with 667 MW
and 524 MW, respectively.
The current 140 RE100 signatories
consume an estimated 184 TWh of
electricity cumulatively. In order to
meet their renewable energy targets
by 2030, Bloomberg NEF estimates
they will need to purchase an additional
197 TWh of clean energy. If
this were to be met entirely with
PPAs, it could catalyze an additional
100 GW of solar and wind build
globally.
While good corporate branding is an
important factor in the increasing purchase
of clean renewables energy, it is
the improving economics of wind and
solar in particular that has been the
main driving force.
In 2010, using solar power to boil a
kettle in the UK would have cost
about £0.03. By 2020, according to
recent estimates by a research team at
UBS, the cost will have fallen to half
a penny. By 2030, the cost could be so
near to zero it will effectively be
free.
In an article published in the Financial
Times, Sam Athrie, a research
analyst at UBS, said that renewables
could soon be cheaper than all the alternatives,
contributing to a wave of
corporate action in the energy sector.
In the UK, tendering has cut the cost
of offshore wind by more than half in
just three years. In Germany it has
helped to shrink the premium for renewable
energy by roughly half since
2015.
Based on its own database of over
100 000 projects around the world,
Bloomberg NEF recently estimated
that the world has now installed more
than 1000 GW of wind and solar
power.
As of June 30, 2018, analysis shows
there is now 1013 GW of wind and
solar PV, evenly balanced between
the two: 54 per cent wind and 46 per
cent solar. Since 2000, wind and solar
capacity has increased 65-fold.
Previous research from BNEF has
forecast that by 2050, 50 per cent of
all global electricity generation will
come from these two renewable
sources.
And whereas the first 1000 GW of
wind and solar required an estimated
$2.3 trillion of capital spend, the next
milestone will be much cheaper. To
reach 2000 GW will only cost $1.23
trillion, according to BNEF, set to
take place over the next four years.
Separately, the World Bank revealed
that its clean energy financing in developing
nations has exceeded its financing
target by $7.7 billion. According
to the bank, in fiscal year
2018, 32.1 per cent of its financing
had climate co-benefits already exceeding
the target set in 2015 that 28
per cent of its lending volume would
be climate-related by 2020.
n The Lloyd’s Banking Group has
announced a new policy to stop funding
coal-related projects. The show of
support for the low-carbon economy
will see the bank refuse to finance new
clients whose revenues predominantly
come from coal power plants and
mines. The decision follows its Clean
Growth Finance initiative, announced
earlier this year, in which the bank
pledged £2 billion ($2.6 billion) in
discounted lending to help businesses
invest in reducing their environmental
impact.
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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