Biden power plan worries coal sector
US president-elect Joe Biden's ambitious plan to achieve carbon-free electricity generation by 2035 could deal a devastating blow to the US coal industry, industry leaders warn.
Biden has called for the creation of a technology-neutral "energy efficiency and clean electricity standard" for utilities and grid operators to meet the 2035 carbon-free electricity target.
But industry executives are questioning if the US is prepared for such a dramatic shift in power production.
Coal is expected to account for 20pc of overall power production in the US this year and 24pc in 2021, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Coal demand is expected to increase next year as higher natural gas prices lead some power generators to switch fuels.
The agency projects coal consumption by the electric power sector to rise to 522mn short tons (445mn metric tonnes) in 2021 from an estimated 433mn st this year.
EIA in its Annual Energy Outlook 2020 said electric power sector coal demand would fall to about 380mn st by 2035, and to 357mn st by 2050.
Moody's Investors Service in a report last month said Biden's plan "would accelerate the decline of thermal coal."
The plan would hit coal-fired power plants harder and more quickly than other fossil fuels, including natural gas, Moody's said. Unregulated power generators with coal-fired units would be more directly exposed to the market effects of tighter environmental regulations since they cannot recover increased compliance costs from ratepayers, Moody's said.
An aggressive plan to eliminate coal from the generation mix could endanger up to 400,000 jobs across the coal supply chain, American Coal Council (ACC) chief executive Betsy Monseu said today.
"The ACC would urge a Biden administration to embrace an energy policy including coal and recognizing its role and contributions," Monseu said.
Biden's $2 trillion clean energy and infrastructure plan also includes the deployment of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations to accelerate the transition away from gas-powered vehicles.
However, US coal producers are questioning if Biden can accomplish his goals without the aid of fossil fuels.
"It does not make sense to me in one respect how you can say that you want to convert to electric vehicles and then you do not want to build another power plant" other than a wind and a solar facility, Alliance Resource Partners chief executive Joe Craft said on 26 October.
Craft said the battery technology needed to make wind and solar power reliable is not yet available.
"Maybe with $2 trillion you can get there, I don't know," Craft said.
Along with power storage, Biden's investment plan would need to focus on US transmission grid improvements if the administration wants to expand renewable energy, Hallador chief executive Brent Bilsland said on 3 November.
Bilsland cites an October Midcontinent Independent System Operator report showing it expects "significant system-wide complications" if renewable resources climb above 30pc in its footprint.
"If they try to get to 50pc the wheels absolutely fall off," Bilsland said.
Renewables account for about 9pc of overall generation in MISO today.
Blackouts in California this past summer show the limits on renewable energy," Bilsland said. "I just do not think people are going to put up with that."
California generated 32pc of its power from renewables in 2019, according to California Energy Commission data. The state gets about 3pc of its power from coal.
Other industry executives said they expect limited effects from action in Washington.
"Our goal and the way we manage our business is for our company to be successful regardless of who sits in the White House or which party controls Congress," Contura Energy chief executive David Stetson said today, while Natural Resource Partners chief executive Craig Nunez on 5 November noted: "A change in the executive branch in Washington is not something that is of a high-level of concern to me for our business."
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Singapore’s SP to launch 240MW solar project in China
Singapore’s SP to launch 240MW solar project in China
Singapore, 6 September (Argus) — Singapore's state-owned utility SP plans to start up a 240MW peak (MWp) agrivoltaic project in Guangdong province's Huizhou city, which will be fully operational by the end of this year. MWp refers to the maximum power output potential a solar farm has when reaching ideal conditions. SP expects the project to generate 7.5bn kWh of green electricity over the next 25 years, reduce coal use by 920,000t and avoid 4.46mn t/yr of carbon emissions. The project's solar installation capacity is 240MW, and marks SP's largest solar investment in China, the company said on 5 September. SP has secured 1.45GW of solar projects in China to date, spanning 18 provinces and municipalities. SP in May also partnered with China environmental technology solutions provider Qingdao Daneng Environmental Protection Equipment to invest and build a 90MW aquavoltaic farm in Qingdao city. This will power a green hydrogen facility in Qingdao, likely referring to Chinese refiner Sinopec's 4,500 t/yr facility . The solar project has an investment value of over 76mn Singapore dollars ($58.5mn) and is on track to connect to the grid by the end of the year. SP expects it to produce 162mn kWh/yr of green electricity and reduce carbon emissions by 160,000 t/yr. The operational model will incorporate renewable energy generation, grid integration, demand-side management, and energy storage. SP's first investment in solar assets was in June 2023, for 78MWp of agrivoltaics assets across four agricultural sites in the Dabu county of Meizhou city in Guangdong province. The project will generate 91.3GWh/yr of clean electricity, and reduce coal usage by almost 30,000t, which amounts to cutting more than 91,000 t/yr of carbon emissions. The operational date of this project was not disclosed. SP in May entered a strategic alliance with Shanghai-based CMB Financial Leasing to obtain financing services, which is expected to reach up to 8bn yuan ($1.13bn) over the next three years, to support the firm's deployment of renewable energy solutions in China. The projects will span utility-scale solar farms, distributed solar photovoltaic, energy storage, and district cooling and heating. By Joey Chan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Poland seeks to accelerate decarbonisation
Poland seeks to accelerate decarbonisation
Warsaw, 5 September (Argus) — The Polish climate ministry has released for consultation its draft plan to increase investment in renewable energy and accelerate the country's exit from coal. The share of coal — including lignite — in Poland's total electricity generation would fall to 22pc by 2030, from about 61pc in 2023, according to the ministry's ambitious decarbonisation scenario, due to be published for public consultation this week. In this scenario, the share of renewables would rise to 56pc by 2030 from 23pc last year, the ministry said. The decarbonisation scenario is included in the draft of Poland's national energy and climate plan (NECP), which it intends to notify to the European Commission this month. NECPs are EU member states' national planning documents defining their decarbonisation targets and allowing the commission to monitor overall EU climate policies. The scenario is more ambitious than in an earlier Polish NECP, which it shared with the commission in March. The earlier plan indicated that renewables' share in the electricity sector will rise to 50.1pc by 2030. An acceleration of decarbonisation and more ambitious investments in renewables will eventually lead to lower electricity prices and increase the competitiveness of the Polish economy, the climate ministry said. The share of coal in Poland's power mix has declined sharply this year because of a surge in solar and wind power generation. Hard coal accounted for about 41pc of total Polish electricity generation in January-July, compared with 46pc over the same period last year, according to data from grid operator PSE. The feasibility of several coal-fired power plants will decrease from 2026, when the country's current capacity payment support mechanism ends and eligibility for another payment scheme is yet to be decided. Tomasz Stepien Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA
Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA
Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — The phasedown of Asian coal-powered plants requires stricter emissions disclosures, which will in turn reduce investment, said speakers at an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) conference this week. One of the biggest short-term challenges for coal-fired abatement is that the coal price has halved from about $240/t to about $130/t right now, said energy finance analyst at IEEFA, Ghee Peh, on 3 September at the IEEFA Energy Finance 2024conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The greater shift towards renewable energy means that demand for coal-fired power is falling, but coal plants are still profitable and coal prices will eventually rebound as new supply is limited. "So what we can do as a larger group is to continue to pressure the financing side," said Peh. This can be done by encouraging greater emissions disclosure, which will then influence investors' decisions, he added. "The good news is that in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong are moving towards disclosures by next year on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, so investors will know how much a company emits, and that will contribute to a very decisive investor response," said Peh, adding that local regulators should put the onus on companies to disclose their emissions as soon as possible. Coal-mine methane emissions Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) and coal mining is one of the biggest sources of methane emissions. Just over 40mn t of coal-mine methane (CMM) was released into the atmosphere in 2022, according to IEA data, representing more than 10pc of total methane emissions from human activity. The EU approved a regulation on 27 May that requires the measuring, reporting and verifying of methane emissions from coal, oil and fossil gas exploration and production, distribution and underground storage, including LNG. It also establishes equivalence of methane monitoring, reporting and verification measures from 1 January 2027, and EU importers by mid-2030 have to demonstrate that the methane intensity of the production of crude, natural gas and coal imported to the EU is below maximum methane intensity values. It is therefore important to address CMM as this affects countries in Asia, said independent global energy think tank Ember's CMM programme director Eleanor Whittle. At the moment, none of the 10 biggest exporting countries to the EU meet its standards. But CMM emissions are rarely ever reported or even properly measured, she added, and measuring CMM could even double companies' reported emissions. "We did research that found that in Australia, a shift to company-led emissions reporting — but without verification — meant that overnight, hundreds of thousands [of tonnes] of carbon dioxide equivalent in the form of methane were erased, but without any mitigation or change in coal mining," said Whittle. This shows that even without improvements in the framework methane measurement and verification frameworks, policy shifts like these can still have a profound impact on short-term warming, she said. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Dartbrook mine to restart in ‘coming weeks’
Australia's Dartbrook mine to restart in ‘coming weeks’
Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — Australian mining firm Australian Pacific Coal (AQC) is planning to restart its Dartbrook thermal coal mine soon after multiple attempts to do so over the past five years. The underground mine produced and transported coal to the surface on 4 September, the first time since it was placed into care and maintenance in 2006, AQC said on 5 September. The Dartbrook mine is located in the Hunter valley coal mining region in New South Wales. It could potentially produce 5mn t/yr of thermal coal . AQC had installed and tested a 4km conveyor system designed to transport coal produced from the Kayuga seam to the surface via the Hunter Tunnel. The coal will then be processed at a handling and preparation plant. "Commissioning is under way and the team on the ground is working hard to bring the mine safely into commercial production in the coming weeks," said AQC managing director and chief executive Ayten Saridas. Dartbrook will initially only produce unwashed thermal coal for sale to domestic or export customers when it resumes operations, the company said. Once the coal handling and preparation plant is refurbished early next year, the mine will produce washed and graded coal with high-calorific values (CV) for export. It may also produce semi-soft or pulverised coal injection coal. Dartbrook was placed into care and maintenance by its previous owner, UK-South African mining firm Anglo American, in 2006 when high-CV NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal was as low as $50/t fob Newcastle. AQC had hoped to restart the mine in 2019 but was delayed by opposition from local communities and a fraught approvals process. Australian high-CV coal prices have rallied recently on concerns regarding natural gas supplies arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Argus last assessed the price of NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal at $143.92/t fob Newcastle on 30 August. By Jinhe Tan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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