German Greens propose industry power tenders
Germany's opposition Green Party has suggested introducing tenders for green industrial power, within the framework of the country's renewable energies law (EEG).
Under the proposed tender regime for green industrial power, companies would tender the power volumes they need. The contracted volumes of green power, and the accompanying guarantees of origin (GOO), would be available exclusively to the contracting firm, over a period of 20 years. The firms would be able to market the power and the GOOs.
The proposals were put to the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday, but were rejected.
The Green Party is almost certain to form part of Germany's next government, following federal elections in September. The party has been consistently polling second since the start of the year, at times overtaking outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU group.
Green Party energy policy spokesperson Julia Verlinden at an online industry event this week said that the proposed tenders could be implemented "complementary" to power purchase agreements (PPA). The tenders would provide safety for investments in the case, for instance, that the off-taker is unable to pay, she said. In this case, the power volumes could fall back into the EEG system.
Verlinden warned that backing PPAs alone could slow down renewables growth in Germany, as PPAs insufficiently address the investment risks, or else come with excessively high prices given the risk premiums priced into PPAs by producers and by the banks financing the projects — these risk premiums do not apply under the EEG, Verlinden said.
The proposed tenders would also clear away a major obstacle to industrial green power procurement, Verlinden said — the fact that green power generated under the EEG does not qualify for GOOs.
The idea of coupling PPAs with state guarantees, mooted at the event, "would at any rate be exciting", deputy Timon Gremmels of the co-governing Social Democrat SPD said. Gremmels, who is a member of the parliamentary committee on economic affairs and energy, suggested that PPA project developers could be obliged to share a part of their proceeds to local citizens, paralleling the new EEG rules for onshore wind farms.
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Baltic April gas consumption rises on year
Baltic April gas consumption rises on year
London, 8 May (Argus) — Gas demand in the three Baltic states and Finland was up by 26pc on the year in April, although there were diverging trends in the different markets. Consumption in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania totalled 3.56TWh, up from 2.82TWh a year earlier but down from 4.31TWh in March ( see data and download, graph ). That said, total demand was still well below the 2018-21 average for the month of 5.03TWh. Consumption was up on the year in all three Baltic countries, but Finnish demand edged down. This was the first month in which Finnish demand was lower on the year since April 2023. In contrast, Lithuanian consumption surged by nearly 50pc on the year, and was also higher than in February and March despite the end of the traditional heating season. Gas-fired power generation held broadly stable from a year earlier, totalling 305MW across the four countries compared with 301MW in April last year ( see gas-fired output table ). Output edged down in Estonia and Lithuania and dropped by 25MW in Finland, but this was offset by a 31MW increase on the year in Latvia. But, unlike in March, gas-fired output fell by 246MW, a large contributing factor to the lower gas demand on the month. Many combined heat and power plants will have switched off at around the end of March or mid-April as the traditional heating season came to a close, possibly driving the fall in gas-fired output. But renewables generation was also stronger in April than March, particularly in Finland, where wind output rose to 2.03GW from 1.63GW, while hydro also stepped up. In Lithuania, solar and waste-based production increased on the month. Demand was also stronger despite higher year-on-year minimum temperatures in all four capital cities, which may have curbed most residual heating demand after the end of the traditional heating season, although there was a brief cold snap towards the middle of the month that temporarily drove up demand ( see temperatures table ). With gas-fired power generation only marginally higher than a year earlier, and the warmer weather curbing residential demand, a possible uptick in industrial demand may have driven the aggregate rise in consumption. Average prices on the regional GET Baltic exchange were €33.30/MWh in April, up by 8pc on the month but 30pc lower than a year earlier, the exchange said. Prices increased in around the middle of April "due to the unexpectedly cold weather and the increased demand for gas in the market", but then fell again "as the weather warmed", GET Baltic chief executive Giedre Kurme said. There were a total of 2,400 transactions last month for a combined 642GWh of gas. Volumes sold on the Finnish market accounted for 42pc, the joint Latvian-Estonian market 33pc, and the remaining 25pc was sold in Lithuania. Klaipeda and Balticconnector to change flows The return of the Finnish-Estonian Balticconnector pipeline and the start of maintenance at the Klaipeda LNG terminal in Lithuania will drive changed flow patterns this month. The Balticconector resumed commercial operations on 22 April after being off line since 8 October following a rupture caused by a dragging ship anchor . The reconnection of Finland to its southern neighbours has allowed for strong southward flows since 22 April, at an average of 62 GWh/d on 22 April-7 May. Some of this gas is probably being injected into storage, with the region's only facility at Incukalns switching to net injections on 23 April from net withdrawals of 7 GWh/d earlier in the month. Net injections have since averaged 46 GWh/d on 23 April-6 May, the latest data from EU transparency body GIE show. Stocks at Incukalns ended the withdrawal season on 30 April at 11.29TWh, the highest since at least 2014 and well above the previous high from last year of 9.03TWh. Large volumes of gas that had been stored over the previous summer for export to Finland over the winter were left stranded in Incukalns after the Balticconnector went off line. And the Klaipeda LNG terminal began maintenance on 1 May, which will last until 15 June, as the terminal's Independence floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) departed for dry-docking in Denmark. As a result, there were net exports from Poland to Lithuania for the first time since early November, at an average of 17 GWh/d on 1-7 May. Some of this gas could have been withdrawn from Ukrainian storage, with flows from Ukraine to Poland averaging 10 GWh/d over the same period. Lithuania's largest supplier Ignitis has said it stored some volumes in Ukraine. And flows at the Kiemenai border point with Latvia have also flipped towards Lithuania, averaging 11 GWh/d on 1-7 May, compared with net flows towards Latvia of 15 GWh/d in April. That said, there were no flows at the point on 6-26 April. By Brendan A'Hearn Finnish, Baltic average gas-fired power generation MW Apr-24 Apr-23 Mar-24 ± Apr 23 ± Mar 24 Estonia 5 6 7 -1 -2 Latvia 49 18 215 31 -166 Lithuania 46 47 52 -1 -6 Finland 205 230 277 -25 -72 Total 305 301 551 4 -246 — Entso-E Daily average minimum temperature in FinBalt capitals °C Apr-24 Apr-23 Mar-24 ± yr/yr ± m/m 2014-23 Apr avg Vilnius 5.22 3.83 0.93 1.39 4.29 2.63 Riga 5.01 4.98 1.93 0.03 3.08 3.65 Tallinn 2.00 1.46 -0.59 0.54 2.59 1.17 Helsinki 0.11 -0.45 -2.55 0.56 2.66 0.12 — Speedwell Finnish and Baltic April consumption by country GWh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . 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New Zealand’s Genesis Energy to resume coal imports
New Zealand’s Genesis Energy to resume coal imports
Sydney, 8 May (Argus) — New Zealand's upstream firm and utility Genesis Energy plans to resume thermal coal imports later this year to feed its dual gas- and coal-fired Huntly power plant. The resumption was because of lower domestic gas production and rapidly declining coal stockpiles, and will mark the firm's first coal imports since 2022. Coal inventories at the 953MW Huntly plant, — New Zealand's largest power station by capacity and the country's only coal-fired facility — recently slipped below 500,000t, down from 624,000t at the end of March, and will fall below 350,000t by the end of the winter. This will trigger a need to purchase more coal to maintain a target operational stockpile of around 350,000t ahead of winters in 2025 and 2026, the company said on 8 May. Imports are currently the most efficient option for the quantity the company will need, with a delivery time of around three months, chief executive Malcolm Johns said. Genesis typically imports from Indonesia, the company told Argus . Gas production in New Zealand has dropped at a faster rate than expected, with major field production in April down by 33pc on the year, Genesis said. Lower gas availability typically leads to more coal burn, because the Huntly plant runs on gas and coal. This is in addition to an extended period of low hydropower inflows in recent months, which required higher thermal generation to ensure supply security. A prolonged outage at Huntly's unit 5 gas turbine between June 2023 and January 2024 also led to an even greater need for coal-fired generation, Genesis said. Biomass transition The company — which is 51pc owned by the state — is the second-largest power retailer in New Zealand, behind domestic utility Mercury, according to data from the Electricity Authority. It has a NZ$1.1bn ($659mn) programme for renewable power generation and grid-scale battery storage , which includes a potential replacement of coal with biomass at Huntly. But the transition to biomass "will take some years," Johns said. Genesis has successfully completed a biomass burn trial at Huntly last year and has collaboration agreements with potential New Zealand pellet suppliers, but there is currently no local source for the type of pellets needed for the plant. Genesis is hoping to move to formal agreements "as soon as counterparties are able". The company will not consider importing pellets, it told Argus . "We will only use biomass if we can secure a local New Zealand supply chain that is sustainable and cost-effective," it said. Domestic gas production New Zealand's three-party coalition government said separately on 8 May that the "material decline" in local gas production threatens energy security, blaming the previous Labour party-led government for "policy decisions which have disincentivised investment in gas production." The decisions — which were part of the former government's pledge to achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 — led to a reduction in exploration for new gas resources since 2021, while suppressed maintenance drilling reduced production from existing gas fields, according to a joint release from energy minister Simeon Brown and resources minister Shane Jones. "Due to this significant reduction in gas production, the government has also been advised that some large gas consumers are expressing concern about their ability to secure gas contracts," the government said. Major industrial users such as Canada-based methanol producer Methanex have been forced to reduce production as a result, it noted. "We are working with the sector to increase production, and I will be introducing changes to the Crown Minerals Act to parliament this year that will revitalise the sector and increase production," Jones added. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil state faces power outages after record flood
Brazil state faces power outages after record flood
Sao Paulo, 6 May (Argus) — Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state is facing power outages following record floods that killed more than 80 people and forced over 130,000 people out of their homes. The extreme weather took three substations, 25 transmission lines, five hydroelectric plants and 11 power transformers off line, according to grid operator ONS. In response, ONS started importing power from neighboring Uruguay and requested that the 250MW hybrid natural gas and diesel Canoas and 345MW coal-fired Pampa Sul power plants increase power generation. Earlier today, an estimated 435,000 consumers did not have electricity. The rains affected 341 of the 497 cities in the state, where the government declared a state of emergency in 336 municipalities. The government is working to re-establish power to the state as quickly as possible, the mines and energy ministry said in a social media post. The ministry also held an emergency meeting early yesterday and today to guarantee fuel supplies in the state . State capital Porto Alegre is expected to receive more rain later this week, according to Rio Grande do Sul-based weather forecaster MetSul. Metsul warned that parts of the Porto Alegre metropolitan area could remain uninhabitable for weeks or months. Brazil's airline association Abear said that the Salgado Filho international airport will remain closed indefinitely, after the airport's runway flooded. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil hydroelectric dam bursts under record rains
Brazil hydroelectric dam bursts under record rains
Sao Paulo, 3 May (Argus) — Brazilian power generation company Companhia Energetica Rio das Antas (Ceran) found a partial rupture in its 100MW 14 de Julho hydroelectric plant following record precipitation in Rio Grande do Sul state. Flooding from the record rains has left 37 dead and forced more than 23,000 people out of their homes, causing widespread damage across the state, including washed out bridges and roads across several cities. Ceran reported that the dam of the hydroelectric plant on the Antas River suffered a rupture under the heavy rains and the company implemented an emergency evacuation plan on 1 May. Ceran's 130MW Monte Claro and 130MW Castro Alves plants are under intense monitoring, the company said in a statement. Rio Grande do Sul state governor Eduardo Leite declared a state of emergency and the federal government promised to release funding for emergency disaster relief. Leite said the flooding will likely go down as the worst environmental disaster in the state's history. Brazil's southernmost state along the border with Argentina has been punished by record precipitation over the past year owing to the effects of the strong El Nino weather phenomenon, according to Rio Grande do Sul-based weather forecaster MetSul Meteorologia. Brazilian power company CPFL Energia controls Ceran with a 65pc equity stake. Energy company CEEE-GT, which is owned by steel manufacturer CSN, owns another 30pc, and Norway's Statkraft owns the remaining 5pc. The state had declared a state of emergency as recently as September 2023 because of unusually heavy rains that resulted in the death of more than 30 people. Weather forecasters expect El Nino conditions to abate in the coming months over the eastern Pacific. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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