New Jersey approves new offshore wind farms
New Jersey regulators today approved more than 2,600MW of new offshore wind capacity, marking a major step forward for the nascent US offshore wind sector.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) unanimously approved the 1,510 MW Atlantic Shores project, a partnership between Shell and developer EDF Renewables, and Danish developer Orsted's 1,148MW Ocean Wind II project as the winners of its latest offshore wind solicitation, bringing the state's planned capacity nearly halfway to its goal of 7,500MW of offshore generation by 2035.
"Today's award, which is the nation's largest combined award to date, further solidifies New Jersey as an offshore wind supply chain hub and leader in the offshore wind industry" in the US, governor Phil Murphy (D) said.
BPU projects the installations will be able to supply the equivalent of 1.15mn homes, and that the new generation will lead to a 5mn short ton/yr reduction in the state's greenhouse gas emissions, equal to about a quarter of New Jersey's current electric sector emissions.
This is Orsted's second wining bid in New Jersey. Its 1,100MW Ocean Wind project won the state's first solicitation in 2019. Ocean Wind II will get a 20-year Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) contract that starts at $84.03/MWh. BPU said that will translate into a levelized net cost of $42.30/MWh once the OREC revenue is returned to ratepayers. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2029, Orsted said.
"We are thrilled to grow this global industry alongside the state of New Jersey, as well as help all communities in the state benefit from the offshore wind industry," Orsted Offshore North America chief executive David Hardy said.
The Atlantic Shores project will get an initial OREC price of $86.2/MWh, which BPU said means a levelized net price of $58.51/MWh when the revenue is returned to ratepayers. The project is expected to begin construction in 2024.
"We are thrilled to be moving forward with our project and cementing our commitment to deliver clean, renewable power and well-paid jobs to the Garden State for years to come," said Joris Veldhoven, commercial and finance director at Atlantic Shores.
New Jersey requires its electric suppliers to buy ORECs from approved offshore wind projects, which would then be retired to show compliance with the state's offshore wind generation mandates. The wind farms would be required to return the revenue they earn from operating in the PJM grid, such as from sale of power or capacity, back to New Jersey utility customers. Ratepayers would have a monthly surcharge added to their bills to help fund monthly OREC purchases.
New Jersey and other northeast states are leading the country in the push to build out the offshore wind industry.
To date, the US only has two small pilot projects in operation, off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia, but a number of utility-scale wind farms have been proposed along the Atlantic coast, largely in response to state mandates, with a pipeline already close to the 30GW by 2030 goal called for by President Joe Biden's administration, according to industry data.
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APLNG's Jan-Mar output higher: Origin
APLNG's Jan-Mar output higher: Origin
Sydney, 30 April (Argus) — The 9mn t/yr Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project in Queensland state produced and sold more LNG than the previous quarter and year earlier, Australian independent Origin Energy said in its January-March results. Output rose from the final quarter of 2023 because of the power failure of a vessel docked at APLNG's terminal in Gladstone harbour in late November , which prompted upstream operator Origin to cut flows to the liquefaction plant and APLNG to defer three cargoes to 2024. APLNG exported 134PJ (2.4mn t) of LNG through 34 cargoes for January-March, 8pc up from 124PJ and 32 cargoes the previous quarter and 4pc up on the 129PJ and 33 cargoes shipped in January-March 2023. Total APLNG production for July 2023-March 2024, the first three quarters of Origin's fiscal year to 30 June, was 519PJ, 4pc higher than 498PJ a year earlier, because of effective well and field optimisation activities, fewer maintenance disruptions and the continuing benefit of reducing workover backlog resulting in more wells being on line, Origin said. The terminal will take half a train of capacity off line for 12 days in June , following a two-day maintenance period in January. APLNG's domestic gas sales were 36PJ, steady on the previous quarter but higher by 24pc from the 29PJ sold a year earlier. Gas sales volumes for Origin's energy markets business fell by 5pc to 36PJ from 38PJ in January-March 2023. Origin said it continues to negotiate a deal with the government of New South Wales (NSW) regarding the 2,880MW Eraring coal-fired power station's future . The power plant had been due to close in 2025 but insufficient new generation capacity has been completed in NSW for this to occur. "We continue to progress large-scale batteries under development at Eraring and Mortlake power stations and recently announced our first storage offtake agreement from the Supernode battery in Queensland, taking Origin's storage portfolio to around 1GW of capacity once these batteries come on line," chief executive Frank Calabria said on 30 April. By Tom Major APLNG results Jan-Mar '24 Oct-Dec '23 Jan-Mar '23 y-o-y % ± q-o-q % ± Production (PJ) 176 167 165 7 5 Sales (PJ) 168 160 158 6 4 Commodity revenue (A$mn) 2,303 2,149 2,583 -11 7 Average realised LNG price ($/mn Btu) 12.17 11.88 14.50 -15 3 Average realised domestic gas price (A$/GJ) 6.90 6.39 6.17 12 8 Source: Origin Energy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Germany urges closer NDC-climate finance link
Germany urges closer NDC-climate finance link
Berlin, 26 April (Argus) — German federal chancellor Olaf Scholz today stressed the need for nationally determined contributions (NDC) to the Paris climate deal to provide a framework and incentive for climate finance. NDCs — emissions cut targets which countries must draw up and regularly update under the Paris agreement — should provide "clear roadmaps for decarbonisation" to incentivise and reassure private investors, Scholz said at the 15th Petersberg climate dialogue in Berlin, a forum which paves the way for the UN Cop climate conference negotiations later this year. Drawing up an NDC is also about creating good framework conditions for investments in the individual countries themselves, Scholz said. In updating their NDCs, countries have an opportunity to secure investments in green technologies, he said. "Private investors are concerned about a reliable regulatory framework and good governance." Scholz echoed German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock's remarks made at the opening yesterday, when she proposed an "interlocking" of countries' NDCs with investment plans. Baerbock stressed the idea goes beyond getting the countries together to improve their NDCs. It would, for instance, ensure that fossil fuel producers announcing plans to reduce their production do not get penalised by a cut to their credit rating on the financial markets, she said. And it would be about facilitating matchmaking between the private sector in developed countries, and bringing together the ambitions enshrined in the NDCs with instruments ensuring they can be financed, Baerbock said. She gave the example of Barbados, which she said is using its NDC "not just as a national climate action plan but also as a national investment plan", by creating a bank that brings together various factors "linking climate-policy planning, project implementation, and public and private financing". Both Scholz and Baerbock reiterated calls for larger developing countries that have "significantly" contributed to emissions in the past 30 years, and which have the financial means to contribute, to do so. Cop 29 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. Finance will be a key topic as countries must decide on a new global goal, the so-called New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance, to replace the pledge missed by developed countries to give $100 bn/yr to developing countries by 2020. Baerbock called for a new annual climate finance budget for developing countries of $1 trillion. Germany plans to modernise its bilateral debt conversion programme, Scholz said. "This is not a panacea, but vulnerable middle-income countries that are willing to reform could also be eligible for climate debt conversion in the future," he said. By Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Start-ups to help Total keep output stable in 2Q
Start-ups to help Total keep output stable in 2Q
London, 26 April (Argus) — TotalEnergies said it expects its oil and gas production to hold broadly steady in the second quarter as planned maintenance is partially offset by rising output from new projects in Brazil and Denmark. The company expects to average 2.4mn-2.45mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) in April-June, compared with 2.46mn boe/d in the previous three months and 2.47mn boe/d in the second quarter of 2023. Production is being supported by the restart of gas output from the redeveloped Tyra hub in Denmark late last month and the start of the 180,000 b/d second development phase of the Mero oil field on the Libra block in Brazil's Santos Basin at the beginning of the year. TotalEnergies first-quarter output was flat compared with the previous three months but 2pc lower than a year earlier as a result of Canadian oil sands divestments. The company reported a robust set of first-quarter results today, broadly in line with analysts' expectations. Profit for the first three months of 2024 was $5.7bn, compared to $5.6bn in the same period last year. Adjusted profit — which takes into account inventory valuation effects and special items — came in at $5.1bn, down by 22pc on the year but slightly ahead of the consensus of analysts' estimates of $5bn. Adjusted operating profit from the firm's Exploration & Production business was down by 4pc year-on-year at $2.55bn, driven in part by lower natural gas prices. The Canadian oil sands asset sales weighed on the segment's production but this was partly compensated by start-ups. As well as Mero 2, the Akpo West oil project in Nigeria started production during the first quarter. TotalEnergies' Integrated LNG segment saw a 41pc year-on-year decline in its adjusted operating profit to $1.22bn in January-March. The company said this reflects lower LNG prices and sales. But while its LNG sales for the quarter fell by 3pc in year-on-year terms, its LNG production was greater by 6pc. TotalEnergies achieved an average $78.9/bl for its liquids sales in the first quarter, an improvement on $73.4/bl a year earlier. But the average price achieved for its gas sales was 43pc lower on the year at $5.11/mn Btu. In the downstream, the company's Refining & Chemicals segment's first-quarter adjusted operating profit was $962mn in January-March, down by 41pc on the year but 52pc higher than the preceding quarter. TotalEnergies attributes the quarter-on-quarter rise to higher refining margins and a rise in refinery throughput . For the second quarter, it expects refinery utilisation rates to be above 85pc, compared with 79pc in the first quarter, boosted by the restart of 219,000 b/d Donges refinery in France. Total's Integrated Power segment continued to improve, registering a quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year increased of 16pc and 65pc respectively in its adjusted operating profit to €611mn. Net power production increased 14pc year-on-year to 9.6 TWh, while the company's portfolio of installed power generation capacity grew 54pc to 19.5GW. Total's cash flow from operations, excluding working capital, was down by 15pc on a year earlier at $8.2bn in the first quarter. The company has decided to raise its dividend for 2024 by 7pc to €0.79/share and plans a $2bn programme of share buybacks for the second quarter. By Jon Mainwaring Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
MDBs, parties must deliver on finance: Cop 29 president
MDBs, parties must deliver on finance: Cop 29 president
Edinburgh, 25 April (Argus) — Cop 29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev pointed to insufficient action from multilateral development banks (MDBs) despite encouraging discussions, and urged all countries to play their part to deliver on climate finance negotiations this year. Climate finance discussions will be an important part of climate negotiations this year, having been "one of the most challenging climate diplomacy topics over the years", Babayev said today at the 15th Petersberg climate dialogue in Berlin — a forum for multilateral discussions. The meeting is a key milestone in climate discussions, paving the way for Cop 29 negotiations. The topic will be key as countries must decide on a new global finance goal to replace the $100bn/yr by 2020 pledge to developing countries made in 2009 and missed by developed countries. Babayev said he was working with a range of actors including MDBs, which have a "special role" as "multilateral public finance contributed the single largest part of the [$100bn/yr] target". Babayev said progress from the MDBs was essential, but while he "had many encouraging engagements during the World Bank and IMF spring meetings in Washington last week , we heard a great deal of concern and worry that we did not yet see adequate and sufficient action". "That must change," he said. He also warned that there is no single initiative able to unlock and increase climate finance flows to trillions of dollars, and instead pointed to "many interconnected elements" that countries will need to consider to set this new finance goal — the so-called NCQG. He added that the NCQG working group has already identified many options. "We know that [there are] strong and well-founded views on all sides," he said. "We are listening to all parties to understand their concerns and help them refine official landing zones based on a shared vision of success so we can deliver a fair and ambitious new goal," he added. "We need everyone to play their part so that we can build up unstoppable momentum where everyone is confident that their contribution is fairly matched by the contributions of others". Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said industrialised countries need to live up to their responsibilities. "Financial contributions from developed countries and multinational development banks will remain the basis of our efforts," she said, confirming that Germany has a €6bn climate goal for 2025. But she also said that "the world has changed" since the UN climate body the UNFCCC established a list of climate finance donors in 1992. The list has just 24 countries, plus the EU, as contributors. "In 1992, the two dozen countries that provided international climate finance made up 80pc of the world's economy. Now, that share is down to 50pc, and the share of all other countries has more than doubled," she said. She urged other countries in the G20, including China, "to join our effort". She pointed out that the donor base was broader for the loss and damage fund — to tackle the unavoidable and irreversible effects of climate change. Cop 28 host the UAE, which is not part of the 1992 list of donors, was the first contributor of the new fund created in Dubai last year. Babayev said that finance will not be the only important topic discussed at Cop 29 and that work must be done to get "the loss and damage fund up and running". Finalising the Article 6 negotiations will also be a key issue. "We cannot leave everything to market mechanisms," he said. By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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