Google invests in California solar project

: Electricity, Emissions
14/09/11

Google has agreed to invest $145mn in an 82MW solar project in central California.

The Regulus solar project is being built by SunEdison on an abandoned gas and oil field in Kern County, California. When completed, it will be SunEdison's largest project in North America. It will supply power to Southern California Edison under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project is scheduled to begin operation this year.

"This project with SunEdison presented an opportunity to take an old gas and oil field and turn it into a clean-energy-producing solar site. It made sense to support it on multiple levels," Google renewable energy principal Nick Coons said.

Regulus is Google's 17th renewable energy investment. The company said it has signed agreements to fund more than $1.5bn in renewable energy investments with a planned total capacity of more than 2.5GW.

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25/12/18

US House passes bill to expedite permitting

Washington, 18 December (Argus) — The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill designed to fast-track permitting for energy projects and reduce related litigation risks. But a last-minute change Republicans made to exclude some offshore wind and solar projects led some Democrats and a major clean energy group to withdraw support, complicating the bill's chances of passage in the Senate. The Republican-controlled House voted 221-196 to pass the SPEED Act, with 11 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote for what would be the most significant changes to federal permitting in years. The bill will now advance to the US Senate, where proponents will likely need to agree to make significant changes if they hope to pick up the votes of at least seven Democrats to avoid a filibuster. The bill "finally brings common sense by cutting red tape that dramatically increases the cost and, in some cases, just makes it economically unfeasible to do projects", House Republican majority leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said. The SPEED Act focuses on revising project reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is a source of delay and litigation risk for pipelines and renewable projects alike. The bill would require federal agencies to narrow those reviews and uphold those decisions even if federal courts find them to be inadequate. The bill would also provide permit "certainty" by limiting the government's ability to rescind prior approvals, averting a repeat of events like the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline. "We applaud the House for advancing the SPEED Act, a bipartisan, commonsense step toward fixing a federal permitting system that's long been broken," oil industry group the American Petroleum Institute said. Republican leaders were hoping 30-40 Democrats would join them to support the SPEED Act. The bill had broad bipartisan support when it was drafted because of provisions meant to prevent permitting delays that have plagued both oil and gas pipelines and renewable energy development. But Republican leaders, to satisfy far-right conservatives, made a change to the bill earlier this week that would prevent its expedited permitting procedures from benefiting any project that Trump's administration has blocked or revisited since 20 January. The Trump administration has targeted multiple offshore wind and solar projects this year and has ordered the developer of the nearly complete 704MW Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island to stop construction. That change fractured a bipartisan coalition that had spent months working on technology-neutral permitting language. The American Clean Power Association, the largest industry group for US renewable energy, on Wednesday withdrew its support of the bill , arguing the "poison pill amendment" that Republicans made eviscerated bipartisan language that gave expedited permitting treatment for all types of energy resources. A number of House Democrats who had backed the bill also withdrew their support. American Clean Power plans to work with both parties in the Senate to make changes. "This is not the final draft," representative Scott Peters (D-California) said during floor debate Thursday, vowing to work with his colleagues in the Senate to address House Democrats' concerns. By Chris Knight and Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

2026 set to be among 4 hottest years: UK Met Office

25/12/18

2026 set to be among 4 hottest years: UK Met Office

London, 18 December (Argus) — The forecast for 2026 suggests that it is likely to be one of the four warmest years on record, in terms of global average temperature, UK weather agency the Met Office said today. The Met Office's central estimate for 2026 puts the global average temperature at 1.46°C above pre-industrial levels. The range the agency forecasts is between 1.34°C and 1.58°C above the pre-industrial average. The central estimate suggests that 2026 will be the fourth consecutive year that the average temperature will be at least 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels. "Prior to this surge, the previous global temperature had not exceeded 1.3°C", the Met Office's Professor Adam Scaife said. Scaife leads the team behind the global forecast for 2026. The global average temperature in 2024 was 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels, making it the hottest year on record , several international weather and science agencies agreed. The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursues a 1.5°C threshold. The Paris accord's temperature parameters work on a longer timeframe, of at least two decades, so a temperature breach across a year or a few years does not render the accord broken. The World Meteorological Organisation in March estimated that the current level of global warming is at 1.37°C above pre-industrial levels. And climate science "may be underestimating the magnitude of human-induced global warming", given a recent surge in global temperatures, the UN Environment Programme said earlier this month. This year is "on course" to tie with 2023 as the second hottest year on record, EU earth-monitoring programme Copernicus said earlier this month . The global average temperature anomaly for January-November this year is 0.60°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.48°C above the pre-industrial reference period of 1850-1900, Copernicus data show. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Denmark pledges $9.5bn over 15 years for climate goals

25/12/18

Denmark pledges $9.5bn over 15 years for climate goals

London, 18 December (Argus) — Denmark has set aside 4bn Danish kroner ($630mn) annually for 15 years from 2034 in order to reach its climate goals, climate minister Lars Aagaard said today. The government has set the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target for 2035 — a cut of 82pc from 1990 levels, which Aagaard announced at the UN Cop 30 climate summit in November. Denmark aims to reach net zero emissions by 2045, and negative emissions beyond that. The government has since the end of November negotiated with all parties in parliament on the new 2035 climate goal, it said today. The target is set, although there was not "common ground to be able to make a broad agreement", Aagaard said today. "The door is still open for co-operation," he said. "I also think that there is a possibility of raising the target at a later date if the conditions change." The government has prioritised the "necessary financing" to hit climate goals, Aagaard said. "Everyday life must not become unnecessarily expensive for Danes and Danish companies," he said. "We are in a different place than we were in 2019, when the last target was set." Denmark's 2035 goal is one of the most ambitious in the world. It is similar to fellow northwest European oil and gas producer the UK , which has set a goal of 81pc GHG cuts over 1990-2035. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

N Zealand proposes ETS governance penalties

25/12/18

N Zealand proposes ETS governance penalties

London, 18 December (Argus) — New Zealand's environment ministry is eyeing fines for failure to comply with new reporting requirements under the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS), briefing papers published by the ministry this week show. Under the penalty regime, failure to report price and volume information to the government or market monitoring entities would result in fines of NZ$8,000 ($4,621) on the first instance, doubling to NZ$16,000 in the case of a second breach. Each additional breach would carry a NZ$24,000 fine. Those that fail to store trading information data would face first-time fines of NZ$12,000, which would double to NZ$24,000 in case of repetition. Additional infractions would be penalised NZ$32,000 per breach. The ministry's proposal, which was put to the climate change minister in October, follows the decision to implement stronger NZ ETS platform reporting requirements , agreed by the country's cabinet earlier this year. Additional proposals for NZ emissions units (NZUs) transacted on the secondary market would require trading platforms to keep records of trading information for seven years, and submit daily reports to the ministry with the price and volume of NZUs transacted on that day. Under the proposals, confirmed instances of NZU price manipulation could face criminal charges, potentially resulting in imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine lower than NZ$2.5mn. Misleading conduct without confirmed evidence would face fines proportional to the gain made or loss avoided. But they would not exceed NZ$1mn if an individual were facing the fine, or NZ$5mn in any other case. In addition to fines, the ministry would also publish the details of the entity committing the infraction and the status of the penalty, the briefing paper said. The penalty regime will be incorporated into a bill amending the country's Climate Change Response Act, alongside other market governance changes. The introduction of the bill to parliament was initially scheduled for late 2025 but has now been postponed, with a first reading expected in early 2026. By Kiara Campagne Nieva Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Viewpoint: French power in slump

25/12/17

Viewpoint: French power in slump

London, 17 December (Argus) — France enters 2026 with power prices in a slump, as stagnant demand meets strong nuclear availability and ever-increasing renewables output. Forward prices are well below spot delivery in recent years, with the Cal-26 contract assessed at €49.75/MWh on Tuesday, compared with spot delivery of about €60/MWh in 2024 and 2025. Lower gas prices explain some of the low forward prices, as does increased renewables capacity, but French hydro reserves are well below previous years, and EdF expects to produce less nuclear power year on year because of further planned long maintenance shutdowns. If low spot delivery confirms that these forward prices were correct as to how fundamentals would play out, it could limit any potential for upside risk. And the course of any potential demand recovery over the next few years will determine whether the contango shape of the French forward years is justified by fundamentals. The French yearly contracts are unusual with Europe being in contango, rising out to the end of the decade, compared with most other countries which are in backwardation. Fundamentals arguments put forward to explain this include expectations of increased interconnection to more expensive markets, or an uptick in demand, especially from industry and data centres. But demand has remained stubbornly flat over recent years. Industrial, data centre and hydrogen projects with a total demand of 30GW have grid capacity reserved for them. If all of these projects came to light and used their full capacity, demand would leap by 180TWh by 2030, or about 40pc. Not all of these projects will be built, and those that are will not use their full capacity all the time. Grid operator RTE's high estimate is for 60pc of projects to be completed, which will then use only 20-60pc of their grid capacity. But even if only some of them are built, this could push demand growth to 1-3pc/yr. RTE's low estimate for the incremental demand from these projects by 2030, as well as additional electric vehicles, comes to 2.7GW, while its high estimate is for 6.3GW of incremental demand. A rapid increase in demand could outpace supply gains from the several GW/yr of solar capacity likely to come on line in the coming years, mechanically tightening France's balance, if it is met and there is not a fall in demand from other sectors. France may be reaching a crunch point on renewables. The ambition of governments of recent years to advance on renewables and nuclear has hit the buffers, as the lack of any demand growth removes justification for increasing capacity. Low market prices are an indication that France does not particularly need any extra renewables capacity in the short term. Capture rates for solar have fallen year on year, while lower market prices mean the bill for public subsidy for renewables grows ever higher. Some increases are locked in over the next few years, but appetite may be lacking to continue growth beyond that. And political obstacles could make a low-renewables strategy easier. Right-wing parties are firmly opposed to renewables, and the government relies on their tacit support to remain in office. The government intends to publish the PPE3 10-year energy strategy by the end of the year, which in this draft includes cuts to renewables targets, it has said. The other big dossier of French energy is the new nuclear programme. EdF has already started preparatory works to build two 1.6GW reactors at Penly, and plans to build a further four, with eight more on the drawing board. But the experience of the Flamanville 3 reactor — entering service more than a decade late and many billions over budget — could make any government hesitate before offering EdF funding for more reactors. This is all the more true if prices remain low in the coming years, which would cut EdF's ability to fund large investments and require more government support. The mooted €100/MWh price point of the new nuclear, more than twice the current market price, is a further impediment. And the programme is not expected to come into service until the late 2030s at the earliest, meaning a government which holds fire can spare itself large costs without incurring any power shortage during its term in office. By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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