Two Czech billionaires and energy infrastructure investors are understood to have teamed up with state-run CEZ to bid or Alpiq’s gas- and coal-fired power plants in the Czech Republic. Having posted high losses in 2018, the Swiss firm Alpiq has been considering the sale of some power plants.
Boston-based energy infrastructure developer Advanced Power has broken ground on its South Field Energy project in Columbiana County, Ohio. The 1.182 GW combined-cycle gas power plant is being developed at a cost of $1.3 billion and is scheduled to come online in mid-2021.
The Government of Morocco has made “positive efforts” to improve energy access for all citizens and end fossil fuel subsidies to establish a more competitive energy pricing regime, said Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). With the exception of bottled butane, fuel prices are now linked to the international market.
The battery boom is coming as solar-plus-energy storage prices keep falling, making this hybrid technology preferable over gas peaking power plants on a levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) basis. According to Wood Mackenzie analysis, unsubsidized utility-scale LCOE for a 4-hour lithium-ion solar-plus-storage will be competitive against gas peakers in all the National Electricity Market (NEM) states of Australia in 2023.
General Electric has outperformed its rivals Siemens and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) by winning the most orders for HA-class gas turbines in Q1-2019, according to the latest McCoy Power Report. GE booked six orders, up from zero a year ago – MHPS won five orders, while Siemens booked four.
The power sector is attracting more investment than the oil and gas industry, with developers having spent over $1.8 trillion globally in 2018 on energy-related projects. Though the overall spent has stabilized after three years of decline, investors increasingly focus on projects with shorter lead times, the IEA’s World Energy Investment 2019 report finds.
Dynamics of the global energy transition are driven by the speed of electrification and the competition between flexible gas power plants and renewables plus energy storage. Margins in the downstream power market are becoming more attractive, as price discrimination allows for better value capture downstream than in the generation business.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has said it expects to produce enough natural gas from its new Assa North/Ohaji South development to provide fuel for generating about 2,400 MW of electricity. The move is part of Shell’s strategy to shift to a more gas-orientated business, said SPDC’s general manager, Igo Weli.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has won an order to deliver two H-25 gas turbines for a combined heat and power (CHP) project, being built on behalf of the Chinese Paper Firm Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd. Situated near Dongguan, in China’s Pearl River Delta, the CHP is due to start commercial operations in 2020.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed her new Climate Cabinet is seeking ways for the country to reach climate neutrality. Should the ministers find a “sound” way to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Germany would be able to join France and Sweden, in drafting a long-term EU climate strategy, said Merkel at the 10th Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin.
The coal-to-gas switch is gathering pace in the United States. Natural gas will provide the largest share of U.S. generation this summer at 40%, up from 39% last summer, EIA projections show. Coal, meanwhile, is seen losing market share to 25%, down from 28% a year earlier.
The intensifying trade war between the US and China is starting to impact shipments of US LNG to China and slows Beijing’s efforts to switch from coal to gas use in the power sector. Only four US LNG cargoes have been delivered to China since September, when a 10% tariffs came into effect. Now, Beijing hiked this levy to 25% - in retaliation to Washington’s move to expand import tariffs on Chinese goods.
The Nigerian government has announced plans to implement a new gas pricing regime on May 29 in an effort to reduce chronic supply shortfalls and subsequent electric power cuts. Payment issues, and problems with debt collections, have so far made it difficult to enforce domestic gas supply obligations for critical infrastructure such as power stations.
TTS Martin, the EPC lead for a combined heat and power project in Slovakia, has contracted Rolls-Royce to supply Bergen reciprocating gas engines to replace existing coal-fired gensets. The CHP is being built on behalf of the state-owned utility Martinska teplarenska and is scheduled to start commercial operations in early 2020.
Energy giant E.ON has delivered a strong operating performance in the first quarter of this year in all markets except the UK. The Essen-based company blamed Britain’s new regulatory cap on energy price for the €90 million decline in its earnings there.
News in Brief
ABB microgrid makes Indian villages energy self-reliant
May 17 – ABB’s MGS100 microgrid is helping some 39,000 homes and shops in remote regions in India to become energy independent, relying solely on renewable power sources and energy storage. Together with Husk Power Systems, ABB developed the MGS100 microgrid using wind and solar power to reduce household energy costs by up to 40% and improve productivity in 85% of factories and small businesses.
J-ENG develops new biofuel engine
May 16 – Japan Engine Corp. (J-ENG) has started to cooperate with Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) to research and development a test engine running on biofuel. The new engine is designed for use in the maritime sector and is likely to be re-calibrated at a later stage for use in small-scale power generation applications.
‘Smarter E-Europe’ conference opens doors in Munich
May 15 – Today, the 2019 “Smarter E-Europe” conference and trade show is opening its doors to visitors in Munich. At the exhibition, Siemens is presenting decentralized energy solutions based on renewables and intelligent energy management systems for buildings, infrastructure and industry. Expert presentations on transforming the energy system, renewable integration and storage technologies can be seen at Siemens’ exhibit at Booth 110 in Hall B2.
Marubeni buys stake in U.S. distributed energy firm
May 14 – Japan's Marubeni Corp. has invested an undisclosed sum to buy an equity stake in GridMarket, a U.S.-based provider of development services to distributed energy resources (DER). Using proprietary analytics and machine learning, GridMarket’s distributed energy project platform helps utilities by recommending best-fit solutions like battery storage, solar PV, fuel cells and combined heat and power. By cooperating with GridMarket, Marubeni expects to identify cost-effective projects and source best-fit technologies for its own DER network in North America and Japan.
Global RES additions stall after 20-year growth
May 13 – The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported an “unexpected flattening of growth trends” in the deployment of renewable energy sources (RES) deployment that raises concerns about meeting long-term climate goals. After two decades of strong annual growth, renewable energy developers around the world added as much net capacity in 2018 as they did in 2017.
RWE cancels €1.5bn coal power project
May 10 – The German utility RWE has decided to no longer invest in any coal-fired power projects and has cancelled a planned €1.5 billion ($1.68bn) lignite-fired power plant in Niederaussem, Germany. Instead, the utility is accelerating its transformation to renewables, energy storage and gas-fired generation through an asset swap with Europe’s largest utility, E.ON.
China’s CPECC to process gas from Iraq’s Halfaya oilfield
May 9 – Iraq and China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) have signed a $1.07 billion deal to build and operate facilities to process natural gas extracted alongside crude oil at Iraq’s giant Halfaya oilfield. CPECC, an affiliate of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), will process around 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mcf/d) of natural gas extracted from the field alongside crude oil, the oil ministry said. Halfaya, operated by PetroChina, is Maysan Oil Company’s largest oilfield, producing 370,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the company’s total output of around 510,000 bpd.
Iraq continues to flare some of gas extracted alongside crude oil but the Iraqi oil minister Thamer Ghadhban told Reuters Iraq is in talks with international oil companies to build a 300 mcf plant to process gas from the West Qurna 2 and Majnoon oilfields.
Chiyoda to get large cash injection
May 8 - Following losses of nearly $1 bill on an liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project in Louisiana, Japanese construction company Chiyoda is to get a $1.4 bill cash injection. The company suffered a $953 mill loss in the six months to 30th September, 2018 after costs spiralled on the $10 bill Hackberry LNG plant in Louisiana, largely, due to escalating labour costs, it was claimed. Chiyoda was expected to record a net loss of about $1.4 bill for the fiscal year to March. Mitsubishi Corp, which owns a 33.4% stake in Chiyoda, and the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, have agreed to provide capital while the company implements a rescue strategy, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.
Siemens, TÜV SÜD partner on digital energy security
May 7 – Siemens and the German technical verification association TÜV SÜD have come together to address the growing risk of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, notably in the energy sector. The companies will digitally asses industrial control systems in both the oil and gas and power generation sectors (nuclear applications excluded). All tests will be vendor-agnostic.
UK ‘can cut emissions to net-zero’ by 2025
May 6 – Advisors to the British government have urged the Cabinet to “set and vigorously pursue” a new target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net-zero’ levels by 2050, replacing the current target of an 80% reduction against 1990 levels. The the Committee on Climate Change, which published the report, believes the new target could be achieved within the same cost-framework as the current more lenient goals.
Iraq’s gas imports from Iran bound to rise in June
May 2 – Iraq has no alternative to importing more Iranian gas to meet peak summer demand, the country’s electricity ministry said. He specified that halting imports would cost Iraq’s power grid 4,000 MW per day. Some 14 GW of Iraq’s installed capacity is run on domestic gas, and supplies from Iran keep an additional 4GW operational. “Until now, we have no alternatives to Iranian gas,” a spokesman of the energy ministry said, adding imports from Iran are expected to increase in June from currently 28 million cubic metres per day to 35 MMcm/d.
Waukesha gas engines delivered to CHP in East Germany
May 1 – INNIO’s authorized partner, S&L Energie-Projekte, has provided four packages of INNIO’s Waukesha VHP 9394GSI gas engines for a CHP, operated by the municipal utility of Lutherstadt Wittenberg in eastern Germany. The modernized district heating plant is claimed to achieve an overall efficiency above 95%.
Burns & McDonnell oversee commissioning of fast-ramp plants in Michigan
April 30 – Two quick-ramp gas power plant projects in Michigan, overseen by Burns & McDonnell, are now commissioned and in full commercial operation. Both the F.D. Kuester and A.J. Mihm generating stations are powered by 18-MW, gas-fueled Wärtsilä 18V50SG reciprocating engines. The two plants have a combined 180 MW in generating capacity.
Gazprom advances start of ‘Power of Siberia’ link
April 29 – Russia’s Gazprom is preparing to start injecting natural gas into the ‘Power of Siberia’ pipeline to China in Q3-2019. Preparations are “going according to schedule”, Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller told CNPC chairman Wang Yilin at a working meeting in Beijing.
Siemens to focus on energy transition at OTC 2019
April 26 – “Navigating the new normal” in the oil and gas industry - against the backdrop of the global energy transition - is in focus of Siemens’ exhibit at the 50th annual Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). The event will be held in Houston, Texas, on May 6-9.
Norway’s sovereign fund invests $14bn in renewables
April 25 – The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) has been given permission to invest up to $14 billion in unlisted renewables. Norway’s finance minister, Siv Jensen, said the new approach was based on financial rather than environmental considerations. Moreover, Norway’s GPFG decided to tighten its coal criteria, which will lead to the divestment of large mines and coal-exposed power companies.
Smart grid market to top $70bn by 2027
April 24 – The global Smart Grid Market is expected to reach around $70 billion, growing at an annual rate of 15.56% in the coming years through to 2027.North America is forecast to see the largest revenue growth, according to ResearchNester, while Europe also shows promising growth in smart grids due to high awareness for decentralized power generation, battery storage and conserving energy.
