JERA, Japan’s largest LNG importer, together with Chiyoda and researchers at RITE have started a demonstration project whereby solid sorbent material is used to separate CO2 from the exhaust of a gas-fired power station. Domestically available sorbent material is used to keep down the costs and the research is funded by Japan’s Green Innovation Fund.
Offshore wind, combined with energy storage, will cover a fast-rising share of the world’s energy mix as power generators seek to limit their reliance on fossil fuels. Capex spending on offshore wind could reach $1 trillion worldwide by 2031, Wood Mackenzie finds, calling on investors to look beyond bid prices and lease fees when scaling up projects.
ACWA Power has posted a 19.5% rise in operating income for the first three month of 2022. The Saudi developer, project sponsor and plant operator brought three water and seven power projects that came into operation between February and December 2021, including the Jazan IGCC with 3,800 MW installed power gen capacity.
About two dozen European gas importers have opened accounts with Gazprombank, preparing to pay for Russian gas imports in roubles as demanded by President Vladimir Putin. Another 14 clients are understood to be asking the bank for the paperwork to set up such accounts to ensure a new payment scheme is in place prior to a deadline later this month.
Texas’ electricity grid operator ERCOT has prolonged its supply warning until the end of this week, requesting power plant operators to hold off planned maintenance and keep their generators operational amid blistering temperatures and rising demand. San Antonia’s municipal utility CPS Energy was quick to point out its six plants were running at full capacity.
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the world’s largest aluminium smelter outside China, has signed a full turnkey contract with Mitsubishi Power and SEPCO III to its expand Power Station 5. Construction works for the new 680.9 MW combined-cycle block are “on course to start,” Alba said, with the new block scheduled to commence operations in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Two of six LNG import projects in the Philippines are near completion, the Department of Energy (DoE) said. Start-up of Atlantic Gulf and Pacific’s (AG&P) regas terminal at Batangas is now slated for August 1. Handled by the local firm Linseed Field Power, the terminal will source fuel for Ilijan power station (1200 MW), replacing domestic supply from the Malampaya field.
PetroVietnam’s Nhon Trach 3&4 units will be the first HA-powered combined-cycle plants in Vietnam once operational in 2025. The project’s EPC contractor, Samsung C&T, asked GE to supply turbines and related equipment for two LNG-fuelled power units that are expected to deliver over 1.6 GW of cleaner electricity, in a shift away from coal.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates new generating capacity from wind, solar and other renewables to rise to a record 320 GW in 2022, despite higher costs for raw materials and supply-chain constraints. In the EU, annual green energy additions jumped by nearly 30% to 36 GW, lowering the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas in the power sector.
Japan’s largest power producers JERA wants to invest 1.4 trillion yen ($11 billion) to decarbonise fossil power stations at home and to expand its assets overseas in a bid to boost net profits. The announced Capex includes 250 billion yen for upgrading gas power plants to hydrogen co-firing and for sourcing green fuel from abroad.
Accusing the Kremlin to “weaponize fossil fuels”, Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said the country could cope with a halt in Russian gas deliveries by winter 2022/23. In retaliation for Berlin seizing Gazprom Germania, Russia lowered gas deliveries by 3% but Habeck is convinced new floating LNG terminals will bring in sufficient alternative supply.
Japan’s largest LNG importer JERA has agreed to buy all stakes in two US thermal power stations from Stonepeak Investment. The Canal Generating Plant in Massachusetts and Bucksport Generation in Maine have a combined capacity of 1.63 GW and are partially equipped with fast-start gas turbines that JERA seeks to enhance.
AEG Power Solution has provided a large shopping mall in Paarl, South Africa, with a reliable microgrid that integrates a solar-powered 1.2 MWh lithium-ion battery with fossil genets. Peak shaving reduces energy prices to a minimum and leads to an amortization time of 4-5 years.
South Korea’s state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has reported an all-time operating loss for the January-March period of 7.78 trillion won ($6.06 billion). Soaring fuel costs for imported natural gas and coal contrasted with a freeze of domestic electricity rates as the government in Seoul sought to reduce the burden on consumers and contain inflation.