Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) has invited developers to come forward with expressions of interest (EoIs) to finance, build and operate a 2,000 MW combined-cycle gas power project at Fujairah, UEA. Bids need to be submitted by February 10.
A new ‘Distributed Resource’ Desk, just launched by UK’s National Grid, allows for faster dispatch instructions to small gensets, battery storage and demand-side response. In the first 24 hours of operation, the number of bids and offers accepted from these aggregated providers was 87 MWh, up 113% on average.
Energy-related emissions in the United States are poised to fall as the country’s GDP growth is anticipated to slow from 2.9% in 2018 to 2.7% this year and down to 2.0% in 2020. According to EIA projections, industrial production will soon grow at a slower rate than overall GDP.
General Electric and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. will build Sharjah’s first combined-cycle power station in Hamriyah, UEA, under a public-private partnership with Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA). The 1.8 GW project will consists of three blocks, the first of which is slated to come online in May 2021.
Strong order intake and some very large orders support Siemens’ overall business, although Q1 net profits plunged 49% and revenue growth is seen to stay moderate. “There is still much to do before we achieve industry-leading margins in all our businesses,” CEO Joe Kaeser said in an analyst call today.
Reacting to lower net earnings Wärtsilä will lay off 1,200 employees globally, the Finnish company said in connection to its annual report. The order intake of Wärtsilä Energy Solutions’ business fell, CEO Jaakko Eskola noted, mainly due to “slower decision-making among our customers.”
Trinidad & Tobago’s Cove Power Plant is now running on a new LM2500 aero-derivative turbine following a $132 million plant expansion. For GE, it was the first gas turbine to be supplied and commissioned in Tobago – but it has already sold more than 2,200 units around the world.
Oman’s Duqm Integrated Power and Water project (DIPWP) will be driven by Siemens gas and steam turbines, as well as digital solutions. The €200 million contract marks Siemens’ largest order win in Oman, with project completion due in 2022.
California-based Sempra Energy has decided to sell its equity interests two utilities in Chile and Peru to focus on its LNG export ventures in North America. Sempra CEO Jeffrey W. Martin said “this planned sale allows us more focused capital investment in the U.S. and Mexico.”
Contrary to U.S. President Trump’s policies to strengthen the role of coal in America’s energy mix and support cash-strapped mining companies, the use of coal is falling faster than in the Obama-era. According to EIA estimates, the coal share of total power generation reached a new low of 28%, well below the 35% share of natural gas.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, has been proposed as a solution to Australia’s current energy crisis, with advocates calling for the removal of state bans to allow the production of unconventional oil and gas resources. Matthew Meagher, researcher at Northern Australia and Landcare Research Programme says “fracking is cheaper than current renewable technologies and refurbishing old coal-fired plants.”
Two Canadian utilities – New Brunswick Power (NB Power) and Nova Scotia Power (NSP) – have selected Siemens for new C$92.7 million (€ 60.95m) smart grid project. A new Energy System Platform (ESP) will optimize integration of renewables, ensure grid stability and manage decentralized distribution.
The German ‘coal commission’ has reached a historic decision over the weekend to shut down all of the country’s lignite- and hard coal-fired power plants in less than 20 years. By 2038, at the latest, no more electricity will be generated from coal and Germany’s coal-dependent federal states will get €40 billion in compensation.
China’s state-owned CNOOC is making a concerted effort to meet, and even overshoot, its target on capital expenditure. The company’s revised strategy follows President Xi Jinping's call for greater self reliance in the face of a growing economic slowdown.
Russia’s Gazprom has decided to invest another RUB 17.7 billion ($266m) on top of an earlier RUB 120.9 billion ($1.8bn) spent on the Sakhalin-III project in Russia’s Far East. The Sakhalin project is at the heart of Gazprom’s Eastern Gas Program, designed to establish a new export route for Russian gas to Asia-Pacific.