THE ENERGY INDUSTRY T I M E S
February 2018 • Volume 10 • No 12 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365 www.teitimes.com
Taking charge? SMRs can wear
the nuclear crown Electricity infrastructure developments
are under way to accommodate electric
vehicles but a huge amount of work
remains to be done. Page 13
Small modular reactors could
answer many of the problems
facing the nuclear industry.
Page 14
News In Brief
EU Parliament strengthens
clean energy ambition
The European Parliament’s vote to
strengthen its clean energy targets
through 2030 has been largely
welcomed but some believe more
could be done.
Page 2
US solar import tariffs
threaten market growth
Tariffs on imports on solar
components into the US could slow
the growth of the solar market,
according to industry experts.
Page 4
Japan looks offshore to cut
emissions
Japan is looking to set rules to
promote wind power generation as it
attempts to boost renewables targets
and meet its Paris climate pledge on
carbon emissions.
Page 6
UK’s clean strategy is not
enough
The UK’s Clean Growth Strategy
must be urgently translated into
action if the country is to meet
emissions targets, government
climate change advisors have
warned.
Page 7
Turkey boosts wind capacity
Wind energy capacity is set to
grow rapidly in Turkey following
successful tenders in 2017.
Page 8
Brookfield secures
Westinghouse future
Brookfield Business Partners says
it hopes to leverage Westinghouse’s
strong global market position and
diversified customer base after
sealing a deal to buy the nuclear firm
from Toshiba.
Page 9
Technology: Transactive
energy on trial
A micro-grid project in Brooklyn,
New York, is trialling a peer-to-peer
energy trading system. The first
transactions were conducted in April
2016 and today, some 50 solar sites
are participating in the project.
Page 15
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Final Word
Flying too close to the sun
has its hazards, says
Junior Isles.
Page 16
Calls to step
up climate
action at
Davos Modi: climate
change is a major
threat right now
India and France call for greater action on climate change, as business leaders point out the
opportunities of greening the economy. Junior Isles
World leaders and heads of businesses
gathering at the 2018 World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
called for increased effort in tackling
climate change. The call came a week
after NASA declared 2017 the second
warmest since 1880.
Last year, it was China’s President
Xi Jinping who galvanized climate
change supporters. This time the lead
came from India, as Narendra Modi
became the first Indian Prime Minister
in two decades to join world business
leaders in the Swiss resort town.
Modi said climate change was
among the gravest threats being faced
by humanity. “Extreme weather conditions
are rising by the day and the
world should come together. Climate
change is a major threat right now,”
he stressed.
During his speech at the opening
session, Modi outlined his country’s
progress in meeting its green energy
targets.
“To save the environment and to
fight climate change, my government
has planned a major campaign. By
2022, we want to generate 175 GW
of renewable energy. In the last three
years, we have already achieved 60
GW or around one-third of this target,”
he said.
Modi also said India had taken the
lead in fighting climate change by
setting up the International Solar Alliance
– a global group of more than
121 countries, most of them being
‘sunshine countries’, which fall either
completely or partly between the
Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn. The alliance’s aim is to
work for efficient exploitation of solar
energy to cut dependence on fossil
fuels.
As one of the world’s highest carbon
emitters, India’s action is important
but what happens in China is even
more critical. China produces more
than a quarter of the planet’s emissions
of global warming gases. Notably,
the Davos meeting took place as
new figures showed that China’s emissions
might be rising again.
Yet experts noted that one annual
increase does not indicate China is returning
to an era when its emissions
grew in leaps and bounds.
“The increase last year is a one-off
– it’s not likely to be sustained – but
Chinese emissions are not likely to
go down, either,” said Trevor Houser,
a partner at the Rhodium Group, a
New York consulting group specialising
in China.
China has pressed ahead with longer
term efforts to clean up its economy.
Last month it announced plans
to set up a national carbon trading
market. It is also encouraging more
use of natural gas.
According to figures released by
Bloomberg New Energy Finance in
January, Chinese investment in all the
Continued on Page 2
Regulators squash Trump’s plan to “bring back coal”
US President Donald Trump’s plan to
revive the flagging coal industry is in
disarray following the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission’s (FERC)
rejection of a proposal that would have
propped up nuclear and coal power
plants struggling in competitive electricity
markets.
At the same time, the commission
said it shared US Energy Secretary
Rick Perry’s stated goal of strengthening
the “resilience” of the electricity
grid and directed regional transmission
operators to provide information
to help the commission examine the
matter “holistically.”
In September, Perry sent a proposal
to the commission, which has responsibility
for wholesale electricity
markets, asking it to draw up new
regulations to support power generators
that were “necessary to maintain
the reliability and resiliency of our
nation’s grid”. He argued that overreliance
on gas fired plants, wind and
solar power could risk blackouts in
extreme conditions.
Following FERC’s decision, Perry
said in a statement: “As intended, my
proposal initiated a national debate on
the resiliency of our electric system.”
But most analysts saw the decision
as a setback for the administration.
“This outright rejection of subsidies
for coal and nuclear shows that Commissioners
of both parties have little
interest in manipulating electricity
markets in favour of any fuel source,”
said Paul Bledsoe, a former consultant
at the Obama-era Energy Department,
now a lecturer at American
University’s Center for Environmental
Policy.
The decision is a significant blow to
President Trump’s attempts to “bring
back coal” in the US. Coal fired power
plants across the country are being
shut down as a result of competition
from lower-cost gas fired generation
and renewable energy, and the subsidy
plan was seen as one of the few
potentially viable ways to halt the industry’s
decline. FERC said last November
that by the end of 2020 it expected
74 more coal fired plants to
have shut down with a total generation
capacity of 20.7 GW.
Coal continues to face strong headwinds,
not just in the US but also in
other countries where it has traditionally
been the mainstay for power
generation.
According to the International Energy
Agency’s recent annual coal
market report, global demand for coal
would remain nearly flat between
2017 and 2022, resulting in a decade
of stagnation for coal consumption.
Global coal consumption fell 1.9 per
cent to 5357 million tonnes of coal
equivalent (Mtce) last year, the second
year of decline, because of lower
gas prices, a surge in renewables, and
improvements in energy efficiency.
The Coal 2017 report noted, however,
that while coal demand fell in
China, the US, and the European
Union in 2016, it increased in India
and across many parts of Southeast
Asia, and shows no signs of slowing
down.
In the report, the IEA therefore
once again called for urgent action in
support of Carbon Capture, Utilisation
and Storage (CCUS), the technology
that aids clean coal use.
“Without CCUS, the climate challenge
will be much bigger,” it said.
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES is published by Man in Black Media • www.mibmedia.com • Editor-in-Chief: Junior Isles • For all enquiries email: enquiries@teitimes.com