THE ENERGY INDUSTRY T I M E S
May 2018 • Volume 11 • No 3 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365 www.teitimes.com
Special Supplement Decarbonising
transport The Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power
plant in Finland is hoping to
buck the trend when it comes to
constructing large nuclear plants
on time and to budget.
Decarbonising transport is essential if the
EU is to meet its climate change targets.
The electricity sector has a crucial role to
play in these efforts. Page 13
News In Brief
Cyber security breaches on
the rise
Cyber security breaches in the
energy industry are on the rise, with
several incidents being reported in
recent weeks.
Page 2
US energy companies
realise value in storage
Energy companies in the USA are
seeing growing value in largescale
energy storage systems as a
tool to boost grid reliability in the
face of growing renewable energy
deployment.
Page 4
Blueprint reinforces clean
energy commitment
India’s latest power sector blueprint,
the National Electricity Plan
2018, reinforces the government’s
commitment to clean energy.
Page 5
UK marks new renewables
records
The UK’s drive to invest in
renewable energy over the last
two decades has resulted in a
fundamental shift in its generating
mix as well as falling emissions.
Page 7
ABB hints at return to longterm
growth
Having gone through a year of
transition, ABB says it is set for
growth on the back of improving
economic conditions and increasing
electrification.
Page 8
Energy Outlook: Can carbon
prices fire up gas demand?
Modelling by McKinsey Energy
Insights shows how carbon pricing
affects the outlook for gas in various
markets.
Page 14
Technology: Taking solar
efficiency to the next level
Recent progress in the use of
perovskites for solar PV applications
looks set to take the technology to
the next level.
Page 15
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Final Word
Fast cars, fast money.
Junior Isles sees a
new formula
Page 16
EU moves
closer to tying
up energy
package Miguel Arias Cañete: talks
are at a critical stage
With renewables on the rise, the European Commission hopes that the full package will be
adopted by the end of the year. Vic Wyman in Brussels and Junior Isles in London.
Political talks on the European
Union’s energy and environment future
up to 2030 have reached a critical
stage, claimed Miguel Arias Cañete,
the bloc’s climate action and energy
Commissioner.
The EU institutions – the European
Parliament, the European Council and
the European Commission – are edging
towards agreements on new energy
efficiency and renewable energy
targets and on energy governance, he
told an informal EU energy ministers
meeting in Bulgaria in April.
At the meeting, Cañete called the
energy package vital for stabilisation,
energy security and economic growth
in the Balkans, which is a political priority
for the EU.
Those deals would follow an expected
final agreement within weeks by
the EU’s Council of Ministers on rules
on the energy performance of buildings,
after receiving the final thumbs
up from the Parliament on April 17,
2018.
The building energy rules would be
the first of eight parts of the Commission’s
2016 energy package to be adopted.
The other four parts cover
electricity market design (the Electricity
Regulation, the Electricity Directive,
and the Risk-Preparedness
Regulation) and rules for the EU
agency of electricity regulators, Acer.
The Commission hopes to unveil its
market design proposals before July
2018. At the recent EU Energy Summit
conference in Brussels, Belgium,
Pawel Wróbel, of the Polish Electricity
Association, said: “We really count
on having effective instruments and
financial instruments.”
The Commission hopes that the full
package will be adopted by the end of
the year.
Its 2030 targets include a 40 per cent
cut in greenhouse gas emissions on
1990 levels, a 27 per cent renewables
share of energy consumption and 30
per cent efficiency savings compared
with business-as-usual. The 27 per
cent is higher than a 2014 target because
of the rapid falls in the costs of
renewables.
Although original criticism of the
targets as unambitious has become
muted, the Parliament, for example,
Continued on Page 2
EDF ramps up focus on renewables and storage
France’s state-backed energy group
EDF is taking steps to develop its energy
storage footprint as it moved to
bolster its renewables credentials.
In April, its wholly-owned subsidiary
EDF Energies Nouvelles said it is
rebranding its international subsidiaries
to EDF Renewables to support the
company’s expansion in the international
renewable energy market.
“With the worldwide priority to
tackle global warming, it seems crucial
for us to raise the visibility of our
international business by establishing
a strong brand name consistent
with the EDF Group’s strategic goal
of being a major player in the energy
transition,” said Antoine Cahuzac,
Group Executive Director in charge
of Renewable Energies and Chairman
Chief Executive of EDF Energies
Nouvelles.
“By switching to an harmonised
international brand, we reinforce our
corporate culture and our common
commitment across all our subsidiaries,”
he said.
The company has already developed
and operated wind, solar and
energy storage projects in around 20
countries.
In French-speaking countries where
EDF Energies Nouvelles is established,
such as Morocco, and Quebec
province in Canada, the brand name is
changing to EDF Renouvelables. The
German operations and maintenance
subsidiary will change its name to
REETEC EDF Renewables.
The brand identity will remain EDF
Energies Nouvelles in France and for
the name of the EDF Group subsidiary
dedicated to wind and solar energy,
the company said.
The news follows an announcement
in late March that EDF plans to invest
€8 billion by 2035 to develop 10 GW
of additional storage around the
world by 2035, in addition to the 5
GW it currently operates. According
to the Reuters news agency, the additional
capacity includes 6 GW of
large, industrial sized storage such as
pumped storage and batteries. It also
said 4 GW will be for use by retail
customers and companies.
The company is also putting €70
million into power storage research
and development up to 2020.
EDF’s Chief Executive Jean-Bernard
Levy said: “With storage we can
smooth out the intermittence of renewable
energy and guarantee the
performance and balance of the
grids.
In December, EDF announced a
massive push into solar power that
will cost up to €25 billion with many
suggesting the move was due to increasing
pressure from the government
to increase its use of renewable
energy.
The French government will outline
its energy plans for the next ten
years by the end of 2018, including
how it intends to reduce the proportion
of nuclear power in its energy
mix. France relies on nuclear plants
for 70 per cent of its energy.
“The goal of reducing nuclear power
is irrevocable,” said left-leaning
Environment Minister Nicholas Hulot
in a recent interview.
He noted, however, that it would “be
difficult to maintain the target of reducing
the share of nuclear to 50 per
cent by 2025” as to do so would risk
power shortages and could, counterproductively,
push up carbon emissions.
Last November he therefore
suggested a new target of closer to
2035.
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
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