Plus: $10B from Germany for Hydrogen; Oil and gas companies see shareholder and court reckonings; 10GW Icelandic offshore wind for UK
Hi Everyone,
Since I was off for the past week, I was tempted to stretch it to 3 weeks between issues, but there were just too many juicy stories to share. Check out my ‘Comments & Highlights’ section as well as the ‘Feature Stories’ section.
Skim the rest for stories that may interest you.
Enjoying this? The best compliment you can give is your recommendation to subscribe. Take a moment to forward this on to others.
Thanks!
Peter
Comments & Highlights
The news from this past week involving oil companies is being called a watershed moment for the sector. Check out the feature stories to learn why.
Anybody who has been following the International Energy Agency for years will realize just how dramatic a pivot their latest report is from reports of perhaps 5 years ago. As noted by many commentators, it is not a projection but rather a ‘thought experiment’ or ‘a roadmap’. See the ‘Feature Story’ section.
A few other interesting stories:
Suncor adopts net zero by 2050 greenhouse gas emissions target | CBC and pledges to cut a third of its carbon emissions by 2030 | BNN Bloomberg
Meet clean energy’s unlikely secret weapon: Scented candles | Euronews
It turns out scented candles may be the key to unlocking clean energy. A compound widely used in scented candles could be used to store massive amounts of electricity in batteries. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have found that a bright yellow powder, known as common fluorenone, is a frontrunner in using low-cost organic compounds that step away from traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Huge 10GW of offshore wind capacity near Iceland to help power UK | RenewEconomy
Plans to build 10GW worth of offshore wind in the North Atlantic and connect it with the United Kingdom by undersea cables have been unveiled, starting off with a 2GW offshore wind farm to be built off the coast of Iceland to begin operations in 2025. The £21 billion (US$30B) HIP Atlantic Project calls for the development and operation of 10GW of fixed and floating wind turbines in the North Atlantic, which will then be connected to the United Kingdom by long-length, high-capacity, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine power transmission cables.
Feature Stories
Big Oil’s climate-change takedown arrives with stunning rebukes | BNN Bloomberg
Fresh from striking a hammer blow in the boardrooms of the world’s biggest oil companies, the climate movement has a clear message: the energy transition is happening and there’s no turning back.
Just five years ago, environmental activists were limited to waving placards outside of annual meetings and to the odd shareholder proposal, inevitably rebuffed by the boards and management teams. On Wednesday by contrast, stock investors ousted two Exxon Mobil Corp. directors seen as insufficiently attuned to the threat of climate change, while Chevron Corp. shareholders voted for a proposal to compel the company to reduce pollution by its customers. Royal Dutch Shell Plc was ordered to slash emissions harder and faster than planned by a Dutch court.
It was a humiliating loss for Exxon, the Western world’s biggest oil company, made worse by the fact that the the effort was championed by an activist with just a 0.02 per cent stake.
Court orders Shell to slash CO2 emissions in landmark climate ruling | CNN
A Dutch court has ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must dramatically reduce its carbon emissions in a landmark climate decision that could have far reaching consequences for oil companies. The company must slash its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels, according to a judgment from a district court in The Hague on Wednesday. That includes emissions from its own operations and from the energy products it sells.
End new oil, gas and coal funding to reach net zero, says IEA | Reuters
Investment in any new oil and gas developments must stop immediately, electricity should be 90 per cent renewable by 2050 and governments must “close the gap between rhetoric and action” if the world is to meet its goal of net-zero emissions and limit the worst impacts of climate change, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency.
Technology
Hydrogen
Germany pledges $10 billion for hydrogen projects backed by Shell, BP, Total, others | IHS Markit
Majors BP and Shell, utilities like Vattenfall and RWE, and chemical refiners like BASF, Linde, and Dow all are likely to benefit from promised German state funding for 62 hydrogen projects. Their projects are due a share of over €8 billion ($9.73 billion) in German state and federal funds announced jointly by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Federal Ministry of Transport on 28 May.
Oman plans to build world’s largest green hydrogen plant | The Guardian
Construction is scheduled to start in 2028 in Al Wusta governorate on the Arabian Sea. It will be built in stages, with the aim to be at full capacity by 2038, powered by 25 gigawatts of wind and solar energy.
Green hydrogen venture aims for $1.50/kg for LA by 2030 | PV Magazine
HyDeal LA includes the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and aims to overcome green hydrogen’s high cost by launching a commercial hydrogen cluster at scale.
Cummins, Iberdrola partnering on 500-MW green hydrogen electroyzer new-build in Spain | Power Grid International
[Excerpt] A site selection search within the Guadalajara area of Castilla-La Mancha is currently underway for Cummins’ new €50-million PEM electrolyzer plant that will house system assembly and testing for approximately 500 MW/year and will be scalable to more than 1 GW/year. The facility, which will initially be 22,000 square meters, is anticipated to open in 2023
Dijon, a city Northeastern France, is launching a €100 million hydrogen project | PV Magazine
The project aims to reduce the CO2 emissions of the territory’s public transport starting in 2023. The green hydrogen project launched in 2020 is based on the construction of two local green hydrogen electrolysis production stations, with an initial combined daily production capacity of 1,320 kg of hydrogen. By 2030, Dijon Metropole aims to renew its entire fleet of heavy vehicles with hydrogen (over 220 vehicles).
Greek consortium proposes €8B green hydrogen concept | PV Magazine
A group of 11 companies led by Greek gas company DEPA Commercial, submitted an €8 billion investment proposal for the development of the integrated green hydrogen “White Dragon” project in Greece to the Greek Government and the European Union. It should cover the entire hydrogen value chain. The project aims to gradually replace the lignite power plants of West Macedonia. “Hydrogen will then be stored directly (short-term hydrogen storage) and indirectly (streaming through DESFA’s natural gas pipeline) and, subsequently, through high temperature fuel cells will provide the country’s power grid with electricity as a fixed base load co-generation unit of green energy and heat,” reads a note released last week.
Carbon Capture
Canadian Natural hopes to extend carbon capture lead over rivals with carbon-based fuel cells pilot | Financial Post
Amid a spike in interest for hydrogen fuel cells, Canada’s largest oil and gas producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. is betting that a different type of fuel cell can both generate electricity and help reduce its emissions at the same time.
Energy Storage
Australian network group proposes 1.1GW of batteries to unlock more renewables | Energy Storage News
Over a gigawatt of battery storage has been proposed in a plan to enable the wider rollout of renewables by Powercor, owner and operator of an electricity distribution network serving more than 800,000 customers in the Australian state of Victoria.
Vermont to use Tesla Powerwalls and Autobidder software to displace fossil fuels | RenewEconomy
Green Mountain Power, an electric distribution company in the US state of Vermont, has announced a new plan to use its network of residential Powerwall batteries and Tesla’s Autobidder software to help keep the state’s grid balanced.
2GWh pumped hydro storage plant in Australia achieves financial close, project set to go ahead | Energy Storage News
Australian renewable energy developer Genex Power has achieved financial close on what looks likely to be the country’s first new pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant in nearly 40 years.
Shell wins $2.5 billion Australian power contract with battery storage | Reuters
Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state said on Tuesday it has awarded a A$3.2 billion ($2.5 billion) 10-year power supply contract to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which includes supplying battery back-up power for wind and solar energy.
Solar and Wind
India’s largest floating PV project comes online | pv magazine International
The 14.7 MW project, developed for Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) Limited, relies on 37,632 390W PV panels occupies an area of 15.6 hectares.
South Korea plans to build 6GW offshore wind farm | Power Technology
Earlier this year, the South Korean government announced it would build the largest floating wind farm at 8.2GW offshore Sinan due to be completed by 2030. Now the government is announcing another floating wind farm offshore Ulsan at 6GW, also by 2030, with 20% of the capacity could be used for generating 84,000 tons per year of green hydrogen.
3SUN set to reach 3GW of solar module capacity at Italian plant in 2023 | PV Tech
The solar module manufacturing subsidiary of Italian utility Enel is aiming to scale up annual production capacity to 3GW in the second half of 2023, the company has confirmed.
Transportation
Ford aims to build batteries in US with SK Innovation I BNN Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co. and South Korea’s SK Innovation Co. are poised to announce Thursday they’ve reached an agreement to jointly build electric-vehicle batteries in the U.S.
Nissan to set up EV battery plants in Japan, UK | Nikkei via MSN
Nissan Motor Co will partner with China-based battery maker Envision AESC group to build new battery plants for electric vehicles in Japan and United Kingdom and will invest over 200 billion yen ($1.82 billion), Nikkei reported. The Japanese automaker will start turning out batteries in two new plants as early as 2024, aiming for total capacity sufficient to power 700,000 EVs per year, the report said.
Nissan aiming to build 6GWh battery gigafactory in the UK | Yahoo
Nissan (7201.T) is talking to the UK government about potentially setting up a battery gigafactory at the site of its Sunderland car manufacturing plant. The FT reported discussions are at an advanced stage, and quoted sources as saying the factory would support the production of 200,000 battery cars a year
BHP, Rio Tinto, and Vale launch competition to decarbonize mining truck fleets | Expande
Three of the world’s biggest resource companies, have launched the Charge On Innovation Challenge, a global competition for technology innovators to develop new concepts for large-scale haul truck electrification systems to help significantly cut emissions from surface mine operations and unlock safety, productivity, and operational improvements.
Circular Economy
Wind giant Vestas says it can now fully recycle turbine blades | Electrek
Danish wind turbine giant Vestas has announced today that it, along with a coalition of industry and academic leaders, has figured out how to fully recycle wind turbine blades.
Policy
G7 agrees to phase out fossil fuel subsidies | BNN Bloomberg
The Group of Seven nations have agreed to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and to stop financing coal projects, according to a draft statement seen by Bloomberg. The statement, which will be endorsed by G-7 environment and climate ministers on Friday, will align government policies to the crucial target of keeping global temperature rises within 1.5°C. It calls for an end to international support for “unabated” thermal coal generation this year, and promises to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.
Biden administration opens up California coast for 4.6 GW of offshore wind development | Utility Dive
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced an effort with California to develop areas on the Western Outer Continental Shelf to bring up to 4.6 GW of floating offshore wind online. The Interior Department will hold a meeting on June 24 to discuss the West Coast areas identified as potential sites and conduct an environmental analysis for a lease sale auction targeted for mid-2022.
German government commits €8B to 62 hydrogen projects | PV Magazine
The German Federal Ministry of Economics and the German Federal Ministry of Transport selected 62 large-scale hydrogen projects to receive €8 billion in government funding as part of a joint European hydrogen project, which is known as Hydrogen IPCEI – Important Projects of Common European Interest. According to the estimates, they should lead to 2 GW of new electrolysis capacity, corresponding to 40% of the 2030 target set in the National Hydrogen Strategy presented last year (5 GW).