Plus: Solid state battery gets boost from Ford and BMW; Pumped hydro around the world
Hi Everyone,
Surprise! I decided to get these stories out even though I said you’d wouldn’t see the next update until next Sunday. So a hearty Happy Father’s day to all the Dads!
I’ve kept my comments brief this week. Skim the rest of the headlines if only to gauge the sweep of developments. Subscriptions have been level for about the past half year. Surely there are others you know who would appreciate getting this. Your vote of confidence is more valuable than you think.
Thanks!
Peter
Observations & Comments
The announcements by Maine and Berlin were noteworthy – have a look in the policy section. An important signal on sentiment and willingness of governments to make these policy changes. In the case of Berlin, it is just another example of municipal governments not waiting on state/provincial or federal governments and implementing transition policy where they can.
I post a lot of stories on the growth of renewables. It would be easy to then have the impression that oil, gas gas and coal use must somehow be declining. This piece helps us see that in fact the proportion of fossil fuels in the energy system has remained steady at 80% between 2009 to 2019.
Report: Global fossil fuel use not yet in decline, despite renewable energy pledges | edie
Fossil fuels accounted for some 80% of global final energy consumption in 2019, the same share of the energy mix as a decade ago, a major new report has revealed.
Credit: Renewables 2021 Global Status Report | REN21
Policy
Maine Becomes First State to Order Public Fossil-Fuel Divestment | BNN Bloomberg
Maine became the first U.S. state to enact a law requiring divestment from fossil fuels, after Governor Janet Mills signed a measure ordering public funds to jettison investments in coal, petroleum, natural gas and related products.
NSW commits $380m to speed up grid network upgrades for renewable energy | RenewEconomy
The NSW government has committed $380 million over the next four years to boost network infrastructure for the state’s first renewable energy zones, which it hopes will unlock tens of billions of dollars in new investment in wind, solar and storage projects.
Solar mandatory on new buildings in Berlin from 2023 | pv magazine
Under the new provisions, which will come into force in 2023, a photovoltaic system will have to cover at least 30% of the roof area of a new building.
Finance & Sentiment
Legal & General Divests From U.S. Insurer AIG Over Climate Policies | BNN Bloomberg
Legal & General Investment Management will sell holdings in four companies including U.S insurer American International Group Inc. after deeming they’re making insufficient progress on addressing climate change risks.
Energy, investor groups clash ahead of SEC climate-risk rulemaking | S&P Global
Investor groups and environmental advocates say mandatory corporate climate risk disclosures with uniform metrics are critical for shareholders and economic stability. That position is at odds with the one advocated by energy industry players, many of which are asking for flexibility, liability protections — or no new guidelines at all.
Technology
Carbon Capture
Pembina and TC Energy Partner to Create World-Scale Carbon Transportation and Sequestration Solution: The Alberta Carbon Grid | Newswire
Pembina Pipeline and TC Energy are pleased to share their plan to jointly develop a world-scale carbon transportation and sequestration system which, when fully constructed, will be capable of transporting more than 20 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
New carbon market initiative to scale-up carbon capture and storage solutions | News Release
Today (June 16) an alliance of organizations announced the formation of the CCS+ Initiative, a new venture to leverage carbon markets and to scale up global decarbonization and carbon removal efforts. The CCS+ Initiative will focus on advancing carbon accounting for a range of carbon capture, utilization, storage, and removal technologies that are underpinned by robust ‘cradle-to-grave’ life cycle assessments (LCA) and rigorous verification standards to ensure environmental integrity.
Energy Storage
New pumped hydro around the world: Tried and tested long-duration storage tech makes comeback | Energy Storage News
Four projects totaling over 2 GW are under construction in Scotland, Australia, AUE and India. Another three projects in the planning stages total nearly 4 GW. Statistics vary a little from source to source, but at least 100GW of pumped hydro is thought to be in operation today and according to the International Hydropower Association (IHA) those plants can store about 9,000GWh of power in total.
Ford, BMW lead US$130-million investing round in solid-state battery startup | Driving.ca
Ford and BMW are leading a US$130-million funding round in a solid-state battery startup, Solid Power, as carmakers push to lower the cost of electric vehicles by investing in the development of affordable but powerful rechargeable batteries.
Solar and Wind
Will invest $23 billion in renewable energy, Lowers expected returns | E24
Equinor will inject almost $23 billion in renewable projects until 2026. At the same time, the company is adjusting down the expected return. In 2020, Equinor expected a return of six to ten percent on its renewable projects. The company has now downgraded this target to between four and eight percent.
Macquarie invests €90 million in Concentrated Solar Plants in Spain totaling 120MW | PV Magazine
Australian financial group Macquarie Asset Management on Monday announced a €90 million ($109 million) debt investment in a portfolio of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in southern Spain.
Module price increases to moderate PV project returns in India | PV Magazine
PV module prices have risen by 15% to 20% over the last four to five months. PV modules account for about 50% to 55% of overall project costs, so such price increases could moderate debt service coverage metrics for developers.
Lightsource BP buys 703 MW of PV projects in Spain, seeks off-takers through tender | pv magazine
The U.K.-based solar developer wants to identify potential buyers for the electricity generated by the facilities through competitive bidding.
Laos to supply Vietnam power from Mitsubishi-built 600 MW wind farm | VNE Express
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation will develop Southeast Asia’s largest wind farm in Laos to supply electricity to Vietnam, where demand is expected to grow continuously.
Enel Begins Operating South America’s Largest Wind Farm | SEI
Enel Green Power has announced that it has begun the commercial operations of the 716 MW Lagoa dos Vento’s wind farm in Brazil. It is the largest wind facility currently in operation, investing €620 million in the project.
Autonomous Vehicles
GM’s Cruise Unit Starts Preproduction on Autonomous Shuttle | BNN Bloomberg
Cruise LLC, the self-driving-car unit majority-owned by General Motors Co., has started preproduction on its purpose-built battery-electric autonomous shuttle and boosted its access to cash.
Waymo announces another $2.5 billion in funding from latest investment round | Electrek
Autonomous rideshare startup Waymo has announced an additional $2.5 billion investment round of funding. Waymo plans to use the additional funding, led by parent company Alphabet Inc., to hire more staff and advance its self-driving technology toward more paid rides.
Transportation
Ford, BMW lead US$130-million investing round in solid-state battery startup | Driving.ca
Ford and BMW are leading a US$130-million funding round in a solid-state battery startup, Solid Power, as carmakers push to lower the cost of electric vehicles by investing in the development of affordable but powerful rechargeable batteries.
Audi to go all electric, plans to phase out petrol, diesel cars by 2026 | HT Auto
Audi plans to introduce as many as 20 battery-powered electric vehicles in the next five years as part of the Volkswagen Group’s push for electrification.
End-to-end fleet EV charging service Fleet Fix launched lowering barriers | Current News
A new fleet electrification service claiming to be the first automated service to supply, install and manage the entire electric vehicle (EV) charger process has launched.
GM accelerates investments in EVs and AVs by 75%; now plans $35B in 2020-2025 | Electrek
GM announced today an acceleration of its planned investments in electric vehicles, which is going to include two new battery cell factories in the US.
Volkswagen seeks partners for battery materials race | Reuters
Volkswagen is in talks with suppliers to secure direct access to raw materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries via partnerships, one of its board members told Reuters on Tuesday.