Plus: Big sub-sea cables planned; $1.4B in Blue Hydrogen; $29 trillion of investors push corporates on climate
Hi Everyone,
Take a quick read of my comments, consider learning about Europe’s energy crisis in the feature stories section and then skim the rest of the headlines. The finance sector signposts are rather remarkable – some very large groups of investors flexing their muscles to address climate change.
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Thanks,
Peter
Observations & Comments
Maybe it is just me and my news feeds, but I am seeing way more stories about hydrogen than carbon capture. Granted, blue hydrogen necessarily includes carbon capture, but there are far fewer stories profiling carbon capture on its own. That says something to me: hydrogen offers a better path to profits. Whereas carbon capture reduces CO2 in the atmosphere, hydrogen is being seen as a ‘fuel of the future’.
Again, the parade of projects and investments that involve ‘gigawatts’ or ‘billions of dollars’ continues. Just give the headlines a quick scan to see what I mean.
Consider reading the feature story on Europe’s energy crisis. I’ve also seen stories about China having similar issues, with blackouts and curtailing of manufacturing and industrial production.
Lastly, I offer some quick insights into where investments in solar have been going – both for massive tenders and the build-out of manufacturing capacity.
Solar PV Tenders: Italy launched a massive tender for 3.3GW of solar PV, Turkey tendered another 1.5GW of solar and Algeria is about to tender 1GW of solar.
Solar Manufacturing: Heckert Solar opened a 400MW solar panel factory in Germany and two factories are planned for the US – a 350MW facility by Canadian manufacturer Ubiquity Solar and a 400MW facility by German manufacturer Meyer Burger. All this pales in comparison to the announcements I’ve seen for expanding production in China: the latest being plans for a 5GW facility to be built by Mingyang Smart Energy in Jiangsu province in two stages.
Yet look at the scale in China (excerpt from pv magazine – March 2021): The leading module makers have also increased their investments in more module production capacity. JA Solar announced the largest expansion in 2020 with a planned new capacity of close to 33 GW. Closely following is GCL Systems Integration, with 32.5 GW. Trina Solar plans 29 GW of new module capacity. Jinko, Longi and Risen plan almost 19 GW, 15 GW, and 13 GW of new module capacity, respectively.
The total module capacity of the top 12 manufacturers – including the two largest overseas players, Hanwha and VinaSolar –had reached 168 GW by the end of 2019, and grew to 268 GW by the end of 2020. Astonishingly, total module capacity is expected to grow to 392 GW by the end of 2021, according to Solarzoom.
Feature Stories
Making Sense of the Narratives Around Europe’s Energy Crunch | BNN Bloomberg
Europe’s going through an energy crunch with electricity prices at record highs and fears that the continent may have to shut factories to ensure homes have gas for heat. It’s an awkward situation, to say the least, as the U.K. prepares to host the global climate summit COP26 next month and the European Union begins to put its Green Deal into action.
There are two ways to explain what’s going on: a nuanced view that grapples with the complex factors at play, and a narrative view that finds a convenient way to simplify the situation.
Achieving net zero: What is turquoise hydrogen? | Spectra
Policymakers, energy firms and scientists are hoping to use carbon-free ‘green’ hydrogen as a fuel of the future for power generation, long-haul transportation and industry. But despite significant advances, the hydrogen market needs a major boost if it is to play a key part in the race to net zero.
A new technology referred to as ‘turquoise’ hydrogen production could be what is needed to fast-track its development.
Finance & Sentiment
Investors and lenders worth $29trn push corporates to align climate targets with science | edie
High-emitting companies including Samsung, Hyundai, Tata Steel and Lufthansa are being urged by an influential coalition of financial institutions to increase the ambition of their climate targets. The coalition comprises 220 financial institutions whose collective assets are worth more than the GDP of the EU – $29.4trn. It has been coordinated by non-profit CDP. Most participants (75%) are based in Europe.
Major UK pension funds among latest investors to join global net-zero commitment | edie
Tesco Pension Investment, the London Pensions Fund Authority and Railpen are among 12 asset owners to have this week joined a global collaboration designed to spur the transition to net-zero-aligned investing.
$6.6trn investor coalition calls for massive investment in carbon removal solutions | edie
An influential coalition of investors, representing $6.6trn in assets, is calling for a rapid scale-up of global investment into carbon removal solutions, to the extent that their capacity is more than ten times higher in 2050 than 2025. The call to action is being made by the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance.
Walmart raises $2bn through first green bond | edie
US-based retail giant Walmart has announced the closing of its inaugural green bond issuance, raising $2bn for initiatives that will decrease emissions and resource use, increase resource efficiency and conserve nature.
Quebec’s Caisse to sell remaining oil production investments by end of 2022 | Global News
Canada’s second-largest pension fund manager has announced a plan to divest its oil-producing assets in order to achieve a zero-emissions portfolio by 2050.
Total Sees Oil Demand Peaking Before 2030 in Power Switch | Energy Now
French energy giant TotalEnergies SE expects global oil demand to peak before the end of this decade, as more nations crack down on fossil fuels and promote cleaner power in transport and industry to mitigate global warming.Total’s 2021 Energy Outlook, which takes into account new net-zero pledges made by countries including the U.S. and China, assumes crude demand will plateau before 2030 and then decline, the company said Monday in a statement.
BP gambles big on fast transition from oil to renewables | Reuters Special Report
[Excerpt] The deal exemplifies a larger strategy to liquidate fossil-fuel assets to raise cash for investments in renewable-energy projects that BP concedes won’t make money for years. BP’s big bet is emblematic of the hard choices confronting Big Oil.
[Comment] A longer read that provides good insights into the trade-offs associated with BPs choices.
Oil majors pledge net zero target, update goals to cut methane, carbon intensity | S&P Global
A group of 12 of the world’s biggest oil and gas majors pledged Sept. 20 to reach net zero emissions from operations under their control (Scope 1, 2) and updated targets for reducing the methane and carbon emission intensity of their upstream operations.
Under the new targets, the OGCI said it plans to reduce upstream methane emissions intensity to well below 0.20% by 2025, bring carbon intensity from upstream operations down to 17kg CO2e per barrel of oil equivalent and end routine flaring by 2030.
Technology
Hydrogen
Ineos to invest $1.4 bil in blue hydrogen production at UK Grangemouth refinery | S&P Global
neos plans to produce and use up to 190,000 mt/year low-carbon hydrogen at its Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical plant in Scotland, in combination with the Acorn carbon capture and storage facility, as it seeks to reduce its CO2 emissions, the company said Sept. 22.
Plug Power to build 30 mt/day green hydrogen plant in California | IHS Markit
Plug Power announced a plan 20 September for what it says will be the largest green hydrogen production facility on the US West Coast, to be built in Fresno County, California. The facility will have a production capacity of 30 metric tons/day (mt/day) of liquid green hydrogen, provided through a new 300-MW solar farm that will deliver 120 MW of power to Plug Power’s electrolyzers, according to the company’s announcement.
Australian developer secures approval for 1 GW green hydrogen and battery project | pv magazine
Renewables developer Edify Energy has been granted development approval to build and operate a green hydrogen production plant of up to 1 GW, as well as a behind-the-meter solar and battery storage facility within the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville, northern Queensland.
Australia hydrogen hub shortlist expanded as feds commit additional $150 million – pv magazine
The federal government has announced it will extend its prospective national network of clean hydrogen hubs to each of Australia’s states. The move was welcomed by a number of industry bodies, though some say the program doesn’t go far enough with government spending still lagging our European counterparts.
New 10GW green hydrogen project in Mauritania could include Africa’s first offshore wind farm | Recharge
Government grants exclusive development rights to offshore and onshore zones to oil & gas player Chariot, which plans to build a ‘world-class consortium’ to progress the giant wind/solar/H2 project
Carbon Capture
Australia to provide US$180 mln in grants to promote carbon capture | Reuters
The Australian government on Thursday committed to provide A$250 million ($180 million) in grants to support development of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) projects, part of a broader technology push to help cut carbon emissions.
Energy Storage
Tesla announces expansion of its biggest virtual power plant in Australia | Electrek
Tesla announced today that it is expanding its biggest virtual power plant in Australia to Victoria through its new “Tesla Energy Plan.”
Tesla secures biggest ever order – 6GWh – for Megapack batteries in US | RenewEconomy
Leading American renewable energy company Arevon has just made a 2GW/6GWh order for Tesla Megapack battery units in the US, believed to be the largest single battery storage order in the world.
Solar and Wind
ATCO to build two solar farms in Calgary | Calgary Herald
The ATCO Group announced plans Wednesday to build two solar installations in Calgary with the capacity to power more than 18,000 homes.
Lightsource BP secures $1.8bn to develop 20-plus GW of new solar by 2025 | pv magazine
The clean energy joint venture, which is half owned by British energy company BP, today said it expects to create around 500 jobs as it ramps up its solar portfolio from less than 4 GW to 25 GW in four years.
$22B power link proposed to connect 10GW wind+solar+storage in Morocco to U.K. | BNN Bloomberg
A former head of Tesco Plc is part of a business planning to build what would be the world’s longest power link bringing extra supplies to Britain from renewable sources in Morocco.
Ohio approves more than 530 MW of solar additions | pv magazine
Three utility-scale projects won approval, contributing a surge of capacity to what has been a busy year for solar in Ohio.
Russia’s renewables auction concludes with lowest solar bid of $0.059/kWh | pv magazine
In the procurement exercise, the Russian energy regulator allocated 775 MW of PV capacity, 1,851 MW of wind power, and 96 MW of hydropower capacity. The auction concluded with an average price of RUB 5.18 ($0.070)/kWh.
Sun Cable: World’s biggest solar and battery project expands again, gets Indonesia approval | RenewEconomy
The world’s biggest solar PV and battery storage project, Sun Cable, has been expanded up to to a mind-bending 20 gigawatts for the solar component of the Northern Territory proposal, and 36-42GWh of battery storage.
Canadian manufacturer to set up 350 MW solar cell factory in New York | pv magazine
Ubiquity Solar plans to annually produce 350 MW of utility-grade PV cells and 1.5 MW of advanced space-grade PV cells for aerospace customers.
Giant 2 GW solar-plus-storage project announced for Inner Mongolia | pv magazine
Elion, a state-owned company aimed at restoring the ecology of Inner Mongolia’s Kubuqi Desert, and fellow public entity the power company Three Gorges New Energy Co yesterday announced they will develop a 2 GW solar-plus-storage project in Inner Mongolia.
TC Energy, EDP Ink PPA for 297-MW Wind Farm in Alberta | Entrepreneur
TC Energy Corporation has entered into a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of the renewable energy firm EDP Renewables SA for 100% of the Sharp Hills Wind Farm’s production in Alberta.
500MW solar project under development in Finland | pv magazine
The solar park will occupy 500ha of abandoned peatland in southern Finland. The project’s levelized cost of energy is estimated at less than €0.04/kWh.
Transportation
London’s largest taxi firm to go fully electric by 2023 with 4,000 EVs | Electrek
Addison Lee, a London-headquartered private hire taxi and courier company, and the UK’s largest private vehicle hire firm, today announced that its entire fleet will become fully electric by 2023. Its current fleet currently stands at around 4,000 cars.
Ford, SK invest US$11.4B in electric truck, battery plants | BNN Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co. and South Korea’s SK Innovation Co. plan to spend US$11.4 billion to construct three battery factories and an assembly plant for electric F-Series pickup trucks in Tennessee and Kentucky, the biggest investment in the U.S. automaker’s history.
California to require all robots cars to be electric by 2030 | The Verge
California will require all light-duty autonomous vehicles (AV) to emit zero emissions starting in 2030. On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill sponsored by environmental groups that would eventually prohibit gas- and hybrid-powered autonomous vehicles from operating in the state.
TotalEnergies to install 11,000 public charge points in China Electrive
Total is to build a charging network in China. Through a 50:50 joint venture with the state-owned utility China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), more than 11,000 public charging points with 60 to 120 kW are to be installed in Hubei province by 2025.
Policy
Biden, world leaders push climate action, vow methane cuts | AP News
President Joe Biden tried on Friday [Sept 17] to hammer out the world’s next steps against rapidly worsening climate change with a small group of other global leaders and announced a new U.S.-European pledge to cut climate-wrecking methane leaks.
Biden, in the public opening of the otherwise private talks, hailed a new U.S. agreement with the European Union aiming at cutting the two entities’ emissions of methane 30% by the end of this decade.
US doubles climate finance to $11bn as China pledges an end to overseas coal support | edie
With less than two months to go until COP26, the world’s two largest emitters – China and the US – have both announced landmark agreements that look set to bolster climate finance availability and drastically reduce the pipeline for overseas coal projects.
China Pledges to Stop Building Coal-Burning Power Plants Abroad | NY Times
It marks a major shift for one of the biggest backers of coal-fired plants globally. Still, China remains heavily reliant on new coal plants at home, and is the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.
South Africa Adopts Lower Emission Target Ahead of COP26 Meeting | BNN Bloomberg
South Africa’s cabinet adopted the lower greenhouse gas emission target recommended by a panel set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
New York nearly doubles goal for distributed solar installations on success of existing incentives | Utility Dive
New York will increase the goal for its NY-Sun distributed solar program to aim for 10 GW of installed solar capacity by 2030, according to a Monday announcement by Governor Kathy Hochul, D. The program was already on track to exceed its original goal of 6 GW by 2025.
NSW to halve emissions by 2030, injecting ‘transformative’ $37 billion into clean energy | RenewEconomy
New South Wales, Australia’s most populace state and largest economy, has upped the green ante, today setting a new target which will see it rival clean energy powerhouse South Australia. The state government is seeking to spur more than $37 billion in private investment from its policies, hoping to double the state’s economy.