Plus: Billions for green hydrogen; Anti-ESG targets insurance; Idea to charge EVs midday; 1,000 electric trucks ordered from Volvo
Hi everyone,
I read this past week that solar PV is on track to attract more capital than oil production globally this year for the first time ever. Connect the dots with the pace of solar installations in China – set to see installations in 2023 exceed the entire installed solar capacity in the US (see Solar and Wind section). Wow.
Skim the rest of the headlines, watching for my comments in blue.
Thanks,
Peter
Finance & Sentiment
Anti-ESG Campaign Triggers More Defections From Insurer Group | BNN Bloomberg
The world’s biggest climate alliance for insurers has started hemorrhaging members, after Republican attorneys general accused the group of antitrust violations.
On Thursday, French insurers Axa SA and Scor SE, as well as Allianz SE of Germany, became the latest members of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance to walk out, bringing to seven the number of high-profile defections in less than two months. Axa’s departure is particularly noteworthy, as the firm had chaired the alliance.
Comment: I’ve said it before – starving oil and gas companies of capital and insurance, before the world is ready to do with substantially less oil and gas, will only lead to self-inflicted economic pain. To the extent that the anti-ESG movement triggers some sober second thoughts about what it means constrain investment in the supply of oil and gas, I am sympathetic to its cause. Yet herein lies the debate about how fast the energy transition can reasonably occur. Yes, it is urgent that we pivot away from oil and gas. Instead of focusing on the companies that simply meet demand, how about instead we target the consumption side. I still have a gas furnace and a gas water heater. Retrofitting homes to be electric-only heating, greening transport, making the grid 100% non-emitting – is a monumental undertaking – with woefully little recognition by governments here of what is needed to make that a reality any time soon.
Over 40% of Gen Z, Millennials Would Switch Jobs Over Climate Concerns: Deloitte Survey | ESG Today
Climate change and environmental sustainability will become increasingly vital factors for companies’ ability to recruit and retain employees, according to a new survey released by global professional services firm Deloitte, which found that more than 40% of Gen Z and Millennials have changed jobs or sectors due to climate concerns, or plan to do so in the future.
Comment: For oil and gas companies in particular, it’s looking like it will only become harder to attract top talent from universities.
Technology
Hydrogen
Neom formally reaches FID on giant green hydrogen complex; $8.4bn in deals signed | Hydrogen Insight
Saudi Arabia’s massive 2.2GW Neom green hydrogen and ammonia project has become the first gigawatt-scale H2 scheme to reach final investment decision (FID), formalising the funding the project partners announced in March.
Comment: The Neom name is associated with a concept city so wild, it made me laugh out loud watching the promo video (see The Verge article here). Whether it actually gets built in the way it has so far been conceived can be put aside for the time being. What is important is the investment into the green hydrogen complex somehow associated with the planned city. A hydrogen complex in which US-based Air Products plans to distribute the ammonia to global demand centers (through an exclusive 30-year offtake agreement), with a focus on northern Europe. And while that feels much more real to me, the inefficiency of using solar and wind power to turning sea water into ammonia still makes me wonder about the economics. Somehow Air Products landed a sweet deal, one that will make money for their investors.
The Most Valuable U.S. Power Company Is Making a Huge Bet on Hydrogen | Wall Street Journal
[Excerpts] NextEra Energy grew into a clean-energy powerhouse by investing early in wind and solar farms. Now, it is staking its growth on hydrogen, a much-hyped energy source whose economics are unproven. The $20 billion the company has said it is prepared to spend on hydrogen would represent roughly its combined net income from the past five years.
SK to invest in $4.5B Canadian ‘green’ hydrogen project | Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance
South Korea’s SK Ecoplant Co. will invest in and help develop a $4.5 billion “green” hydrogen project in Canada that’s set to be one the largest such plants in the world. The renewable energy unit of SK Inc. will buy a 20 percent stake in the facility in the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador for $50 million, it said in a statement. The project will produce green hydrogen and then covert it to ammonia to be exported to Europe from 2026, it said.
Danish giant adds massive green hydrogen hub to 30GW Australia pipeline | RenewEconomy
[Excerpt] The $30 billion project, dubbed Evergreen, aims to include roughly 4GW of solar, a massive 10GW of onshore wind and 7GW of hydrogen electrolysis capacity in the SA region bookended by the Spencer Gulf and the Great Australian Bight, and with the Gawler Ranges to the north. For the hydrogen component, the focus is more on Whyalla – where CIP will compete for space with other big hitters including Fortescue and French giant Total, to name just two.
Korean giant Samsung signs up for $5 billion Arrowsmith green hydrogen project in W.A. | RenewEconomy
[Excerpt] The plant is proposed for Arrowsmith, a small rural town about 300 kilometres north of Perth, and will eventually produce up to 300 tonnes of green hydrogen per day. It will be built on a 1,929 hectare property previously used for cattle grazing, and the project will include 700MW of electrolysers, 750MW of solar PV, 1,550MW of wind capacity and 240MW of batteries.
Bowen says $2bn hydrogen plan just a start for Australia | RenewEconomy
Federal climate and energy minister Chris Bowen says the $2 billion secured for green hydrogen projects in the latest federal budget is “just a downpayment” on what Australia needs to do to compete with the US and other countries.
Carbon Capture
Big Money Rushes Into Carbon Capture. Can it Deliver This Time? | Financial Post
The prospect of trapping carbon dioxide and storing it away so it can’t warm the planet has always been tantalizing. Now governments and companies are throwing their weight behind the technology as a way of solving the climate problem like never before.
20 carbon storage licences offered for award in the UK | North Sea Transition Authority
The drive to net zero emissions has taken a significant step forward today (18 May) with the offer of awards for 20 carbon storage licences at offshore sites, including some near Aberdeen, Teesside, Liverpool and Lincolnshire.
JPMorgan agrees to purchase $200 million worth of carbon removal | CNBC
[Excerpt] The spending will be allocated to long-term agreements to remove and store the equivalent of 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, JPMorgan said in a written statement.
Ørsted Awarded $1 Billion Deal to Capture and Store Over 8 Million Tonnes of Carbon | ESG Today
Denmark-based energy provider Ørsted announced that it has been awarded a 20-year contract for its “Kalundborg Hub” carbon capture and storage (CCS) project by the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), with planned capacity to remove and store over 400,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Small Modular Reactors
Dow CEO Jim Fitterling on advanced nuclear reactor project in Texas | CNBC
Dow CEO Jim Fitterling joins ‘Squawk on the Street’ to discuss Dow’s new nuclear project, safety concerns around nuclear plants, and more.
World’s first micro-modular reactor to be built in Chalk River, Ont. | CTV News
Already home to groundbreaking innovation, the site at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) in Chalk River, Ont. was announced Thursday as the site for the world’s first micro-modular reactor. Developed by Global First Power (GFP), the micro-modular reactor is a nuclear-based power source touted as the future of green energy.
Energy Storage
Korea’s Battery Makers Embrace LFP Cells as China Strides Ahead | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] While [Lithium Iron Phosphate] LFP batteries are cheaper and considered safer than nickel batteries (they don’t contain nickel, cobalt and magnesium, resulting in lower manufacturing costs), they’ve got a lower energy density in cold climates, hampering the driving range for electric cars during winter. Korean battery companies have historically shunned the technology for that reason.
But that attitude has changed in recent months as Chinese battery makers make various efforts to overcome those inherent weaknesses. One innovative method employed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s largest battery maker, is a so-called “blending technology,” mixing nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries (NCM) and lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) to boost energy density, according to an April 27 report from the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. The technology is expected to be applied to a new battery called M3P, the report said.
[Comment] Getting up to 400km on a single charge with this new blending technology, while considered impressive by those in the EV battery world, the “net range” on a cold Canadian winter day is what matters to me. If you own an EV and have experience driving in cold weather (-20C and colder), tell me what kind of range decrease you’re seeing.
Ontario awards 739MW of battery storage contracts in Canada’s biggest procurement to date | Energy Storage News
The first contract awards for Ontario for the province’s expedited LT-1 energy capacity procurement have been announced, in which 739MW of battery storage bids were successful.
Financial close for Ontario’s flagship 1GWh Oneida battery storage project | Energy Storage News
Oneida, a 250MW/1,000MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project which will mix long-term contracted revenues with merchant risk exposure in Ontario, Canada, has reached financial close.
Solar and Wind
China’s Solar Boom Is Already Accelerating Past Last Year’s Record Surge | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The country installed almost three times the volume of solar capacity between January and the end of April than in the same period in 2022, and is on track to add more panels this year than the entire total in the US. The nation could install 154 gigawatts of solar capacity this year, BloombergNEF said on Monday, raising its China forecast from a previous total of 129 gigawatts. The US had a cumulative total of 144 gigawatts installed at the start of 2022, according to BNEF data.
BP moves forward on 10 GW wind-solar complex project with land purchase | pv magazine
UK oil and gas giant BP is a step closer to establishing a large-scale integrated renewables and green hydrogen project in Western Australia after outlaying AUD 23 million ($15.3 million) for an almost 23,000-hectare property.
Octopus Energy to invest £1.2 billion into Asia-Pacific renewables | Current
Octopus Energy has confirmed it will make a £1.2 billion investment in the Asia-Pacific renewables sector by 2027. The company stated it would allocate the capital to support both solar and wind generation in the region with an estimated half of this money set to go towards Japanese renewables.
Norway unveils 20 new offshore wind areas | Offshore Wind
A group of Norwegian directorates led by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has identified 20 new areas for offshore wind development. This is part of the Norwegian authorities’ work towards having 30 GW of offshore wind in operation by 2040.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, ACWA Power invest $3.25 billion in three new solar projects | pv magazine
With a combined capacity of 4.55 GWac, the projects will power some 750,000 households. The Public Investment Fund is mandated to develop 70% of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy target capacity by 2030.
Transportation
Tesla Drops Model Y Starting Price Below the Average US Vehicle | BNN Bloomberg
Tesla Inc. is now charging less for the cheapest version of the Model Y SUV than what the typical new vehicle sells for in the US, a threshold Elon Musk crossed in blazing fashion. At $46,990, the base Model Y now costs $759 less than the average amount paid for a car or truck in the US.
Tesla Model Y overtakes Corolla to be world’s best-selling car in 2023 | The Driven
The Tesla Model Y electric crossover is now the best-selling car in the world, knocking the Toyota Corolla from the top of the podium.
Hungary Sees €3 Billion in New Chinese Car Industry Investment | BNN Bloomberg
Hungary is expecting €3 billion ($3.3 billion) in new Chinese investments in the automotive sector, further boosting the central European nation as a regional center in the transition to electric mobility, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
Honeywell, Summit Ag to Build World’s Largest SAF Plant | Ag Web
Honeywell International Inc. and Summit Agricultural Group are partnering to build the world’s largest plant making ethanol-based aviation fuel, with the plant expected to open in 2025. The Summit Next Gen facility will be located in the U.S. Gulf Coast and will utilize Honeywell’s technology to transform ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the companies announced in a joint statement.
Zeekr begins deliveries of its 001 EV with world leading 1000km range | The Driven
Zeekr, the premium brand of the Geely group and a stablemate of Volvo and Polestar, has begun delivering its 001 model which boasts a world-leading driving range of more than 1,000kms. Although mostly confined to the Chinese market, Zeekr plans to expand sales into Europe and then the rest of the world.
Nigeria wants to launch 12,000 electric buses in Lagos State | electrive
In Nigeria, the energy company Oando Clean Energy Limited (OCEL) has announced a partnership with China’s bus builder Yutong to put 12,000 electric buses on the roads over the next seven years and build the infrastructure for them.
Comment: Thanks to Alex Mitchell – Su$tainable Mobility for this story and the context: there are less than 6000 zero-emission buses funded, ordered, and/or delivered in the US in 2022.
Volvo receives order for up to 1,000 electric trucks from Holcim | Green Car Congress
Volvo Trucks has signed a letter of intent to sell 1,000 electric trucks between now and 2030 to Holcim, one of the world’s largest building solution providers. The deal is the largest commercial order to date for Volvo electric trucks; the first 130 trucks will be delivered in 2023 and 2024.
Circular Economy
Recycling ‘end-of-life’ solar panels, wind turbines, is about to be climate tech’s big waste business | CNBC
A wind turbine is recyclable, from the steel tower to the composite blades, typically 170 feet long, but most ends up being thrown away, a waste total that will reach a cumulative mass of 2.2 million metric tons by 2050. Currently, about 90% of end-of-life or defective solar panels also end up in landfills, largely because it costs far less to dump them than to recycle them.
Policy
Dutch government unveils more than €7.5bn of spending on green hydrogen in new climate package | Hydrogen Insight
The Dutch government has unveiled a massive €28.1bn ($30.8bn) climate package that aims to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels), which includes just over €7.5bn of cash for green hydrogen.