Plus: Urbanism stories!; Wind turbine orders reach new high; EVs pass tipping point in 23 countries; Shell divesting consumer-facing utility services
Hi Everyone,
It has been four weeks since my last issue. I hope it was worth the wait as there are a lot of stories to highlight. Check out my comments throughout, but especially on the province’s temporary pause on renewables.
I enjoy seeing this spread further, so please share this with others, encouraging them to give it a try.
Thanks,
Peter
Peter’s take on Alberta’s renewables moratorium
Just prior to my last newsletter, the government of my home province decide to place a six-month moratorium on the development of renewables. I’ll start by saying that I think this is a wrong move.
To understand why it happened, you need to understand that the United Conservative Party (UCP) won the last election with support from all of rural Alberta. The UCP have shown in this policy choice that it wants to protect its base by responding to a relatively small set of voices expressing concern. It is showing all the signs of being a quick reaction without taking the time to think carefully about the full implications – or, knee-jerk. That quick decision also, I believe, puts the regulator in a tough spot: to muddle its way through an inquiry without sufficient policy guidance. Take, for example, a new expectation for proponents to “List and describe pristine viewscapes on which the project will be imposed.” and “Describe mitigation measures available to minimize impacts from the project on these viewscapes.” Without defining what constitutes a pristine viewscape. Classic lack of policy guidance.
I am disappointed in the move, as I believe such policy and regulatory changes could have been worked through using normal processes without a moratorium. I cannot speak with confidence on the effect this moratorium will have on an impressive line-up of planned investment, though expect that it will have a cooling effect. Exactly how much, we may never know, as it is common for some announced projects to be later canceled.
I also believe that embedded in the quick decision was the desire to also make a statement – likely in response to the Federal government’s announced Clean Electricity Regulation, whereby Canada would achieve a net zero grid by 2035, something to which Alberta’s UCP take great offense. Putting a chill on renewable projects at a time when the Federal government would see them accelerated lays bare the animosity felt between these two governments. Lost in all this: renewables are the cheapest source of new electricity generation (without subsidies, by the way) and provide good jobs.
We need our governments to focus more on the consumption of energy
The last point I’ll leave with you: the current UCP government in Alberta is way too focused on the production of energy and has failed to take notice that what is also needed is sound policy on making Albertans leaders in the consumption of energy. Things like: net zero building codes, support for energy efficiency measures that would save consumers money, heat pump and rooftop solar incentives, smart meters, utility rate design that would incorporate time-of-use pricing to shift EV loads to off-peak, and the list goes on. But it doesn’t stop at just consumer use of electricity, it is also in the way everything almost everything we buy is part of a linear make-buy-use-toss model. Policy also needs to lead towards more of a circular economy. Plastic packaging, clothing, supply chains, all offer places for governments to help us be more sustainable.
Finance & Sentiment
Iberdrola Launches Nature-Based Carbon Reduction Project Development Business | ESG Today
Global energy and electricity provider Iberdrola announced today the launch of Carbon2Nature (C2N), a new company aimed at developing high-impact nature-based solutions to eliminate carbon emissions and improve biodiversity, and generate high quality carbon credits for customers.
Shell to Sell Home Energy Unit in UK, Germany to Octopus Energy | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The deal marks the end of an expensive foray into the direct supply of natural gas and power to households through the Shell Energy Brand. Under new Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan, the London-based company is refocusing on its core business in an effort to boost returns to investors.
[Comment] Yet another strategic move by Octopus. See the Energy Storage section – also up for sale by Shell: sonnen, a home battery and virtual power plant company – for the same reasons: to boost returns by focusing on its core business.
Technology
Hydrogen
Hyzon’s first liquid hydrogen-fuelled truck travels 870km without refuelling in 16-hour test run | Hydrogen Insight
[Excerpt] While the firm has currently designed its trucks around gaseous H2, liquefied hydrogen could offer greater energy density without increasing the total vehicle weight — even accounting for the need to keep it cooled below minus 253°C.
ConocoPhillips, JERA agree to sell Gulf Coast hydrogen to Germany | Houston Chronicle via MSN
Houston-based oil giant ConocoPhillips and Japanese utility JERA Co. said Tuesday they have a preliminary deal to sell low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia produced along the Gulf Coast to German energy company Uniper.
‘World’s largest’ blue hydrogen-based ammonia project shelved due to increased costs and lack of market | Hydrogen Insight
Nitrogen fertiliser giant Nutrien has shelved plans for a 1.2 million tonnes-a-year blue ammonia plant at its complex in Geismar, Louisiana, having only announced its intention to build “the world’s largest clean ammonia facility” last year.
Real-world figures | Hydrogen buses cost 2.3 times more to run per km than battery electric ones, says Italian study | Hydrogen Insight
A study into the real-world operation of zero-emission buses in the northeastern Italian province of South Tyrol (officially known as Bolzano) has found that its battery-electric buses were 2.3 times cheaper to run per kilometre than hydrogen fuel-cell equivalents, on average.
Multibillion-dollar blue hydrogen and data centre complex announced in West Virginia | Hydrogen Insight
Location has been selected for a 500 tonnes-a-day production facility, but details of exactly how the project will achieve claimed ‘zero carbon intensity’ are murky.
Carbon Capture
Oxy Captures Carbon Engineering in $1.1-Billion Deal | JPT
Occidental Petroleum has made another big move to solidify its position in the fledgling direct air capturing (DAC) business after announcing its intent to acquire Carbon Engineering for $1.1 billion.
Dutch court rules huge carbon capture project can go ahead | Reuters
[Excerpt] The planned “Porthos” project would be Europe’s largest carbon capture and storage facility and is expected to reduce the country’s annual CO2 emissions by about 2% for a period of 15 years from 2026. Under the project, CO2 emitted by refineries and chemical plants operated by Shell, Exxon Mobil, Air Liquide and Air Products would be transported to empty gas fields under the North Sea.
UAE Oil Giant Adnoc to Boost Carbon Capture Capacity | BNN Bloomberg
The biggest oil producer in the United Arab Emirates plans to develop a project that will nearly triple its capacity to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to store it below ground. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is developing a project that will capture 1.5 million tons a year of carbon dioxide emissions from its Habshan natural gas processing facility, the company said in a statement.
Norway’s Equinor acquires a stake in U.S. Bayou Bend CCS project | Reuters
Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor said on Monday it has acquired a 25% stake in Bayou Bend CCS LLC, a U.S. project to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions along the Gulf Coast in southeast Texas.
The Grid
Mitigating residential duck curve via solar pre-cooling | pv magazine
Solar pre-cooling consists of using residential PV systems to run air conditioners to pre-cool residential and commercial buildings. It offers benefits in terms of mitigating low minimum demand in electricity networks, flattening the grid’s net demand profile, and reducing electricity bills.
[Comment] This makes so much sense!
Texas hooked up its first virtual power plants to help the grid | Canary Media
Select customers now have the power to participate in Texas energy markets with their own devices — and to get paid for doing so.
Utility Xcel Energy launches Colorado virtual power plant scheme for Tesla, SolarEdge owners | Energy Storage News
Xcel Energy has launched a new scheme for customers in Colorado, rewarding them for allowing the utility to use their battery storage systems to provide grid services.
Small Modular Reactors
Ottawa announces up to $74M for small modular nuclear reactor development in Sask. | CBC
A final decision on whether to build a small modular reactor in the province is expected in 2029. [Excerpt] The GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 is the reactor identified for development in the province. That’s the same model chosen by Ontario Power Generation, which has been closely working with SaskPower on the project.
Buildings and Urbanism
One year of Good Move in Brussels: Fewer cars, more cyclists | Politico
[Excerpt] In a bid to stop cars from traversing across the city center — known as the Pentagon — and divert them onto a ring road, authorities converted major thoroughfares into one-way streets, restricted access to some avenues to public transport and priority vehicles, and even fully pedestrianized some boulevards.
Austrian supplier unveils heat pump adaptive to PV, weather, power prices | pv magazine
Austria’s Ökofen has developed a residential heat pump that identifies cost-effective and eco-friendly electricity in real time, in order to optimize heat production. It is now seeking a patent for its proprietary control technology.
New Zealand’s Legalization of Incremental Housing Is Bearing Fruit | Strong Towns
New Zealand has proven what stateside housing advocates have been theorizing for years: Loosening restrictive zoning rules can increase housing supply and stabilize rents.
[Comment] The City of Calgary is to decide this week on its Housing Strategy to address the affordability. I’ve already sent in my letter to Council signaling support, noting the many co-benefits of the increase in density that will come with the R-CG zoning across most of the city. R-CG is a residential designation that is primarily for rowhouses but also allows for single detached, side-by-side and duplex homes that may include a secondary suite.
Besides affordability, what are the co-benefits you ask? Start with simple economics: serve more with the same infrastructure, making just about everything more cost effective (think roads, water, sewer, snow removal, etc). Increased density also unlocks increasing transit frequency, unlocking more ridership and making it more cost-effective and a service people will want to use. Increased density also lowers emissions – row-houses are more energy efficient and result in less vehicle-miles-traveled.
Energy Storage
Canadian Solar’s Recurrent Energy signs 20-year tolling agreement for 1.2GWh BESS in Arizona | Energy Storage News
[Excerpt] Developer Recurrent Energy, an arm of solar PV and ESS manufacturer Canadian Solar, has secured a 20-year agreement with a local utility for a 1,200MWh battery storage project in Arizona. Recurrent announced the agreement with Arizona Public Service Company (APS) for the 1,200MWh Papago Storage project in Maricopa County, Arizona, today (16 August).
Shell putting residential storage and VPP firm sonnen up for sale – reports | Energy Storage News
[Excerpt] The decision is part of Shell’s move away from doing business with retail customers, the Handelsblatt report said, as well as a “ruthless focus on performance”. It reportedly paid around €500 million for sonnen back in 2019.
AGL, Wärtsilä complete 250MW Torrens Island BESS project in South Australia | Energy Storage News
The 250MW, 250MWh (1-hour duration) battery energy storage system (BESS) is sited on Torrens Island in South Australia, where AGL – Australia’s largest generator-retailer utility company – is in the process of closing down a natural gas power plant.
Solar and Wind
These accordion-like folding solar roofs will power EV charging stations | Electrek
Dhp Technology makes folding solar roofs, and now they’re going to be built over 45 rest stops, where they’ll power EV charging stations.
Nexamp orders 1.5 GW of Heliene solar modules for community solar | pv magazine
The modules will support the construction of about 400 new community solar projects.
Global wind turbine orders hit a new high at 69.5 GW in the first half of 2023 | Electrek
Global wind turbine order intake reached new highs in the first half of 2023 with 69.5 gigawatts (GW) of activity, a 12% increase year-over-year, according to new analysis from Wood Mackenzie. Orders from outside of China, which saw more than 25 GW of order demand for a 47% increase year-over-year through the first half, were a big driver of this activity.
WA lands $3 billion from CEFC to expand grid and deliver stunning renewable plans | RenewEconomy
Western Australia has secured $3 billion in federal funds to build out new transmission projects to support the stunning renewable energy plans of its mining giants in the north of the state and by green industries in the south.
TotalEnergies acquires full stake in Total Eren | pv magazine
[Excerpt] TotalEnergies will not fully integrate Total Eren into its renewables business. The transaction follows a strategic agreement between the two companies in 2017, which allowed TotalEnergies to take full control of Total Eren after a period of five years.
[Comment] Interesting contrast with Shell.
Transportation
Electric Cars Pass a Crucial Tipping Point in 23 Countries | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] That fast part of the technology adoption curve is happening now with electric vehicles, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of adoption rates around the world. When we first completed this analysis a year ago, 19 countries had passed what’s become a critical EV tipping point: 5% of new car sales powered only by electricity.
Lithium Players Race for Breakthrough to Meet Electric Car Demand | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The firm is among dozens of companies racing to commercialize technology to extract lithium directly from brine, ushering in a new source to supplement the hard rock mines and huge evaporation ponds that currently supply the battery metal to the world. The outcome of such efforts is set to shape the industry’s future, bringing either the promise of abundant supply or setbacks that sour investors for years.
CATL unveils EV battery enabling a 400 km driving range on a 10 minute charge | pv magazine
Chinese battery industry heavyweight Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) announced a new electric vehicle battery that reportedly enables long-range driving on a fast, ten-minute charge. It expects mass production to begin by the end of this year, and vehicles equipped with the battery to be available in the first quarter of 2024.
India Approves $7 Billion Plan to Electrify Public Transport | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The investment will be made to deploy 10,000 electric buses across cities, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said Wednesday. “There is a lack of public transport, especially buses, in cities,” he said, after a meeting of the federal cabinet. “This move will give a boost to electric mobility.”
Electric car owners may be paid to plug into solar | The Driven
[Australia] A university study will investigate what incentives could persuade electric car owners to power their vehicles during peak solar times to supercharge their environmental benefits.
New York City to Require More Zero-Emission Cars for Rideshares | BNN Bloomberg
Uber Inc., Lyft Inc. and other rideshare-operators would be required to include only zero-emission or wheelchair-accessible vehicles in their New York City fleets by 2030, under a proposal by Mayor Eric Adams and the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Ford battery plant is latest step in Quebec’s push to become global EV hub | BNN Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co. is joining with South Korean battery-component makers SK On Co. and EcoPro BM Co. to build a cathode active material plant in Quebec worth more than $1.2 billion.
Northvolt Raises $1.2 Billion Amid Canada Battery Factory Plans | BNN Bloomberg
Northvolt AB raised $1.2 billion from North American investors including BlackRock Inc. and CCP Investments as the Swedish battery maker is said to be in talks to set up a new factory in Canada.
India Approves $7 Billion Plan to Electrify Public Transport | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The investment will be made to deploy 10,000 electric buses across cities, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said Wednesday. “There is a lack of public transport, especially buses, in cities,” he said, after a meeting of the federal cabinet. “This move will give a boost to electric mobility.
A $2-3B battery factory for electric trucks is coming to the US | Electrek
Daimler, Cummins, and PACCAR are forming a joint venture to manufacture battery cells in the US for commercial electric trucks.
Hyundai and LG to spend an extra $2B on their US EV battery plant | Electrek
Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution (LGES) are going to inject an additional $2 billion into their $4.3 billion US EV battery factory.
Honda announces deal with Tesla to adopt NACS connector | Electrek
[Excerpt] Over the last few months, many automakers, starting with Ford, announced that they would adopt the standard starting in 2025 in order to secure access to the Tesla Supercharger network.
Feds announce $28 million for over 1,500 EV chargers in Quebec | Electric Autonomy
The funding supports 18 private and government projects to install, collectively, over 1,150 Level 2 and 480 DC fast EV chargers.
Zero-emission vehicles hit 10.5 per cent market share in Canada in Q2, an all-time high | Electric Autonomy
[Excerpt] The unit data tells an even bigger story. While Q2 was a strong quarter for all light-duty vehicle registrations (up 34.3 per cent over Q1), BEVs saw a massive 46.3 per cent increase, with nearly 35,000 vehicles registered. Tesla’s Model Y led the way.
Cargill and Mitsubishi turn to wind-powered giant sails to help decarbonise cargo ships | edie
Credit: Cargill
Cargill and Mitsubishi are collaborating to retrofit large wing sails on ships that harness wind energy in a move that could generate fuel and emissions savings of up to 30%.
Circular Economy
China plans recycling system for wind turbines, solar panels | pv magazine
China will introduce technical standards and policies for the wind and solar industries to recycle their decommissioned equipment by 2030.
Policy
German government passes €212bn climate fund | edie
The German government passed the budget for its flagship climate and transformation fund (KTF) on Wednesday (9 August) to accelerate the green transition by providing €212bn to various projects in building renovation, decarbonisation and the industry between 2024 and 2027.