Plus: Big batteries proliferate – and for pairing with renewables; A $7.7B renewables mega-project in China; Hertz selling some of its Teslas
Hi Everyone,
I have salted in quite a few comments on stories throughout this issue along with providing my take on Alberta’s electricity system. I invite you to send me your own reflections.
As always, continue to forward on to others you think would be interested. I rarely look at my analytics, so I was surprised to count readers in over 20 countries. Help this reach more!
Thanks,
Peter
Peter’s Take
The Alberta electricity grid was at a critical point Saturday night, so an emergency alert was issued asking people to cut back on electricity use for things like cooking, laundry or charging EVs. For most of us, our gas-fired furnaces were keeping us warm in the -35C temperatures. The spare capacity went from 10MW to 100MW almost immediately after the alert was issued. If we had residential time-of-use pricing here, it might have avoided the need for such an alert. Likewise, if we had residential demand side management. But the occasion made me think of the cold-weather heat pumps under development – see the story in the Buildings section. And the opportunities we’re missing for harvesting heat from waste water (showers, dishwashers, etc.). See story in the same section showing how it can be done. We have a lot of room for further efficiencies.
While I am on this topic, I worry that Alberta’s electricity grid may not have enough safeguards to prevent it from being overbuilt. I’ve already pointed out there is no residential time-of-use pricing here. Under our system here, generation is deregulated, while transmission and distribution are regulated. Generation, transmission and distribution are mostly managed by different companies, each with their own agenda. Those generating power benefit when more is required. Likewise for transmission and distribution. So where does overall system efficiency get looked after when all the players involved benefit more when the system is bigger?
So, for those of you who understand the system better than I do, please explain what is missing. I have to think some of the answer lies in government policy. And this is where I worry, because I haven’t seen anything that gives me the confidence that the current government “gets it”. It appears too busy focusing on the production of energy and no vision for the responsible consumption of energy and everything that goes with that. Such as what you ask? Net zero building codes, passenger rail service between Edmonton and Calgary, Calgary airport-downtown-Banff, supporting cities to make them more walkable, bikeable, with good public transit – and so much more.
Finance & Sentiment
‘Transition Finance’ Takes Center Stage in 2024 | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] For sustainability-minded investors, however, all of this begs the question: Do any assets fail to qualify? And for the polluters that do, how can investors be confident they’ll decarbonize at the speed and scale envisioned?
Such details are all the more critical given that some climate-finance funds announced at COP28 intend to invest in transition assets. For example, part of Alterra, a $30 billion venture that the United Arab Emirates launched with BlackRock Inc., TPG Inc. and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., is going to transition funds. But there’s little immediate detail about how those are structured.
[Comment] I expect that coming standards will penalize those companies who do not meet their commitments or worse, struggle to even meet minimum disclosure requirements. Once capital markets become unavailable to them, they become targets for take-over, likely by larger companies that do know how to navigate all the new disclosure rules and manage in ways that attract decent ESG scores. In the oil and gas sector, this could lead to things going two ways: 1) we could see further consolidation into the larger companies and 2) some companies will simply just go private to avoid all the disclosure requirements.
World’s Biggest Banks Made $3 Billion on Green Debt Last Year | BNN Bloomberg
[Excerpt] The world’s biggest lenders generated a total of about $3 billion in fees last year from lining up debt for deals marketed as environmentally friendly, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By comparison, the sector brought in less than $2.7 billion in aggregate earnings from fossil-fuel transactions.
Climate Group Targets Canadian Banks With Complaint to Regulators | BNN Bloomberg
A climate activist group is urging securities regulators to investigate Canada’s biggest banks over their green-finance claims and whether “inadequate or misleading” disclosures could be putting investors at risk.
Technology
Hydrogen
Problems at world’s largest existing green hydrogen project will not be solved until late 2025, Sinopec admits | Hydrogen Insight
Chinese oil giant suggests that the electrolysers at the 260MW Kuqa facility in northwest China are only operating at about 20% of capacity.
Hyundai delivered 500 FCEVs in Guangzhou | China Hydrogen Bulletin
On Dec 23th, 2023, H2 Solution, a joint venture by Hyundai HTWO Guangzhou and two local state-owned companies, announced it delivered 500 FCEVs to commercial operators in Guangzhou, which is a record high in China’s FCEVs deployment. This 500 FCEVs include logistic vehicles, freezer trucks, road sweeper and buses.
Bosch to launch hydrogen engine for trucks and construction vehicles later this year | Hydrogen Insight
[Excerpt] Hydrogen engines are less efficient than fuel cells, so vehicles using them will require more H2 to travel the same distance. But proponents say they hydrogen engines are cheaper to buy and easier to maintain than fuel cells — which are more easily contaminated by dirt and dust, and require very high-purity H2 to run.
Japan’s Eneos invests in US low-carbon hydrogen project | Argus Media
Japanese refiner Eneos has invested in US firm MVCE Gulf Coast’s low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia project, with an eye towards exporting low-carbon hydrogen to Japan from the US Gulf of Mexico.
8 Rivers Announces Cormorant Clean Energy Project | Carbon Capture Magazine
8 Rivers Capital, LLC, a world-leading decarbonization technology developer, announced it is developing the Cormorant Clean Energy Project, an ultra-low-carbon ammonia production facility in Port Arthur, Texas. Cormorant will produce an estimated 880,000 tonnes of ammonia and capture more than 1.4MM tonnes of CO2 annually, with a >99% CO2 capture rate.
Carbon Capture
EPA gives Louisiana approval power for carbon storage drilling | Louisiana Illuminator
[Excerpt] Some 30 carbon capture and sequestration projects have been proposed across Louisiana, and the EPA’s granting of primacy to the state is expected to put many on the track toward approval. The federal agency based its decision on Louisiana adopting regulations for Class VI injection wells that meet or exceed federal standards, according to the governor.
Microsoft inks carbon removal deal with offsets startup Chestnut | Reuters
[Excerpt] Unlike other offset deals that generate credits by preserving trees, Chestnut plants new trees on land previously farmed or under other usage, providing greater environmental benefit, its founder Ben Dell said in an interview. Under the agreement, Microsoft will acquire [2.7 million tons] carbon removal credits for a period of 15 years from Chestnut from trees planted in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
Two CO2 capture and storage projects coming in Port of Rotterdam | Power Engineering
[Excerpts] The latest of these is a plan by ExxonMobil to build a pilot plant using carbonate fuel cell technology to capture CO2 emissions from industrial sources before they are released into the atmosphere.
Earlier in October, Porthos, a joint venture between EBN, Gasunie and the Port of Rotterdam authority to provide CO2 transport and storage services to industries in the port, committed to going ahead with the development of the first major transport and storage system in the Netherlands.
The Grid
China Wants Its Massive EV Fleet to Plug In and Charge the Power Grid | Bloomberg via Yahoo
[Excerpt] China plans to lean further into vehicle-to-grid tech. The government’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, said last week it will select 50 projects in places like Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong and Sichuan to carry out demonstrations by 2025. By 2030, it wants the technology and market mechanisms that would allow widespread adoption standardized across the country.
Urban Design & Buildings
The Canadian neighbourhood heated by sewage | BBC Future
[Excerpt] Tucked under a Vancouver bridge, an energy centre sits on top of the existing sewage pumping station so heat can be captured before sewage reaches the treatment plant. Heat pumps cool down warm sewage that’s around 20C (68F) in temperature and concentrate that heat to produce scalding hot water which can be as high as 80C (176F), Pope explains. Once the heat running through False Creek’s sewage pipes is recovered by heat pumps a five-mile-long (8.3km) pipe network, known as a thermal grid, distributes heat back to the district’s 44 buildings.
Four heat pump makers develop successful sub-zero prototypes in the US | electrek
[Excerpt] In addition to Johnson, Bosch, Daikin, and Midea will join previously announced partners Lennox International, Carrier, Trane Technologies, and Rheem in having successfully passed the lab testing stage, and will now move into the field testing phase of the Challenge. More than 23 prototypes will be installed and monitored in various cold-climate locations throughout the US and Canada over the next year.
Energy Storage
Tesla Megapack battery turns on to replace Hawaii’s last coal plant | electrek
[Excerpt] The project, called Kapolei Energy Storage, is located on the industrial west side of Oahu and consists of a massive 185MW/565MWh Tesla Megapack system.
Dutch municipality backs 250MW/1,000MWh BESS | Energy Storage News
[Comment] I noted that TenneT, Netherlands’ transmission system operator (TSO), suggests 9GW of energy storage is needed by 2030. The article also notes the many challenges to seeing that come to fruition – grid congestion, permitting issues, etc. Unless those issues are resolved, it could represent a material barrier to the incorporation of ever higher proportions of renewables on grids in the region. But that phenomenon is also not unique to Europe.
Spearmint Energy’s 150MW/300MWh Texas BESS online | Energy Storage News
[Excerpt] The company announced the start of commissioning on the 150MW/300MWh Revolution battery energy storage system (BESS) in June last year, its first major project which it acquired in June 2022, and has said the project is now online.
UK government preps new mechanism for long-duration electricity storage | pv magazine
The UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is calling. for stakeholder feedback into the development of an LDES system “cap and floor mechanism.” LDES systems are loosely defined, according to this Journal of Energy Storage paper, but are batteries capable of storing hours to months’ worth of energy.
[Comment] Pumped hydro storage and Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries are among the energy storage technologies that would benefit from such a mechanism.
Another big battery joins South Australia pipeline in race to energy storage | RenewEconomy
Yet another big battery has joined the development pipeline in South Australia, with the unveiling of a 220MWh project proposed for construction in Mannum, east of Adelaide.
Startup Form Energy’s ‘100-hour’ iron-air battery tech attracts another US utility’s attention | Energy Storage News
Another utility agreement has been signed by Form Energy, the US startup which claims its iron-air battery can provide sufficient stored energy to ride through multiple days of low solar or wind production. Puget Sound Energy, an electric and gas utility serving 1.2 million electric customers in the Washington State region of the same name, said on Friday (5 December) that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) around Form Energy’s technology.
Solar and Wind
Renewables covered almost 60% of German electricity demand in 2023 | pv magazine
New statistics from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) show that PV systems in Germany generated around 59.9 TWh of solar power in 2023, with 6.4 TWh used for home consumption.
[Comment] I noted this 7% year-on-year increase in electricity from renewables also came with nearly a doubling of energy storage. As grids take on increasing proportions of renewables above 50%, energy storage is showing to be ever more important.
China Breaks Ground on $7.7 Billion Renewables Mega-Project | BNN Bloomberg
A Chinese energy firm has broken ground on a massive new 55 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) project in Shanxi province combining wind turbines, solar panels and battery storage in an old coal mining area.
Equinor, bp just scrapped their 1.2 GW Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm | electrek
[Excerpt] Equinor and bp said that the decision to terminate Empire Wind 2 was due to “commercial conditions driven by inflation, interest rates, and supply chain disruptions” that prevented its existing OREC agreement from being viable.
RWE to secure 4.2GW offshore wind portfolio from Vattenfall | Current
German multinational energy company RWE confirmed on 21 December that it would acquire a UK-based offshore wind portfolio totalling 4.2GW.
[Comment] What is being acquired is a portfolio of potential future projects. While offshore wind at present faces many challenges to seeing near term investment (owing to higher interest, inflation causing higher costs, supply chain issues, etc.), this decision by RWE shows the long term view is still positive for offshore wind. Proponents will want to have a suite of projects to choose from when investment conditions improve.
Judge orders removal of Oklahoma wind farm opposed by Osage Nation | Tulsa World
[Excerpts ] While Enel had obtained leases from the surface land owners to build the wind farm, which covered over 8,000 acres, they needed separate approvals to disturb the subsurface land, the court found. The wind farm includes 84 turbines spread across 8,400 acres of leased surface rights in Osage County, underground lines, overhead transmission lines, meteorological towers and access roads, the ruling said.
Qcells to supply Microsoft with 12 GW of solar panels in expanded partnership | Manufacturing Dive
Qcells will supply Microsoft with 12 gigawatts of solar modules and engineering, procurement and construction services over eight years, according to the press release.
Kuwait tenders 1.1 GW solar project | pv magazine
[Excerpt] The KAAP said that project developers will have to hold at least a 15% stake in the submitted projects. Completion must be scheduled to be finalized within seven years from the conclusion of the tender. The PV plant will sell electricity to the country’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy under a 30-year PPA.
Pattern Energy secures $11B in financing, starts full construction on SunZia wind, transmission projects | Utility Dive
The scale of the SunZia project and its multifaceted financing show the renewable energy space can secure capital at levels previously only seen in traditional generation, per Pattern’s Daniel Elkort.
P.E.I. wind turbines at ‘high risk of imminent failure,’ consultant warned province in 2022 | CBC
Wind farm was slated for $10M in repairs when 2 huge blades snapped off last month.
[Comment] While it is disturbing to read about the lack of maintenance, I chalk up early failure of some wind turbines that were among the first deployed as inevitable for any new technology being rapidly deployed. Australia’s 20 year old wind farms fared better. See story showing 20 year performance trends here.
Transportation
Tesla delivers record Q4 cars, but China’s BYD steals top EV spot | Reuters
Consider signing up for Bloomberg Hyperdrive, an informative daily newsletter where this graph was posted.
Tesla delivered a record number of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, beating market estimates and meeting its 2023 target, but lost its spot as the top EV maker by sales to China’s BYD.
Getting the most mileage out of your electric car’s battery: maximizing lifespan and range | Electric Autonomy
If you’re ready to say goodbye to gas, you’ll want to understand how electric vehicle batteries work — not to mention important factors like how much they cost and how long they last.
[Comment] The main tip: pre-condition your battery before driving – warming it up in cold weather and cooling it down in very hot weather.
The révolution is on: France has record year in EV sales | electrek
It was a very good year in France for electric cars, for all kinds of reasons – among them, new cheaper cars entering the market supported by generous government subsidies. In 2023, 26% of new cars sold in France were battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, a huge 47% jump from 2022.
Hertz says it will invest some of proceeds from selling Tesla cars back into gas cars | electrek
[Comment] Long story short: Hertz bought 100,000 Tesla Model 3s back in 2021. Now they are selling about 20,000 of them at a deep discount and buying some gas cars instead. One commenter made the point that Teslas are not easy to figure out if you’ve never driven one and rentals ought to be simpler. Telsa has also discounted their prices quite a bit since then. Hertz likely has some buyer’s remorse.
Vietnam EV Maker VinFast Plans to Invest $2 Billion in India | BNN Bloomberg
Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast Auto Ltd. signed an agreement with an Indian state to invest as much as $2 billion as it seeks to break into the world’s third-largest automobile market.
EPA announces $1 billion in grant funding for electric school buses | electrek
This is the second round of funding under a $5 billion program that’s part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With today’s announcement, EPA’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $2 billion and funded approximately 5,000 electric and low-emission school buses across the US.
BYD slashes EV prices in Germany as it looks to push past Tesla, EU automakers | electrek
BYD is significantly lowering EV prices in Germany to extend its global lead. The automaker slashed prices by up to 15% on its most popular EVs. This includes its best-selling Atto 3 (Yuan Plus in China). The Atto 3 went on pre-sale in Europe in September 2022, with prices starting at 38,000 euros ($41,700).