Industry news

European Commission approves French renewable energy scheme

28 july | renewables

The European Commission has approved a scheme put forward by France to support the production of electricity from renewable energy sources.

Approved under EU state aid rules, the scheme, worth around €30.5bn ($36bn), is designed to help France achieve its renewable energy targets without distorting competition.

The aid was approved after assessing the European Commission’s 2014 guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy. The scheme will also support the EU in its goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

France notified the European Commission of its intent to launch a scheme to support onshore operators of solar, onshore wind, and hydroelectric installations in generating power from renewable sources.

The scheme grants will support these operators and be awarded through competitive tenders. Grants will be awarded for seven types of tenders, to be organised between now and 2026 for a total of 34GW of renewable energy capacity.

These tenders are solar panels on the ground, solar panels on buildings, onshore wind installations, hydroelectric installations, ‘innovative’ solar installations, self-consumption, and a technology-neutral tender.

The Commission said that aid can be paid out for a maximum period of 20 years after connecting the new renewable installations to the power grid.

26 july | nuclear

UK looking to keep China General Nuclear out of nuclear projects

The UK Government is exploring options to exclude China General Nuclear (CGN), China’s state-owned national energy company, from participating in any future power projects in the UK.

Citing insiders, the Financial Times reported that the government was considering removing the company from the consortium planning to build the £20bn ($27.4bn) Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk.

The move is also expected to have an impact on CGN’s proposal to build a nuclear plant in Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex. CGN’s plan for the project includes the use of its own reactor technology.

22 july | energy mix

Japan plans to reduce share of LNG and coal in energy mix

The Government of Japan is set to reduce the country’s use of fossil fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal for energy generation.

The move is intended to help the country meet its 2030 carbon emission targets, according to a draft of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s latest policy.

According to the policy draft, renewables should account for 36% to 38% of power supply by 2030.

The nation is aiming to reduce its dependency on nuclear power and increase its renewable energy capacity.

21 july | politics

US re-joins World Energy Council ahead of 2022 summit

The World Energy Council has announced that the US has rejoined the organisation, which promotes international communication in the energy industry.

The move brings the US back into the fold of the World Energy Council (WEC), which it co-founded in 1923, ahead of next year’s World Energy Congress, which is set to be held in Saint Petersberg.

The WEC describes itself as the world’s leading “international energy network,” and organises editions of its congress every three years. These provide a platform to discuss the challenges facing the global energy industry with more than 3,000 member organisations in over 90 countries.

The presence of the US within the organisation is likely to see the US take a more active role in directing global energy policy.

“We are very happy to welcome back the US to the World Energy Council community,” said Dr Angela Wilkinson, secretary general of the WEC.

“With the return of the US to the COP agreements, the world is seeing a new and more inclusive era in global energy leadership, and I’m sure we will all benefit from the influence and impact the US will have at a global scale to achieve more energy climate neutrality ambitions.”

20 july | renewables

Mainstream plans to develop renewable energy platform in Chile

Ireland-based energy company Mainstream Renewable Power has announced plans to develop a hybrid energy platform with more than 1GW of capacity in Chile.

The Nazca Renovables platform consists of three wind farms and three solar photovoltaic generation assets, all divided into three portfolios.

The first of these portfolios, Humboldt, will supply 255MW of green energy through the Tata Inti solar farm and Entre Ríos wind farm.

The Humboldt portfolio will supply clean energy to an undisclosed strategic partner under a long-term bilateral private power purchase agreement. Construction works on the Humboldt portfolio are expected to start next year.

13 july | hydrogen

EDP joins BEHYOND hydrogen production concept study

Portuguese electric utility company EDP has partnered with TechnipFMC and other research partners to develop a conceptual engineering and economic feasibility study.

The study, named BEHYOND, aims to produce green hydrogen from offshore wind power by creating a standardised concept that can be implemented worldwide for large-scale hydrogen production.

In the study, the research partners will primarily focus on integrating equipment to produce green hydrogen, as well as infrastructure to transport it to the coast.

Other research partners involved in the project include the CEiiA research centre for engineering and development, Portuguese offshore renewables company WavEC, and the University of South-Eastern Norway.

In brief

GE and CVEC to launch green hydrogen technology roadmap

US-based energy company GE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cricket Valley Energy Centre (CVEC) to launch a green hydrogen technology roadmap.

Samsung Heavy Industries develops offshore wind floater model

South Korean ship building company Samsung Heavy Industries has developed an independent offshore wind floater model, marking its entry into the domestic and overseas offshore wind power generation market.

Spark Renewables proposes to build energy hub in New South Wales

Australian energy company Spark Renewables has proposed to develop a renewable energy and storage hub with up to 2.5GW of capacity in New South Wales.

Material costs hurt Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy profits

Material costs and production of a new line of wind turbines have hurt the profits of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, the company announced in its preliminary results for the second quarter of 2021.

Rolls-Royce and Cavendish Nuclear sign agreement for SMR programme

Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cavendish Nuclear for cooperating on Rolls-Royce’s small modular reactors (SMR) programme.

13 july | renewables

Consortium proposes to build renewable energy hub in Western Australia

An international consortium has put forward a proposal for the world’s largest renewable energy hub in the south-east of Western Australia.

Covering a 15,000km² area in the Goldfields-Esperance region, the Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) could generate up to 50GW of wind and solar energy.

Around 30GW from the hub is expected to be produced from wind, with the rest generated by solar power.

Planned to be built in phases, the WGEH would produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of zero-carbon green hydrogen, or 20 million tonnes of green ammonia, a year. This would be provided to both the domestic market and overseas markets.

12 July | generation

South Korean professor develops toilet that turns human waste into energy

A professor at South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has developed BeeVi, an eco-friendly toilet that uses human waste to generate electricity to power a building.

The BeeVi toilet, developed by Professor Cho Jae-weon, is equipped with a vacuum pump that sends human waste into an underground tank.

Microorganisms in the tank then convert the waste to methane, which acts as a source of energy for the building and powers a gas stove, hot-water boiler and solid oxide fuel cell.

Professor Jae-weon said that on average, a person defecates almost 500g a day. This can be converted into 50l of methane gas, which can produce 0.5kWh of power or be used to drive a car for around 1.2km.