⚡Financing sealed for world’s largest Offshore Wind Farm, Dubai inaugurates 800MW PV, Lessons from the Great Recession, and going Nuts for Ammonia
By: Jakub Rzeplinski
Tags: Ammonia, Wind Power, Wind Energy, Green Energy, Solar Energy

⚡Financing sealed for world’s largest Offshore Wind Farm, Dubai inaugurates 800MW PV, Lessons from the Great Recession, and going Nuts for Ammonia Jakub Rzeplinski Follow Nov 26, 2020 · 12 min read

Good evening The Carbon Cut Readers! Today’s highlights include:

⛽ NEW FUELS

💧 Hydrogen

1️⃣ Hydrogen-powered car slated to contest 2024 Dakar Rally — GCK Motorsport has announced plans to run a hydrogen-powered vehicle in the 2024 Dakar Rally. Founded by Dakar veteran and former free-skiing world champion Guerlain Chicherit, GCK will begin a four-year off-road programme in 2021 with an all-electric vehicle. The new GCK e-BLAST 1 chassis, which has already been in testing, won’t contest January’s Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. However, the electric machine will compete in selected off-road events later in 2021.

2️⃣ MHI to Invest in Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia in South Australia — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has agreed to make a capital investment in H2U Investments, the holding entity of the H2U Group. The H2U Group includes The Hydrogen Utility (H2U), the leading Australian developer of green hydrogen and green ammonia projects using power derived from renewable energy sources. The agreement also includes MHI’s support for H2U’s projects and business development initiatives, including supporting the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for H2U’s Eyre Peninsula GatewayTM project in South Australia.

3️⃣ Hydrogen in the Maritimes déjà vu all over again — Since most of the region’s electricity is carbon-intensive (Nova Scotia’s more so than New Brunswick’s), any hydrogen produced in the region (from electricity or SMR) will be carbon-intensive. Once the hydrogen is extracted, it needs to be made available to potential customers. Fortunately, the natural gas network in the region uses polyethylene piping, which, unlike older networks using metal pipes, will not degrade if hydrogen passes through them. Moreover, natural gas can be mixed with up to 20 per cent hydrogen and used with existing natural gas combustion technology. However, unlike the rest of Canada, the penetration of the natural gas network in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is extremely limited (it does not exist in Prince Edward Island) and would require a major buildout.

4️⃣ 2030: The Year of the Hydrogen Truck — A coalition statement was recently signed by an all-star line-up of vehicle manufacturers, technology and infrastructure providers to certify their joint dedication and commitment to cut down on gas emissions by 90% in the European transport and logistics industry over the next 30 years, through the widespread adoption of hydrogen fuel cell trucks. The companies listed as part of the coalition are, to name a few; Toyota, Hyundai, HYZON Motors, Ballard, Michelin, Shell, BMW Group.

5️⃣ Origin links with Japan giant Kawasaki in plan to export ‘green’ hydrogen — (Oz) As countries increasingly look to hydrogen as part of their 2050 carbon-reduction aims, Origin has been collaborating with Japanese manufacturing firm Kawasaki for a 300-megawatt electrolyser in Townsville capable of producing 36,000 tonnes of “green” hydrogen — made using power from wind and solar farms — for export and local supply.

❄️ LNG & Natural Gas

1️⃣ Oil Search switches focus to Papua LNG from PNG LNG — Australian independent Oil Search is switching its upstream development focus in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to the 5.33mn t/yr Papua LNG project, away from plans to add a third train to ExxonMobil’s 6.9mn t/yr PNG LNG venture.

2️⃣ Exxon, Total in talks over Mozambique LNG resource-sharing deal — Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Total (NYSE:TOT) and the Mozambique government are in negotiations over their massive liquefied natural gas projects in the country, with each seeking to extract more gas from a shared field that straddles the two developments and cut costs, Reuters reports.

3️⃣ Russia’s Gazprom eyes benefit from slowdown in LNG project investment — In a statement, Gazprom said its board in a meeting also noted that Russia had significant gas resources that would enable it to increase the country’s LNG production to be able to penetrate new markets.

4️⃣ Carbon-neutral LNG an attractive choice in global energy transition — Under the world’s first long-term LNG sales and purchase agreement (SPA) incorporating carbon-neutral ambitions, QP Trading will supply 1.8 mta of LNG to Pavilion Energy Trading & Supply Pte starting in 2023.

🚘 Mobility — EVs, Batteries & Fuel Cells

1️⃣ Volkswagen ID.3 became top-selling electric car in October — In the face of Covid-19 electrified vehicles (EVs) continue to buck the trend with extremely positive results, particularly the Volkswagen ID.3, which registered 10,590 units in Europe, becoming the continent’s top- selling electric car in October.

2️⃣ DFDS enters partnership to develop fuel cell ferry — Ferry operator DFDS and a group of other Danish companies are developing a hydrogen fuel cell-powered ferry that emits only water. The companies are also seeking funding from the EU Innovation Fund to support the proposed ferry between Oslo and Copenhagen, which could launch by 2027.

☀️ RENEWABLE GENERATION & SUPPLY

🔋 Energy Storage

1️⃣ Trio of solar project approvals brings Nevada utility NV Energy up to 1,000MW storage target — NV Energy filed plans for the three solar farms in July as part of its integrated resource plan (IRP). Comprising 478MW of solar PV and 338MW of battery storage, the utility said today that the addition of the projects brings NV Energy’s portfolio of solar and storage projects in service and under development to 2,669MW of new solar and 1,028MW of storage.

☢️ Nuclear

1️⃣ Bulgaria’s Kozloduy NPP plans 5.6 mln euro deal with Westinghouse for new fuel type analysis — Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP) said on Thursday that it has invited Westinghouse Electric Sweden to submit an offer for a 5.6 million euro ($6.7 million) deal to conduct an analysis of an alternative fuel type for the plant’s Unit 5. The analysis will be used to license the new fuel type for Unit 5, which should enable шге кхсш to operate at a thermal capacity of 3,120 MW, Kozloduy NPP said in a notice to the public procurement agency.

2️⃣ Finland’s Spent Fuel Depository a “Game Changer” for the Nuclear Industry, Director General Grossi Says — Onkalo is a game changer for the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today in Olkiluoto, Finland, referring to the world’s first ever deep geological repository for spent fuel, under construction there. “Finland has had the determination to move forward with the project and to bring it to fruition,” Mr Grossi said. “Waste management has always been at the centre of many debates about nuclear energy and the sustainability of nuclear activity around the world. Everybody knew of the idea of a geological repository for high-level radioactive nuclear waste, but Finland did it.”

💨 Wind Power

1️⃣ Muirhall scales up Scottish wind duo — Independent developer Muirhall Energy has begun scoping on two Section 36 applications to increase tip heights at its consented 12-turbine Hopsrig and eight turbine Loganhead onshore wind projects in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The sites were consented last year and Muirhall is now looking to increase the tip heights to 200m for all turbines, and introduce an extra turbine to both sites, bringing the generating capacity for each project to more than 50MW.

2️⃣ Offshore Wind Faces Installation Vessel Shortage — With offshore wind booming, the global fleet of wind farm installation vessels will be insufficient to meet the demand after 2025, according to Rystad Energy. The analysis excludes offshore wind farms in China and inter-tidal wind farms. This, Rystad Energy said, will open room for more specialized vessel orders and other oil and gas heavy lift vessel conversions.

3️⃣ MoD and offshore wind unite to mitigate radar impact — The UK offshore wind industry is providing millions of pounds in funding for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to test technologies that can mitigate impact of projects on air defence radar. As part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and the Government are working together to overcome technical challenges faced by offshore wind deployment in the UK. One of the workstreams is focussing on mitigating the impact of wind farms on air defence radar systems.

4️⃣ Ørsted’s Changhua 1 & 2a OWFs to Be 5G-Ready — The private network will enable Ørsted’s engineers to communicate through high-quality connectivity and to have optimised workplace communications for daily operations, according to the two telecommunication companies.

5️⃣ All Turbines Stand at Nanpeng Offshore Wind Farm — The 401.5 MW project, also known as CGN Yangjiang Nanpeng Island offshore wind farm, features 73 MySE5.5MW hybrid-drive wind turbines supplied by MingYang Smart Energy. The first turbine was installed at the site off Guangdong Province in July last year, and the first batch of wind turbines began operating in October.

6️⃣ UK launches offshore vessel charging project — Several offshore renewable energy and marine companies are taking part in a project to explore the viability of offshore vessel charging as part of the industry’s efforts to decarbonise vessel operations.

♻️ CARBON CAPTURE & CIRCULAR TECH

🔄 Recycling, Waste & Circular Tech

1️⃣ Saudi Arabia promotes circular carbon scheme as it plans to keep pumping oil — The Saudi climate change mitigation scheme is based on “four R’s” — reduction, reuse, removal and recycling of carbon — aimed at lowering the amount of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere. Under this umbrella, initiatives such planting trees as natural carbon sinks, and increasing the capacity of carbon capture storage, sequestration and utilization projects, have been proposed by Saudi Arabia.

2️⃣ From trash to treasure: this Nova Scotia company wants the world to rethink garbage — A company in Chester, N.S., says it is turning trash into treasure and someday it hopes to mine community landfills around the world. Sustane Technologies Inc. is housed in an unassuming warehouse — right next to the community’s landfill. The two approaches to managing the growing problem of household waste could not be more stark. The landfill grows and grows, and some of its contents will remain there intact for centuries. But Sustane Technologies claims it can transform that waste into biomass pellets and diesel fuel, and then recycle much of what is left over.

🏦 POLICY & INVESTMENTS

📜 Policy

1️⃣ Environmental groups urge EU to tackle aviation’s non-CO2 climate pollution — Environmental groups are urging the European Commission to address the climate impact of non-CO2 pollution from aircraft, after the EU executive’s own analysis warned of warming effects worse than those of carbon dioxide.

2️⃣ Nevada senators push for “zero funding” for Yucca Mountain — Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., are pushing for no funding for licensing the proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository site in the fiscal year 2021 federal budget. Cortez Masto and Rosen head towards the Senate Subcommittee Appropriations on Energy and Water, to reiterate that Yucca Mountain is a geological and geographical territory in which no nuclear waste should ever be dumped as it contains hazardous material that can potentially harm Nevadans.

3️⃣ As UN action on ship emissions falls short, attention turns to regions — The International Maritime Organization set minimal curbs on shipping’s 1Gt carbon footprint this decade. Here’s how the EU, US and China could decarbonise the sector.

4️⃣ India PM Modi sees $20 bln annual investment in green energy sector — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he expects the energy-hungry country’s burgeoning renewable energy sector to require an annual investment of $20 billion a year. “Demand for energy in India will keep growing. There are huge renewable energy deployment plans for the next decade,” Modi told the third global RE-Invest conference. India’s green energy capacity, which encompasses solar, wind, bio-power, and small and large hydropower, is currently at 136 GW. That is expected to increase to 220 GW by 2022, Modi said.

💰 Investments & Funding

1️⃣ Repsol to invest €5.5bn in low carbon generation — Repsol is planning to spend over €5bn on renewables and low carbon generation between 2021 and 2025. The proposed €5.5bn investment is around 30% of a larger €18.3bn commitment in the period, which forms part of the Spanish oil and gas producer’s strategic plan, to “accelerate the energy transition and ensuring return and the highest value for shareholders”. The strategic plan outlines a “challenging roadmap”, Repsol said, with more ambitious intermediate emissions cuts targets to successfully achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

2️⃣ Who Will Fund The Energy Transition? — If ambitions on climate change are high, so, too, will be the cost. We reckon a bare minimum of US$30 trillion to US$40 trillion of investment is needed to put the world on a 2 °C or lower pathway. Where’s the money going to come from?

⚙️ OTHERS

🧭 General

1️⃣ Why should consumers subsidise power giants amid green energy revolution? — As the Chancellor Rishi Sunak prepared for the spending review announced yesterday, an update from SSE provided a reminder of how important it is that any subsidies provided to firms are necessary and effective. Given the pressure on public finances and households resulting from the coronavirus crisis, that applies whether support comes from governments or consumers. Perth-based SSE posted a £418 million underlying operating profit for the six months to September, a period in which the economy shrank disastrously and hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs.

2️⃣ How Europe Can Build 100GW of Offshore Wind by 2030 — Even for an offshore wind industry that is accustomed to all things being supersized, last week was a big week. On Wednesday the U.K. released its 10-point plan to achieve its target of net-zero carbon by 2050. At the top of the list was the already announced 40-gigawatt offshore wind target. It was joined by a 5 GW clean hydrogen goal, a doubling of support for carbon-capture projects and a 10-year advance on the ban of new fossil-fueled cars, the date for which is now 2030.

3️⃣ EU needs mandatory targets and means to save energy — In its recent communication on the European Union climate target for 2030, the EU Commission described energy efficiency legislation and policies as essential instruments contributing to the achievement of the new 2030 greenhouse gas reduction. However, according to the accompanying impact assessment and the evaluation of National Energy and Climate Plans, the EU will surpass its current target for renewable energy by 1.7%, while it will still fail to meet its current 2030 efficiency target by 3%. A similar result is expected for the energy efficiency target for 2020.

4️⃣ Trends and projections in Europe 2020 — Tracking progress towards Europe’s climate and energy targets. The annual ‘Trends and projections’ report provides an assessment of the progress of the EU and European countries towards their climate mitigation and energy targets. It is based on national data for greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy and energy consumption.

5️⃣ Swiss renewable energy production on track to meet 2020 targets — Total energy consumption in 2019 was 18% lower than in the reference year 2000, meaning the country reached its target of a 16% reduction by 2020, according to a monitoring report released by the Federal Office of Energy on Thursday. The Swiss also exceeded their 2020 reduction target for per-capita electricity sales, which were 8% lower than in the reference year 2000.

🏭 Emissions

1️⃣ Prysmian Group accelerates in Race to net zero CO2 emission — Prysmian Group announces the launch of a new project aimed at accelerating the race to net-zero CO2 emission. The announcement has been made during its “Sustainability Day”, the digital stakeholders engagement event with Group top management sharing Prysmian’s vision, priorities and plans for a sustainability roadmap. The project aims to set science-based carbon reduction targets for the Prysmian Group, and will consider both Scope 1&2 (own organization) and Scope 3 (value chain) GHG emissions. Carbon targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement — to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. Prysmian Group is supported in the project by the Carbon Trust, the leading organization helping companies and government in realizing ambitious plans for a sustainable, low carbon future.

2️⃣ Ohio State, landfill and brewery among largest greenhouse gas emitters in county — Emissions data for the largest greenhouse gas emitters was released by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October, revealing the largest polluters in Franklin County. The list includes Ohio State University’s McCracken Power Plant, the landfill operated by the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio and the Anheuser-Busch Columbus Brewery.

3️⃣ S Korea to shut up to 16 coal-fired power plants for December-February — South Korea will close down up to 16 coal-fired power plants for three months from December, out of its 60 coal power plants in total, to help reduce air pollution, a potential boot for LNG demand and imports, the energy ministry said on Nov. 26.

🧩 Tech and R&D

1️⃣ AI can improve renewable energy integration — “By 2025, 81% of the energy companies will have adopted artificial intelligence, reaping the numerous benefits of accelerated developments in this field and fast tracking the clean energy transition,” Eurelectric said in the report, ‘AI insights: the power sector in a post-digital age.’

2️⃣ Rovco underwater robot wins innovation gong — An underwater robot which is changing the game for offshore subsea inspection processes has scooped a top prize in the Scottish Green Energy Awards. Rovco was announced as winner of the Best Innovation Award for SubSLAM X2, a data collection system which allows onshore engineers to work under the waves from the comfort of their offices.