£1bn Scheme To Turn Rubbish Into Electricity

A week after E.ON and RWE scrapped plans to build half a dozen nuclear plants, Scottish and Southern Energy and Shanks have signed a 25-year, £750 million PFI contract with Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham councils to build a waste plant in Rotherham to treat 265,000 tonnes of household rubbish a year. TUNSE/The Times 3rd April.

Talks To Secure County's Nuclear Future

The Government is talking with global sovereign funds in the Middle East and Far East about buying into the UK's nuclear renaissance. The talks could see a deal struck to secure new investment into Horizon Nuclear Power, the group bidding to build new nuclear reactors at Wylfa in Anglesey and Oldbury, TUNSE/Lancashire Evening Post, 3rd April.

UK Nuclear Plan At Risk In Moody's Credit Alert

Britain's nuclear programme faces a new threat after the revelation that ratings agencies could downgrade French energy giant EDF and British Gas owner Centrica if they decide to build four reactors. A credit downgrade would be highly likely to spark a confrontation with shareholders because it would make it more expensive for the companies to borrow and could undermine the share price. ...Britain's nuclear programme is likely to cost EDF and Centrica £24bn together. This is Money, 7th April. Global Energy Advisory comment: such a statement was not unforseen; the balancesheets of the UK utilities have been weakened over the years partly through consolidation aquisitions; furthermore investment spending at this level was expected to have an affect on company ratings. 

UK's Energy Production

The UK's energy production fell by 14% last year as a result of decreased gas and oil output from the continental shelf. The production of low carbon energy increased, with nuclear power output up by 11% and wind power from major producers rising 59% due to more turbines and higher wind speeds last year. PO Review, 9th April.

Indonesia's PLN to Bid $2.18bn Sumatra-Java Grid

PLN will begin the tender process for the US$2.18bn Sumatra-Java interconnection project....Part of funds required to run the project will come from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, while the remainder will be taken from PLN's internal budget. The project is expected to be completed in 2017 and channel 3,000 megawatts of power. Asia Power, 10th April.

Japan Signs Funding MOU for UK Wind Projects

Japan's state-backed Japanese Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) has signed a deal to fund UK infrastructure projects with the bulk of the money going to offshore wind energy. According the Financial Times, the deal will see Japan put "billions of pounds" into UK infrastructure. ...In terms of wind power, the UK needs to fund its ambitious 33GW Round 3 offshore programme. The UK is seeking to generate 21% of electricity requirements from wind by 2020. However, with only 6GW currently in place, the UK will need to double its installation rate to hit its 2020 low-carbon target of 28GW installed capacity. Previously, the JBIC has funded wind projects in Bulgaria, Mexico and Brazil. Windpower Monthly, 11th April. 

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BG To Invest $2bn In Brazil's Oil Industry

BG Group will invest more than $2bn in research and development in Brazils booming oil industry in an attempt to become the country's biggest foreign producer by 2020....Brazil's vast "pre salt" oil reserves, which were discovered in 2007, which are enough to turn the country into one of the top five producers has helped attract over 30 foreign oil companies to the industry with particularly large investments from the Chinese. FT, 9th April.

Global Production Troubles

All the attention may be on a loss of oil from Iran these days, but production outages in a variety of spots worldwide is causing about 1mn barrels of oil a day to sit on the sidelines, helping push oil and gas prices to near record highs. In places like South Sudan, Yemen and Syria the oil is offline due to violence. In Canada and the North Sea it's due to technical problems. No one outage is particularly large. But taken together, they rival the amount of oil that could be lost from Iran over the next few months as sanctions take hold. CNN, 8th April.

South Sudan Border Bombing

Military jets belonging to the Sudanese government bombed an oil pipeline along the border with South Sudan. The United Nations has expressed concern about the conflict on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. PO Review, 9th April.

Libya

Libya is struggling to maintain its post-war pace of oil production in large part because of funding constraints. PO Review, 9th April.

GTL Tech Converts Methane to Ethylene without Fischer Tropsch

A Texas company has developed gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology designed to convert methane to ethylene without using the Fischer Tropsch (FT) process. The firm claims that its GTL system can perform at a level of efficiency rivalling conventional methane conversion technologies. "Our focus is actually on monetizing abundant, remote or flared gas," said Edward Peterson, Chief Engineer with Dallas-based Synfuels International. Rigzone, 11th April.

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China Edges Ahead in Turkeys Nuclear Race

China seems to be edging ahead in the international contest to build a new nuclear power station on the Black Sea coast - a sign of how its ambitions of its nuclear companies are poised to reshape the global nuclear industry. Beijing is not looking for guarantees and can provide its own finance. FT, 9th April.

India Joins Multinational Design Group

India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has become the 11th member of the Multinational Design Evaluation Program (MDEP), which pools resources of national regulators for reviewing new nuclear power reactor designs. Administered by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), MDEP is a program through which national regulators are working to share technical data and standardize regulations and practices in order to avoid duplication of work. Participating in MDEP are Canada, China, Finland, France, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Russia, the UK and the USA. World Nuclear News, 9th April.

Experts Predict 34-Metre Wave

A Japanese government panel has warned that much of the country's Pacific coast could be inundated by a tsunami wave over 34 metres high if a powerful earthquake hits offshore. The earthquake last year which sparked the Fukushima emergency created wave 14-metres high. TUNSE/The Independent, 2nd April.

Restart of Japanese Reactors?

Japan's government is rushing to try to restart two nuclear reactors idled after the Fukushima crisis by next month out of what experts say is a fear that surviving a total shutdown would make it hard to convince the public that atomic energy is vital. PO Review, 9th April.

China Will Definitely Build More Nuclear Power Plants

Safety revisions on 27 reactors being built have revealed no risks similar to the catastrophe that afflicted the ill-fated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan in March 2011...China now has 14 nuclear power plants that produce less than 2% of all its electricity. In comparison, coal contributes some 83% of China's electricity. China plans to expand non-fossil fuel sources of energy to 15% by 2020. Asia Power, 11th April.

FPL Fined For Violations At Turkey Point

The US nuclear regulator has issued a fine to Florida Power & Light (FPL) for failing to report that the ventilation system for the emergency response facility at its Turkey Point nuclear power plant had been taken out of service on two occasions - one lasting some seven months. World Nuclear News,11th April.

New Reactor at Bulgaria's Kozloduy

The process to build a new reactor at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant has started with an agreement in principle to go ahead with the project from the country's cabinet. The move comes two weeks after the government scrapped plans for a new plant at Belene. World Nuclear News,12th April.

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Vestas and Gamesa have responded to reports from an ING analyst that highlight previously recognised component failure defects on 660kW turbines. The component - a blade route insert - attaches the blade to the hub and was manufactured by Vestas and also used by Gamesa. Spokespeople from both businesses say that the analysts' cost of repair estimates are wrong and that the company's have been working on the problem since as long ago as 2010. www.awordaboutwind.com, 9th April.

Seajacks Snatched Up By Japanese

Japanese companies Marubeni and the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) are buying UK company Seajacks International, a leading supplier of offshore installation and maintenance vessels which are used in the construction and maintenance of wind farms and to support the oil and gas sector. TUNSE/Press and Journal, 2nd April.

Wind Power to Blow Strong In New Zealand

Falling wind turbine prices are set to spark a surge in wind power investments in New Zealand. New Zealand's Wind Energy Association predicts the country's wind farm capacity over the next 20 years could increase by as much as six times compared to today. Wind capacity is presently estimated at 622MW but is forecast to rise to 3500MW by 2030. The association expects wind to generate around 20% of New Zealand's electricity by 2030, up from 5% today because wind turbines have become more reliable and operations and maintenance costs are falling...The government also wants 90% of the country's energy to be generated from renewable sources by 2025, a goal that bodes well for the wind sector. The association cited sources which said that wind projects commercially attractive at under NZ$85MWh. Asia Power, 11th April.

India to Build Offshore Turbines 'Within Five Years'

India will build its first offshore turbines within the next five years(said Gomathi Nayagam)...However, Nayagam added any European turbine designs would need to be tailored to Indian offshore conditions where wind speeds rarely exceed 6-7 metres per second. Windpower Monthly,10th April.

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Europe Power-Prices Rise with Cold Weather, Less Wind

Lower wind and solar power output combined with cooler weather forecasts lifted European spot power prices on Tuesday, after a four-day Easter break. In the German spot market, day ahead base was up €7.15 at €51.65MWh for Wednesday delivery. Peak-load for Wednesday jumped €7.90 to €57.40MW, compared with what Tuesday power cost last week. In France, the Wednesday delivery contract rose €54.50MWh. Reuters, 11th April.

Gazprom Has Abandoned Plans to Increase Sales to Europe In 2012

(Gazprom said) it faced stiffer than expected competition from LNG and lower spot market prices. However, the state-owned company said it would meet its planned earnings targets thanks to higher prices charged to consumers..."Choosing between 154bn cubic meters (cm) at a lower price and 150bn cm at a higher price, we choose to export 150bn," Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom's deputy CEO, was quoted as saying by Russian news media...Gazprom previously forecast its exports to Europe would grow 2.6% to 154bn cubic meters, with the price up to $415 (€317) per thousand cubic meters from current $384 (€293)... Medvedev pointed out the 150 billion cm is a minimum level of supply in terms of Gazprom's long-term contracts. Euractiv, 10th April.

Electricity and Gas Supply Market Indicators

Our latest calculations show that for the 12 month period from April 2012 up to and including March 2013 the total indicative net margin for a typical, standard tariff dual fuel customer will be approximately £45 per customer. This represents a £10 decrease from our previous update, which we published on 4 April 2012. The reduction is due to a decrease in the average annual bill for a typical, standard tariff dual fuel customer. Ofgem, 11th April.

NBP Q3 Gas Prices Need To Rise By 14p to Attract LNG Diversions From Asia

Investment bank Goldman Sachs said a 14p price rise of NBP gas contracts for delivery between July and end-September is needed to prompt diversions of LNG cargoes from higher-yielding Asian destinations to the U.K. European power producers are advised to hedge forward gas in anticipation of rising prices....NBP Q-3 natural gas contracts are forecast to reach 73.9p/th, 1.6p above previous forecasts, to satisfy demand and fully restore inventories by the end of the summer. Gas to Power Journal, 12th April.

FERC Takes Aim At Barclays Over Power Market Manipulation

Energy regulators have alleged Barclays PLC and four former electricity traders manipulated the California power markets more than three years ago. In a public notice of "alleged violations" published on its website, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said the UK bank and its four West Coast power traders manipulated the electricity market between November 2006 and December 2008, trading in the physical market in such a way to derive bigger gains on derivative markets....Barclays Capital rejected the allegations and said it has been cooperating fully with the investigation. Reuters, 12th April.

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