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We are growing but nowhere near fast enough," said Ben Blackwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council. In June, Siemens Gamesa said quality problems at its two most recent onshore wind turbines would cost 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) to fix. "The ratio between risk and reward is out of line in the offshore wind market in many jurisdictions. You can see this from investors not showing up," the Global Wind Energy Council's Blackwell told Reuters. "The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe," Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said last month.

Persons: Pascal, Jon Wallace, WindEurope, Markus Krebber, Germany's, Ben Blackwell, Rob West, Siemens Gamesa, Fraser McLachlan, McLachlan, Jochen Eickholt, Wallace, Energy Council's Blackwell, Denmark's Orsted, RWE's Krebber, Joe Biden's, Mads Nipper, Nina Chestney, Nichola Groom, Christoph Steitz, Nora Buli, Francesca Landini, Toby Sterling, David Clarke Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European, Jupiter Asset Management, EU, Shell, Siemens, LinkedIn, Wind Energy, Thunder Said Energy, GCube Insurance, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Energy, Reuters, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Le Havre, Normandy, France, European Union, Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Jupiter, U.S, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam

☆ Q+A What is known about the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Nerijus Adomaitis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

This is what we know so far:WHAT ARE NORD STREAM PIPELINES? The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project was built by Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) in two stages - Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Gazprom owns 51% of Nord Stream 1, while Germany's E.ON (EONGn.DE) and Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) have 15.5% each, while French Engie (ENGIE.PA) and Dutch Gasunie (GSUNI.UL) hold 9% each in Nord Stream 1. Nord Stream 2, fully owned by Gazprom and operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, was completed in September 2021 at a cost of $11 billion, but was never put into operation because Germany had cancelled Nord Stream 2's certification days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Nord Stream pipelines have been a flashpoint in an energy dispute between Europe and Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Pipes, Fabian Bimmer, Wintershall, OMV, Peter Frank, Die, Seymour Hersh, Mats Ljungqvist, Der Spiegel, Der Siegel, BfV, Nerijus Adomaitis, Christoph Steitz, Nina Chestney, Ros Russell Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Gazprom, Nord, E.ON, Shell, . Security, WHO, Washington Post, Die Welt, . Security Council, Reuters, Street, ZDF, Kyiv, CIA, NDR, WDR, German Federal Intelligence Service, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Mukran, Germany, Rights OSLO, Russia, Swedish, Bornholm, Sweden, Denmark, Nord, Ukraine, Uniper, Washington, NATO, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Russian, Britain ., U.S, Norway, China, Brazil, Rostock, Wiek, Rugen, Danish, Christianso, Kolobrzeg, Poland, Europe, United States, Oslo, Frankfurt

But the flood of grains and oilseeds into neighbouring countries reduced prices there, impacting the income of local farmers and resulting in governments banning agricultural imports from Ukraine. The European Union in May stepped in to prevent individual countries imposing unilateral bans and imposed its own ban on imports into neighbouring countries. Under the EU ban, Ukraine was allowed to export through those countries on condition the produce was sold elsewhere. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday countries should refrain from unilateral measures against imports of Ukrainian grain, but Poland, Slovakia and Hungary immediately responded by reimposing their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports. Farmers in the five countries neighbouring Ukraine have repeatedly complained about a product glut hitting their domestic prices and pushing them towards bankruptcy.

Persons: Cernat, Valdis Dombrovskis, reimposing, Terry Reilly, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Robert Telus, Julia Payne, Alan Charlish, Jan Lopatka, Karol Badohal, Boldizsar, Pavel Polityuk, Luiza Ilie, Tom Polansek, Nina Chestney, Simon Webb, David Evans, Alistair Bell, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, European Commission, European Union, EU, Ukraine, Facebook, EU Commission, Farmers, Solidarity, Thomson Locations: Black, Constanta, Romania, Ukraine, BRUSSELS, WARSAW, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, EU, Bulgaria, Russian, Romanian, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Kyiv, Bucharest, Chicago

Hungary imposed a national import ban on 24 Ukrainian agricultural products, including grains, vegetables, several meat products and honey, according to a government decree published on Friday. Slovakia's agriculture minister followed suit announcing its own grain ban. EU PLEAEU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday countries should refrain from unilateral measures against imports of Ukrainian grain. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia previously said they may extend the restrictions unilaterally while Bulgaria on Thursday voted to scrap the curbs. In August, about 4 million tonnes of Ukraine grains passed through the Solidarity Lanes of which close to 2.7 million tonnes were through the Danube.

Persons: Cernat, Mateusz Morawiecki, Waldemar Buda, Valdis Dombrovskis, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Julia Payne, Alan Charlish, Jan Lopatka, Karol Badohal, Boldizsar, Luiza Ilie, Nina Chestney, David Evans, Alistair Bell, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, European Commission, European Union, EU, EU Commission, Ukraine, Farmers, Solidarity, Thomson Locations: Black, Constanta, Romania, Ukraine, BRUSSELS, WARSAW, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Elk, Russia, EU, Russian, Romanian, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest

REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Global investment of $2.7 trillion a year is needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and avoid temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius this century, a report by consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday. Many governments have pledged to reduce emissions to net zero by mid-century to help achieve this. However, most countries are not on track to even meet emissions targets by 2030, let alone 2050, the report said. Net zero refers to cutting emissions to as close to zero as possible with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests, for example. There will be a natural depletion as low and zero carbon options develop but supply still needs to be replenished as we move towards net zero," said Prakash Sharma, vice president at Wood Mackenzie, and lead author of the report.

Persons: David Gray, Wood Mackenzie, ”, Simon Flowers, Wood, Prakash Sharma, Nina Chestney, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, United Nations, Renewables, Thomson Locations: Port Botany, Sydney, Australia, 1.5C, Wood Mackenzie

General view of flood water covering the area as a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Al-Mukhaili, Libya September 11, 2023, in this handout picture. As the storm moved along the North African coast, Egypt's authorities sought to calm its worried citizens by telling them Daniel had finally lost its strength. For Greece, the storm that formed on Sept. 4 followed a period of blazing heat and wildfires. Before Storm Daniel struck, hydrologist Abdelwanees A. R. Ashoor of Libya's Omar Al-Mukhtar University had warned that repeated flooding of the wadi posed a threat to Derna. Yet even better-resourced Greece struggled to deal with the power of Storm Daniel.

Persons: Daniel, Storm Daniel, Suzanne Gray, Christos Zerefos, Leslie Mabon, hydrologist, Omar Al, Mukhtar University, Edmund Blair, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Ahram, Britain's University of Reading, International Federation of, Red Crescent Societies, Academy of Athens, The Open University, Homes, Thomson Locations: Mukhaili, Libya, Handout, Greece, Derna, ATHENS, LONDON, Thessaly, Britain

FRANKFURT/LONDON July 13 (Reuters) - Energy majors BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) have won a 7 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind site auction in Germany worth a record 12.6 billion euros ($14.1 billion), allowing them entry to the central European market without a partnership. The awards for capacity due to come online in 2030 also excluded leading offshore wind developers, such as RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO). AUCTION DESIGNThe 7 GW electronic auction officially opened in January and bidders had until June 1 to submit offers. In previous German lease auctions, companies have made low or negative bids with the expectation of subsidies from the state. Industry groups have said the high costs of the leases could drive up the cost of offshore wind projects.

Persons: Bundesnetzagentur, Bernstein, WindEurope, Orsted, Norway's, TotalEnergies, Vera Eckert, Susanna Twidale, Christoph Steitz, Ron Bousso, Nora Buli, Nina Chestney, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Energy, BP, Industry, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Macquarie, England, Danish

☆ European wind developers play down Siemens Gamesa turbine troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UBS analysts said that in a worst-case scenario charges for Siemens Energy could exceed 5 billion euros. Denmark's Orsted said it operates one onshore wind farm with Siemens Energy turbines and that Orsted's portfolio of turbines has "high availability rates, reflecting that wind power has very little down-time." Siemens Gamesa has already told Iberdrola that it would proceed with a retrofit design, the source said, adding no technical issues for the remaining fleet of Siemens Gamesa turbines had been observed. Siemens Energy shares were up 5.7% at 1428 GMT, recovering some losses after analysts said Friday's sell-off was overblown. Siemens Gamesa first disclosed problems around its 5X model in July 2021, flagging higher than expected ramp-up costs.

Persons: Siemens Gamesa, Germany's, Denmark's Orsted, Eolus Vind, Iberdrola, Friday's, Andres Gonzalez, Forrest Crellin, Christoph Steitz, Marek Strzelecki, Nikolaj Skydsgaard, Nora Buli, Pietro Lombardi, Nina Chestney, Mark Potter, Alexander Smith Organizations: Siemens, Siemens Energy, UBS, EDF, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Siemens Gamesa, Poland's PGE, Thomson Locations: Spanish, Copenhagen, Baltica, Baltic, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Oslo, Madrid

The Global Wind Energy Council said earlier this year that a record 680 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity is expected to be installed by 2027. But the expected revenues of those planning to build wind turbines have not risen in tandem. Many governments index the prices paid for wind energy, usually through auctions, which are often too low, analysts at Wood Mackenzie said. COMPONENTSAmong the issues which arise from operating wind turbines, wear and tear on turbine blades over time can lead to erosion. Its shares fell more than 6% on Friday, while shares in Siemens Energy, the second biggest wind turbine maker, sank 37%.

Persons: Wood Mackenzie, WindEurope, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Siemens Energy, LONDON, Siemens, World Energy, Wind Energy Council, International Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: China, Ukraine, Frankfurt

The company has provided more than 132 gigawatts (GW) of wind turbines as of the end of April this year to all global regions: 108 GW of onshore wind and 22 GW of offshore wind. The discovery of faulty components at Siemens Gamesa's onshore wind turbines had already caused a charge of nearly half a billion euros in January. Siemens Gamesa has provided wind turbines to some of the biggest power companies and oil and gas majors worldwide. Shares in European wind turbine producers Nordex (NDXG.DE) and Vestas (VWS.CO) also fell as confidence in the industry was shaken. Many wind power developers have already seen delays in projects due to the availability of components and rising costs.

Persons: Siemens Gamesa, Spain's, Denmark's, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, Susan Fenton Organizations: Siemens Energy, Siemens, SIEMENS, WHO, Scottish Power Renewables, East Anglia, Poland's PGE, Siemens AG, Thomson Locations: Spain, Europe, Americas, Britain, North, Baltica, Baltic

Henriette Borgund knows attackers can find weaknesses in the defences of a big renewables power company - she's found them herself. She joined Norway's Hydro (NHY.OL) as an "ethical hacker" last April, bringing years of experience in military cyberdefence to bear at a time of war in Europe and chaos in energy markets. They're nervously monitoring a hybrid war where physical energy infrastructure has already been targeted, from the Nord Stream gas pipelines to the Kakhovka dam. It said Russia had tried to destroy digital networks and cause power cuts, and that missile attacks on facilities were often accompanied by cyberattacks. "Companies in the energy space, their core business is producing energy, not cybersecurity," said Jalal Bouhdada, CEO of cybersecurity firm Applied Risk, a division of DNV.

Persons: Nora Buli, Henriette Borgund, she's, shoring, Michael Ebner, cyberattacks, didn't, Swantje Westpfahl, James Forrest, Cem Gocgoren, Stephan Gerling, Mathias Boeswetter, Leonhard Birnbaum, Jalal Bouhdada, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, America Hernandez, Paris Pavel Polityuk, Guy Faulconbridge, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Norway's Hydro, Reuters, Hydro's Oslo, Hydro, Ukraine, cyberattacks, Germany's Institute for Security, TRITON, Triton, Svenska, ICS CERT, University of Tulsa, E.ON, " Companies, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Fosen, Norway, Ukraine, OSLO, LONDON, FRANKFURT, Europe, Nord, Russia, Ukrainian, Moscow, United States, Russian, Capgemini, Saudi, Swedish, DNV, Oslo, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Kiev

☆ UK energy company forecasts higher profit from retail business
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L) expects its retail business to generate significantly higher first-half adjusted operating profit than in previous years, it said on Tuesday, citing reduced debt-related costs. UK energy regulator Ofgem's price cap provides an allowance to account for debt on energy bills that cannot be recovered by suppliers and is ultimately written off. In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting on Tuesday, the company said its performance over the first five months of the year has been strong overall. It expects its full-year group adjusted earnings per share to come near the top end of a predicted range between 16.5 and 24.7 pence per share. Reporting by Nina Chestney in London and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nina Chestney, Eva Mathews, David Goodman Organizations: British Gas, Thomson Locations: London, Bengaluru

☆ Enel close to Greek renewables stake sale to Macquarie -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, April 27 (Reuters) - Italy's Enel (ENEI.MI) is expected to finalise by May a deal for the sale of around a 50% stake in its Greek renewables unit to Australia-based Macquarie Group (MQG.AX), two sources close to the matter said on Thursday. Enel said in November it was looking for a partner willing to buy part of Enel Green Power Hellas and invest in its development. "The talks with Macquarie for a stake of about 50% are seen concluding in the coming days," one of the sources told Reuters. Macquarie, which holds a 49% stake in Greece's sole power grid operator HEDNO, declined to immediately comment. Under the strategy presented by CEO Francesco Starace in November, Enel decided to exit Romania, Peru and Argentina and to partner with investors in some countries or specific businesses.

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Floating wind is viewed as the final frontier for offshore wind as turbines can be installed in deeper waters than fixed-bottom foundations, harnessing stronger and more continuous wind to generate more power. There are two main types of tender for traditional and floating wind projects. ITALYItaly is expected to hold an auction for up to 1 GW of offshore wind power, including floating technology, in 2023 or 2024. NORWAYNorway opened its first tenders to build offshore wind farms, including one area for floating wind, in a step to meet growing electricity demand at home and to build a new industry. TAIWANTaiwan is set to hold an auction for site licences and power offtake agreements for 3 GW, including offshore wind this year.

[1/2] Hywind Tampen floating wind farm structures are being assembled at the Wergeland Base in Gulen, Norway, June 7, 2022. But by 2035, the LCOE for floating wind is expected to fall to about 60 euros/MWh. It plans to set a specific target for floating wind this year. Britain aims to have 5 GW of floating wind installed by 2030 but a report by the UK Floating Wind Offshore Wind Taskforce, said 34 GW could be installed by 2040 if ports were upgraded. "South Korea will be commercial the quickest," said Cole at Corio Generation, which has 1.5 GW of floating wind under development there.

[1/2] A general view shows a special ship, "Neptune", the floating liquefied natural gas terminal, during the inauguration of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal 'Deutsche Ostsee' in the port of Lubmin, Germany January 14, 2023. Northweat Europe LNG imports Northwest Europe LNG importsAnalysts estimate that Europe accounted for more than a third of global spot market trades in 2022, from around 13% in 2021. Such exposure could reach more than 50% this year if no long-term contracts were signed. Morten Frisch, senior partner at Morten Frisch Consulting, said Europe ideally needs about 70-75% of its LNG supply under firm long-term sale and purchase agreements (SPAs). LNG spot market prices LNG spot market pricesBut they are expected to rise again, with a hot summer that could cut hydro levels, a cold 2023-2024 winter and a rebound in Chinese LNG demand all seen as among the risk factors for price.

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Emissions regulated under the European Union's carbon market from power and industrial sectors fell by 1.2-1.6% last year, preliminary data in the European Union Transaction Log database examined by analysts showed on Monday. Analysts at Refinitiv and ICIS said stationary emissions covered by the scheme, such as power plants and factories, totalled 1.316-1.320 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2022, down 1.2-1.6% from the previous year. While power sector emissions increased, that was offset by a decline in industrial emissions. There were also problems with French nuclear power output, requiring more power generation from fossil fuels to fill the gap. Some 93% of all installations covered by the ETS have reported their emissions so the data is incomplete.

REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - British energy regulator Ofgem on Monday lowered its price cap on household energy bills from April, but it will offer little relief to consumers as costs continue to rise. The cap sets a maximum price suppliers can charge consumers for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they use, but it has been superseded by a government-backed energy price guarantee (EPG) that limits the maximum costs of energy. "Although wholesale prices have fallen, the price cap has not yet fallen below the planned level of the Energy Price Guarantee. If wholesale prices continue to fall, the price cap could be lowered again in July, potentially reducing bills, the regulator said. British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L) this month posted record annual profit of 3.3 billion pounds on soaring energy prices and production.

Benchmark EU carbon permit prices hit 100 euros per tonne of CO2 on Tuesday, the highest since the scheme launched in 2005. The largest project being developed in the Netherlands secured national funding to bridge the gap between costs and the CO2 price. The United States does not have a nationwide carbon price, although states including California do. An EU carbon price of 100 euros adds 30-40 euros to the cost of a tonne of primary steel production, according to Eurofer. For example, blast furnace-based steelmakers were given around 80% of their CO2 permits, commodity industry analysis firm CRU said.

The more emitters have to pay for EU carbon permits to cover each tonne of C02 they produce, the greater the incentive to invest in low carbon technologies and switch to less polluting fuels. Still, rising carbon prices are a cause of political tensions in the EU and breaching the 100 euro threshold is likely to reignite debates over prices. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez last year called for a CO2 price cap to help tackle soaring inflation. Other EU countries view a robust carbon price as vital to meeting climate goals. Years of weak prices followed until CO2 prices began to recover in 2018 when the EU agreed to remove surplus permits from the market.

An ETS sets a cap on the amount of CO2 emissions that a sector, or group of sectors, can produce. The system creates CO2 permits, called EU Allowances (EUAs) for those emissions, which companies must buy for each tonne of CO2 they emit. CO2 permits are traded on the open market, meaning companies, traders and investors buying them pay the same price. Critics say by making it cheaper to pollute, free permits have reduced the incentive for industries to reduce their emissions. Companies that already pay CO2 costs in the country where the goods were produced can be exempted from the EU levy.

☆ ICE to open London gas hub, creating route around EU price cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ICE hosts trading on the TTF gas hub in Amsterdam and had previously warned it could move the market outside of the EU because of the bloc's looming price cap on gas derivatives. ICE said it would continue to operate the TTF market on its Amsterdam exchange - the most liquid gas futures market in Europe, which sets the region's benchmark gas price - but alongside this, it was preparing to launch another market for TTF futures and options in London on Feb. 20. The London market would not be subject to the 27-country bloc's gas price cap, since Britain is no longer an EU member. EU countries agreed on the gas price cap last year, to attempt to avoid a repeat of the record-high price spikes experienced in 2022 as Russian gas deliveries to Europe dwindled. Analysts have said the EU cap now appears less likely to be triggered, but that price spikes cannot be ruled out.

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - European Union energy regulators published their first daily liquefied natural gas (LNG) price assessment on Thursday, a first step in the EU's plan to launch a new European LNG benchmark price by the end of March. WHY DOES THE EU WANT A NEW LNG PRICE? Unlike pipeline gas, LNG is not widely traded on exchanges, so there is less visibility on how much the fuel costs. HOW WILL ACER'S LNG PRICE BE DIFFERENT? ACER can only produce a price assessment if it receives at least five transactions in the assessed five-day period.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology removes CO2 emissions from the atmosphere and stores them underground. * Smeaheia, a project by Equinor to develop a storage site in the North Sea with a potential to inject up to 20 mtpa from 2027/2028. The project plans to transport CO2 via pipelines to a storage site some 145 km offshore in the southern North Sea. ICELAND* The Coda Terminal will be a cross-border carbon transport and storage hub in Straumsvík, operated by Icelandic carbon storage firm Carbfix. The full capture, transport and storage chain will handle up to 100,000 mtpa of CO2.

Companies could also move their gas trading off energy exchanges, where the EU price cap will apply, and instead conduct private transactions. The EU cap will not initially cover these "over-the-counter" (OTC) trades, although the bloc will review next year if they should be included. The EU price cap applies to EU hubs, but not those outside the bloc, such as Britain's National Balancing Point (NBP) trading hub. Front-month TTF prices met the price level required to trigger the EU cap on about 40 days this year. EU gas demand dropped by 20% in August-November this year, compared with the five-year average for the same period, Eurostat said on Tuesday.

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