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☆ Africa’s Vast Solar and Mineral Resources at Risk of Being Left Untapped, IEA Warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Will Horner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Energy investment in Africa needs to more than double by the end of the decade if the continent is to meet its energy and climate goals. “Energy investment on our continent has fallen short,” wrote William Ruto, president of Kenya, in the report’s foreword. Photo: Lucien Kahozi/Bloomberg NewsAll of these are pushing up the cost of capital which makes many African energy projects financially unviable despite ample local resources and proven technologies such as wind or solar power, the report said. PREVIEWCurrently, 600 million people across Africa lack access to electricity and almost one billion have no access to clean cooking fuels. African nations are seeking redress for the effects of climate change they experience despite contributing little to carbon emissions, the main driver of global warming.

Persons: ”, Fatih Birol, simon maina, William Ruto, Lucien Kahozi, Will Horner, william.horner@wsj.com Organizations: International Energy Agency, African Development Bank, IEA, Agence France, West, “ Energy, Democratic, Bloomberg, Sustainable Business, Africa Climate Locations: Africa, Paris, ” Africa, China, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Nairobi

☆ Gabon Joins Blue Bond Wave With $500 Million Debt Refinancing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Will Horner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Gabon completed mainland Africa’s first-ever “debt-for-nature swap” Tuesday, refinancing $500 million of its debt and earmarking $163 million in savings for marine conservation, the latest in a burgeoning list of “blue bond” deals. In their place, Gabon issued a $500 million blue bond which matures in 2038. The coupon on the new blue bond was priced at 6.097%, lower than the coupons on the repaid bonds which were between 6.625%-7%. TNC says its blue bond deals have provided $400 million toward conservation efforts. Bank of America, which served as sole initial purchaser, structuring agent and bookrunner on the Gabon deal, declined to reveal its transaction fees.

Persons: Gabon’s, Bond, ”, Ali Bongo Ondimba, TNC wasn’t, Scott Nathan, TNC, Will Horner Organizations: —, Sustainable Business, Moody’s Investors Service, U.S . International Development Finance Corporation, Conservancy, Greenpeace, Bank of America Locations: Gabon, Africa, U.S, Belize, Seychelles, Barbados, Ecuador, Galápagos, william.horner

☆ Oil, Gas Companies Urged to Pursue Relatively Cheap Fix on Emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Will Horner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The energy sector accounts for 40% of all human-caused methane emissions, most of which come from oil and gas companies that release it as a byproduct. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act includes a plan to charge oil and gas companies for methane emissions, as well as almost $1.6 billion to help these businesses emit less methane. The U.S. and the European Union have also spearheaded a pledge, signed at the COP26 summit in 2021, to reduce global methane emissions. The U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Act Plan includes tighter regulations, increased transparency and incentives including $47 million to fund research into technologies that reduce methane emissions. The investment would enable oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions by identifying and quickly repairing methane leaks as well as upgrading older infrastructure that is prone to leaking.

Persons: Biden, Will Horner Organizations: International Energy Agency, Biden, European Union, Energy, Sustainable Business Locations: Paris, North America, U.S, inching, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, william.horner

PREVIEWBirol pointed to a “powerful alignment of major factors,” driving clean-energy spending higher, while spending on oil and other fossil fuels remains subdued. The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have marked a turning point for global energy spending, the IEA’s data shows. While clean-energy spending has boomed, spending on fossil fuels has been tepid. Investments in clean energy and fossil fuels were largely neck-and-neck in the years leading up to the pandemic, but have diverged sharply since. “If there is not enough investment globally to reduce the oil demand growth and there is no investment at the same time [in] upstream oil we may see further volatility in global oil prices,” Birol said.

North America has seen the largest increase in planned hydrogen projects in the past six months, according to the Oxford-based consulting firm. Clean hydrogen is a small but fast-growing area of the transition to lower-polluting energy sources. However, low-emission hydrogen production is currently small compared with where analysts believe it will need to be. Europe’s shrinking share of hydrogen projects is “a direct consequence of the bloc’s slow response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and [its] delay in developing concrete regulation for renewable hydrogen,” said Dilara Caglayan, lead hydrogen researcher at Aurora. Only 1% of the one terawatt of planned hydrogen projects have begun construction, while 86% are in the early planning stages of development.

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