The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today his ambition for UK offshore wind to generate 40GW of electricity by 2030. The UK is well on the way to achieving this already, and the International Energy Agency predicts it will continue to lead Europe’s offshore wind market to 2030.1 But what are the next steps … Read more

On 2 October, Ofgem, the UK electricity regulator, published proposals to issue final orders on seven licensed electricity suppliers: Flow Energy Limited Nabuh Energy Limited Robin Hood Energy Limited MA Energy Limited Tonik Energy Limited Symbio Energy Limited Co-operative Energy Limited These orders are subject to consultation for 21 days before being confirmed. Provisional and … Read more

While Ethiopia has expanded its energy production capacity tenfold in the past 25 years, it continues to experience energy shortages as it struggles to meet its population’s demand for electricity. Ethiopia’s population is growing by more than 20% per year and it is struggling to provide access to electricity, which is currently available only to … Read more

Victorian Government announce market sounding process to test industry interest and capacity for 600+ MW of new solar, wind and other renewable energy projects. Round 2 VRET auction The Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, announced on 2 September 2020 the commencement of a market sounding process from interested proponents for the … Read more

In our July post EU Hydrogen Strategy – a call to action we looked at the EU’s Hydrogen Strategy, which sets out the European Commission’s vision for how the EU can harness the power of hydrogen to achieve its commitments to decarbonise the continent and transition to clean energy by 2050. In today’s post we … Read more

The challenges of climate change seem to be taking a back seat to economic stimulus. However the process of decarbonising the economy should begin to pick up steam given the ecological origins of the health crisis, the call from 12 countries (including France) to make the Green Deal “a roadmap to responding to the economic crisis”, and the publication on 23 April 2020 of the decree adopting France’s low carbon strategy for achieving carbon neutrality in 2050. Read more

On 24 June Spain’s Official State Journal (Boletín Oficial del Estado) published Royal Decree-law 23/2020, of 23 June, which approves measures in relation to energy and other areas to stimulate economic recovery (“RDL 23/2020”). RDL 23/2020 entered into force on 25 June 2020, although it has yet to receive final approval from Spanish Congress. RDL 23/2020 contains measures that affect a number of different sectors, but it primarily contains provisions for the electricity sector, with a particular focus on the regulations governing renewable energy generation facilities. Some of the measures (such as the design of the new renewable energy auctions system, the regulation of hybridisation and storage and independent aggregation) were already included in the Bill on Climate Change and Energy Transition (Proyecto de Ley de Cambio Climático y Transición Energética) (the “Climate Change Bill”) , which was sent to Spanish Congress on 19 May (which we covered in another e-bulletin - see here). The approval of those measures in RDL 23/2020 means that they can be brought into effect immediately. Read more

Joining William Powell and Joseph Murphy of Natural Gas World, Lewis McDonald discusses what the future now looks like in terms of investments in energy, namely oil and gas. Given the burgeoning global population, rising standards of living and climate goals, there has been a serious increase in awareness and concern in global climate change around the world. The environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda is now at the top of many companies’ priorities though currently appearing to mainly affect companies in Europe and less so in Asia. Prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, ESG was the major issue being discussed in board rooms. With about 12,000 entities, together controlling around $14 trillion, divesting or wanting to divest from fossil fuels primarily based on consumer demand and consumer sentiment and where the laws and regulation are heading, we have seen rather a chilling effect on investment in the oil and gas sector – and the big question is ... where does it all go from here… Read more