Swedish power utility Vattenfall has abandoned a planned 500 MW carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant at Jaenschwalde, Germany, expected to cost €1.5 billion, after the German federal government rejected a bill allowing underground carbon storage. The 500 MW CCS demonstration project was to utilize a new 250 MW Oxyfuel boiler and see another 250 MW … Continue reading
The average EU Allowance (EUA) price in the third phase of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) will be €12/tonne, predicts Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. The most depressed price levels will probably be seen in the 2013-2015 period when the average price of EUAs could drop to as little as €10/tonne before rising … Continue reading
Ever wondered how much it costs to boil the kettle when making your cup of tea? Well, Andrew Moir of bigmouthmedia has been in touch to let you know. Working with price comparison site Confused.com, bigmouthmedia came up with this graphic, comparing each of the Big Six’s prices with those of Europe (as of November 2011) to show the annual … Continue reading
As part of researching a forthcoming Gas Turbine World article about retrofitting CCS for gas-fired power plants, last night I attended a ‘Green in the City’ panel discussion put on by EcoConnect to discuss the future of carbon capture technology. Attendees would be forgiven for thinking carbon capture has no future. There is no shortage … Continue reading
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) response towards recent domestic shale gas developments has been notably reserved and avoids the partisan hyperbole of environmentalists and oil & gas industry players alike. Why? Isn’t shale gas the best thing since sliced bread? In case you hadn’t heard, Cuadrilla Resources, a joint venture between Australian … Continue reading
French power OEM Alstom wants part of a £1 billion UK Government pot to fund carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects for its proposed 426 MW oxyfuel project at Drax power station after Scottish Power’s Longannet project collapsed. On 19 October the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced Scottish Power’s £1 billion … Continue reading
The decision by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to auction 100 per cent of its power generation reflects a growing realization among the so-called ‘Big Six’ UK utilities that the status quo is finished, the game is up. Consumers, regulators, politicians and pressure groups have been keen of late to put the boot into energy … Continue reading
During BBC Radio Four’s excellent File on Four documentary about energy prices broadcast this week Professor Catherine Waddams, director of the University of East Anglia’s Centre for Competition Policy, likened the UK energy market to a sports event which no-one tries to win because each team has already won merely by turning up. The programme … Continue reading
The world’s largest power equipment OEMs and Europe’s leading utilities have joined forces to establish the Brussels-based European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE). EASE is focused on acting as a coherent voice to promote the role of energy storage as key enabling technologies for Europe’s transition towards a sustainable, flexible and stable energy system. … Continue reading
Industrial conglomerate Siemens has abandoned all plans to build new nuclear power stations following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to phase out nuclear power in Germany. The announcement was made in an interview given to weekly German newspaper Der Spiegel by CEO Peter Loescher, in which he stated that “for us it is a thing of … Continue reading