People walk along the beach on the Suffolk coast as the Sizewell B nuclear power station can be seen on the horizon, near Southwold, Britain, January 31, 2019. REUTERS/Russell Boyce Acquire Licensing Rights
LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Britain on Monday opened the search for private investment in the Sizewell C nuclear project, inviting potential investors to register their interest.
The building of the plant by French energy giant EDF in southeast England, capable of producing around 3.2 gigawatts of electricity or enough to power around 6 million homes, was approved in July 2022.
“The government, the Sizewell C Company and EDF, the project’s lead developer, are looking for companies with substantial experience in the delivery of major infrastructure projects,” a statement from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said.
The British government announced last year that it would support Sizewell C with around 700 million pounds ($895 million) while taking a 50% stake during its development phase.
“The launch of the formal equity raise opens another exciting phase for the project, following a positive response from investors during market testing,” said Sizewell C Company Joint Managing Director, Julia Pyke.
Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by William James
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SYDNEY, July 28 (Reuters) – The Australian state of Victoria will ban natural gas connections to new homes from next year as part of a plan to cut emissions and lower energy bills, the state climate action minister said on Friday.
Australia’s second-most populous state is the country’s largest consumer of natural gas with around 80% of homes connected but also has ambitious plans to reach net zero emissions by 2045, five years ahead of the federal government.
Minister for Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio said on Friday that new homes requiring planning permits must connect to all-electric networks. The gas sector contributes 17% of the state’s emissions.
“Reducing our reliance on gas is critical to meeting our ambitious emission reduction target of net zero by 2045 and getting more Victorians on more efficient electric appliances which will save them money on their bills,” D’Ambrosio said in a statement.
The changes will apply to all new public buildings yet to reach the design stage, including housing, schools, and hospitals.
Victoria also launched several grant and training programmes to support electrification, including a A$10 million ($6.7 million) programme to lower prices for solar equipment and heat pumps and a A$3 million package to train tradespeople on new equipment.
The plan comes as southeastern Australia faces potential gas shortages from mid-decade as output falls from the offshore fields, operated by Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), that have long supplied the region.
Rewiring Australia, a non-profit which advocates for electrification, backed the move and said “electrification is the fastest and most cost-effective way to shave thousands of dollars a year from energy bills and lower our emissions.”
Australia last month finalised a package of rules for the domestic gas market including a cap on wholesale prices that was first introduced in December.
($1 = 1.4932 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Stephen Coates
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PARIS, April 13 – Energy-poor Japan is waging an uphill battle for more investment into natural gas exploration and production among Group of Seven (G7) climate and energy ministers, according to a French ministry official.
This weekend’s G7 ministerial meeting in Sapporo, Japan, is meant to coordinate efforts to address climate change – which are under pressure from energy security concerns after Moscow slashed gas deliveries to Europe last year, causing global supply squeezes and price spikes.
“We understand their (Japan’s) energy reasons, but it’s a request we are combatting in the context of the G7 communique,” the French official said. “There is very strong unity among the other G7 members to avoid any and all language favorable to fossil fuels and gas exploration in these negotiations.”
The Japanese embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
An initial draft communique proposed by Tokyo had said “demand for (Liquefied Natural Gas) will continue to grow” and called for “necessary upstream investments in LNG and natural gas”, according to a document seen by Reuters.
A subsequent revision, also seen by Reuters, toned down that language, saying global energy supply gaps needed to be bridged “in a manner consistent with our climate objectives and commitments”.
The International Energy Agency, whose director will attend the ministerial meeting, has said reaching the Paris Climate Agreement goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 means no new investments in fossil fuel projects.
The French official said the U.S. was generally aligned with European G7 members’ “hostile” stance against language on new upstream gas investments, while Canada was more measured and slightly supportive of the Japanese presidency’s proposal.
France is pushing for more ambitious language “to completely exit fossil fuels” following last year’s commitment to work towards exiting coal use, the official added, with the goal of establishing written commitments in a final draft expected on Sunday that can be taken up by the Group of Twenty countries and at the COP28 climate conference later this year.
Japan still burns plenty of coal and has said it plans to rely on imported natural gas for at least 10 to 15 years — though it will be holding a seminar on the decarbonisation benefits of nuclear power at this weekend’s ministerial meeting, which the French official said would provide an opportunity for “nuclear cooperation discussions, including concrete talks for France to accompany the relaunch of nuclear energy in Japan.”
One possible chink in the armour of European G7 unity: Germany will this weekend be powering down its last three nuclear reactors, creating a power supply gap to be filled by mostly coal and gas.
“It goes without saying that powering up fossil energy to compensate for the exit of nuclear does not go in the direction of the climate action we are collectively supporting,” the French official said. “Negotiations are ongoing, but difficult.”
Reporting by American Hernandez
Editing by Richard Lough and Mark Potter
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Feb 13 (Reuters) – Freeport LNG sought permission from federal regulators on Monday to restart commercial operations at its long-idled liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas, a move that could soon provide the world with another much needed source of the super-cooled fuel.
The amount of gas flowing from U.S. pipelines to Freeport jumped on Monday to its highest since the facility was shut by a fire in June 2022 after the company restarted one of the plant’s three liquefaction trains, which turn gas into LNG for export.
But energy regulators and analysts have said they do not expect Freeport, the second-biggest U.S. LNG export plant, to return to full commercial operations for months.
In a filing with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday, Freeport asked for permission to put what it called Phase 1 of its restart plan into commercial operation.
Phase 1 includes the full restart of the plant’s three liquefaction trains, two storage tanks and one LNG loading dock.
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Freeport said it would appreciate an answer from FERC on Monday “if at all possible,” as it was ready to restart liquefaction Train 2 now and expects to be ready to restart Train 1 in the next few weeks.
Gas flows to the plant were on track to reach 0.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) on Monday, according to data provider Refinitiv, up from an average of 43 million cubic feet per day since federal regulators approved Freeport’s plan to start cooling parts of the plant on Jan. 26.
That is still only a fraction of the 2.1 bcfd of gas Freeport can turn into LNG when operating at full power. One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
Despite the increase in feedgas flows to Freeport, U.S. gas futures fell about 5% on Monday, putting the contract on track to close at a 25-month low.
That is because the gas market was more focused on a decline in domestic demand for the fuel for heating with the weather expected to remain mostly warmer than normal for the rest of February.
FULL OPERATIONS STILL MONTHS AWAY
On Saturday, Texas residents grilled U.S. energy regulators over their supervision of Freeport and other LNG plants.
Bryan Lethcoe, a regional director at the U.S. Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), said it would take “a number of months” for Freeport to return to full operation.
That is similar to the “mid-March or later” timeframe many energy analysts have projected for Freeport’s full return.
Officials at Freeport had no comment.
A couple of Freeport’s customers – Japan’s JERA (9501.T), (9502.T) and Osaka Gas (9532.T) – have said they do not expect to get LNG from the plant until after March.
Freeport’s other big buyers include units of BP PLC (BP.L), TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and SK E&S.
BP’s Kmarin Diamond was the first vessel to pick up LNG at Freeport since the plant shut.
The tanker, which has already left the facility and is on its way to the Suez Canal in Egypt, picked up LNG to create space in Freeport’s storage tanks for new LNG expected to be produced.
There is already another vessel at the plant – Prism Agility – operated by South Korea’s SK E&S, according to Refinitiv and other ship tracking data.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Additional reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Paul Simao
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SEOUL/TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) – South Korean and Japanese power utilities are sustaining heavy losses, kept from passing rising generation costs on to customers and, according to analysts, forced to reconsider the timing of green investments.
The industry is squeezed between high costs of imported fuel, exacerbated by weak currencies, and government unwillingness to displease voters and worsen inflation with price rises.
During the first nine months of this year, state-run electricity distributor Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) reported record operating losses of 21.83 trillion won ($16.69 billion) on revenue of 51.8 trillion won, compared with a loss of 1.12 trillion won a year earlier.
KEPCO is staying afloat with bond issuances and bank loans. Debt had already reached 223% of equity capital at the end of 2021.
However, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating, just 39% this month, is too low for him to dare to allow a bigger rise in electricity prices than the approximately 13% approved for this year and a similar one for 2023, analysts said.
“In order for KEPCO to swing to profit, we estimate electricity prices must be at least 30% to 40% higher than last year, or the Dubai oil spot price must fall to pre-COVID levels,” said Na Min-sik, analyst at SK Securities.
KEPCO said it had no plans to cut maintenance budgets or facilities investments.
But analysts told Reuters that KEPCO’s capital spending would drop about 20% next year. Items likely to be cut would be improvements to transmission grids to support highly variable electricity flows from renewable sources, they said.
“Since renewable power fluctuates, investment is necessary in transmission infrastructure to grow the portion of renewables in energy mix,” Na said. “But it’s a burden, as 30 trillion won in losses are forecast this year, and continued losses next year.”
Another analyst said: “Out of new power plant construction, maintenance of existing plants and power grid infrastructure, the biggest delays will be in new power plant construction, especially in renewables.”
WHOLESALE PRICE CAP
Moreover, South Korea this month decided to cap for at least three months the base rate at which KEPCO buys electricity wholesale from generation firms.
This will discourage investment in renewable generators, according to an industry association.
“We estimate this could cost us revenues of 90 won per kilowatt. If this cap is extended for a year, it would cost a 10 megawatt generator 100 million won,” said Jung Woo-sik, an executive at lobby group Korea Photovoltaic Industry Association. “We’ll lose investments. This will cripple the renewables industry.”
As for Japan, nine out of 10 key regional electricity utilities booked a net loss for the April-September half-year, with five companies reporting record losses for the period.
All eight utilities that have announced an annual forecast for the fiscal year to March 31, 2023, have warned of a net loss. Tokyo Electric and Kyushu Electric did not provide full-year outlooks.
Most of those that have applied for price rises have said they would maintain green investment, but analysts expect some deferral.
“Investment towards decarbonisation by Japanese utilities may be delayed as the companies seeking to hike prices are saying that they would review all new investments,” said Toshinori Ito, president of Ito Research and Advisory which specializes in energy markets.
By the end of November, five out of 10 major regional utilities had applied to raise prices by between 28% and 46% from April.
They said their financial situation had deteriorated sharply due to soaring fuel prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the yen’s plunge against the U.S. dollar. That could hinder stable supply of electricity, they said.
The Japanese industry ministry will examine whether each company’s efforts to improve management efficiency, such as reducing labour costs, are sufficient.
($1 = 1,308.2600 won)
Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Bradley Perrett
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