ENERGY NEWS - TURKEY
Turkey Expects 1 Million Electric Cars on Roads by 2030

Over one million electric vehicles are anticipated to be on Turkey's roads by 2030, according to Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez on Thursday.

"By 2022 or 2023, we hope to see our own indigenous automobile on the roads," Donmez told Anadolu Agency's Editors' Desk.

After the country launched its first indigenous and all-electric automobile prototype, the energy ministry plans to assess the impact of one million charge points on the country's electricity distribution network, Donmez said.

On December  27, Turkey introduced its first indigenous automobile prototype that was designed and manufactured in 18 months by Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group (TOGG), a conglomerate of industrial giants including the Anadolu Group, BMC, Kok Group, Turkcell and Zorlu Holding as well as an umbrella organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.

TOGG is currently working with the ministry to determine the optimum location for the installation of fast-charging points in the country.

"These points should be able to charge a car in nearly 15-25 minutes, depending on the car battery's capacity and features, which means there needs to be a capacity of 50-100 kilowatt-hours in the grid," he explained.

Therefore, fast-charging units located in the selected areas need to have sufficient power supply to cope with this electricity requirement.

"TOGG's expectation from us [energy ministry] is to include not only the big cities in Turkey but also other smaller cities in Anatolia where there is great interest," Donmez declared.

Source: AA

Canakkale Solar Plant Feeds National Electricity Grid

A businessman in the western province of Canakkale has installed a solar power plant on the roof of a factory and started selling electricity worth 100,000 Turkish Liras (nearly $17,000) to the state monthly.

Ali Polat first installed a solar energy system on the roof of his bakery products factory to produce 200 kilowatts of electricity per month in 2013.

With more funding from the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Rural Development (IPARD) and Turkey’s Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution, he installed more solar panels on every available space on the roof in 2017.

His solar power investment neared $1 million, he said, adding that the installed capacity of the plant reached 1 megawatt.

“I have been producing 1.5 million kilowatts of electricity annually with 3,000 panels and 35 invertors on the roof area of 8,500 square meters,” said Polat.

“I have made a deal of 10 years with the state. It will continue buying electricity produced by the solar system on the roof for 13 cents per kilowatt. In his way, I have an income of nearly 100,000 liras in a month,” he added.

Polat also said that he used to pay nearly 15,000 liras ($2,500) for electricity used in the bakery factory before the solar power plant was installed.

“I recommend such investments to every industrial enterprise using high volumes of electricity. Over and above, it is a renewable clean energy supply. The sun warms both our body and our wallet.”

Source: Hurriyet Daily News

ENERGY NEWS - WORLD
Battery Storage, Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency VC Funding Slumps by 18% in 2019

Global VC funding for battery storage, smart grid, and efficiency companies slumped by 18 percent to $2.3 billion in 2019, compared to $2.8 billion the previous year, according to a recent report.

Total corporate funding – including venture capital funding, public market, and debt financing – for the battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency sectors in 2019 dropped by 22 percent to $3.8 billion, down from $4.9 billion in 2018, said the study by Mercom Capital, a global cleantech firm.

In 2019, VC funding into battery storage companies increased by 103 percent to $1.7 billion in 32 deals compared to $850 million raised in 49 deals in 2018. This increase was primarily due to Northvolt’s $1 billion deal in Q2 2019.

Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, increased to $2.8 billion in 2019 compared to $1.3 billion in 2018, said Mercom.

Lithium-ion based battery technology companies received the most funding in 2019 with $1.4 billion. Other categories that received funding included Gravity storage, flow batteries, CAES, energy storage downstream, fuel cells, liquid metal batteries, thermal energy storage, solid-state batteries, sodium-based batteries and zinc-air batteries.

The top VC funded companies in 2019 were: Northvolt with $1 billion, Sila Nanotechnologies with $170 million and $45 million in two separate deals, Energy Vault with $110 million, and Romeo Power with $89 million. Seventy-eight VC investors participated in battery storage deals in 2019 compared to 73 in 2018. BASF Venture Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Macquarie Capital were the top investors in 2019.

Utilities and oil and gas companies were involved in seven battery storage funding deals in 2019. In 2019, announced debt and public market financing for battery storage companies increased to $1.1 billion in 10 deals compared to $494 million in 12 deals in 2018. Northvolt’s $393 million loan was the largest debt financing deal in 2019.

There were 10 M&A transactions in the battery storage category in 2019, of which only two disclosed transaction amounts. In 2018, there were 16 M&A transactions, three of which disclosed transaction amounts. The most prominent M&A transaction in the battery storage space was the acquisition of Sonnen by oil major, Shell, early on in the year, said Mercom.

Smart grid companies raised $300 million in VC funding in 38 deals in 2019, a 43 percent decrease compared to the $530 million raised in 29 deals in 2018, said the study. Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, came to $372 million in 41 deals, compared to $1.8 billion in 33 deals in 2018.

The top VC funded companies in 2019 were Smart Wires, which brought in $75 million; eSmart Systems, which received $34 million, SmartRent, which secured $32 million; CleanSpark with $20 million; and Volta Charging with $20 million.

Seventy-eight investors funded Smart Grid companies in 2019, compared to 69 in 2018. The top VC investor in 2019 was Shell, which was involved in four funding deals followed by Energy Impact Partners with three deals. Other prominent investors included Total and Centrica with two deals each.

According to the Mercom report, grid optimisation companies had the largest share of VC funding in 2019 with $85 million in four deals, followed by data analytics companies with $58 million in six deals and smart grid communications companies with $52 million in five deals.

In 2019, three debt and public market financing deals totalling $72 million were announced compared to $1.3 billion in four deals in 2018. There were no IPOs announced for smart grid companies in 2019.

In 2019, there were 29 M&A transactions recorded in the smart grid sector. In 2018, there were 12 undisclosed transactions. VC funding for energy efficiency companies in 9M 2019 was flat with $268 million compared to the $265 million raised in 9M 2018, said the Mercom report.

The top five VC funding deals in 9M 2019 were: Kinestral Technologies, Budderfly, Cimcon Lighting, Carbon Lighthouse and 75F. A total of 33 VC investors participated in energy efficiency funding in 9M 2019. In 9M 2019, there were a total of nine efficiency M&A transactions, compared to three transactions in 9M 2018.

Source: Utilities

Renewable Energy Prices Hit Record Lows: How Can Utilities Benefit from Unstoppable Solar and Wind?

EIA reports U.S. electricity generation from renewable energy exceeded coal for the first time in April 2019, and forecasts coal generation will decline 13% in 2020.

EIA also projects natural gas generation will only grow 1.3% in 2020 – the slowest rate since 2017 – while non-hydropower renewable energy generation will grow 15% in 2020 – the fastest rate in four years. 

New U.S. renewable energy investment rose 28% to a record $55.5 billion in 2019 despite pro-fossil fuel Trump administration efforts, U.S. solar installations could hit a record 19 gigawatts (GW) in 2020 despite federal tax incentives phasing out, and grid regulators estimate 330 GW of wind and solar will come online by 2029. 

So, is renewable energy now unstoppable? If the question is determined by economics, the answer may be yes.  And if renewable energy is now unstoppable, what does that mean for the utilities engaged in the power sector transformation from fossil to clean energy? If the question is determined by smart utility policy design, the answer may be economic opportunity. 

Over the last decade, wind energy prices have fallen 70% and solar photovoltaics have fallen 89% on average, according to Lazard's 2019 report.

Utility-scale renewable energy prices are now significantly below those for coal and gas generation, and they're less than half the cost of nuclear.

The latest numbers again confirm that building new clean energy generation is cheaper than running existing coal plants.  In other words, it is now cheaper to save the climate than to destroy it.

Capacity installation trends reflect this economic reality, with new wind and solar generation coming online at a breakneck pace. Wind power capacity in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2010 and reached nearly 100 GW in 2018.

Source: Forbes

Construction Works Begin on World’s Largest Dogger Bank Wind Farms

Scottish energy company SSE has started the construction of the world’s largest Dogger Bank Wind Farms.
Located near the coastal village of Ulrome, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Dogger Bank Wind Farms is a joint venture (JV) between SSE Renewables and Equinor.

The facility includes three offshore wind farm sites, Creyke Beck A (1.2GW), Creyke Beck B (1.2GW) and Teesside A (1.2GW) in the North Sea, that have a combined capacity of 3.6GW.

Dogger Bank Wind Farms managing director Steve Wilson said: “Getting the first spade in the ground is a significant milestone on any project, but for what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, this is a major moment for a project that has already been over a decade in the making.

“Dogger Bank Wind Farms will play a critical role in the UK’s effort to achieve net-zero through the use of low-carbon fuel sources and we are incredibly pleased to work with one of the UK’s leading civil engineering contractors, Jones Bros, as we commence construction and start delivering Dogger Bank.”

The wind farms will be equipped with GE’s Haliade-X wind turbine and will generate clean energy that will be sufficient to power more than 4.5 million homes annually.

UK-based civil engineering contractor Jones Bros Civil Engineering has secured the contract for installing onshore cable infrastructure for Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B sites.

According to the contract, Jones Bros will also be responsible for completing earthworks at the onshore HVDC convertor station locations in East Riding.

The onshore infrastructure works will include the installation of approximately 20 miles of electrical cables within ducts.
Once completed, the onshore cables will be used to transmit clean power generated by Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B wind farm sites from the landfall point at Ulrome to new convertor stations in the south of Beverley.

The cable route will link the existing National Grid substation at Creyke Beck, Cottingham.

In addition, the contract includes other works such as the construction of a temporary access road to facilitate the main works, as well as create access junctions and obtain vegetation clearance.

The construction is scheduled for completion in 2022.

Source: Power Technology

Oil and Gas Industry Needs to Step up Climate Efforts Now

Oil and gas companies are facing a critical challenge as the world increasingly shifts towards clean energy transitions. Fossil fuels drive the companies’ near-term returns, but failure to address growing calls to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could threaten their long-term social acceptability and profitability.

The oil and gas industry now needs to make clear what clean energy transitions mean for it – and what it can do to accelerate clean energy transitions.

Whatever path the world follows in its efforts to limit the rise in global temperatures, intensifying climate impacts will increase the pressure on all industries to find solutions. While some oil and gas companies have taken steps to support efforts to combat climate change, the industry as a whole could play a much more significant role through its engineering capabilities, financial resources and project-management expertise, according to the IEA’s Oil and Gas Industry in Energy Transitions report, which was released today.

“No energy company will be unaffected by clean energy transitions,” said Dr. Fatih Birol. “Every part of the industry needs to consider how to respond. Doing nothing is simply not an option.”

The landscape of the oil and gas industry is diverse, meaning there is no single strategic response but a variety of approaches depending on each company’s circumstances.

“The first immediate task for all parts of the industry is reducing the environmental footprint of their own operations,” Dr. Birol said. “As of today, around 15% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions come from the process of getting oil and gas out of the ground and to consumers. A large part of these emissions can be brought down relatively quickly and easily.”

Reducing methane leaks to the atmosphere is the single most important and cost-effective way for the industry to bring down these emissions. But there are ample other opportunities to lower the emissions intensity of delivered oil and gas by eliminating routine flaring and integrating renewables and low-carbon electricity into new upstream and LNG developments.

“Also, with their extensive know-how and deep pockets, oil and gas companies can play a crucial role in accelerating deployment of key renewable options such as offshore wind, while also enabling some key capital-intensive clean energy technologies – such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage and hydrogen – to reach maturity,” Dr. Birol added. “Without the industry’s input, these technologies may simply not achieve the scale needed for them to move the dial on emissions.”

Some oil and gas companies are diversifying their energy operations to include renewables and other low-carbon technologies. However, average investment by oil and gas companies in non-core areas has so far been limited to around 1% of total capital spending, with the largest outlays going to solar PV and wind. Some oil and gas companies have also diversified by acquiring existing non-core businesses – for example in electricity distribution, electric-vehicle charging, and batteries – while stepping up research and development activity. But overall, there are few signs of the large-scale change in capital allocation needed to put the world on a more sustainable path.

An essential task is to step up investment in the fuels – such as hydrogen, biomethane and advanced biofuels – that can deliver the energy system benefits of oil and gas without net carbon emissions. Within 10 years, these low-carbon fuels would need to account for around 15% of overall investment in fuel supply if the world is to get on course to tackle climate change. In the absence of low-carbon fuels, transitions become much harder and more expensive.

“The scale of the climate challenge requires a broad coalition encompassing governments, investors, companies and everyone else who is genuinely committed to reducing emissions,” said Dr. Birol. “That effort requires the oil and gas industry to be firmly and fully on board.”

Low-carbon electricity will undoubtedly move to centre stage in the future energy mix. But investment in oil and gas projects will still be needed, even in rapid clean energy transitions. If investment in existing oil and gas fields were to stop completely, the decline in output would be around 8% per year. This is larger than any plausible fall in global demand, so investment in existing fields and some new ones remains part of the picture.

In some cases, company owners may favour sticking with a specialisation in oil and gas – possibly shifting more towards natural gas over time – for as long as these fuels are in demand and investment returns are sufficient. But these companies will also need to think through their strategic response to new and pervasive challenges. The stakes are particularly high for national oil companies charged with the stewardship of countries’ hydrocarbon resources – and for their government owners and host societies that typically rely heavily on the associated oil income.

National oil companies account for well over half of global production and an even larger share of reserves. Some are high performing, but many are poorly positioned to adapt to changing global energy dynamics. Global energy trends have prompted a number of countries to renew their commitment to reform and to diversify their economies, and fundamental changes to development models in many major resource holders look unavoidable. National oil companies can provide important elements of stability for economies during this process, if they are operating effectively and alert to the risks and opportunities.

Source: International Energy Agency

REPORT OF THE WEEK

The Global Risks Report 2020

The global economy is facing an increased risk of stagnation, climate change is striking harder and more rapidly than expected, and fragmented cyberspace threatens the full potential of next-generation technologies — all while citizens worldwide protest political and economic conditions and voice concerns about systems that exacerbate inequality. The challenges before us demand immediate collective action, but fractures within the global community appear to only be widening. Stakeholders need to act quickly and with purpose within an unsettled global landscape.

Please click here to read the full report.

INFOGRAPHIC