ENERGY NEWS - TURKEY
Turkey's Licensed Power Generation up 5.86% in February

Turkey's electricity production increased by 5.86% in February 2020, compared to the same month last year, according to the latest data revealed by the country's energy watchdog.

Total electricity production rose to approximately 24,343 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), from 22,996 million kWh in February 2019, Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) announced in its electricity market report for February.

Turkey produced its electricity from several resources; 29.43% from hydropower, 22.34% from import coal and 20% from natural gas. Lignite, wind, geothermal, biomass, hard coal, asphaltite, fuel oil, solar and diesel generated the remaining share.

Consumption in the industrial sector saw the biggest share at 42.49%, followed by the commercial sector with 27.60%. Residential consumption ranked third with 27.42%, while agricultural irrigation and street lighting accounted for the remainder.

Turkey's installed electricity capacity was up 1.87% in February 2020 from the same period of 2019. Natural gas power plants comprised 30.49%, while 24.28% came from hydropower plants and 11.88% from lignite power plants.

Imported coal, hydro, wind, geothermal, hard coal, fuel oil, biomass and solar power also contributed to Turkey's installed capacity.

Source: AA

Istanbul to Host IEEE PES GT&D, International Generation, Transmission & Distribution Conference & Exposition 2021.

IEEE PES GT&D 2021 Istanbul /Futuring the Power Grid

IEEE PES GT&D International Conference & Exposition is an extension of the 40th year for the IEEE PES T&D Conference and Exposition, which is the largest conference and exposition on Power & Energy being held biannually in North America.

IEEE PES GT&D Conference & Exposition 2021 will be held in Istanbul, Turkey on June 1-4, 2021.

Istanbul will be hosting the industry’s most comprehensive and immersive event in the field of renewable energy & storage, power generation as well as transmission & distribution, which will cover the cutting-edge innovations, technical developments and newly developed innovative products.

IEEE PES GT&D 2021 is solely sponsored by IEEE PES and organized by IEEE PES Turkey Chapter. It is technically co-sponsored by ITU and will be hosted by Turkey’s Enerjisa and EAE Electricity.

The organization is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB), Turkish Airlines and ELDER – Turkey’s Association of Distribution System Operators.

The organization will be held in Istanbul Congress Center (ICC).

IEEE PES GT&D 2021 Istanbul will be an opportunity to participate in the event, which will help to shape energy and power solutions for the coming years. Power and energy professionals from the industry, utility and University across the world are invited to submit papers, super sessions, panels, and tutorials on their innovative ideas, research and developments, application, experiences and expertise.

While focusing on the technical challenges of future grid need to be solved with the technological development in the field of power and energy, the conference offers participants practical, solution-oriented topics, including case studies and the knowledge gained. Super Sessions and Panels will be held on topics that are currently of particular interest in the industry, while the rest of the technical program will include paper forms and poster sessions on conference topics in the following key areas:

POWER GENERATION & RENEWABLES TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION GRID OPERATION, AUTOMATION & MANAGEMENT
Energy, Environment & De Carbonization Advancements in Power Transmission & Distribution Electricity Market Design & Regularities
Operational & Economic Aspect of Power Generation HVDC & Flexible AC Transmission System Financing Power and Energy Investment
Generation Planning, Electricity Policies and Regulation Future Distribution Network Planning & Electrification Aging Infrastructure & Asset Management
Power Generation & Renewables Microgrids and Aggregators Advanced Monitoring, Diagnostic and Control Techniques
Green Energy Conversion Systems Microgrids Integration & Operation Integrated Monitoring & Protection
Distributed Storage & Generation (DSG) Units, and their Integration& Operation Impact of Climate Change to T&D Sensors & Communication Networking for the Future Grid
Residential Renewable Generation T&D Monitoring, Automations Protection and Restoration Cyber and Physical Security
Development in Energy Storage Systems Hybrid Distribution networks and Power Electronics Big Data Utilization & Analytics
Power Plant Monitoring, Protection Control and Automation Ancillary Services and Resiliency in LV Distribution Networks Operation of Full Automated Grids
Power Quality Issues associated with Renewable Generation Reducing Distribution Losses Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Electronic Devices
Power Plant Management & Maintenance   Research and Workforce Development
    Smart Cities & Smart Villages

Exhibitions will be reserved for newly developed commercial products relating to the broader field of power generation and renewable energy, transmission and distribution systems.  Exhibitions will be held in the exhibition area of Istanbul Congress Center-ICC, which is being the largest exhibition center with a total area of 10 283m2 and located in “Conference Valley” of Istanbul. It will be ensured that each exhibition is given sufficient attention from the conference attendees.

Source: IEEE

ENERGY NEWS - WORLD
U.K. Oil and Gas Industry May Lose 30,000 Jobs Amid Coronavirus Slump

The U.K.’s oil and gas industry could lose as many as 30,000 jobs over the next 12–18 months and see drilling levels plunge by a third amid the coronavirus-led drop-off in investment and slumping energy prices.

“The outlook is bleak compared to the picture of steady growth seen only two months ago, before the grip of the pandemic became clear,” industry trade body Oil & Gas UK said in a report published on Tuesday.

Global oil demand has tumbled amid the coronavirus pandemic as nationwide lockdowns have curbed consumption of transport fuels and economic activity has slumped. Prices for international benchmark Brent crude have tumbled by more than 70% since the start of the year and U.K. natural gas prices have also fallen to near-record lows. These price collapses have squeezed the profitability of U.K. oil and gas operators.

Oil & Gas U.K. estimates that production revenue from the U.K. Continental Shelf could fall to just 15 billion pounds ($18.7 billion) this year, based on an average Brent price of 40 dollars a barrel. That’s down from 24.5 billion pounds last year and 28 billion pounds in 2018. However, if Brent averaged 35 dollars a barrel this year, then the basin could fall into a negative cash flow position of around 1.2 billion pounds, Oil & Gas U.K. said. So far this year, Brent has averaged around 46 dollars a barrel.

“It is feasible that this year will see the UKCS experience negative cash flow for only the third time in the 40 years since the basin first saw positive cash generation,” the report said.

If Brent averaged around 40 dollars a barrel in 2020, and U.K. natural gas prices were about 25 pence per therm, Oil & Gas U.K. expects that the U.K. Continental Shelf would effectively be cash-flow neutral, meaning revenue and expenditure are at similar levels.

“The current commodity price environment will pose significant challenges across the U.K. offshore oil and gas industry,” the trade body said in a separate report on Tuesday. “Lower prices will affect the revenues of all companies, further stretch balance sheets and impact investment rates.”

Oil & Gas U.K. expects oil and gas drilling to slump by more than a third, back to lows seen in 2016, as a direct result of the drop in prices. Last year, 141 oil and gas wells were drilled. If Brent prices had averaged between 60 dollars and 65 dollars a barrel in 2020, Oil & Gas U.K. would have expected a similar level.

Capital investment in the sector will also tumble, by between 20% and 30% in 2020, from a year earlier, to between 4 billion pounds and 4.5 billion pounds

“Coming so soon after the previous downturn and with no certainty as to how long these difficult times will last, governments and regulators should be in no doubt that this challenge has many dimensions,” Oil & Gas U.K. Chief Executive Deirdre Michie said. “And this industry will need sustained and targeted support if it is to weather the storm.”

Source: Bloomberg

World Has 'Historic' Opportunity for Green Tech Boost, Says Global Watchdog

Global efforts to minimise the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic present an historic opportunity to scale up the technologies needed to speed a transition to cleaner energy, the head of the world’s energy watchdog says.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said support from governments could drive rapid growth in battery and hydrogen technology to help the world to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

“I believe there is an opportunity – and I call it an historic opportunity here,” Birol, an economist who took the helm of the Paris-based IEA in 2015, told Reuters.

“The big time is about to come, but they need a push,” he said, adding that the economic stimulus packages being delivered worldwide offer an ideal vehicle for change.

After weeks of extraordinary turmoil in oil markets, the IEA - created to ensure steady energy supplies to industrialised countries after the oil crisis in the early 1970s - has emerged as a leading proponent of “green recoveries” from the pandemic. Birol wants governments to broaden support for well-established paths to reducing carbon emissions, such as embracing greater energy efficiency and expanding renewable energy to create jobs and serve climate goals. But he also wants governments to consider offering promising technologies the kind of subsidy and policy support that have helped to propel spectacular growth in wind and solar power from a low base over the past decade.

Global installed solar capacity increased from 40 gigawatts (GW) in 2010 to 580 GW in 2019, according to the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency. Birol singled out lithium ion batteries and the use of electrolysis to produce hydrogen from water as two technologies poised for rapid take-off. Lithium ion batteries can be used for a wide range of purposes, from powering electric vehicles to storing energy generated by solar or wind plants to ensure a steady supply of electricity at night or when the wind isn’t blowing.

Birol cautioned against blanket categorisation of the oil and gas industry as “troublemakers”, saying oil would still be used for years to come and that the coronavirus had underscored the importance of petrochemicals.

“Today the petrochemical industry ... is one of the most critical ones helping us with the masks we are using or the sanitisers we are using,” he said.

Last year climate scientists, campaigners and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which comprises pension funds and insurers managing more than 30 trillion euros ($32.6 trillion) in assets, wrote letters to the IEA to ask it to produce more ambitious decarbonisation pathways to boost climate-friendly investment.

Source: Reuters

A New Energy Order

Roberto Bocca, a member of the executive committee of the World Economic Forum has posed an interesting proposition.

He believes that the current pandemic has provided the world with a ‘reset’ and an opportunity to proceed with ‘aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way.”

He references the unprecedented cooperation between organisations, cities and countries during a time of increased nationalism citing the agreement between Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US to cushion oil prices shocks as an example. He believes the most important take away from this agreement is the ability of parties with “competing interests to work toward the shared and optimal objective of market stability.”

Bocca ultimately believes that there is an opportunity for an existing — or a new — global body to take on the role of an “enabler of energy stability”, operating on the basis of market, economic and environmental stability. My understanding is that he proposes the energy transition should fall to a body which will take global interests and considerations and place these above nationalistic ones, with an aim of creating stability, that can “harmonise the often-conflicting priorities and outline frameworks for a just and stable transition.”

It’s an interesting proposal. But I wonder how well such an organisation would work in the reality of day to day politicking, funding and jockeying for position that is the make-up of just about every single global organisation.

The World Health Organisation, for instance, has been accused of being too much in favour of China in recent weeks, with claims that it is whitewashing the truth about Chinese COVID-19 infections, resulting in a massive amount of funding being withdrawn from the global health organisation. If during this time of pandemic, with millions of lives on the line, such politicking can happen, what real chance does a global energy body stand?

A body, in particular, that may limit the development and industrialisation prospects of countries for the ‘benefit of all’, that doesn’t have to deal directly with the resulting economic stagnation or slower growth prospects? Who would pay for such a body and just how far would its reach extend? If it were an informal body that was promoting the transition, would it have any legs? We have already seen the respect with which the Paris Agreement has been treated by countries that have put economic development above globally agreed limits and changes. 

Unfortunately, as in so many instances, it often comes down to ‘he who pays, says’ and until there is a way for such global bodies to be paid for  and remain independent from politics, as much as I’d love to see this kind of development, I’m not holding my breath as to how effective it will ultimately be.

Source: Smart Energy International

German Cabinet Amends Renewable Energy Rules due to COVID-19

The German cabinet adopted today (29 April) an amendment to clean energy rules aimed at enabling immediate measures to be taken during the coronavirus pandemic. But environmentalists are not pleased as solar power caps and distance rules for wind turbines were left out Euractiv Germany reports.

One of the changes to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) includes the extension of implementation deadlines for wind energy and large solar and biomass plants. Project operators who were awarded a contract before March 2020 have been given an extra six months to build the plants.

In addition, the cabinet took the opportunity to finally abolish special regulations for citizen energy cooperatives, which had already been suspended anyway.

Since 2017, these cooperatives benefited from special freedoms in tenders for wind power plants because, unlike entrepreneurial projects, they were allowed to participate in auctions even without emission control permits.

However, this had led to fraud with companies founding their own citizen energy cooperatives.

The Association of Municipal Enterprises, known as VKU, has welcomed the amendment as the previous regulation had been too open to abuse.

VKU managing director Ingbert Liebing warned, however, that the deadline extensions only apply to plants in the tendering system, while those with fixed remuneration remain excluded.

Due to the digression of subsidies provided for in EEG, a solar plant would receive 1.4% less remuneration for every lost month for which it should have already been operational. And this could be fatal for many.

But the EEG amendment does not address the problem of the almost reached solar power cap, which threatens to plunge the photovoltaic industry into recession.

The corresponding law is currently pending in the Bundestag, as it is to be clarified at the same time as the wind turbine spacing debate. On top of that, the expansion path for green electricity demanded by the renewable industry is also missing.

By 2030, the German government plans to ensure its energy mix consists of 65% renewable energy, yet this expansion is failing due to building permits, citizens’ complaints and a lack of power lines.

For Henrik Maatsch, Senior Climate Policy and Energy Advisor at WWF Germany, the revision of the law is therefore far from sufficient. “What remains is a ‘novella’ in the EEG and the bad premonition that renewable energies as the main pillar in the fight against the climate crisis do not seem to be systemically relevant for this government,” Maatsch said.

Green MP and party spokeswoman for energy policy, Julia Verlinden, also expressed disappointment. “With its failures in energy policy, the government is leaving behind sensible economic stimulus measures that do not even cost a lot of money and on top of that would help to achieve the climate targets,” she said.

Source: Euractiv

REPORT OF THE WEEK

COVID-19’s Impact on Power, Utilities & Renewables Companies

Across the globe, power, utilities & renewables (PU&R) companies continue to be focused on keeping their assets on-line and providing safe, reliable supplies of electricity and natural gas during the COVID-19 pandemic. This piece explores the various impacts and practical next steps PU&R companies can take as industrial demand declines and customer demand increases.

Please click here to read the full report.

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