Turkey is determined to carry out its oil and gas exploration program in the Eastern Mediterranean despite the many players who have attempted to thwart its plans, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said on Thursday.
Donmez told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview that Turkey will continue with its business plan in the Mediterranean as scheduled and specified that deep drilling would start in July 2020 using the country’s drillship, Fatih, for the first time in the Black Sea.
Donmez referred to the agreement with Libya signed on Nov. 27 last year on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and confirmed that following this memorandum of understanding, state oil company Turkish Petroleum made its first application for exploration.
The Minister said that as soon as the application process is completed, first seismic research activities would begin.
Turkey, as a guarantor nation for the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), is currently carrying out hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean with its drilling vessels, Fatih and Yavuz along with two other seismic vessels that are also operating in the region.
Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the TRNC also has rights to the resources in the area.
In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus’s annexation by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, the TRNC was founded.
The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the Cyprus dispute, all failing. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the UK -- came to an end without any progress in 2017 in Switzerland.
Energy giants ENI and Total postponed their proposed gas exploration operations in the Eastern Mediterranean for about a year on May 5, 2020.
The companies notified the Greek Cypriot Administration about their decision to delay their drilling operations until March or April 2021.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, ENI and Total had earlier announced their plan to start exploratory drilling in what they called “block 6” in early February.
- Tenders for renewables
Donmez also divulged updated information on the Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) tenders.
On Oct. 7, 2019, Donmez announced plans to hold YEKA tenders for solar energy in a new form, known as "mini YEKA", which were due to be held in the first half of 2020.
However, the tender plans were postponed, but Donmez said that a new meeting with industry representatives resulted in an agreement to finalize tenders in the third quarter of this year.
Source: AA
Turkey ranks seventh in the list of top destinations for foreign direct investments (FDI) in renewables, according to greenfield investment monitor FDI Markets in its ranking for Top European Locations for Renewable Energy FDI 2020.
Turkey has taken several steps to improve its investment environment in the renewable energy sector over recent years especially through new legislation, by offering incentives to foreign investors, and in the introduction of a new tender structure to expand locally-produced equipment that is needed in the renewable sector, Izmir Development Agency's (IZKA) Secretary-General Mehmet Yavuz told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
Through IZKA’s work for supporting and strengthening the clean energy sector by creating employment in the renewables sector throughout Turkey, Izmir has been the main area of focus, Yavuz explained.
"Izmir is at the forefront when it comes to wind energy and equipment production. It has become a center of attraction for foreign investors with its logistical and port facilities, qualified labor force and developed sub-industry," he said.
In addition to big international companies such as Enercon, Siemens Gamesa, General Electric LM Wind Power, TPI composites, CS Wind, local firms such as Ates Celik, Dirinler Dokum, Norm Civata, GIMAS and Tibet Makina produce clean energy equipment in Izmir.
The Aegean region’s accomplishment as a production center for both national and international equipment producers follows the success of Izmir as a provider of a strong supply chain, which has contributed to Turkey's success in the renewable energy sector, according to Yavuz.
He urged for greater investments in equipment production to strengthen Turkey’s position in the global renewable energy sector.
IZKA’s work also encompasses developing Izmir as a pioneer in offshore wind investments along with its support for both foreign investors and local firms in developing infrastructure projects to boost employment in renewables.
Turkey’s Aegean region with its high winds is suitable for wind energy generation and hosts 38% of Turkey’s wind power plants. The current installed capacity of wind plants in the Aegean region at 2,868 megawatts (MW) is forecasted to reach as much as 3,500 MW in the coming years when the projects either under construction or planned are finalized.
Nearly 20% of wind power plants in Turkey with an installed capacity of 1,462 megawatts (MW) are located in Izmir. Taking into account the plants under construction and planned licensed wind power plants, this amount is expected to reach 1,700 MW.
The FDI’s ranking showed that Europe was the world’s top region for foreign investment in renewable energy projects in 2019 with the UK taking the lead.
Most of the renewable energy investments in the UK went to wind energy, which was followed by biomass power, according to the ranking.
After the UK, Spain ranked second with the most FDI projects in solar energy. France followed Spain thanks to the French government's climate-change agenda, including strong incentives for foreign investment.
Source: AA
Irish utility ESB and the Irish-owned renewable energy company, Harmony Solar, have announced a multi-million Euro partnership to develop ground-mounted solar projects in Ireland, which will see 10% of the country’s population powered by solar energy.
Phase one will develop Harmony Solar’s existing 300MW portfolio primarily in Wexford and Kildare, with further phases on track to develop a total portfolio of over 1,000MW of large-scale solar projects.
The development pipeline of the partnership will see an initial capital investment of €30 million, with further investment in the medium to long term as the pipeline comes to fruition.
Solar energy is a key part of ESB’s Brighter Future strategy which seeks to shift electricity generation away from fossil fuels by developing renewable projects of scale, and in doing so, lead the transition to a low carbon energy future based on clean, reliable and affordable electricity.
Harmony Solar’s Chairman, John McEneaney said: “Irish-owned and with a shared organisational ethos and value system, ESB is now a strategic partner in bringing our current solar projects with planning permission to realisation, and ultimately in delivering on our commitments to our landowners. We are looking forward to working together and we are confident that this partnership will further add to our ability to deliver solar power to even more Irish homes in the future.”
Currently most of the country’s renewable energy is generated from onshore wind. The agreement will enhance Ireland’s ability to reach future renewable energy targets and contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 360,000 tonnes per year when the development pipeline is fully operational.
For the moment, Harmony Solar and ESB continue with business as usual, undertaking desk-based work on their development pipeline. Any site-based work in the coming months will be undertaken entirely in line with Government requirements around social distancing.
Source: Smart Energy International
Italian firm Prysmian has secured a €500 million (£438m) deal to manufacture and commission the 1GW A-Nord underground cable connection in Germany.
The contract was awarded by German grid operator Amprion GmbH – the cable connection forms part of the 2GW German Corridor electricity transmission project to transport wind power from the north of the country to the southern and western regions.
Prysmian will supply a 525kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable comprising of insulated copper cables and all related accessories to the project.
Construction of the HVDC system is scheduled to begin by 2023.
Hakan Ozmen, Prysmian Group, said “We are delighted to be working with Amprion on this project: the A-Nord project will be one of the main arteries of the German transmission grid, connecting the key generation sites in Northern regions, characterised by many onshore and offshore wind energy sources, to southern regions, especially in West Germany, where more conventional power plant capacities are located.”
Source: Energy Live News
The United States is on track to produce more electricity this year from renewable power than from coal for the first time on record, new government projections show, a transformation partly driven by the coronavirus pandemic, with profound implications in the fight against climate change.
It is a milestone that seemed all but unthinkable a decade ago, when coal was so dominant that it provided nearly half the nation’s electricity. And it comes despite the Trump administration’s three-year push to try to revive the ailing industry by weakening pollution rules on coal-burning power plants.
Those efforts, however, failed to halt the powerful economic forces that have led electric utilities to retire hundreds of aging coal plants since 2010 and run their remaining plants less frequently. The cost of building large wind farms has declined more than 40 percent in that time, while solar costs have dropped more than 80 percent. And the price of natural gas, a cleaner-burning alternative to coal, has fallen to historic lows as a result of the fracking boom.
Now the coronavirus outbreak is pushing coal producers into their deepest crisis yet.
As factories, retailers, restaurants and office buildings have shut down nationwide to slow the spread of the coronavirus, demand for electricity has fallen sharply. And, because coal plants often cost more to operate than gas plants or renewables, many utilities are cutting back on coal power first in response.
Now the coronavirus outbreak is pushing coal producers into their deepest crisis yet. As factories, retailers, restaurants and office buildings have shut down nationwide to slow the spread of the coronavirus, demand for electricity has fallen sharply. And, because coal plants often cost more to operate than gas plants or renewables, many utilities are cutting back on coal power first in response.
The latest report from the Energy Information Administration estimates that America’s total coal consumption will fall by nearly one-quarter this year, and coal plants are expected to provide just 19 percent of the nation’s electricity, dropping for the first time below both nuclear power and renewable power, a category that includes wind, solar, hydroelectric dams, geothermal and biomass.
Source: NY Times
Britain’s biggest green energy companies are on track to deliver multibillion-pound windfarm investments across the north-east of England and Scotland to help power a cleaner economic recovery.
Scottish Power plans to “repower” Scotland’s oldest commercial windfarm as part of a £150m scheme to develop a clean energy cluster in central Scotland capable of supplying 100,000 homes with green electricity.
The windfarm cluster is expected to create 600 jobs at its peak, and 280 long-term jobs, to help the UK emerge from the worst economic downturn in 300 years while taking steps to meet its climate goals.
Separately SSE and Equinor have revealed plans to use the Port of Tyne to host the operations base for the world’s largest offshore wind development, which will create 200 permanent jobs and support a local supply chain industry based on clean energy.
Alok Sharma, the secretary of state for business, said projects like the Dogger Bank offshore windfarm will be “a key part of ensuring a green and resilient economic recovery as well as reaching our target of net-zero emissions by 2050”.
“Renewable energy is one of the UK’s great success stories, providing over a third of our electricity and thousands of jobs,” he said.
Keith Anderson, the boss of Scottish Power, told the Guardian that work to upgrade Scotland’s first commercial windfarm, Hagshaw Hill, will come alongside two separate agreements to buy two nearby development projects to create a clean energy cluster in South Lanarkshire totalling 220MW.
Anderson said, "The project is part of the company’s plan to develop 1,000MW of onshore wind power and battery storage after the government’s u-turn on support for onshore wind, but could also play a role in resuscitating the UK economy following the coronavirus pandemic. We’re kickstarting as many of our projects as we can so they are ready to help boost the economy when the pandemic ends. Not only do these projects help funnel money back through the supply chain and into jobs but they also make sure that the economic recovery is based on sustainable investments."
Source: Guardian
Global Renewables Outlook: Energy transformation 2050
The Global Renewables Outlook shows the path to create a sustainable future energy system. This flagship report highlights climate-safe investment options until 2050, the policy framework needed for the transition and the challenges faced by different regions. As the world seeks durable economic solutions, accelerated uptake of renewables promises to drive sustainable development, boost well-being and create tens of millions of new jobs.
Please click here to read the full report.
