ENERGY NEWS - TURKEY
Turkey’s ELDER Published 2019 Sector Report

Turkish electricity distribution companies invested 7.2 billion Turkish lira in distribution infrastructure in 2019, according to the 2019 Sector Report of Turkey’s Association of Distribution System Operators (ELDER).

The grid investments accounted the highest part of the budged which stood at around 5.4 billion Turkish lira.

The sector also invested in 194 new R&D projects funded by Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA).

According to the report, environment, safety and other legal obligation investment reached 927 million Turkish lira.

Additionally, the sector chanelled 585 million Turkish lira investment to network operating systems while the rest of the budget was spent for other expenditures.

Turkish electricity distribution sector completed 194 R&D projects funded by EMRA between 2014-2020.

Monitoring and control, network operation and materials technology were among the areas most invested.

The sector’s total employment across the country reached 56,903 in 2019.

ASELSAN to Produce Domestic Solar Inverter

Turkey's leading defense contractor ASELSAN is working toward the domestic production of a photovoltaic solar inverter, which is needed to transfer the energy produced in solar panels into grids.

According to Anadolu Agency (AA), over $250 million (1.8 billion TL) has been spent on importing these inverters over the last five years. The project aims to remove the burden from the cost of imports.

Turkey's renewable energy capacity has registered a remarkable surge over the last decade, with a steady increase of 11% per year amid a 7% annual capacity rise in other fuels for power generation, according to statistics from February 2020.

The country has managed to become ninth in the world and third in Europe among countries to have increased their installed solar power capacity following the first rollout of solar plants in 2014.

ASELSAN seeks to increase its share in the rapidly growing solar energy sector with the manufacture of its latest 250-kilowatt product.

The device, which can operate up to 1,500 volts of DC voltage level, increases the efficiency with which energy is generated to meet modern technologic requirements.

Source: Daily Sabah

ENERGY NEWS - WORLD
323 Million Electric Vehicles Will Be on Roads by 2040

Electric vehicle (EV) sales are expected to reach 45 million units per year by 2040, with a total global EV stock of 323 million, according to new research from Wood Mackenzie.

Both projections have been revised down 2% when compared to Wood Mackenzie's pre-coronavirus forecast, with the pandemic delaying total vehicle sales by two years. Responses to the pandemic from China and Europe have strongly supported a green recovery, whereas the US response has not been as favourable to transport electrification.

“Despite EV stock growing to 35 times its current size, the transport emissions curve will flatten and not fall. The global CO2 emissions contribution of transport will increase by 1.3 megatons between now and 2040.

“Major automakers have set their sights on being climate neutral by 2050 and view battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as the strongest lever to achieving that target,” said Ram Chandrasekaran, Wood Mackenzie Principal Analyst. Commercial EV adoption has fewer barriers than passenger EV adoption and will be driven by cost rather than emissions regulations.

One of the major drivers of increasing passenger car EV adoption is the strict regulatory targets mandated globally. In their effort to meet the targets, automakers must manufacture an increasing number of EVs that are favored by existing mechanisms for measuring emissions.

The regulations for commercial vehicles, however, are more lenient. Wood Mackenzie expects commercial EV adoption to see a step change when the total cost of ownership becomes favourable to EVs in the segment.

Commercial EV sales are projected to top 5.5 million a year by 2040, with global stock hitting 40 million by the same year.

“Electric buses in China have represented the entirety of commercial EVs for the past few years. Buses will lead the electrification of the global commercial segment until 2026. Post-2026, light-duty trucks will take over the charge.

“Unlike retail customers, fleet owners are well versed in the capital and operational expenses of their vehicles. They also have well-defined operating routes, as well as overnight parking locations.”

“Electrification of the US pick-up truck market is hotly contested with several new players including Rivian, Bollinger, Lordstown Motors and Nikola receiving significant funding and each having at least one product on sale in the next two years,” added Chandrasekaran.  A lack of EV charging infrastructure and the high price of electric cars have been widely cited as barriers to widespread EV adoption. However, Wood Mackenzie sees progress on both fronts.

“The projected price of battery packs keeps dropping. We expect the US$100/KWh threshold to be breached by 2024, one year earlier than our previous projections.

“Cumulative residential and public charging points are projected to grow to 32.5 million and 5.4 million outlets by 2030 and will have an investment value of US$2.7 billion and US$3.3 billion, respectively,” said Chandrasekaran.

Source: Wood Mackenzie

Energy Storage Systems Market to Expand by Over 6% Per Annum

The global energy storage systems market size surpassed $340 billion in 2018 and is set to achieve over 6% CAGR up to 2025, according to a report released by Global Market Insights.

Increasing demand for continuous electricity supply along with growing focus toward renewable energy power generation will drive the global energy storage systems industry growth.

The rapid growth pace of energy storage systems market is rather evident from recent agreement between Taiwan Power Company and Delta Electronics.

This pact entails the development of the former’s largest energy storage system which would act as a part of a smart grid project on Kinmen Island.

For realisation of the same, Delta is expected to deliver a 1MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system, an energy management platform, a 2MW capacity power conditioning system, and environment management systems for deployment at Kinmen’s Xia Xing Power station.

Apparently, the solution would support Taiwan Power Company to stabilise the grid by supplying backup power within a radius of 200 ms in no time post an unplanned generator outage takes place.

This move, indeed, is indicative of the fact that the demand for energy storage systems is gradually soaring over time.

Robust properties like high reliability and boosting system resilience at every level has enabled the energy storage systems to erase minor instabilities in the energy output for small as well as large electricity sources.

Energy storage systems serve as a vital cog in the operation of power systems while ensuring the continuity of the energy supply and improving the reliability of the system. On these grounds, the energy storage finds high-end applications across myriad segments spanning transport, manufacturing, and other industrial sectors.

Lately, energy storage has been gaining widespread acclamation worldwide due to its importance in integration and development of umpteen renewable energy technologies.

Mentioned are the distinguished energy storage systems that have potentially proved their significance in global energy space ever since their inception.

Source: Smart Energy Industry

UK Government Extends Deadline for Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Projects Hit by Covid-19

The UK government will support a six-month extension of the application window to the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (NDRHI) scheme after its planned closure in March 2021 for projects currently under development facing delays due to the virus crisis.

Eligible Non-Tariff Guarantee (non-TG) projects will be allowed to submit an extension application in the final month of the scheme, March 2021, demonstrating that they were under development prior to the government’s announcement on August 17, 2020.

This will allow them to submit a full application to the incentive programme by September 30, 2021.

The extended deadline was approved to aid projects that have suffered delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will not be able to accredit to the scheme before its closure, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said on Monday.

Under the NDRHI scheme, the UK supports the construction of biomass facilities, heat pumps, deep geothermal installations, solar thermal collectors, biomethane and biogas plants and combined heat and power (CHP) systems.

The tariff guarantee period is 20 years. Specific technologies, however, are not included in the latest proposal and will not be able to accredit to the scheme as they are already eligible for Tariff Guarantees and benefit from an extended deadline.

Those are solid biomass CHP plants, geothermal and biomethane facilities, biomass plants of over 1 MWth, biogas plants of at least 600 kWth, as well as ground source and water source heat pumps larger than 100 kWth. Commenting on the government’s decision, Nina Skorupska CEO of the UK’s Renewable Energy Organisation (REA), said:

“The extension will not only give existing projects the opportunity to be completed in light of COVID delays but will go a long way to boost the local economy, reduce emissions and creating and protecting green jobs, supply chains and skills in line with our Net Zero by 2050 goals.”

Source: Renewables Now

Germany Launches First ‘Green’ Bonds

Germany on Monday (24 August) announced details of its first “green” bond placing, tapping financial markets to fund environmental projects for the first time.

The finance ministry said it would raise up to €11 billion in 2020 to support climate-related projects.

The first issue in September of a 10-year bond, or Bund, will have a minimum of €4 billion in volume.

The German government announced late last year that it would launch the bonds in the second half of 2020 as part of its efforts to combat climate change.

The country earmarked €54 billion in spending to 2023 as part of a climate package that includes introducing a carbon tax to cut greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

Rita Schwarzeluehr-Sutter, parliamentary state secretary for environment, said the bonds will contribute to the government’s efforts.

“Green federal bonds create a clear incentive. In this way, we are showing how green and climate-friendly economic activities can be made transparent and predictable,” she said.

The green bonds will be “twin bonds”, issued alongside conventional federal bonds with the same maturity and coupon, the finance ministry said.

It means investors will be able to swap their bonds from one variant to the other, with the aim of making them more attractive to investors, according to Joerg Kukies, parliamentary secretary to the finance ministry.

Germany joins the green bond trend relatively late. Poland launched the world’s first sovereign green bonds in 2016 and France, currently the world leading issuer of the instrument, in 2017. Yet environmental issues are high on the German political agenda: Greta Thunberg and representatives of the environmental activist group Fridays for Future had an audience with Chancellor Angela Merkel last week.

Green bonds accounted for 2.85% of global bond issuance in 2019, or around $205 billion, according to the European Central Bank.

Almost half of green bonds issued worldwide last year were in euros, the ECB added. ECB chief Christine Lagarde said in July that climate protection was a top priority for the bank, after it unveiled a plan worth €1.35 trillion to help the European economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Lagarde started at the ECB late last year with a pledge to pursue a “greener” monetary policy, raising the prospect that the bank could increase the share of climate-friendly investments in its portfolio.

Source: Euractiv

REPORT OF THE WEEK

Great Expectations: Asia, Australia and Europe Leading Emerging Green Hydrogen Economy, but Project Delays Likely

In July 2020, the European Union unveiled its new Hydrogen Strategy, a visionary plan to accelerate the adoption of green hydrogen to meet the EU’s net-zero emissions goal by 2050. Combined with smaller-scale plans in South Korea and Japan, IEEFA believes this could form the beginnings of a global green hydrogen economy. Green hydrogen, produced exclusively with renewable energy, has been acclaimed for decades, but ever lower solar electricity costs mean this time really is different.

Please click here to read the full report.

INFOGRAPHIC