Germany eyes nuclear reserve

Market: Electricity
05/09/22

Germany may extend the lifespan of two nuclear power plants in the south of the country for about four months, by putting the units scheduled to close on 31 December into a reserve until mid-April, economy and climate minister Robert Habeck said on Monday.

Habeck said the 1.4GW Isar 2 and 1.3GW Neckarwestheim 2 plants in the south — where power demand exceeds generation — would be activated only during severe grid or power supply bottlenecks. Habeck said he will make this suggestion to the other members of the coalition government. There are persistent grid bottlenecks between Germany's wind-rich north and the south.

The government had tasked the country's four power transmission system operators (TSOs) with carrying out a security of supply "stress test" for the 2022-23 winter, for the government to use as a basis for its decision on allowing the nuclear plants to run for longer.

The four TSOs presented the results of the study on Monday. The study suggests that extending the lifespan of Germany's remaining three nuclear plants — including northern Emsland — would help at times of extremely low power generation, with the contribution to grid stability more limited.

Under the ministry's suggestion, the government would in November and December closely monitor issues such as water levels — important for coal transport — the availability of French nuclear plants and natural gas supplies. If in December it becomes obvious that the market is tight, the two nuclear plants would simply continue to run, Habeck said.

Habeck stressed that the 2023-24 winter will be "totally" different. Gas supply will be much higher, there will — "hopefully" — be significantly more renewable power installations in the system, and the problems faced by coal-fired generation — regarding transport or permissioning procedures — are likely to be reduced, he said.

By Chloe Jardine

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22/11/24

Cop: Drafts point to trade-off on finance, fossil fuels

Baku, 22 November (Argus) — The new draft on the climate finance goal from the UN Cop 29 climate summit presidency has developed nations contributing $250bn/yr by 2035, while language on fossil fuels has been dropped, indicating work towards a compromise on these two central issues. There is no mention of fossil fuels in either the new draft text on the global stocktake — which follows up the outcome of Cop 28 last year, including "transitioning away" from fossil fuels — or in the new draft for the climate finance goal. Developed countries wanted a reference to moving away from fossil fuels included, indicating that not having one would be a red line. The new draft text on the climate finance goal would mark a substantial compromise for developing countries, with non-profit WRI noting that this is "the bridging text". Parties are negotiating the next iteration of the $100bn/yr that developed countries agreed to deliver to developing nations over 2020-25 — known as the new collective quantified goal (NCQG). The new draft sets out a figure of $250bn/yr by 2035, "from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources". It also notes that developed countries will "take the lead". It sets out that the finance could come from multilateral development banks (MDBs) too. "It has been a significant lift over the past decade to meet the prior, smaller goal... $250bn will require even more ambition and extraordinary reach," a US official said. "This goal will need to be supported by ambitious bilateral action, MDB contributions and efforts to better mobilise private finance, among other critical factors," the official added. India had indicated earlier this week that the country was seeking around $600bn/yr for a public finance layer from developed countries. Developing countries had been asking for $1.3 trillion/yr in climate finance from developed countries, a sum which the new text instead calls for "all actors" to work toward. The draft text acknowledges the need to "enable the scaling up of financing… from all public and private sources" to that figure. On the contributor base — which developed countries have long pushed to expand — the text indicates that climate finance contributions from developing countries could supplement the finance goal. It is unclear how this language will land with developing nations. China yesterday reiterated that "the voluntary support" of the global south is not part of the goal. The global stocktake draft largely focuses on the initiatives set out by the Cop 29 presidency, on enhancing power grids and energy storage, though it does stress the "urgent need for accelerated implementation of domestic mitigation measures". It dropped a previous option, opposed by Saudi Arabia, that mentioned actions aimed at "transitioning away from fossil fuels". Mitigation, or cutting emissions, and climate finance have been the overriding issues at Cop 29. Developing countries have long said they cannot decarbonise or implement an energy transition without adequate finance. Developed countries are calling for substantially stronger global action on emissions reduction. By Georgia Gratton and Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Japan’s Taketoyo to resume biomass co-firing in 2027

22/11/24

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22/11/24

Japan’s Taketoyo to resume biomass co-firing in 2027

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Cop: Talks in Baku torn between mitigation and finance

21/11/24

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21/11/24

Cop: Talks in Baku torn between mitigation and finance

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Cop: EU, four countries commit to 1.5°C climate plans

21/11/24

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21/11/24

Cop: EU, four countries commit to 1.5°C climate plans

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Cop: Australia backs no new coal power call: Correction

20/11/24

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20/11/24

Cop: Australia backs no new coal power call: Correction

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