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Brazil opens distributed gen rules to comment

  • Market: Electricity
  • 04/11/22

Brazil's electricity regulator Aneel will take public comments and hold an open hearing on plans to regulate distributed generation.

The legal framework for distributed generation was approved at the beginning of 2022, with Aneel tasked with issuing specific regulations for the sector. The comment period seeks input on a wide range of issues, including the transition for new distributed generation projects to progressively pay more transmission and distribution tariffs, the rule for existing units to not pay these tariffs until 2045, and payment for power supplied to the grid through the government's energy development fund (CDE).

Aneel will also regulate the connection of distributed generation to storage systems, payment requirements if the unit does not go online for plants above 500kW, the consumer's compensation for generated surplus, and billing when compensation for generating plants do not meet conditions indicated by law.

The public consultation runs from 4 November to 19 December and will accept contributions via email at cp051_2022@aneel.gov.br. A public hearing will be held on 8 December.


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17/07/24

New Zealand, Australia carbon brokerage rivalry builds

New Zealand, Australia carbon brokerage rivalry builds

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Australia’s Snowy, Lochard ink Iona gas storage deal


15/07/24
News
15/07/24

Australia’s Snowy, Lochard ink Iona gas storage deal

Sydney, 15 July (Argus) — Australian state-owned utility Snowy Hydro has signed a 25-year deal to store gas at the country's largest domestic gas storage in Victoria state to support its gas-fired power stations. The agreement with the 26PJ (694mn m³) Iona site, owned by domestic gas storage firm Lochard Energy, will commence in January 2028. This will be ahead of the permanent closure of the 1,480MW Yallourn brown coal plant, operated by Hong Kong-owned utility EnergyAustralia, in mid-2028. "The gas storage agreement with Lochard Energy will support the operation of our gas-fired power stations in Victoria," Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes said on 15 July. Snowy Hydro, which owns and operates three gas-fired power stations totalling 1,290MW at present, is building the 750MW Kurri Kurri gas-fired plant , of which the initial 660MW stage is scheduled to come on line in late 2024. Snowy's 320MW Laverton North and 300MW Valley Power generators are located in Victoria. The deal is expected to underwrite the Heytesbury underground gas storage project , Lochard's chief executive Tim Jessen said, which will expand the capacity of Iona by approximately 3PJ. Australia's southeastern states are expected to face significant shortfalls of gas later this decade as fields supplying Victoria's 1,150 TJ/d (30.7mn m³/d) Longford gas plant deplete. A mixture of pipeline expansions to bring more gas south from Queensland state, LNG import terminals, and reducing demand have been floated to bridge this gap. Two LNG import terminals are proposed for Victoria but both require environmental approvals from the state government. Snowy Hydro is facing significant pressure from the federal government over its delayed Snowy 2.0 pumped hydroelectric project, which has suffered significant cost overruns and delays. Snowy last year said the scheme's costs had doubled to A$12bn ($8.1bn) from a previous A$5.9bn estimate , which was itself higher than the original guidance. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Japan’s Erex cuts biomass-fired power output in June


15/07/24
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15/07/24

Japan’s Erex cuts biomass-fired power output in June

Tokyo, 15 July (Argus) — Japanese renewable electricity producer Erex reduced its biomass-fired power generation output in June compared with a year earlier, according to the company data. Erex's combined biomass-fired output across the 50MW Saiki, the 75MW Buzen, and the 49MW Nakagusuku power plant in June fell by 8.5pc from a year earlier to 108GWh. The company does not publish output data for its 75MW Ofunato plant, while the 20MW Tosa plant has been under periodic maintenances since March. Erex operates a total of 269MW of biomass capacity in Japan, including Ofunato, burning mainly imported wood pellets and palm kernel shells. The company aims to start coal and biomass co-firing generation at the 149MW Itoigawa plant that has only consumed coal so far. The company plans to start operations at two more biomass plants, the 75MW Sakaide Hayashida in 2025 and the 300MW Niigata Mega Bio around 2029-2030. Erex is also accelerating biomass projects in southeast Asia, aiming to build up to 19 generation plants in Vietnam and five in Cambodia that will burn mainly wood residue and chips, in addition to several wood pellet plants in both countries. By Takeshi Maeda Erex's biomass generation in June 2024 Capacity(MW) Generations(GWh) Start of Operations Tosa 20.0 0.0 Jun-13 Saiki 50.0 31.0 Nov-16 Buzen 75.0 46.0 Jan-20 Nakagusuku 49.0 31.0 Jul-21 Ofunato 75.0 - Jan-20 Total 269.0 108.0 Source: Erex Erex biomass generation (MWh) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Japan’s Shikoku to shut Ikata reactor for maintenance


12/07/24
News
12/07/24

Japan’s Shikoku to shut Ikata reactor for maintenance

Osaka, 12 July (Argus) — Japanese utility Shikoku Electric Power is planning to shut down the 890MW Ikata No.3 nuclear reactor on 19 July, to carry out regular maintenance works. The absence of Shikoku's sole reactor could prompt the utility to boost thermal power generation at coal-, gas- and oil-fired units to meet expected rises in electricity consumption for cooling purposes during the peak summer demand season. The Ikata No.3 reactor is set to close for a three-month turnaround, after around 13 months of continuous operations. Shikoku plans to start test generation in the final phase of the maintenance on 30 September and complete the entire turnaround process on 25 October. The potential fall in nuclear output could theoretically increase LNG demand by 170,270t over August-September, assuming an average gas-fired generation efficiency of 50pc. Shikoku operates four thermal power plants, including the 1,385MW Sakaide gas- and oil-fired plant, 750MW Saijo coal-fired plant, 700MW Tachibanawn coal-fired plant and 450MW Anan oil-fed plant. Thermal capacity accounts for around 60pc of the utility's power portfolio. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Houston power outages creeping down toward 1mn


11/07/24
News
11/07/24

Houston power outages creeping down toward 1mn

Houston, 11 July (Argus) — Slightly more than 1mn Houston-area homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday afternoon as local power distribution company CenterPoint Energy continues to slowly restore service after Hurricane Beryl. The storm knocked out power to about 2.1mn customers on 8 July when it made landfall southwest of the city as a Category 1 hurricane. The pace of restoration of service to areas that include major oil refineries, petrochemical plants and an LNG export terminal has been seen by many in the region as far too slow. At 6:50mp ET on Thursday about 1.04mn customers were still without power, according to CenterPoint. The company estimates that about 1.2mn customers have had power restored so far, another 400,000 should be restored by the end of day Friday and another 350,000 by the end of day Sunday. The 2 Bcf/d (57mn m³/d) Freeport LNG terminal in Texas remained offline and without power on Thursday after it was shut down ahead of Beryl's landfall. The electric power sector accounts for about 45pc of Texas' gas use, and gas generates about 43pc of the state's electricity, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Spot gas prices at the Katy storage hub, a key natural gas market near Houston, averaged $1.715/mmBtu on Thursday, down by 7.2pc from the previous session but 5.2pc higher from the start of this week. The index began July at $1.97/mmBtu. By David Haydon Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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