Cop: Parties back battery storage, grids and H2 pledges

Spanish Market: Electricity, Hydrogen
15/11/24

Parties including the US, the UK, Germany, Brazil, the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Friday endorsed pledges on energy storage and grids, and low-carbon hydrogen put forward earlier this year by the UN Cop 29 summit presidency.

The pledges aim to increase battery storage capacity six-fold by 2030, from 2022 levels, and enhance energy grids, as well as unlock the potential for a global market for low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives.

It is unclear how many countries have endorsed the pledges so far. Some government representatives, international energy agencies and private sector firms showed their support today to the Cop pledge aiming to enhance grid capacity through a global deployment goal of adding or refurbishing 25mn km of grids by 2030. The commitment also recognises the need "to add or refurbish an additional 65mn km by 2040 to align with net-zero emissions by 2050".

"Achieving the grid's target would require the build-up rate to increase by double," energy think-tank Ember said today, adding that the 1,500GW storage goal can be exceeded "significantly".

The battery storage goal is in line with what the IEA said is needed to meet the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, while maintaining energy security. The commitment was taken last year during Cop 28 in Dubai. The IEA expects that most projects will be located in China and developed economies.

Delegates called for national targets for energy storage and power grids as well as for more energy connectivity and trade to be able to decarbonise countries faster and to support regional energy cooperation. "Cross-border energy in Asia Pacific remains mainly in bilateral contracts," said a representative from the region.

Parties highlighted the urgency to accelerate energy investment, with the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) calling for a new finance goal for developing countries — currently under negotiations — that reflects the need of financing these nations need to accelerate their clean energy expansion.

Clean energy investments in emerging and developing countries outside China have risen to $320bn in 2024, according to the IEA. But a representative from Egypt pointing out that over $1 trillion per year is needed for these countries' transition.

Saudi Arabia supported both of the pledges, while reiterating that natural gas storage and carbon and capture storage was needed to be able to guarantee stable energy with less emissions.

US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said that the battery storage and grid pledges at the summit will set the tone at next week's G20 where she hopes countries set a similar target.

By Jacqueline Echevarria

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15/11/24

Cop: Granholm calls for more efforts if US quits Paris

New York, 15 November (Argus) — Countries at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, need to double down their efforts to fight climate change even if the US withdraws from the Paris Agreement, US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said. Granholm pointed out that seven years ago, when the US government abandoned international cooperation on climate, the international stage stepped forward to lead climate efforts. US states and cities also stepped up to fill the void left by the absence of federal policy, she told delegates at a high-level meeting. "Climate has never been only about the US, it has been about all of us", adding that no other country should think about pulling out of the Paris accord. Granholm highlighted that the country's policies to support the clean energy economy will ensure that investment in clean energy technologies will continue in the US. Her comments were in line with US climate advisor John Podesta's earlier this week . "We are keeping the US climate movement alive by taking every action available thanks to a strategy that lays the foundation for decades of climate and clean energy progress that will continue to grow faster than ever before." she said. The US is projected to add more than 60GW of clean energy in 2024, more than twice the amount achieved in a previous year, according to Granholm. She added that the US has invested over $1.5 trillion in clean technologies and infrastructure as a result of this industrial strategy. With businesses and consumers investing $6 for every dollar of federal investment. By Jacqueline Echevarria Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Latin America can harness energy transition: World Bank

14/11/24

Latin America can harness energy transition: World Bank

Montevideo, 14 November (Argus) — Latin America and Caribbean countries have the resources the world needs for the energy transition, but need to make substantial changes to benefit from them, a World Bank official said. The region is focused on producing a long list of resources, from critical minerals to low-carbon hydrogen, for the energy transition. It produced resources for economic transformations in the past, but did not reap benefits. This time it could be different. "We still have the problem of opportunities being left on the table," William Maloney, the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, told Argus . He said the region should look to Nordic countries. "What we want to do is avoid another cycle of saying ‘okay, take our resources and give us 30pc, so we have budget support,' " he said on the sidelines of a bank-sponsored conference on innovation in Montevideo, Uruguay. The region is home to more than 50pc of lithium resources worldwide, according to the US Geological Survey, and also dominates in reserves of critical metals, including copper, silver and tin that are used in different components of the energy transition. It has vast natural gas reserves from Trinidad and Tobago down to Argentina. Maloney said the region should look at what Sweden has done with its forestry sector and Norway with oil. He said that Sweden's forestry sector has a network of state and private institutions working together to create knowledge and add value to the products. "This is what we have to do with our lithium, natural gas or oil," he said. Forestry products accounted for 8.6pc of Sweden's export earnings in 2023, according to the government's statistics agency. He said Norway came up with a plan when oil was discovered that allowed the oil majors to produce, but contracts included specific clauses on knowledge transfer and technology that let the country develop its own petroleum industry. Oil and gas accounted for 62pc of Norway's exports in 2023. It has 48.2 trillion cf of natural gas and in 2023 was the fourth natural gas exporter after the US, Russia and Qatar. "The idea is to approach foreign capital and foreign technology with ideas that go beyond taxes and beyond employment to learning how to do things ourselves," he said. "It does not have to be us or them, there is a negotiation to be had." By Lucien Chauvin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Guyana hires floating generators to avert outages

14/11/24

Guyana hires floating generators to avert outages

Kingston, 14 November (Argus) — Guyana is lifting its floating power capacity to 111MW with the rental of plants that the government says will prevent widespread power cuts over the next two years. The government has contracted a 75MW power barge from Turkish firm Karpowership that installed a 36MW barge in May, finance minister Ashni Singh said on Wednesday. The government has not released the terms of the contracts for the floating plants that are being fired by imported heavy fuel oil. Karpowership has been given a two-year contract that the government says will expire with the scheduled commissioning of a $2bn natural gas project that includes a 300MW power plant. The project will be fed by gas from a deepwater block being worked by US major ExxonMobil. The agreements with Karpowership "will take us just beyond the period when the new plant comes on stream," Guyana's vice president Bharrat Jagdeo said. The growing oil producer in northern South America faces a widening power deficit as state power utility GPL cannot meet demand created by a rapidly expanding oil-fired economy, the government said. Power demand in the country of 750,000 people has grown from 115MW in 2020 to 175MW currently and is projected to reach 205MW by year-end, the government said. GPL's fuel oil-fired output of 165MW "does not allow for a comfortable reserve so we need adequate redundant capacity," an official told Argus . Guyana's contract for power barges from Karpowership is the company's third in the region. Six of the company's floating plants are supporting Cuba's faltering power system, while another is stationed in the Dominican Republic. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Cop: Argentina pulls delegation from Baku

13/11/24

Cop: Argentina pulls delegation from Baku

Montevideo, 13 November (Argus) — Argentina's government today withdrew its delegation from the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The country's foreign affairs ministry confirmed to Argus that the delegation had been told to leave the event, which began on 11 November and will run through 22 November. No reason was given for the decision, but it fits the general policies of President Javier Milei, who has expressed skepticism about climate change. Milei eliminated the country's environment ministry shortly after taking office in December 2023. He is also pursuing investment to monetize oil and gas reserves, with a focus on the Vaca Muerta unconventional formation. Vaca Muerta has an estimated 308 trillion cf of natural gas and 16bn bl of oil, according to the US Energy Information Administration. In October, the government created the Argentina LNG division with a plan to involve private companies and the state-owned YPF to produce and export up to 30mn metric tonnes (t)/yr of LNG by 2030. It wants to export 1mn bl of crude. The plans are closely linked to a new investment framework, known as RIGI, that will provide incentives for large-scale investments. The administration is also pushing hard for investment in critical minerals, including copper and lithium. Argentina has the world's second-largest lithium resources, estimated at 22mn t by the US Geological Survey. It has copper potential that the RIGI would help tap. The government has not specified if pulling out of Cop 29 means Argentina will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which Argentina ratified in 2016. The country's nationally determined contribution calls for net emissions not to exceed 359mn t of CO2 by 2030. This represents a 21pc reduction of emissions from the maximum reached in 2007. By Lucien Chauvin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Cop: UK sets ambitious 2035 climate target

12/11/24

Cop: UK sets ambitious 2035 climate target

London, 12 November (Argus) — The UK government has set a target to cut all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 81pc by 2035, from a 1990 baseline, the country's prime minister Keir Starmer said today at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The target, which will form the basis of the UK's next national climate plan, is in line with recent recommendations from the independent advisory Climate Change Committee . Energy minister Ed Miliband sought the committee's guidance shortly after the Labour government was elected in July. Starmer urged all countries to come forward with new national climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — at Cop 29. Details of the UK's new NDC are not yet clear, but Starmer said his government is "fully committed" to its pledge of zero-emissions power by 2030. He also repeated his promise for a "government that trod lightly on people's lives". "The UK is stepping up as a climate frontrunner at a time when such leadership is critically needed, co-founder of think-tank E3G Nick Mabey said. "We hope to see detailed implementation plans — ideally with sectoral commitments and a supporting investment roadmap — to lend credibility to its submission." The energy transition "is a huge opportunity", Starmer said, pointing to global appetite for renewables investment. And he noted the "advantage of being a first mover". The country's Labour government, elected in July, has diverged substantially from the previous administration on climate issues. The UK government today announced a "clean industry bonus" — a provisional £27mn ($34.6mn) per GW of offshore wind, to incentivise offshore wind developers to invest in industrial areas, many of which are rooted in the oil and gas industry. This will boost "green jobs" and support sustainable industry, the government said. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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