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Alliant Energy natural gas plant on line

  • : Electricity, Natural gas
  • 20/05/15

Public utility company Alliant Energy brought a natural gas-fired power plant on line today in Wisconsin.

The 730MW West Riverside Energy Center is in service after nearly three years of construction in Beloit, Wisconsin. The facility was initially supposed to be brought on line in December, but operations were delayed during a final pipe cleaning.

With the gas plant now in service, Alliant Energy plans to construct a solar-powered facility adjacent to the Riverside Energy Center to integrate the fuel mix.

The West Riverside solar garden is expected to break ground soon and be completed by the end of the year. The 6MW solar field will offset power at the natural gas plant and increase the sustainability and efficiency of the West Riverside Energy Center, the company said.

Alliant Energy provides energy service to customers in Wisconsin and Iowa.


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25/05/12

Saudi Aramco cuts dividend after fall in 1Q profit

Saudi Aramco cuts dividend after fall in 1Q profit

Dubai, 12 May (Argus) — State-controlled Saudi Aramco has announced a sharp cut to its quarterly dividend after reporting a 5pc year-on-year decline in profit for the first three months of 2025. The company's profit fell to $26.01bn in January-March from $27.3bn in the same period last year after lower oil prices squeezed revenues. Aramco said its bottom line was also hit by higher operating costs. The company said it sold its crude for an average $76.30/bl in January-March, down from $83/bl the first quarter of 2024. "Global trade dynamics affected energy markets in the first quarter of 2025, with economic uncertainty impacting oil prices," Aramco's chief executive Amin Nasser said. The company said its overall dividend for the quarter will be $20.61bn, down from $31bn in the corresponding period in 2024. The steep drop is due to the performance-linked element of the dividend being slashed to just $219mn for the quarter, from $10.7bn a year earlier. Aramco already announced in March that it expected its dividends for the full year to fall to $85.4bn from $124.3bn in 2024. Despite the current economic uncertainty, Aramco's capital expenditure (capex) rose to $12.5bn for January-March from $10.83bn in the same period last year, although this puts investment broadly in line with the lower end of the full-year 2025 capex guidance of $52bn-58bn that the company announced in March. The aggressive capex programme will help drive growth plans for the downstream and new energies sides of Aramco's business, as well as fund the firm's strategy to maintain its maximum sustainable crude capacity at 12mn b/d and expand its gas output by 60pc by 2030 compared with 2021 levels. By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

India, Pakistan reach US-mediated, fragile ceasefire


25/05/11
25/05/11

India, Pakistan reach US-mediated, fragile ceasefire

Dubai, 11 May (Argus) — A US-mediated ceasefire reached on Saturday between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan is still holding, following four days of intense fighting. "After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE," US president Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday. India and Pakistan will now start negotiations on a broad set of issues at a neutral site, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on social media platform X. India's military on 7 May launched attacks against targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in retaliation for an April terrorist attack that killed dozens. But by Saturday, the two countries seemed to be edging toward all-out war, as their militaries targeted each other's bases. India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed the ceasefire, saying on X that "India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so." Pakistan "responded positively to the ceasefire proposal for regional and global peace, and its people and I hope that dialogue will now be chosen for resolution of water and Kashmir disputes," Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address. Trump also praised leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would "substantially" increase trade with them, although this was "not even discussed". Kashmir is a contested area between India and Pakistan, and the two have twice gone to a war over the region. Fear of the conflict spreading roiled global financial markets. India is the region's second-biggest oil buyer after China — importing around 4.5mn b/d last year — and a major customer for other commodities, including LNG and coal. Pakistan also imports fertilizers, coal, oil products and LNG. The escalation between the two severely limited direct trade between them. Airlines in the region as well as some Mideast Gulf carriers rerouted or cancelled flights to avoid Pakistani airspace. But the Pakistan Airports Authority said on Saturday that "Pakistan's airspace has been fully reopened for all types of flights." By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

White House ends use of carbon cost


25/05/09
25/05/09

White House ends use of carbon cost

Washington, 9 May (Argus) — The US is ending its use of a metric for estimating the economic damages from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the latest reversal of climate change policies supported by President Donald Trump's predecessors. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week directed federal agencies to stop using the social cost of carbon as part of any regulatory or decision-making practices, except in cases where it is required by law, citing the need "remove any barriers put in place by previous administrations" that restrict the ability of the US to get the most benefit "from our abundant natural resources". "Under this guidance, the circumstances where agencies will need to engage in monetized greenhouse gas emission analysis will be few to none," OMB said in a 5 May memo to federal agencies. In cases where such an analysis is required by law, agencies should limit their work "to the minimum consideration required" and address only the domestic effects, unless required by law. OMB said these steps are needed to ensure sound regulatory decisions and avoid misleading the public because the uncertainties of such analyses "are too great". The budget office issued the guidance in response to an executive order Trump issued on his first day in office, which also disbanded an interagency working group on the social cost of carbon and called for faster permitting for domestic oil and gas production and the termination of various orders issued by former president Joe Biden related to combating climate change. The metric, first established by the administration of former US president Barack Obama, has been subject to a tug of war between Democrats and Republicans. Trump, in his first term, slashed the value of the social cost of carbon, a move Biden later reversed . Biden then directed agencies to fold the metric into their procurement processes and environmental reviews. The US began relying on the cost estimate in 2010, offering a way to estimate the full costs and benefits of climate-related regulations. The Biden administration estimated the global cost of emitting CO2 at $120-$340/metric tonne and included it in rules related to cars, trucks, residential appliances, ozone standards, methane emission rules, refineries and federal oil and gas leases. By Michael Ball Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 5.53pc in April


25/05/09
25/05/09

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 5.53pc in April

Sao Paulo, 9 May (Argus) — Brazil's annualized inflation rate rose to 5.53pc in April, accelerating for a third month despite six central bank rate hikes since September aimed at cooling the economy. The country's annualized inflation accelerated from 5.48pc in March and 5.06pc in February, according to government statistics agency IBGE. Food and beverages rose by an annual 7.81pc, up from 7.68pc in March. Ground coffee increased at an annual 80.2pc, accelerating from 77.78pc in the month prior. Still, soybean oil prices decelerated to 22.83pc in April from 24.36pc in March. Domestic power consumption costs rose to 0.71pc from 0.33pc a month earlier. Transportation costs decelerated to 5.49pc from 6.05pc in March. Gasoline prices slowed to a 8.86pc gain from 10.89pc a month earlier. The increase in ethanol and diesel prices decelerated as well to 13.9pc and 6.42pc in April from 20.08pc and 8.13pc in March, respectively. The hike in compressed natural gas prices (CNG) fell to 3.5pc from 3.92pc a month prior. Inflation posted the seventh consecutive monthly increase above the central bank's goal of 3pc, with tolerance of 1.5 percentage point above or below. Brazil's central bank increased its target interest rate for the sixth time in a row to 14.75pc on 7 May. The bank has been trying to counter soaring inflation as it has recently changed the way it tracks its goal. Monthly cooldown But Brazil's monthly inflation decelerated to 0.43pc in April from a 0.56pc gain in March. Food and beverages decelerated on a monthly basis to 0.82pc in April from a 1.17pc increase a month earlier, according to IBGE. Housing costs also decelerated to 0.24pc from 0.14pc in March. Transportation costs contracted by 0.38pc and posted the largest monthly contraction in April. Diesel prices posted the largest contraction at 1.27pc in April. Petrobras made three diesel price readjustments in April-May. By Maria Frazatto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Minister eyes German energy transition 'reality check'


25/05/09
25/05/09

Minister eyes German energy transition 'reality check'

London, 9 May (Argus) — Germany's energy transition needs a "reality check", the country's new energy minister Katherina Reiche has said, stating that the government will prioritise security of power supply over climate protection. The government must strike the right balance between climate protection, security of supply and costs, Reiche said at the Ludwig Erhard Summit earlier today, arguing that the focus in recent years has been disproportionately on the former. The new government will put security of supply "first", while also focusing on keeping system costs — such as redispatch and grid expansion costs, which previous governments "underestimated" — as low as possible. The government is aiming to "quickly" hold tenders for the construction of "at least" 20GW of new gas-fired capacity, Reiche said, citing the recent blackout in the Iberian peninsula as evidence that Germany cannot become complacent over its power supply. While she acknowledged that the reasons for the blackout are not yet fully determined, she said that a lack of inertia in the power system is likely to have contributed to it, and that more flexible gas-fired plants "could have helped" Spain avoid the blackout. She called for Germany to agree "long-term delivery contracts" for natural gas, to ensure security of supply in the coming years. And Reiche emphasised the importance of "technology openness", particularly when it comes to Germany reaching its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045. There may be new technologies that are yet to be invented or fully harnessed that could aid the country in fulfilling its goal, she noted. Hydrogen has the potential to play a role in a "mix" of other technologies in the energy transition, she said, but the expectations for it have become too high for a product that is "not even on the market". Reiche also called for more patience with regard to electrification in Germany, stating that "the transformation of an entire economy [to become climate friendly] in a linear, year-on-year path is not feasible". And the minister reiterated previous CDU/CSU-SPD coalition pledges to reduce the electricity tax and to introduce an industry power price. CDU party member Reiche became the new energy minister on Tuesday, when CDU leader Friedrich Merz was voted in as chancellor, replacing the SPD's Olaf Scholz. By John Horstmann Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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