Japan’s palm kernel shell imports hit high in March

: Biomass, Electricity
25/04/25

Japan's palm kernel shells (PKS) imports rose on the year and on the month to a record high in March, according to data published by the country's finance ministry today.

Japan imported 685,000t of wood pellets in March, up by 29pc each from a year earlier and from February. Vietnam remained the largest supplier at 491,000t, almost doubling on the year and up by 62pc on the month. The second-largest supplier was Canada.

Japan's PKS imports were 670,000t in March, up by 21pc from the same month of 2024, and up by 15pc from the previous month, which marked the largest amount on record. The top supplier was Indonesia. Malaysia followed at 188,000t, also hitting a record high.

Several biomass-fired power plants have come on line in Japan in recent months, including the 46MW Imari power plant on 19 April, which started test runs in February, burning imported PKS.

There will also be a number of new plants starting commercial operations in the coming months, such as the 53MW Fukuyama in May and the 75MW Sakaide Hayashida in June, although the 50MW Karatsu postponed its start-up from March to September this year.

By Takeshi Maeda

Japan's biomass imports by key supplying countries					000t
Wood Pellet	Mar 2025	Feb 2025	Mar 2024	m-o-m ± %	y-o-y ± %

Canada	106.6	121.1	100.3	-12.0	6.3
Thailand	10.1	0.0	0.0	-	-
Indonesia	41.3	37.8	59.4	9.2	-30.4
Vietnam	490.6	302.5	247.1	62.2	98.6
Malaysia	36.5	64.1	22.3	-43.1	64.1
US	0.0	0.0	102.5	-	-100.0
China	0.2	4.0	0.1	-96.2	70.0
Total	685.2	529.8	531.5	29.3	28.9
PKS	Mar-25	Feb-25	Mar-24	m-o-m ± %	y-o-y ± %
Indonesia	477.7	430.8	437.3	10.9	9.3
Malaysia	187.5	146.2	113.1	28.3	65.8
Sri Lanka	3.9	3.1	4.4	26.1	-11.1
Others	0.7	0.4	0.5	51.8	28.5
Total	670.4	581.1	556.1	15.4	20.5
Source: Finance ministry

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25/05/02

Australia's Coalition eyes power, resource funding cuts

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Brazil's energy transition spending drops in 2024

25/04/30

Brazil's energy transition spending drops in 2024

Sao Paulo, 30 April (Argus) — Brazil's mines and energy ministry's (MME) energy transition spending shrank by 83pc in 2024 from the prior year, while resources for fossil fuel incentives remained unchanged, according to the institute of socioeconomic studies Inesc. The MME's energy transition budget was R141,413 ($24,980) in 2024, down from R835,237 in the year prior. MME had only two energy transition-oriented projects under its umbrella last year: biofuels industry studies and renewable power incentives, which represented a combined 0.002pc of its total R7bn budget. Still, despite available resources, MME did not approve any projects for renewable power incentives. It also only used 50pc of its budget for biofuel studies, Inesc said. Even as supply from non-conventional power sources advances , most spending in Brazil's grid revamp — including enhancements to better integrate solar and wind generation — comes from charges paid by consumers through power tariffs, Inesc said. Diverging energy spending Brazil's federal government also cut its energy transition budget for 2025 by 17pc from last year and created a new energy transition program that also pushes for increased fossil fuel usage. The country's energy transition budget for 2025 is R3.64bn, down from R4.44bn in 2024. The new program — also under MME's umbrella — has a budget of around R10mn, with more than half of it destined to studies related to the oil and natural gas industry, Inesc said. A second MME program — which invests in studies in the oil, natural gas, products and biofuels sectors — has an approved budget of R53.1mn. The science and technology ministry is the only in Brazil that increased its energy transition spending for 2025, with R3.03bn approved, a near threefold hike from R800mn in 2024. Spending will focus on the domestic industry sector's energy transition, Inesc said. Climate activists have criticized Brazil for not planning to phase out fossil fuels before, including criticisms to the first letter written by the UN Cop 30 summit's president. The country will hold the summit in November in northern Para state. By Maria Frazatto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Nemos commit to 15-minute settlement in power SDAC

25/04/30

Nemos commit to 15-minute settlement in power SDAC

London, 30 April (Argus) — Eleven nominated electricity market operators (Nemos) have confirmed their "readiness and commitment" to proceed with a 15-minute settlement in the single day-ahead coupling (SDAC) market on 11 June, according to a statement given to Argus . The co-signing Nemos — Oslo-based Nord Pool, Czech OTE, Austrian EXAA, Greek Enex, Italy's GME, Spain's Omie, Bulgarian Ibex, Poland's TGE, Slovakian Okte, Croatia's Cropex and Romanian BRM — confirmed that they "do not share the misgivings" about the 15-minute settlement transition expressed by European power exchange Epex Spot earlier this month , the Nemos told Argus . Nord Pool previously told Argus on 17 April that it was "confident and ready" to deliver 15-minute trading. The market operators do "not recognise" the problems cited by Epex and are sure that the "necessary infrastructure and processes" are in place to implement the move on time successfully. Instead, the co-signed Nemos stressed that the transition is a "pivotal advancement" and any delay risks "hinder[ing] progress" towards a better-integrated market. Specifically, the signatories clarified that the decoupling registered in some tests and cited by Epex Spot was not "due to a lack of reliability" in the system. Instead, they attributed this to "internal local testing issues of certain parties in the initial [testing] stage". The Nemos added that all performance tests of the central matching algorithm (Euphemia) were "successfully completed and validated by all parties, including Epex Spot". The co-signed Nemos noted that most test scenarios, "both functional and procedural", were "successfully completed and validated", adding that any reference to the implicit intraday auction (IDA) decoupling scenario is "misleading and inappropriate" as these were "caused by local issues" and the "time allocated to IDA executions" is less than 25pc of the "overall time available for SDAC". By Daniel Craig Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

France to review role of renewables in energy plan

25/04/30

France to review role of renewables in energy plan

London, 30 April (Argus) — The French government will delay the publication of its 10-year energy plan (PPE), and could change its content to take into account criticism that it gives too much priority to renewables, after a debate in the French parliament earlier this week. Prime minister Francois Bayrou on 28 April held a parliamentary debate on the much-delayed plan, which was initially due to come out in 2023. Publication appeared imminent last month, but revolts in the parliament — in which the prime minister does not have a majority — have forced the government to reconsider. The government will take its decisions "in some months", Bayrou told the parliament. "This PPE is not written in advance and everyone will be able to contribute before the final version," he said, opening the door to a rewrite of the plan, which committed to large increases in wind and solar photovoltaic capacity. A commission will deliver a report at the end of May, to be followed by a parliamentary debate on a version of the plan authored by senator Daniel Gremillet in June. The government's support for renewable energy will be "reasoned", he said, suggesting there could be a scaling back of wind and solar ambition. Bayrou highlighted the problems of solar energy, including that its peak output does not correspond to peak demand periods. To solve this problem, France must make its demand more flexible — including through the upcoming reform of tariffs, which will offer lower prices to some customers in the middle of the day — and through developing storage, he said. But the question of cost remains. Roof-mounted installations in France — the sector which has advanced the fastest over the past year — produce at a cost of €100/MWh, he said, compared with €40/MWh at large ground-mounted plants in Spain. But the public acceptability of covering large areas of countryside with low-cost solar farms remains a question, he said. And the development of onshore wind must be "reasonable", as public acceptability of the technology diminishes as the number of installations increase, Bayrou said. France must focus on repowering existing sites, he added. And the government firmly supports extending the lifespan of existing nuclear plants, and building at least six more reactors to enter service from 2038, Bayrou said. Right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) called for an increase in nuclear ambition, demanding the construction of 10GW of new nuclear by 2035, upratings at existing reactors and increasing the load factor of the fleet to 80pc. This would put France on the road to increasing its energy mix to 60pc low carbon by then, up from 37pc now, RN deputy Maxime Amblard said. But this would be accompanied by a moratorium on intermittent renewables, especially on wind farms, he said. The centre-left socialists called for the publication of the PPE as is, while left-wing LFI and green parties criticised what they characterised as a lack of ambition on emissions reduction and too heavy a reliance on nuclear. By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Norway's Equinor sees minor fall in 1Q output, profit

25/04/30

Norway's Equinor sees minor fall in 1Q output, profit

London, 30 April (Argus) — Norwegian state-controlled Equinor posted a profit of $2.63bn in the first quarter — a decline of 2pc on the year — as production dropped slightly and it reported lower liquids prices. Although its profit fell compared with a "strong" first quarter of 2024, it was an increase of nearly a one third from the fourth quarter of 2024. Equinor's production was 2.12mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) in the January-March period, lower on the year by 2pc. "The production decrease was similar for both gas and liquids," the company said. It cited "strong" operational performance for most of its Norwegian fields, which it said "almost offsets the negative production impact from the shut-in at Sleipner B… and planned and unplanned maintenance at Hammerfest LNG." The Sleipner B platform was shut down in October after a fire . Equinor's US production rose on the year, while its output from international assets fell over the same timeframe owing to its exits from Nigeria and Azerbaijan in 2024. Equinor reported an average liquids price of $70.6/bl in the January-March quarter, down by 7pc on the year. Its realised piped gas prices rose considerably over the same time, to $14.80/mn Btu for Europe and $4.06/mn Btu for the US — increases of 57pc and 74pc, respectively. The company's total first-quarter power generation increased by 9pc on the year, to 1.4TWh, driven by "stronger clean spark spreads in gas to power generation and onshore assets in Brazil." But the renewables share of this slid by 2pc over the same period, to 760,000GWh because of "unfavourable wind conditions." Equinor is considering its legal options with regards to its US Empire Wind project, chief executive Anders Opedal said today. The US government in April ordered work to stop on the planned 810MW wind farm, offshore New York. "We have invested in Empire Wind after obtaining all necessary approvals, and the order to halt work now is unprecedented and in our view unlawful," Odepal said. "This is a question of the rights and obligations granted under legally issued permits, and security of investments based on valid approvals." The company reported a marginal decline in its upstream CO2 intensity in the first quarter 6.1kg CO2/bl, compared with 6.2kg CO2/bl for full-year 2024. There was a similar drop in absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — at 2.7mn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) for the first quarter, compared with 2.9mn t/CO2e a year earlier. Equinor confirmed a cash dividend of $0.37/share for the first quarter and plans to launch a second tranche of its share buyback programme of up to $1.265bn, subject to authorisation at its annual general meeting in May. The first tranche of this year's buyback programme was completed on 24 March with a total value of $1.2bn. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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