Bloomberg The top two US states for wind power installed their most turbines ever last year, helping push up nationwide capacity growth to a seven-year high as tax benefits sent developers rushing projects into service. Texas added almost 4 gigawatts and Iowa installed 1.7 gigawatts, expanding their lead in wind power capacity, according to a report from the American Wind ...
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Biggest wind farms to get EU support in push for green power
Bloomberg Developers for some of the world’s biggest wind farms are poised to get a boost from the European Union under a new strategy aimed at ensuring the industry makes a larger contribution to low-carbon power supplies. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said officials in Brussels are working on a package of measures that will help stimulate the offshore wind industry. ...
Read More »Exxon at a 10-year low shows trouble for oil’s biggest major
Bloomberg It’s almost as if the last decade never happened for investors of Exxon Mobil Corp shares. Once the gold-standard of Big Oil, the stock closed on January 27 at its lowest since October 2010, amid a slump in oil prices due to concerns about weak demand coupled with a glut. The S&P 500 also posted its worst one-day decline ...
Read More »French cities sue Total over ‘carbon emission’
Bloomberg Oil giant Total SA is being sued by 14 local governments and a handful of non-governmental organisations in France for not doing enough to reduce its carbon emissions and fight global warming. The legal challenge is the latest sign that the biggest oil companies are coming under increasing pressure from activists, investors and governments to cut emissions as the ...
Read More »Old electric car batteries may help cut costs of storing power
Bloomberg As major players jostle for market share in large-scale power storage, American Electric Power and Nissan Motor Co are testing new technology that re-uses old electric vehicle batteries to slash costs. The pilot study in Ohio will road test technology that could lower system costs by about a half and extend the life of lithium-ion batteries by about a ...
Read More »France to use batteries for renewables
Bloomberg France’s grid operator will test storing excess wind and solar power in batteries to reduce the need to build new transmission lines that involve heavy construction work and take longer to complete. Network operators across Europe are seeking ways to both minimise the cost and environmental impact of the energy transition. Reseau de Transport d’Electricite estimates that France will ...
Read More »Exxon Mobil poised to kick off UK, Germany disposals
Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp plans to start gauging buyer interest in its UK and German upstream operations in the coming weeks as the oil major continues to divest overseas assets, people with knowledge of the matter said. The energy giant aims to start a sale process for its UK North Sea assets imminently, according to the people. It would then ...
Read More »EnCap taps $6b for shale drilling
Bloomberg EnCap Investments LP plans to use a $6 billion war chest to drill oil and natural gas wells, now that dwindling investor interest has made it tougher for private equity players to offload shale assets. The energy-focussed firm sees “robust drilling economics†in many parts of the US and is running 23 rigs across its portfolio companies, according to ...
Read More »Temasek, EQT form $500mn India renewable energy venture
Bloomberg Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte and Swedish private equity firm EQT AB have formed a $500 million venture that will invest in solar and wind power generators across India. The O2 Power renewable energy platform, first reported by The Economic Times in November, will draw down on the funds over several years as it finds suitable deals, Temasek and EQT ...
Read More »BP names new CFO as Gilvary plans to retire
Bloomberg BP Plc handed more power to a new generation of executives, announcing that Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary will join his boss Bob Dudley in retiring this year. Murray Auchincloss, currently the finance chief of BP’s oil and gas production division, will succeed Gilvary. The energy giant already announced last year that Bernard Looney, who runs that unit, will ...
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