Energy

Bloomberg PG&E Corp has reached a $13.5 billion settlement with victims of wildfires ignited by its power lines, a major step towards resolving the biggest utility bankruptcy in US history. The settlement will cover claims stemming from some of the worst fires to hit Northern California, including the 2017 wine country fires and the 2018 Camp Fire, the company said …

Bloomberg China is pursuing a three-year pilot programme, led by five of its biggest utilities, to integrate and cut some coal-fired power capacity to help the debt-saddled industry, state media reported. The pilot, which runs through 2021, will seek to consolidate coal-power assets within five northwestern regions and reduce their capacity by up to one-third, according to a Shanghai Securities …

Bloomberg Repsol SA embarked on the most ambitious attempt yet by an oil major to align itself with the Paris climate goals, saying it will eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations and its customers by 2050. The Spanish giant’s exploration and production unit will focus on value instead of output growth, according to a statement from the …

Bloomberg Equinor ASA will reduce its focus on the frontier areas of the Barents Sea in another blow to Norway’s ambition to build a new big oil province in its Arctic region. “Our focus going forward will be on the more prolific areas of the Barents Sea,” Tim Dodson, the company’s executive vice president for exploration, said. That means drilling …

Bloomberg Sasol, South Africa’s second-biggest producer of greenhouse gases after Eskom Holdings SOC, pledged more clarity on plans to reduce its impact on the environment. The company, which together with Eskom also produces pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions, said its long-term strategy will be released in November next year. Sasol has already promised to reduce greenhouse gas …

Bloomberg One of the UK’s biggest wind farm developers will combine three offshore wind projects into one massive development, making it more likely the venture will move ahead. Iberdrola SA’s Scottish Power Renewables’s decision means it will consider all the work on a facility with 3.1 gigawatts (GW) of capacity as a single project. The East Anglia wind farms would …

Bloomberg Slumping solar development in China is hobbling growth worldwide. While worldwide installations are still forecast to rise this year, BloombergNEF lowered its global outlook 6% from its previous forecast as an anticipated building boom hasn’t materialised in China, the world’s biggest clean-energy market, according to a report. BNEF now expects 121 gigawatts of solar to be installed globally. “China, …

Bloomberg Indonesian president Joko Widodo ordered an overhaul of the management of state-owned oil giant PT Pertamina, as the former Opec member seeks to reduce crude oil imports to rein in the current-account deficit. Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama will become president commissioner of Pertamina, while Emma Sri Martini, chief executive officer of state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Selular, will be …

Bloomberg Two of Australia’s richest people, Atlassian Corp co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and Fortescue Metals Group Chairman Andrew Forrest, are investing in an ambitious project to export solar power from a giant plant in Australia to Singapore via a 4,500 kilometre transmission cable. The project raised tens of millions of Australian dollars, said developer Sun Cable’s CEO David Griffin.

Bloomberg One of the largest Encana Corp shareholders says the oil and natural gas producer’s plan to move to the US is “highly discriminatory” against Canadian investors. Letko, Brosseau & Associates Inc, which has a stake of about 4%, will vote against Encana’s plan to relocate to the US, the investor said in a statement. The Montreal-based firm says the …