Bloomberg Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged citizens to continue their energy-saving drive and said Germany’s new floating LNG terminals will make Europe independent of Russian gas for the long term. In his New Year’s address to the nation, Scholz acknowledged that the energy crisis triggered by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was a “tough test†for the continent’s biggest economy. But ...
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Petrobras critic to head Brazil’s state-run oil firm
Bloomberg President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has selected a senator and former Petrobras official to lead Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant with the aim of turning it into a renewable energy powerhouse. Jean Paul Prates, a senator for Lula’s Workers’ Party, confirmed Lula’s invitation in a note sent from his press office. Moments later, Lula congratulated Prates on Twitter, ...
Read More »Fossil fuel power falls 68% as blackouts hit US south
Bloomberg Power plants that burn coal and natural gas to produce electricity had significant drops in generation as a winter storm hit the US Southeast, forcing blackouts that left hundreds of thousands in the dark. Duke Energy Corp. and the Tennessee Valley Authority cut power to homes and businesses during the holiday season as an extreme winter storm pummeled ...
Read More »South Africa’s Eskom backtracks, continues with rolling blackouts
Bloomberg South Africa’s state-owned power company, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., will carry on cutting 2,000 megawatts of electricity from the national grid indefinitely due to the breakdown of five generating units, reversing plans to suspend the outages on New Year’s Eve, the utility said in a text message. Eskom has cut power on a record 205 days this year, with ...
Read More »Solar price war may help spur China’s renewable energy push
Bloomberg Solar equipment makers are in a fierce competition to cut wafer prices, providing some relief for China’s efforts to install a massive amount of renewable power and reach ambitious climate targets. Falling solar material prices have driven down costs along the supply chain in recent weeks, with silicon wafers seeing the largest discount. Top player Longi Green Energy ...
Read More »Biden’s offshore wind ambitions hit new snag
Bloomberg Shell New Energies, EDP Renewables and Engie asked regulators for a delay in the planning of a proposed joint-venture offshore wind farm, the latest potential setback to President Joe Biden’s goal of powering millions of homes from Atlantic gusts. The sharp spike in interest rates presents “significant challenges†to Mayflower Wind’s economics, the project’s lawyers said in a filing ...
Read More »Top US gas producer EQT saw output drops of 30%
Bloomberg EQT Corp, the largest US natural gas producer, saw production drop by as much as about 30% during the recent bout of extreme cold that caused disruptions for some of its wells in the Appalachian Basin. The drillers’ daily output fell by between 1 billion and 1.5 billion cubic feet per day during the winter storm, Chief Executive ...
Read More »Exxon sues EU in bid to block windfall tax against oil firms
Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp is suing the European Union in a push to eliminate a new windfall tax against oil groups, arguing the bloc does not have legal authority to impose the levy. The lawsuit is a major response to the tax from the oil industry that has reaped record profits this year as western governments have sought to bring ...
Read More »RWE inks LNG supply deal with Sempra
Bloomberg Germany’s RWE Supply & Trading GmBH agreed to a 15-year contract with Sempra Infrastructure to purchase liquefied natural gas from a production terminal set to open in Port Arthur, Texas, in 2027, according to both companies. With the deal, RWE said it had secured sufficient LNG volumes to make full use of its booked regasification capacities for an ...
Read More »Americans’ wallets set for hit from winter home-heating bills
Bloomberg Wholesale power prices surged more than 6,000% in parts of the country during the worst of the recent brutal cold snap — a sign that Americans are likely to face significantly higher winter heating costs once the bills get mailed out. Electricity prices in Houston jumped to almost $3,700 a megawatt-hour on December 23, or a 65-fold increase from ...
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