Navantia eyes EU aid in pivot from warships to wind power

Bloomberg Spanish shipbuilder Navantia is stepping up its bet on offshore wind energy, a venture that stands to benefit from the European Union’s fiscal response to the pandemic. The landmark 750 billion-euro ($890 billion) pandemic-recovery aid will encourage Spain to invest more in clean energy. That could galvanise the company’s recent pivot into sea-based power projects, said Managing Director Javier ...

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Total makes new gas discovery off S Africa

Bloomberg Total SE and its partners made a second gas-condensate find off the southern coast of South Africa, a country that imports most of its oil. The “significant” discovery of gas condensate — a light liquid hydrocarbon — comes after Total said last year it had opened up a new “world-class” oil and gas province off South Africa. The drilling ...

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Cheaper renewable power may drive faster economic recovery

Bloomberg Wind and solar power have become even cheaper compared to fossil fuels in the past year, making them an attractive way to stimulate economies recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Lazard Ltd. Without subsidies, the cost of energy from onshore wind has fallen to as low as $26 a megawatt-hour while utility-scale solar is as cheap as $29, ...

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Total mulls investing in Iraqi natural-gas plants

Bloomberg Total SE is considering natural-gas investments in Iraq, according to the Middle Eastern nation’s government. The two sides held talks about projects in western Iraq and near the southern energy hub of Basra, the Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement. They hope to reach an agreement soon, the statement said, citing Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar. Jabbar met ...

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South Africa’s cities to switch to solar as ‘monopoly’ ends

Bloomberg South Africa’s biggest cities are preparing to source their own power after the energy ministry this month approved letting them wean themselves off the state utility that’s subjected cities to outages for the past 13 years. Johannesburg and Cape Town, which have a combined population of about 10 million people, plan to diversify away from the electricity produced mainly ...

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Germany is ready to offer America a new agreement

It’s not every day that the defense minister of a major NATO ally proposes a new deal in transatlantic relations by repeatedly and emotionally avowing her “gratitude” towards the US But that’s what Germany’s Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer did last week. Even in the final throes of a presidential election, the cognoscenti in Washington on both sides of the aisle would be ...

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Will it be a very Sony Christmas?

Concerns that the forthcoming release of the PlayStation 5 could depress Sony Corp revenue in the September quarter weren’t realised, paving the way for what could be a blockbuster holiday season for the Japanese giant. What’s worth noting, however, is the supporting cast that helped set the company up for such a good fiscal 2020 that it boosted both its ...

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Let’s not fool ourselves about Covid, schoolkids

What to do about schools is perhaps the biggest dilemma facing policy makers right now. Closing them could lead to a “lost generation” of learners and make it harder for parents to get back to work. Keeping them open could further propagate the virus. Should governments choose the latter, they will need other ways to mitigate the impact on health. ...

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Supreme Court needs reform at the earliest

Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court was achieved over furious Democratic objections, in what might be the closing days of both Donald Trump’s presidency and Republican control of the Senate. Seen by critics as improper and even illegitimate, it could have a lasting impact. It cements a 6-3 conservative majority at the top of the judicial branch of ...

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Rolls-Royce gets investor nod for $2.6b equity sale

Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc shareholders backed a 2 billion-pound ($2.6 billion) equity raise, a key step towards shoring up the British engine maker’s finances to outlast the Covid-19 pandemic. Investors voted 99.5% in favour of the rights issue, according to a statement. Their support means Rolls-Royce can access a further 3 billion pounds of funds, through a bond sale and ...

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