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September 2023 • Volume 16 • No 7 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES is published by Man in Black Media • www.mibmedia.com • Editor-in-Chief: Junior Isles • For all enquiries email: enquiries@teitimes.com

Special Technology

Supplement

Accelerating

electrication

A steely resolve to cutting carbon

emissions.

A exible, forward-thinking approach

must be taken to accommodate the

UK’s unprecedented soar in demand

for renewable electricity. Page 13

News In Brief

France and Germany must

compromise on nuclear

France and Germany must nd a

compromise to end ongoing delays

to the much-needed revision of Eu-

rope’s electricity market, accord-

ing to one of Europe’s largest

utilities.

Page 2

Brazil explores grid

strengthening options after

blackouts

Brazil’s system operator may open

up markets for ancillary grid ser-

vices, it was suggested after the

country suffered successive power

blackouts.

Page 4

Vietnamese power plan

lacks mechanisms to attract

private investors

Vietnam’s recently approved Na-

tional Power Development Plan 8

lacks mechanisms to attract private

investors, including green nanc-

ing from foreign nancial institu-

tions, according to the Ministry of

Planning and Investment.

Page 5

Offshore wind developers

struggle with rising costs

The expansion of offshore wind

farms has faltered as price increas-

es hit planned installations.

Page 7

Oman plans to add 4 GW of

renewables by 2029

Nama Power and Water Procure-

ment Co (PWP), the sole offtaker

of electricity from independent

power plants in Oman, is to solicit

about 3 GW of new solar and wind

power capacity from developers by

2029 in addition to 1 GW that has

already been awarded.

Page 9

Technology Focus:

Powering the future with

Prussian White

Amid the global shift towards sus-

tainable energy solutions, Swedish

sodium-ion battery developer Al-

tris has developed a pure Prussian

White cathode material with a ca-

pacity of 160 mAh/g – making it

the highest capacity declared to

date.

Page 15

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The US Ination Reduction Act has seen various economies around the globe introduce their

own incentives for attracting clean tech investment. Two recent reports nd that the EU and

the UK are falling behind the US and risk losing their leadership position. Junior Isles

G20 fails to make progress on climate talks

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

TIMES

Final Word

It’s time for some green

tea, says Junior Isles.

Page 16

On the rst anniversary of the USA’s

Ination Reduction Act (IRA), a new

report has highlighted the impact of

what the US and other major econo-

mies are doing to attract investment

in clean technologies.

‘Funding The Future’ – the latest re-

port in Energy UK’s Clean Growth

Gap series produced in partnership

with Oxford Economics – details

measures introduced recently by the

United States and the European

Union, as well as other countries like

China, Japan and India, in order to in-

centivise investment in clean energy.

Although many of the IRA’s provi-

sions only became effective at the start

of the year, early indicators featured in

the report point to the impact these are

already having. Funding announced

for new factories in the automotive

and battery sectors since the IRA was

passed is more than 20 times higher

than it was in 2021 while share prices

for US-based companies specialising

in low-carbon technology have also

been boosted.

The IRA has a total budget of $369

billion for the period 2023-2031 with

the majority of this funding in the

form of tax credits to reward private

investment in clean technology, trans-

port and manufacturing.

The EU responded to the IRA with

its Green Deal Industrial Plan (albeit

with a wider scope than the IRA) in-

corporating funding from two existing

programmes – Repower EU (€270 bil-

lion) and the Recovery and Resilience

Fund (€250 billion) – with support

also available through other initia-

tives, along with the relaxation of

State Aid rules and other regulatory

requirements.

The report also details how China,

whose $546 billion spend amounted

to near half of the world’s clean tech-

nology investments in 2022, has un-

veiled a $72.3 billion packages of tax

breaks for electric vehicles. Japan

already has a $18 billion Green Inno-

vation Fund in place and aims to re-

alise $1 trillion in public-private in-

vestment to nance its green transition

over the next 10 years. Meanwhile,

the Indian government has this year

promised to make $4.3 billion in in-

vestments towards its own transition.

The report was launched as the UK,

a leader in offshore wind, attempts to

form its own response to the IRA and

other global incentives to attract clean

energy investments.

Energy UK’s Chief Executive

Emma Pinchbeck said: “The IRA has

been a game changer for the invest-

ment landscape and as this report

shows, other key markets are already

responding… With growing global

competition for private investment

that can choose its location, a failure

to respond will quickly see us fall be-

hind and jeopardise ambitious targets

for increasing our own sources of

clean energy and decarbonising our

whole economy.”

Meanwhile, gures from industry

body Cleantech for Europe show the

EU has fallen behind the US in fund-

ing for early-stage clean technologies,

with a total of $8.7 billion worth of

investment going towards start-ups in

areas such as carbon storage, electric

vehicles and clean power in the year

since the IRA came into force.

By contrast, more than $21.7 billion

has been committed to similar proj-

ects in the US, although the EU pulled

ahead in energy and transport invest-

ments in the second quarter of this

year.

The difference was most pronounced

for clean hydrogen, Cleantech for Eu-

rope said. Venture capital investments

in clean hydrogen projects reached a

high of €343 million in the EU in the

rst quarter of 2022, almost three

times the equivalent funding in the

Continued on Page 2

The Group of 20 (G20) major nations

have again failed to agree on concrete

targets to cut dangerous greenhouse

gas emissions.

At the end of a meeting in Chennai,

India, in late July, environment and

climate ministers could only manage

to release a statement that dismissed

current measures to address climate

change as “insufcient”.

Following three days of meetings,

organisers released a document

showing the bloc remained divided

on calls led by developed nations for

the emission of greenhouse gases to

peak by 2025 and reduce and fall by

60 per cent by 2035 over 2019 levels.

Members could not agree on de-

pleting carbon budgets, historical

emissions, net zero goals and the is-

sue of nancing to support develop-

ing countries, the document showed.

The failure to reach an agreement

came just a week after the G20 major

economies’ disagreement in Goa on

phasing down fossil fuels, following

objections by some major fossil fuel

producer nations.

The Chennai meeting had been seen

as a chance for the world’s biggest

polluters to take concrete steps ahead

of a G20 leaders’ meeting in Septem-

ber in New Delhi and the COP28

Summit in the United Arab Emirates

in December.

Developed countries in the group

had demanded mitigation of green-

house gas emissions to limit global

warming to 1.5°C, an Indian ofcial

said.

The demands were opposed by de-

veloping countries who said the miti-

gation targets – aimed at cutting or

eliminating greenhouse gas emis-

sions, or removing them from the at-

mosphere – would limit their ability

to develop infrastructure and grow,

the ofcial said.

China and oil-rich Saudi Arabia

backed away from making commit-

ments in the G20 talks, members of a

European delegation said but China

rejected that.

China’s foreign ministry said in a

statement it “regrets” the failure to

reach an agreement at the meetings,

which was caused by “geopolitical

issues” brought up by other countries

“for no reason”.

It also said the G20 should build po-

litical consensus among members and

“fully respect the different develop-

ment stages and national conditions

of countries”.

China is maintaining its stance de-

spite experiencing its own share of

extreme weather. Parts of the country,

including its capital, were battered at

the start of August by the heaviest rain

in 140 years, the Beijing Meteoro-

logical Service said. The oods were

another example of the extreme

weather being experienced around the

world, which has included wildres,

that has raised fears about the pace of

global warming.

Europe plays catch-up

with US on clean tech

investment

Energy UK’s Emma Pinchbeck says the IRA

has been “a game changer”

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES -SEPTEMBER 2023

Leonhard Birnbaum, Chief Executive

of German energy company E.On, says

Berlin should accept differences of

opinion and stop trying to impose its

views on nuclear power on the rest of

the EU in order to break the deadlock

on electricity market reform.

Germany shut down its last three

nuclear power plants earlier this year

following its pledge to end its use fol-

lowing the Fukushima meltdown.

France, meanwhile, has made it a pri-

ority to maintain and modernise its

nuclear power plant eet, especially

after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A major stumbling block is Ger-

many’s refusal to support France’s

proposal to allow governments to

provide state aid to existing power

plants, which could enable Paris to

support the French nuclear eet.

Birnbaum said it would be “better

for everyone” if the two countries

could approach the dispute with the

mindset that “everyone does their

part”.

He said: “Neither the French will be

able to persuade us to use nuclear

power, nor we will be able to persuade

them not to. That’s why I think we

should take a different approach to the

discussion.” Birnbaum added Ger-

many “would do well to be a bit cau-

tious about trying to impose our way

on everyone else”, warning that this

approach was unlikely to be “crowned

with success”.

Birnbaum, whose company owned

one of the three German nuclear

plants shut down this year, noted that

French nuclear energy was helping

Germany’s transition to renewables.

Germany has been a net importer of

French electricity since shutting down

its own nuclear plants, which prompt-

ed the French Energy Minister Agnès

Pannier-Runacher to accuse Berlin of

hypocrisy.

“It’s a contradiction to massively

import French nuclear energy while

rejecting every piece of EU legisla-

tion that recognises the value of nu-

clear as a low-carbon energy source,”

Pannier-Runacher told the German

business daily Handelsblatt.

She also criticised Berlin’s drive to

use new gas red power plants as a

“bridge” to its target of being carbon

neutral by 2045, arguing that it cre-

ated a “credibility problem” for Ger-

many: “Gas is a fossil fuel.”

German government ofcials re-

sponded by pointing out that Ger-

many was a net exporter of electricity

to France over the winter when its

nuclear power stations were strug-

gling to produce because of mainte-

nance problems.

They added that the country only

imported French power because it was

cheaper, not because their country was

suffering shortages.

Paris is also wary that Berlin’s stance

is an attempt to undercut a key aspect

of French industrial competitiveness.

German industry has itself struggled

with high energy prices, resulting in

a call for the government to subsidise

industrial electricity prices.

Last month, predictions that the gov-

ernment would spend less than half

the €83 billion earmarked for subsi-

dising energy prices sparked a dispute

on how the savings should be spent.

The Munich-based Ifo Institute es-

timated the “gas price brake” that Ger-

man Chancellor Olaf Scholz unveiled

last year, as part of a €200 billion plan

to cushion the impact of the country’s

energy crisis on households and small

businesses, would cost about €13.1

billion due to lower gas prices – only

a third of the €40 billion set aside for

it this year.

The government is also on track to

make similar savings on the €43 bil-

lion it had budgeted to subsidise elec-

tricity bills, with the policy set to now

cost around half that amount based on

energy futures prices, according to

Max Lay, an Ifo specialist who con-

ducted its latest study.

“Some politicians say ‘we have this

funding, so let’s use it’, for instance

on the industrial electricity price sub-

sidy, but I’m not sure this will go

through,” said Lay.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck,

one of the leaders of the Green Party,

is pushing to use the savings for a sub-

sidy on industrial electricity prices. But

he is facing opposition from scally

conservative Finance Minister Chris-

tian Lindner, head of the liberal FDP,

who would rather use the money to

reduce Germany’s budget decit.

US. But in every quarter since, in-

vestments in green hydrogen in the

US have outpaced those in the EU,

with the US investing €1.2 billion

more in total over the period.

Washington is offering tax credits

of up to $3 per kilogramme of clean

hydrogen depending on production

conditions.

Markus Krebber, Chief Executive

of the German energy group RWE,

said at a press conference last month

that the US was “doing more at the

moment to build up integrated val-

ue chains”, adding that Europe

“could step up its game”.

The European Commission an-

nounced its Net Zero Industry Act

(NZIA) in March, setting targets for

domestic manufacturing capacity

for green technologies such as solar

power and batteries. But changes to

EU state aid rules have raised con-

cern that big economies such as

Germany and France will spend

more and unbalance competition

within the bloc.

Giles Dickson, Chief Executive

of industry organisation Wind Eu-

rope, said governments were being

“slow across the board” to take ad-

vantage of the new state aid rules.

This could see the region falling

short on targets for technologies

such as offshore wind, a sector that

is already being challenged by

global supply chain issues.

According to the latest Horizons

report by Wood Mackenzie, a

global insight business for renew-

ables, energy and natural resourc-

es, the global offshore wind supply

chain will require $27 billion of

secured investment by 2026 if it is

to meet a ve-fold growth in an-

nual installations (excluding Chi-

na) by 2030.

This gure is based on Wood

Mackenzie’s base case outlook

which forecasts annual capacity ad-

ditions to hit 30 GW by 2030, but

is dwarfed by policymakers’ off-

shore wind targets, which would

require nearly 80 GW per year. To

hit this goal set by governments

across the world, the supply chain

is estimated to require more than

$100 billion in investment.

The ndings come from: ‘Cross

currents: Charting a sustainable

course for offshore wind’, Wood

Mackenzie’s analysis into current

offshore wind supply chain con-

straints, investment barriers and

what is required to scale up.

“Governments have made clear

their commitment to offshore wind

as an important pillar of decarboni-

sation and energy security. How-

ever, the supply chain is struggling

to scale up and will be an impedi-

ment to achieving decarbonisation

targets if change does not happen,”

said Chris Seiple, Vice Chair, Pow-

er and Renewables at Wood Mack-

enzie, co-author of the report.

Continued from Page 1

Hydrogen is one of the two pillars,

alongside renewable energy, for com-

plete decarbonisation, according to a

new study prepared by the Fraunhofer

Institute for Systems and Innovation

Research and Artelys on behalf of the

European Commission.

The study, entitled ‘The Impact of

Industry Transition on a CO

-Neutral

European Energy System’, provides

a comprehensive view of the energy

transition in Europe, with a focus on

the decarbonisation of industry. It says

a reduction in CO

emissions by up to

95 per cent is possible by 2050, but

only with increased use of hydrogen

in combination with massive develop-

ment of renewable energy sources.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hy-

drogen Europe, commented: “What is

absolutely positive is the recognition

in the study of the central role of hy-

drogen – alongside renewable elec-

tricity – for the decarbonisation of

European industries.

“What is also encouraging is the

recognition that these quantities of

hydrogen can be produced in Europe

in the next 25 years and do not have

to be imported.”

He added: “For Germany, however,

the study is also a wake-up call. In the

model, Europe’s largest economy is

theoretically eliminated completely

as a producer of hydrogen and, due to

a lack of competitiveness, becomes

the main importer alongside Belgium

and the Netherlands – mainly from

France, Spain, and the UK. However,

a prerequisite to this is the develop-

ment of a corresponding European

infrastructure that can transport and

store hydrogen.”

The study estimates that hydrogen

and electricity will together represent

up to 80 per cent of all energy use by

2050, corresponding to a demand of

about 8000 TWh, mostly supply by

renewable energy sources.

The study highlights that a strong

hydrogen network is crucial to maxi-

mise the least-cost renewable resourc-

es, overcoming potential limitations

such as insufcient electricity infra-

structure. As such, Europe must rec-

ognise the need for a hydrogen back-

bone and the role of the existing gas

pipeline networks as essential to a

new and unied European energy

infrastructure.

The EU’s success in slashing its de-

pendence on Russian gas has left it

more vulnerable to the volatility in

global energy markets.

Although the bloc managed to stave

off an energy crisis last year by rap-

idly increasing imports of liqueed

natural gas (LNG), a surge in Euro-

pean gas prices in August showed that

European energy prices are now more

sensitive to supply disruptions from

around the world.

On August 9

European natural gas

prices surged nearly 40 per cent as

potential strikes at several large Aus-

tralian LNG projects, which account

for about 10 per cent of global sea-

borne gas supplies, caused alarm in

markets.

Tom Marzec-Manser at energy con-

sultancy ICIS, said: “The potential for

strike action at LNG export plants in

Australia once again highlights the

fact that we are now clearly in a glo-

balised gas market. Europe has under-

standably backlled Russian pipeline

supply with versatile LNG. But that

versatility leads to increased price

volatility.”

Goldman Sachs warned European

gas prices could double or even triple

this winter.

Kaushal Ramesh, head of LNG ana-

lytics at Rystad Energy, noted that

although Europe sits on a comfortable

level of reserves now, “the market

remains unstable as this winter could

still turn out severe and rapidly deplete

storage”.

Energy analysts said the markets

remained wary of any potential supply

disruptions, even though prices are

substantially lower than the peaks of

last summer when the slashing of Rus-

sian pipeline gas supplies saw gas

prices rocket to record highs above

€340/MWh.

“Even if gas storages are full, that

doesn’t necessarily mean everything

is ne,” commented Callum Macpher-

son, head of commodities at Investec.

“It comes down to the winter we

have, which is unknown at the mo-

ment,” he said, adding that there were

still “signicant tail risks” to Europe’s

gas situation.

In 2021, LNG accounted for about

20 per cent of the EU’s overall gas

imports. Last year it made up 34 per

cent of the EU’s gas imports. In 2023

it is expected to rise again to 40 per

cent – the amount the bloc was import-

ing via pipeline from Russia prior to

the invasion.

Headline News

Commission says hydrogen “essential” for EU

decarbonisation,

EU more vulnerable to global energy market volatility

in absence of Russian gas

France and Germany must

compromise on nuclear to advance

market reform, says E.On

Dickson says governments are

being slow to take advantage

of the new state aid rules

France and Germany must nd a compromise to end ongoing delays to the much-needed

revision of Europe’s electricity market, according to one of Europe’s largest utilities.

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THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Asia News

Renewable energy company Vena En-

ergy has signed a landmark framework

agreement that will support the coun-

try’s plan to become a leading region-

al solar player and drive efforts to

achieve its net zero target.

The agreement signed with PV mod-

ule manufacturer Suntech; energy stor-

age company Powin; and battery cell

producer REPT Battero, a leading for

energy storage systems, aims to ex-

plore opportunities for the establish-

ment of local production lines for

components of solar photovoltaic pan-

els and energy storage systems.

These components are also intended

to support Vena Energy’s hybrid mega-

project in the Riau Islands currently

under development. The project is set

to feature up to 2 GW of solar power

capacity and a battery energy storage

system potentially capable of storing

in excess of 8 GWh of clean energy,

making it one of the most signicant

renewable energy initiatives in South-

east Asia.

The electricity produced by the

company would be supplied across

the border to Singapore through Shell

Eastern Trading, a Singapore-based

subsidiary of UK-based oil and gas

giant Shell.

Nitin Apte, CEO of Vena Energy

said: “With this Framework Agree-

ment, we aim to signicantly contrib-

ute to the development of a productive

domestic supply chain in the renew-

able energy sector, which will support

Indonesia’s energy transition plan and

enhance the local economy by creating

jobs, fostering industrial expansion

and opening export opportunities in

this growing sector of the economy.”

President Joko Widodo recently said

that Indonesia is on track to become

the largest integrated solar industry in

the region, supporting the 23 per cent

renewable energy target and net zero

emission goals.

Under the auspices of the “Long-

Term Strategy for Low Carbon and

Climate Resilience 2050” announced

by Widodo in 2021, the Framework

Agreement supports the Indonesian

government’s aspirations of aligning

climate goals with national and inter-

national objectives, emphasizing the

development of local talents, enhanc-

ing climate literacy, and fostering sus-

tainable economic growth.

Indonesia has an ambitious plan to

reach carbon neutrality by 2060 by

transitioning from conventional ener-

gy to clean energy. The agreement will

provide a much needed boost for the

plan. Recent gures from the Energy

and Mineral Resources Ministry

showed that renewable energy invest-

ment fell well below the target set for

this year.

Investment amounted to $527 mil-

lion in the rst half of 2023, which is

just 29.4 per cent of the full-year tar-

get of $1.79 billion. The $527 million

gure includes $214 million for geo-

thermal energy, $82 million for bio-

energy, $223 million for various

other new and renewable energy proj-

ects, as well as $8 million for energy

conservation.

Installed renewable power capacity

stood at 12.73 GW in mid-2023, 15 per

cent of the national energy capacity of

84.8 GW, according to the Energy Min-

istry’s Director General in charge of

renewables, Dadan Kusdiana.

Supply chain expansion

will boost Indonesian

solar power exports

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Fast forward to a

clean future

Syed Ali

Vietnam’s recently approved Nation-

al Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8)

lacks mechanisms to attract private

investors, including green nancing

from foreign nancial institutions, ac-

cording to the Ministry of Planning

and Investment (MPI).

“Securing the necessary nancial

sources remains a challenging issue,

which may pose various obstacles to

the successful implementation of the

country’s power plan,” said MPI in a

public statement.

The PDP8 plan sets a target for the

share of renewable energy in the total

primary energy to be 15-20 per cent

by 2030 and about 80-85 per cent by

2050. It also aims to achieve energy

savings of about 8-10 per cent by 2030

and about 15-20 per cent by 2050

compared to the normal development

scenario.

By 2030, the plan aims to establish

and develop several clean energy cen-

tres in the northern, central, and south-

ern regions when favourable condi-

tions are available. It also intends to

develop new energy production to

meet domestic and export demands.

The capacity of green hydroelectric-

ity production is estimated at about

100 000 – 200 000 tons per year by

2030 and about 10-20 million tons an-

nually by 2050.

The projected greenhouse gas emis-

sions as a result are about 399-449

million tons by 2030 and about 101

million tons by 2050. The goal is to

cut the emissions by 17-26 per cent

by 2030 and about 90 per cent by 2050

compared to the normal development

scenario.

To achieve these goals, six imple-

mentation solutions were set out, in-

volving capital mobilisation and al-

location; mechanisms and policies;

environment, science, and technolo-

gy; human resource development;

international cooperation; and imple-

mentation and supervision of the plan.

Under the Plan, the capital require-

ment for the development of power

sources and transmission grids was

estimated at nearly $135 billion. Of

which, $119.8 billion was allocated to

power sources, averaging $12 billion

per year, and $14.9 billion to transmis-

sion grids, averaging $1.5 billion per

year.

For the 2031-50 period, the esti-

mated capital requirement for the de-

velopment of power sources and trans-

mission grids ranges from $399.2

billion to $532.1 billion. Of which

$364.4 billion to $511.2 billion were

allocated to power sources, averaging

$18.2 billion to $24.2 billion per year,

$34.8 billion to $38.6 billion to the

transmission grid, averaging $1.7 bil-

lion to $1.9 billion per year.

Given the substantial amount of

capital requirement of the plan, MPI

stressed the importance of participa-

tion from all economic players, as well

as the diversication of funding sourc-

es, including foreign partners as a key

component to the plan’s success.

As of now, there was not yet a work-

ing mechanism for encouraging and

selecting private investors in the pow-

er sector, which may help ensure

PDP8’s smooth progress.

“We have observed instances in

which projects experienced pro-

longed delays, even in the investment

phase; instances in which projects

were approved and assigned but not

yet implemented or were being carried

out at an extremely slow pace. There

were even instances in which capacity

for implementation was not met but

projects were not revoked,” said MPI.

Meanwhile, there are problems that

must be worked out between power

suppliers and Electricity Vietnam

(EVN) regarding supply contracts and

pricing as wind and solar power inves-

tors continued to voice their griev-

ances over difculties in price nego-

tiations and extending project

deadlines with the Power Trading

Company (EVNEPTC) a subsidiary

of EVN.

Experts have warned current dis-

agreements over pricing could slow

down the sector’s development, while

leaving a signicant portion of the

country’s power capacity stranded.

Vietnamese power plan lacks

mechanisms to attract private investors

n Renewable energy to represent 15-20 per cent of energy mix by 2030

n Over $400 billion needed for generation and transmission between 2031-2050

Malaysia has announced several proj-

ects ahead of the UN COP28 climate

summit in Dubai, as the country

ramps up efforts to transition to clean

energy.

At the end of July, the UAE’s clean

energy powerhouse, Abu Dhabi Fu-

ture Energy Company PJSC, or Mas-

dar, and Citaglobal Berhad, signed a

memorandum of understanding

(MoU) for the joint development of

renewable energy projects across so-

lar, battery energy storage system

(BESS), wind and other renewable

energy technologies.

The MoU will see the companies join

forces to develop projects across the

renewable energy mix, including solar,

battery energy storage system (BESS),

wind and other renewable energy tech-

nologies, in the Malaysian state of

Pahang. Malaysia is targeting net zero

emissions by 2050.

Commenting on the tie-up Mohamed

Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar’s Chief

Executive Ofcer, said: “We look for-

ward to pioneering energy solutions to

reduce emissions in Malaysia and the

region. As the UAE looks ahead to

hosting the UN climate change confer-

ence, COP28, later this year, Masdar

is proud to be working with partners to

advance clean energy solutions around

the world.”

Citaglobal Berhad Executive Chair-

man and President, Tan Sri (Dr) Mo-

hamad Norza Zakaria, said: “By col-

laborating with a leading energy

transition player, we will make faster

progress towards our climate targets,

besides building our long term energy

requirements in a responsible and cost

efcient manner.”

In a separate development UEM

Group Bhd, a wholly-owned subsid-

iary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, has

tied-up with local and foreign investors

to develop a 1 GW hybrid solar photo-

voltaic or PV power plant integrated

with a renewable energy (RE) indus-

trial park in Malaysia.

The project will be developed by

UEM Group in collaboration with lo-

cal investor Itramas Corp Sdn Bhd,

which is the largest vertically-integrat-

ed solar plant developer, as well as

engineering, procurement, construc-

tion and commissioning and service

provider in the country.

The parties said the RE industrial

park would attract foreign manufactur-

ers and suppliers across the RE and

electric-vehicle (EV) value chains, as

well as other high-tech companies to

set up operations and research and de-

velopment facilities. This will drive the

growth of the overall energy transition

and EV ecosystems in the country.

Advancing the use of hydrogen is also

part of Malaysia’s transition drive. Ef-

forts to ramp-up hydrogen production

gathered pace in late July as Tenaga

Nasional Bhd (TNB) and Petronas

inked a joint feasibility study agree-

ment (JFSA) to advance studies for

hydrogen business development.

TNB said in a statement: “Building

upon the earlier signed memorandum

of understanding, the JFSA under-

scores the commitment of both indus-

try leaders to collaborate and foster a

strong synergy in exploring and devel-

oping business ventures in the emerg-

ing eld of green hydrogen.”

Malaysia’s energy

transition gathers pace

Philippines needs grid

investment to support

growing renewables

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Asia News

The Philippines’ Undersecretary of

the Department of Energy and Presi-

dent and CEO of the National Trans-

mission Corp. (Transco), Rowena

Guevara, has admitted that most of

the country’s planned renewable ca-

pacity has not yet been included in

the Transmission Development Plan

(TDP).

The Department of Energy (DOE)

is eyeing grid integration of up to 94

GW of additional power capacities

that are already on the roll of projects

undergoing pre-development phases.

These planned power facilities com-

prise of 176 targeted wind farm instal-

lations; 162 hydropower ventures;

108 solar projects; 21 geothermal

projects; and one ocean energy under-

taking.

But there are questions over wheth-

er this can be absorbed by power

transmission network of the National

Grid Corporation of the Philippines

(NGCP).

“If we look at the current TDP and

the submission of NGCP for its fth

regulatory reset, it can be observed

that 50 000 MW of the listed projects

are not there,” said Guevara.

To address the situation Guevara

indicated that the DOE plans “to come

up with a smart and green grid system

(SGGS), which encompasses all of

those things that are not in the list of

NGCP”.

Less clear at this point, however, is

how the government will pursue the

construction of new high voltage lines

and reinforcement of the transmission

system within the bounds of the in-

dustry’s current set-up wherein trans-

mission facilities are managed and

operated under a third party private

concession.

“As a starting point,” Guevara said,

“we’re planning to get the numbers for

each year: what’s the scale of transmis-

sion lines required and where these

(lines) would be installed.”

Investors in renewable energy (RE)

projects have been outspoken in rais-

ing concerns that grid integration is a

major dilemma, warning that their

facilities could suffer curtailments that

could then result in foregone revenues

or losses.

Unless the issue is addressed, it is

expected that without government as-

surances, even the forthcoming round

of renewable energy auctions could

be disappointing.

Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPow-

er) through its renewable energy arm

Aboitiz Renewables, Inc. (ARI), is set

to build two new solar power projects

in Negros Occidental and Zambales,

further expanding its renewable en-

ergy capacity. The energy company

said it will build a 173 MW solar

power project in Calatrava, Negros

Occidental that is expected to start

exporting power by 2024. ARI is also

set to build a 211 MW solar project

in Olongapo, Zambales – its largest

solar project to date.

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closed material loops by reusing re-

sidual material and cogenerated

products. According to the company,

it is “working very close to the limits

of what science and technology per-

mits”, which puts it “among the

world’s most efcient producers of

steel”.

Nevertheless, production in the

Salzgitter steelworks generates about

8 million t of CO

per year, made

unavoidable by processes and by the

current status of technical conditions

and the facilities available. In order

to lower its CO

emissions, the

company has begun to implement its

SALCOS

programme – Salzgitter

Low CO

Steelmaking.

Although the ambition among steel

producers to cut emissions varies

from region to region, Sengupta says

that, overall, Siemens Energy’s cus-

tomers are “working very hard to

dene their own individual strategy”.

He added: “It depends on the pro-

cess they are using; how old the steel

plant is; and the different local re-

quirements, i.e. whether they are in

Europe, US, India or Japan. But most

of them want to become climate-

neutral by 2045 at the latest.”

Sengupta says that the most realistic

pathway is to rst optimise and elec-

trify. Historically, the most common

to the higher demand, things have

really gone south and the overall

amount of CO

emissions has gone

up in a way that now we really need

measures to meet the net zero emis-

sions target.”

“Figures from the Energy Informa-

tion Administration (EIA) show that

producing 1 t of steel produces about

1.9 t of CO

. And using coal means

that CO

emissions are not the only

problem – methane, nitrous oxides,

sulphur dioxide and particulates are

also an issue. So this is a very impor-

tant problem for us to solve.”

Siemens Energy has put reducing

carbon emissions from industrial

processes such as steel production,

and indeed its own processes and

products, at the heart of its opera-

tions. In what is one of the most im-

portant projects aimed at cutting CO

emissions from steel production, the

company has been collaborating

with Salzgitter AG on a programme

to make steel production more cli-

mate-friendly.

Salzgitter AG is one of Europe’s

leading steel and technology groups.

Apart from the carbon used, the

company operates its integrated

steelworks in Salzgitter, southeast

Lower Saxony, Germany, on a virtu-

ally energy autonomous basis and

Siemens Energy has secured the contract to deliver and install its advanced centrifugal

compressors for compressing hydrogen at Salzgitter. The compressor package features an

integrally-geared compressor design, allowing for more efcient compression

Sengupta: CO

emissions have gone up in a way that “now we

really need measures” to meet the net zero emissions target

Special Technology Supplement

he importance of decarbonising

the steel industry cannot be un-

derstated. According to a 2021

report by the World Steel Associa-

tion, steel production accounts for

between 7 and 9 per cent of global

emissions. More recently, in its

Tracking Clean Energy Progress

2023 report, the International Energy

Agency (IEA) estimates that it ac-

counts for 8 per cent of primary pro-

duction in 2030 in its NZE (Net Zero

Emissions) Scenario. The IEA there-

fore stresses that innovation is crucial

for the commercialisation of new

near zero emissions steel production

processes.

Fortunately, both the steel industry

and major players in the energy sec-

tor have not been sitting on their

hands. Although the current pipeline

of low- and near zero-emission

projects in the steel industry falls

short of what is required to meet the

NZE Scenario, important progress is

being made.

Commenting on the size of the

problem of CO

emissions from steel

production, Anand Sengupta, Vice

President and Head of Global Sales,

Compression at Siemens Energy, said:

“In a word, it’s as big as 8 per cent of

global emissions. The industry has

seen a big demand for steel in the last

few years. It’s a fundamental indica-

tor of economic growth… demand

will stay and the problem will grow

in size. But today steel production is

heavily dependent on coal, which is

primarily used for reducing iron ore

to so-called pig iron.

“But over the last decade, these

emissions have gone up. There has

been some improvement in terms of

efciency, i.e. the number of tonnes

of CO

per tonne(t) of steel. But due

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Reducing carbon emissions in steel production is crucial in achieving global net zero CO

targets. Siemens Energy

is collaborating with European steel producer Salzgitter AG to help reduce emissions from its steel production

process. But it is a partnership that is also helping Siemens Energy to cut its own Scope 3 emissions.

Junior Isles explains.

A steely resolve to cutting

carbon emissions

of Salzgitter AG, amounting to well

over €1 billion. The total investment

volume for the rst stage of SALCOS

is € 2.2-2.4 billion.

The SALCOS programme will be

implemented in three stages. The

rst – consisting of a direct reduction

plant, an electric arc furnace and a

100 MW electrolysis plant for hy-

drogen production – will be com-

pleted in 2026. Wind power genera-

tion has already been installed along

with the electrolyser, which produces

hydrogen for use in the electric arc

furnace. Phases two and three will

entail the increased use of scrap.

Salzgitter is targeting at least a 95

per cent reduction in CO

emissions

by 2033. The company noted: “By

setting ourselves the goal of avoid-

ing CO

directly rather than storing it

or making it usable at great expense

(carbon direct avoidance strategy),

our concept is sustainable and sets an

example for the industry.”

Transformation of the steel produc-

tion process at the Salzgitter site

should be completed by the end of

2033, well ahead of the regulatory

requirements.

In May this year Salzgitter reached

a major milestone in executing this

plan with the order of an ‘Energiron

ZR Direct Reduction’ plant from a

consortium of Tenova, Danieli and

DSD Steel Group. The consortium

will build the DRI plant on the site of

Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. The unit

is the largest sub-plant in the rst

stage of the SALCOS programme

and has a production capacity of

Special Technology Supplement

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Integrally-geared compressor

rotor

blast furnace used by steel producers

has been the Basic Oxygen Furnace

(BOF). A growing number are shift-

ing towards the electric arc furnace

(EAF) to implement a different pro-

duction route, which is easier to de-

carbonise. The second part, he says,

is “decarbonising operations”. This

means reducing the carbon in the

electricity supply, i.e. using renew-

ables. The third is carbon capture.

“We see some frontrunners – espe-

cially in Europe where we are trying

to implement, with the government,

some concrete actions. Most of the

major steel producing countries have

targets to reduce emissions by be-

tween 15 and 40 per cent by 2030.

But the EU has launched a strong

push for industries to transition from

a high carbon to a low carbon foot-

print,” he said.

“Beyond Europe, the Ination Re-

duction Act (IRA) in the US is pro-

viding a huge amount of funding [for

industries] – around $5.6-5.8 billion

– a large part of which will be avail-

able to some of the projects in the

steel industry.”

He noted, however, that the technol-

ogy aspect is also important, high-

lighting some of the new technologies

that are being deployed. “Sweden, for

example is doing a scrap waste steel

project that will help reduce carbon

footprint. We are also seeing some

hydrogen-based direct reduction of

iron (H

-DRI) that will demonstrate

the future of how the industry will

move forward.”

As part of its SALCOS programme,

Salzgitter is replacing its existing

blast furnaces with direct reduction

plants. The company currently pro-

duces pig iron, or crude iron, by us-

ing coal in its blast furnaces. This

releases CO

as a result of the pro-

cess. In direct reduction, iron ore is

reduced with the aid of hydrogen.

The hydrogen reacts with the oxygen

in the iron ore (iron oxide) directly in

the solid state and converts it into

sponge iron (almost pure iron).

Instead of CO

, this technology

produces water (H

O), which in turn

is reused in the integrated process. In

order to be able to process sponge

iron further, the porous material is

nally melted down together with

steel scrap in an electric arc furnace.

The SALCOS programme is al-

ready in the midst of implementa-

tion. The nancing of stage 1 of the

programm has been secured through

subsidies of about €1 billion from

the Federal Republic of Germany

(€700 million) and the State of

Lower Saxony (€300 million), as

well as through the substantial funds

more than 2 million t of direct re-

duced iron per year.

Sengupta commented: “SALCOS

has also announced that they will

stop using blast furnaces by mid-

2030s and replace their coal-based

process with a new hydrogen route.

That’s a massive change. It’s a huge

change in the plant itself. This trans-

formation is expected to achieve

emissions savings of 95 per cent,

which is actually 1 per cent of Ger-

many’s CO

emissions.”

Sengupta noted that blast furnaces

sites around the world can also use

DRI technology similar to that used

by Salzgitter. A key benet here is

that operators can switch from natu-

ral gas to hydrogen “on the y”. This

would allow them to make the transi-

tion from natural gas to hydrogen

slowly.

“You could initially start with, say

5 per cent hydrogen, and 95 per cent

natural gas; or you could have in

between 50:50 and switch over from

5:95 to the other way around,” said

Sengupta. “This is a huge advantage

because, without changing the

equipment or the process, you can

move from point A to point B almost

seamlessly.”

This is where Siemens Energy

compressors play a pivotal role.

Sengupta explained: “The process

uses natural gas, which has a certain

molecular composition, molecular

weight, uid dynamics, etc. But the

same process tomorrow has to use a

mix or pure hydrogen, which has a

different molecular weight and a

different kind of uid dynamics.

“So the compressors need to be

exible and adaptable to handle the

wide range of head – the compressor

power, the ow that is needed; the

pressure ratio that’s needed. And the

compressors need to be reliable

enough to move from a heavy, big

molecule, to a lighter, smaller, mol-

ecule; so it’s really important to un-

derstand how the compressors, from

a exibility standpoint, can handle

both the gases. Unlike Salzgitter, in

Example of an advanced rotor

hydrogen compressor

F-gas-free switchgear in an offshore wind turbine: it is important for the wind industry to reduce

its carbon footprint through developments such as GIS without SF

or other F-gases

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Special Technology Supplement

F-gas-free switchgear at the

Siemens Energy switchgear

factory in Berlin

allows more efcient compression,

further reducing the energy con-

sumption of the plant (and resultant

footprint).

“This lies at the heart of what we do

at Siemens Energy. We have a busi-

ness area that specically looks at

how we reduce the carbon footprint

of industrial processes; steel is one of

them,” said Sengupta.

Siemens Energy is building on its

Salzgitter compressor experience, with

plans to install an advanced rotor hy-

drogen compressor at another steel

production plant in Sweden. It will

meet the steel producer’s requirement

for a compressor with higher ow

rates.

“This will be phenomenal because

you won’t need to have multiple

compressors running in parallel; you

can have one large centrifugal com-

pressor, providing all the pressure

ratio and the ow rate at the same

time,” said Sengupta.

“It’s something we are very excited

about and are talking to multiple cus-

tomers about it. The future of green

steel will need a portfolio where we

are not looking at small multiple units

but reliable larger units.”

The use of fewer units, he says will

mean lower costs, higher reliability

and reduced footprint. “Each com-

pressor has its own balance-of-plant,

so each time you add one more

compressor, the average cost per

megawatt goes up.

“Also steel producers are convert-

ing in a browneld situation, so there

is a space constraint. If you have a

large ow there will at some point

not be enough room for multiple

compressors; so a larger single

compressor with a 1+1 conguration

would be a huge advantage.”

In addition to compressors, Siemens

Energy has also secured a contract to

build a substation on Salzgitter AG’s

premises to connect to the 380 kV

‘Salzgitter Industrial Line’.

The scope of the contract covers a

380 kV gas-insulated switchgear

(GIS); a 220 kV GIS; substation

auxiliary systems; and the entire de-

sign engineering. In addition, Sie-

mens Energy will provide four high

voltage and medium voltage trans-

formers for the rst step of SALCOS.

The substation will be connected via

the Bleckenstedt Süd substation of

TenneT TSO GmbH to the future 380

kV industrial line that in turn will

connect up Salzgitter with the Wahle-

Mecklar line. Going forward, this

grid connection will allow Salzgitter

AG to source the necessary volumes

of power from renewable energies.

GIS is in fact another area in which

Siemens Energy is already contribut-

ing to tackling climate change. The

company has launched a range of

GIS that has eliminated the use of

sulphur hexauoride (SF

) – a gas

which is used for insulation with a

global warming potential 24 300

times that of CO

Siemens Energy has been working

on its ‘Blue’ technology for more

than 12 years, initially focusing on

lower high-voltage levels, i.e. 72.5

kV. The technology is available for

GIS, circuit breakers and instrument

transformers all with absolutely zero

equivalent emissions over the

lifetime of the equipment. The tech-

nology has been in service around

the globe up to 145 kV for several

years and is currently being rolled

out across Siemens Energy’s entire

HV switching equipment portfolio

up to the highest transmission level

of 420 kV.

The company also emphasised that

several hundreds of switchgears with

Blue technology are already being

installed in wind turbines. Big off-

shore wind farms currently use 72.5

kV, so it developed switchgear espe-

cially for wind turbine applications

and rst installation started in 2017.

Wind power is one of the corner-

stones of the green energy transition.

With more than 600 GW of new ca-

pacity to be installed worldwide in

the next ve years, it is important for

the wind industry to reduce its car-

bon footprint through developments

such as GIS without SF

or other F-

gases. The work Siemens Energy is

doing with Salzgitter also feeds back

into this.

In April this year, Siemens Gamesa

announced the GreenerTower, a

wind turbine tower made of more

sustainable steel.

Towers consist of approximately

80 per cent steel plates. The new

GreenerTower will ensure a CO

re-

duction of at least 63 per cent in the

tower steel plates compared to con-

ventional steel. Siemens Gamesa’s

new thorough qualication process

will verify that only a maximum of

0.7 t of CO

-equivalent emissions

are permitted per tonne of steel,

while maintaining the same steel

properties and quality.

Salzgitter AG, with its heavy plate

mill Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH,

is the rst supplier to be qualied,

something, which has also been rein-

forced by third-party certication.

Today, tower production accounts

for more than one-third of all wind-

turbine-related CO

emissions. If all

towers installed by the company in

one year were exchanged with

GreenerTowers, it would be the same

as removing more than 466 000 cars

from the roads in Europe for a year.

This new CO

-reduced tower will be

available as an option for both on-

shore and offshore wind turbines for

projects to be installed from 2024

onward.

The GreenerTower has already

closed its rst order. RWE and Sie-

mens Gamesa have agreed to intro-

duce 36 GreenerTowers at the 1000

MW Thor offshore wind power

project in Denmark. In total, 72 SG

14-236 DD offshore wind turbines

are planned to be installed starting in

2026. Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE

Offshore Wind, said: “Offshore wind

already has one of the lowest life-

cycle carbon footprints of power

generation technologies. At RWE we

are fully committed to working to-

wards circularity and net zero emis-

sions. We are already testing the

world’s rst recyclable wind turbine

blades by Siemens Gamesa under

real-life conditions.”

By piloting the GreenerTower at

our Thor offshore wind farm, RWE

is now looking to take the lead in

helping to signicantly reduce the

carbon footprint of wind turbines.

On average, 1.91 t of CO

is emit-

ted during the manufacturing process

for every tonne of steel. By setting a

threshold of 0.7 t CO

-equivalent

emissions per tonne of steel, Siemens

Gamesa says it “signicantly” re-

duces the footprint of the largest

component in terms of CO

-equiva-

lent emissions.

The use of green steel in its wind

towers goes a long way to closing the

loop in making its wind turbines

completely green.

It certainly feeds into Siemens En-

ergy’s strategy of cutting emissions

from its own operations. “Again, this

is at the heart of what we’re doing at

Siemens Energy and the goals that

we’ve set for ourselves. We look at

Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emis-

sions. Every time we supply to the

steel industry, if it’s not green steel it

adds to our Scope 3 emissions,” said

Sengupta. “So we are very actively

engaged to reduce Scope 3 emis-

sions, which means we are actively

engaged to pursue the HDRI. So it

not only helps our customers, it helps

us as well. Ten years down the line,

this needs to be more the norm rather

than the exception.”

He concluded: “Technology is im-

portant but perhaps even more im-

portant is the relationship with our

customers. We have been working

with Salzgitter to build the solution

together, supporting them for the last

5-10 years. It’s partnerships that

make all of this come to life.”

most cases, the operators would like

to switch over from existing natural

gas to a mix of hydrogen before

completely turning over to hydrogen.

The exibility of not having to

change the compression system is a

huge advantage on continued pro-

duction and costs.”

Apart from hydrogen, compressors

are also used in steel plants to handle

nitrogen and oxygen.

Sengupta commented: “There are

compressors that handle dry oxygen

and these are different from the ones

that handle hydrogen and natural

gas, and different from compressors

that handle nitrogen.”

For nitrogen compressors, Siemens

Energy has extensive experience in

the air separation market. These, says

Sengupta, are fairly standard technol-

ogy but need to be extremely reliable.

The oxygen compressors are more

complicated: you don’t want any

ammable material inside. And this is

where we have the experience, with

years of reliable operation; very few

manufacturers can do it. For the natu-

ral gas/hydrogen compressors, this is

where we also have the experience

depending on the size.”

Siemens Energy has secured the

contract to deliver and install its ad-

vanced centrifugal compressors for

compressing hydrogen at Salzgitter,

with an integrally-geared compres-

sor design driving two compression

stages to achieve the required pres-

sure ratio. This portfolio of geared

compressors driving up to four shafts

at individually optimised speeds

The new GreenerTower will ensure a CO

reduction of at least 63 per cent in the tower steel plates compared to conventional steel

Anzeige_Honestly_ENG_290x380mm_220921.indd 1 21.09.22 10:32

“With these three new projects with

Nordex, our total installed capacity

will increase to 355 MW. We aim to

continue growing with a 100 per

cent renewable energy portfolio and

aspire to become one of Turkiye’s

top three green energy companies.”

Hyundai Engineering & Construction

has won a $145 million contract to lay

HVDC power transmission lines in

Saudi Arabia.

The contract covers the construc-

tion of a 525 kV, 605 km transmis-

sion line between Saudi Arabia’s

newly developed city of Neom and

the country’s western port of Yanbu.

Hyundai said it will also construct

450 transmission towers under the

turnkey project scheduled for com-

pletion in July 2027.

Hyundai will manage the entire

process, from design and procure-

ment to construction.

Denmark’s Maersk Group is in talks

to potentially acquire half of the Egyp-

tian state-owned Zaafarana’s 545 MW

wind farms in the Red Sea Governor-

ate, Egypt. Maersk will use the energy

generated by the wind farms to pro-

duce green fuels such as hydrogen.

If acquisition plans are successful,

Maersk will acquire assets producing

270 MW in eight projects of the

Zaafarana farm.

The Egyptian government current-

ly owns 50 per cent of the Zaafarana

wind farm, the rest being owned by

multiple international entities. The

wind farm was funded through mul-

tiple investments and loans from

Germany, Denmark, Japan, and

Spain.

AFRY, NIRAS, and Inuplan have been

awarded a contract to expand the Buk-

sefjorden hydropower plant, Green-

land’s largest hydropower plant,

which supplies Nuuk, the country’s

capital.

The planned expansion will consist

of two new units, a new cavern and

tunnel systems. It will also connect

an additional lake to the plant via a

16 km transfer tunnel connecting the

current intake at Lake Kangerlu-

arssunnguup Tasersua to Lake Isor-

tuarsuup Tasia, increasing the avail-

able volume of water from 352 to

1248 million m

. With this expan-

sion, the production of clean energy

will be enhanced from the current

maximum of 255 GWh annually up

to a future capacity of potentially

660 GWh. The expansion is sched-

uled for completion by 2029.

The project is owned by the Green-

landic state company NunaGreen in

partnership with the national energy

utility Nukissiorit, which will oper-

ate the facility once it is in operation.

Masdar of Abu Dhabi will build solar

power plants in multiple governorates

across Iraq. These plants will be built

in the regions of Maysan, Dhi Qar,

Anbar, and Kirkuk.

Ziyad Ali Fadel, Iraq’s Minister of

Electricity, said that the Iraq Govern-

ment plans to diversify energy sourc-

es and reduce dependence on gas

and fossil fuels to address environ-

mental issues and global warming.

Iraq is looking to expand its elec-

tricity grid and has recently invested

in a 2000 MW power plant located

in Basra.

A total of some 93 proposals were

led with the energy regulatory au-

thority RAE. Among the partici-

pants in the round are Greek rms

Helleniq Energy, PPC Renewables

and Mytilineos.

The selected developers will re-

ceive a grant of up to €200 000 per

MW to install the proposed BESS

capacity. The winning projects

should have an individual capacity

not higher than 100 MW and should

be commissioned by the end of

2025. They will be connected to the

country’s transmission grid.

Hitachi Energy has been selected as

preferred technology provider by

SSEN Transmission and National

Grid to supply ve HVDC converter

stations to interconnect the Scottish

and English power grids.

Hitachi Energy will supply its volt-

age source converter (VSC) convert-

er stations, which convert AC to DC

for efcient, long-distance transmis-

sion and DC to AC, where the elec-

tricity is returned to the grid.

The rst two projects under the

framework agreement between Ar-

nish-Beauly and Spittal-Peterhead

have already been dened. The East-

ern Green Link 2 will consist of two

525 kV bipole VSC converter sta-

tions connected by 440 km of subsea

cable and 70 km of underground ca-

ble, making it the longest HVDC

link in the UK.

The three additional projects are

exible in location, and to be dened

as large-scale studies are nalised.

The HVDC links are expected to en-

ter operation in 2030 and onwards.

RWE has started construction at a new

8.4 MW solar PV project at its Ham-

bach lignite mine in the German state

of North Rhine-Westphalia. The new

solar project, the Neuland Solar Farm,

will soon be generating power, with

RWE expecting to complete construc-

tion work and begin commercial op-

erations by the end of 2023.

The solar project will use bifacial

solar panels, and be joined by a bat-

tery energy storage system (BESS).

The BESS will have a two-hour

charge and discharge cycle, and a

power capacity of 8 MWh.

Katja Wünschel, CEO of RWE Re-

newables Europe & Australia, said:

“This is the fourth large solar project

we are launching within the Rhenish

mining district within a very short

period of time, again in combination

with a storage system.”

Ronesans Holding of Turkiye has

awarded a contract to Nordex to equip

three projects with a combined capac-

ity of 189 MW.

The order is for the supply of 27

N163/6.X turbines, which will be

mounted on 113 m steel towers. It

also includes a ten-year turbine ser-

vicing contract.

The largest project is the 12-turbine

Sagilusagi site in the province of

Malatya in Eastern Anatolia, which

will have a total capacity of 84 MW.

Nordex will also deliver eight tur-

bines for the 56 MW Osmancik proj-

ect in Corum and seven turbines for

the 49 MW Kayalar site in Sivas.

Heitkamp Industrial Solutions, a

subsidiary of Ronesans Enerji, is the

EPC contractor for the three facili-

ties. Emre Hatem, Vice President of

the board of Ronesans Enerji, said:

A contract for the delivery and com-

missioning of 49 N155/5.X turbines

for the Forty Mile wind farm in Al-

berta, Canada has been awarded to

the Nordex Group.

All turbines will be cold climate

versions and will be delivered with a

rated capacity of 5.7 MW and oper-

ated on 108 m steel towers.

The wind farm is scheduled to be

commissioned in Q1 2025, and will

have a combined capacity of 280

MW. It will be Acciona Energia’s

largest wind farm in North America.

GE Grid Solutions will supply two

500 kV air-insulated substations (AIS)

for Brazilian renewables developer

Casa dos Ventos’ 756 MW Serra do

Tigre wind complex located in the

northeastern state of Rio Grande do

Norte. The contract also includes the

construction of a connection bay in

neighbouring Paraiba state. This will

include all the necessary high-voltage

equipment, as well as the telecom,

protection and control systems.

Suzlon Group has won a contract to

develop a 31.5 MW wind power proj-

ect for Integrum Energy Infrastructure

in India. Suzlon will install 15 units of

its S120 - 140 m wind turbines with a

Hybrid Lattice Tubular (HLT) tower,

each with a rated capacity of 2.1 MW.

The turbines will be installed in Ma-

harashtra and Karnataka, India. The

project is scheduled to be commis-

sioned in May 2024.

Suzlon will supply, install, and

commission the power plant. In ad-

dition, it will provide post-commis-

sioning O&M services.

Yangzte Power has awarded a contract

to GE Vernova to upgrade the Xiangji-

aba hydropower plant in China. The

scope of work includes the design,

manufacturing, delivery, installation,

and commissioning of three sets of

main shaft air supply pipes. The up-

grade is expected to be completed in

the rst half of 2024.

The replacement of the air supply

pipes will help improve the sealing

effect, maintaining the efciency of

the 6.4 GW hydropower plant.

Roberta Galli, Hydropower Servic-

es Leader of GE Vernova, said:

“This project builds on GE’s and

Yangtze Power’s long-lasting rela-

tionship. China still has a huge po-

tential to integrate more renewable

and reliable energy into the grid and

accelerate the energy transition in

the country.”

The government of the Indian state of

Nagaland has signed a PPA with the

IPP Hutah industries to buy electricity

from its 10 MW biomass plant at AK

Industrial Village in Ganeshnagar.

Aditya Pandit, CEO and CFO of

Hutah Industries, said that the raw

material for the bamboo-red plant

will be grown within the project

area. He said the project will be

completed within 24 months, and

that 1500 acres of land had already

been leased by the rm for 25 years.

Two orders for four GE 6F.03 gas tur-

bines for Yangjiang City, in the Guang-

dong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay

Area in China, have been placed with

GE Vernova’s Gas Power business.

The rst order for two units was

with Royal Golden Eagle Group

(RGE)’s East Asia Power for its

Yangjiang High-Tech Zone Natural

Gas CHP Plant, for a LNG receiving

terminal. Two units were purchased

by Beijing Energy International for

the Yangjiang Yangxi Natural Gas

CHP project.

The four units will supply a com-

bined capacity of 480 MW once op-

erational, scheduled for early 2025.

China aims to achieve a carbon

emissions peak by 2030 and carbon

neutrality by 2060.

Vestas has signed a conditional agree-

ment to supply the wind turbines for

the 1.2 GW Baltic Power offshore

wind project on Poland.

In addition, NKT has been award-

ed a contract to supply export power

cables for the 1.2 GW Baltic Power

offshore wind farm in Poland. Baltic

Power is a joint venture between

Polish PKN Orlen and Canadian

Northland Power.

The €120 million contract is for

NKT to supply offshore export pow-

er cables for the offshore wind farm

to be built in the Baltic Sea, 23 km

off the Polish coast. NKT said it

would execute the order in a consor-

tium with two partners, but did not

disclose who the partners are.

The Baltic Power offshore wind

farm will be built in the waters off

Choczewo and Łeba, where 76 Ves-

tas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines

will be installed. The wind farm is

scheduled to enter construction in

2024 and commercial operation in

2026.

Sinia Renovables has awarded an or-

der for a 50 MW wind project situated

in the northwestern region of Spain to

Vestas.

The contract is to supply 11 V136-

4.5 MW wind turbines. In addition,

Vestas will provide a 25-year Active

Output Management 4000 (AOM

4000) service agreement. Turbine

delivery is scheduled for Q2 2024.

Xavier Gasquez, Managing Direc-

tor of Sinia Renovables, said: “It is

critical for Sinia to work with part-

ners in our effort to keep deepening

the decarbonisation of the Spanish

economy.”

Schneider Electric has won a contract

to supply medium voltage (MV)

equipment and grid management soft-

ware to upgrade Serbia’s electrical

distribution network. The project is to

improve network reliability and will

improve the quality of electricity sup-

ply, strengthening the service provided

by Serbia’s distribution system opera-

tor Elektrodistribucija Srbije (EDS).

Greece’s rst standalone battery en-

ergy storage system (BESS) tender has

been heavily oversubscribed, attract-

ing offers totalling 3.3 GW against a

target of 400 MW.

Americas

Asia-Pacic

Canadian 280 MW wind

farm contract for Nordex

GE substations for Brazil

wind complex

Suzlon wins 31.5 MW

wind project in India

GE Vernova to upgrade

China hydropower plant

Nagaland to buy power

from biomass plant

Gas turbines for China’s

Greater Bay area

Vestas wins deal for Baltic

Power offshore wind farm

Vestas secures Spanish

wind turbine order

Schneider to upgrade

Serbia’s MV network

Greece receives 3.3 GW

BESS bids

Hitachi Energy to supply

UK HVDC link

Solar plus storage plant at

German lignite mine

Turkish 189 MW wind

order for Nordex

Hyundai wins power line

order from Saudi Arabia

Maersk in talks on

Egyptian wind farm sale

Greenland hydropower

plant to be expanded

Masdar to develop solar

power plants in Iraq

International

Europe

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Tenders, Bids & Contracts

ignicant progress has been

made in shifting towards clean

power in the UK, with the Na-

tional Grid’s Electricity System Op-

erator (ESO) reporting that 46 per

cent of Britain’s electricity came

from zero carbon sources in April

2023. But as demand for clean ener-

gy grows, the UK’s existing power

infrastructure and one directional

energy model grows increasingly

obsolete.

The UK has consistently broken

records for its renewable energy up-

take since 2020, with the Energy

and Climate Intelligence Unit

(ECIU) noting that British-based re-

newable energy sources have al-

ready overtaken gas as the primary

source of electricity, based on data

taken between October 2022 and

January 2023. But as demand for re-

newable electricity continues to

grow, so does the pressure to re-

evaluate the existing energy infra-

structure to ensure the UK’s grid

can provide a reliable network that

is capable of keeping up with sup-

ply and demand.

While the UK has made leaps and

bounds in stimulating investment in

generation from renewables, there is

still a way to go in terms of expand-

ing the transmission systems, in-

cluding pylons, overhead lines, ca-

bles, and substations. Very few

transmission networks have been

built since the 90s, and develop-

ments will need to be completed at

an unprecedented scale in order to

support the increase in the number

of renewable projects.

Analysis from the Department for

Energy Security and Net Zero

(DESNZ) demonstrates that the nec-

essary upgrades will take around 14

years, during which time applica-

tions for grid connections will soar.

The National Grid has warned that

those looking to secure their con-

nection in England and Wales will

have to wait in line behind 600 oth-

er projects comprising of 176 GW,

in a backlog extending more than a

decade into the future – and all

ghting for just 64 GW of connect-

ed capacity.

These limitations are delaying bil-

lions of pounds of private invest-

ment, which play an essential factor

in delivering the UK government’s

targets for renewable energy genera-

tion. The issue is expected to spiral

over the course of the next few de-

cades, with the UK’s electricity de-

mand expected to double or even

triple by 2050.

As it stands, grid constraints –

coupled with a lack of investment in

transmission system capacity and

grid modernisation – mean the UK

is producing more electricity from

wind power than it can use. Conse-

quently, the National Grid has intro-

duced curtailment costs, through

which wind generators are paid to

switch off rather than overload the

grid at times of high wind speed.

Energy tech company Axle Energy

reported that £215 million ($270.5

million) was paid to wind genera-

tors to power down turbines in 2022

and a further £717 million was

spent on switching on gas turbines

nearer to demand.

As rapid investment in wind ca-

pacity continues to soar, the Nation-

al Grid ESO warns that annual con-

straint costs could rise to as much as

£2.5 billion over the next decade be-

fore the necessary upgrades to the

grid are put in place – costs that will

likely be added to UK consumer

bills. Following outrage from UK

businesses, changes have been im-

plemented to shorten delay times,

such as making it easier for projects

to leave the queue without penalty.

New methods also include introduc-

ing a two-stage connection process

and tighter queue management, to

help remove ‘zombie’ projects

(those which are taking up space

better used by projects that are

ready). But it will be a long time be-

fore the results of these changes

come into fruition, and many devel-

opers are still (and will continue to

be) faced with critical delays that

leave their projects on hold whilst

they wait for the grid to catch up.

In areas with weak supply, large

batteries can be used to increase ca-

pacity at peak times to reduce cur-

tailment costs (for shutting down

wind turbines), storing excess clean

energy for later use and ensuring

none is wasted. A recent report from

Nick Winser CBE, the UK’s rst

Electricity Networks Commissioner,

sets out a 14-step plan to help bol-

ster the country’s energy security

and ensure it is taking full advan-

tage of its position as a world leader

in renewables. Step two on his list is

the huge potential for energy stor-

age systems like batteries, which he

emphasises will also lessen the in-

tensity of the need for rapid grid

modernisation. The report stated:

“Demand exibility and smart in-

vestment and operation of energy

storage facilities can reduce the

need for new transmission invest-

ment. Urgent development of zonal

exibility markets and new, more

encouraging, planning and opera-

tion rules will reduce transmission

investment costs and provide valu-

able opportunities to deploy more

renewables earlier.”

A prime example of how energy

storage systems can be utilised can

be found in Uppsala, Sweden; here,

energy and infrastructure specialist

Vattenfall is currently spearheading

the development of what will be the

Nordic region’s largest battery stor-

age facility. The area is equivalent

to about half a football pitch and has

enough capacity to power Uppsala

municipality’s entire street lighting

system. Acting as a gigantic “power

bank”, it can be charged up when

there is no demand for electricity

and discharged when there is a high

level of demand.

This June, James Carter, UK Head

of Energy and Natural Resources at

DLA Piper, also emphasised that the

role that energy storage facilities

play in the UK’s energised future

“cannot be underestimated”, and the

potential for long-duration storage

to contribute towards the UK’s net-

zero goal.

“It is the critical support structure

which delivers stability and security

of supply in a volatile market,”

Carter commented. “It can be seen

as a keystone in the development of

an energy system which allows the

UK to move at the pace required to

a cleaner, greener economy.”

Another idea to increase invest-

ment and speed up the development

of the UK’s grid could be to enable

Independent Distribution Network

Operators (IDNO) to take on more

on some of the ‘non-contestable

works’. Currently, IDNOs are only

allowed to undertake ‘contestable

works’, which include works from

the point of connection with the ex-

isting distribution network, up to the

point of demand or generation.

Non-contestable works, on the other

hand, are works on the existing dis-

tribution network up to the point of

connection, which are currently

only under the remit of Distribution

Network Operators (DNO) or their

appointed agents (ICPs).

Non-contestable works typically in-

clude the elements of the connection

which interface with the DNO’s net-

work, i.e., determining the point of

connection to the distribution sys-

tem; designing ‘upstream’ grid rein-

forcement works associated with a

new connection, and commissioning

and connecting new assets to the dis-

tribution system. If IDNO’s were to

become more involved in non-con-

testable works, it would reduce pres-

sure on the DNOs and allow them to

focus more on upgrading weak spots

in their networks. UKPN’s RIIO-

ED2 business plan states:

“We have seen a signicant volume

of connections work, delivered in-

creasingly, by Independent Connec-

tion Provider’s (ICPs) and IDNOs.

But we believe we need to go further,

and our customers agree. Facilitat-

ing a competitive connections market

and the drive towards net zero are

two strategic goals which support

one another.”

So, there is denitely interest from

the DNOs in using IDNOs and ICPs

to support upgrading the UK’s grid.

Creating a future-proof net zero

roadmap relies on a thorough under-

standing of the energy landscape, the

current transmission delivery pro-

cess, and potential areas for improve-

ment. As this specialist knowledge is

not typically at the purview of busi-

ness owners, those looking to kick-

start their journey are advised to seek

support from an energy expert who

understands the realities of delivery

very well.

If your business is likely to need

more electrical power over the next

few decades to meet net zero or elec-

trication goals, for example, then

partnering with an IDNO to upgrade

your grid connection makes obvious

sense. These Ofgem regulated and

customer-focused businesses work

alongside ICP’s to reserve grid ca-

pacity for free on behalf of their cli-

ents. IDNO’s also contribute to the

costs of designing and building an

electrical network through an Asset

Adoption Value (AAV) payment,

which can signicantly reduce the

developer’s total capital cost.

To support UK businesses in effec-

tively bringing their net zero targets

into fruition, Vattenfall has also re-

cently developed a new model to of-

fer a straightforward and hassle-free

approach to transitioning to renew-

able energy, including solar and bat-

tery storage systems.

The energy specialist designs a be-

spoke plan for its clients, and then

installs, operates and maintains any

high voltage infrastructure and ener-

gy systems on their behalf – all capi-

tal expenditure-free. The extended

energy service is specically tailored

to those who are ready to embrace

the net-zero transition, but who lack

the capacity to kickstart their jour-

ney, either due to lack of industry

knowledge or funding.

Combined with recent reforms set

out by the National Grid to help

shorten delays in securing a grid

connection, the above steps will be

central to ensuring the UK achieves

its target of decarbonising the coun-

try’s power system in time for its

ambitious 2035 deadline.

Suzanna Lashford is Manager of

Business Development at Vattenfall

Networks.

A exible, forward-

thinking approach

must be taken to

accommodate the

UK’s unprecedented

soar in demand for

renewable electricity

Vattenfall Networks’

Suzanna Lashford,

explains.

Accelerating UK electrication

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Energy Outlook

A prime example of how

energy storage systems can

be utilised can be found in

Uppsala, Sweden

Lashford: Grid constraints, coupled with a lack of investment in

transmission capacity and grid modernisation, mean the UK is

producing more electricity from wind power than it can use

Our Clients:

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THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

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limate change is the biggest

challenge of our time. In the

transition from a society built

on fossil fuels to electrication and

clean energy sources, batteries play

an important part. Besides powering

our smartphones and computers and

rapidly replacing diesel and petrol in

vehicles, energy storage is crucial in

the clean energy systems of the fu-

ture. Batteries are essential for stor-

ing renewable energy so it can be

used not only when it is produced

but when it is needed – thereby max-

imising its potential.

Therefore, it should come as no

surprise that global demand for lith-

ium-ion batteries is projected to ex-

perience a 27 per cent annual

growth between 2022 and 2030,

surging from 700 GWh to 4.7 TWh.

This development is propelled by

regulations like Europe’s ‘Fit for

55’ programme and the US Ination

Reduction Act, as well as signi-

cant customer interest in greener

technologies.

As positive as the transition to-

wards electrication and a larger

share of renewable energy sources in

the energy mix is, it comes with its

own set of challenges. The main one

is the lack of readily available raw

materials – particularly rened lithi-

um, cobalt and nickel – to produce

enough lithium-ion batteries to cover

demand.

To ll this shortfall, hundreds of

new battery technologies and chem-

istries are invented in labs around

the world every year. The sodium-

ion chemistry has emerged as the

most promising complement to lithi-

um-ion.

Just like for lithium-ion, there are

several sodium-ion chemistries. The

main families are Layered Transition

Metal Oxides, Polyanion Com-

pounds and Prussian Blue Analogues

(PBA). Out of these, it is only Prus-

sian White, which belongs to the

PBA family, that is solely being built

on widely available, conict-free and

easy to recycle raw minerals. This

ultimately makes Prussian White so-

dium-ion batteries the most sustain-

able of them all.

Compared to lithium-ion batteries,

sodium-ion batteries have better

safety characteristics and similar

power delivery characteristics, at a

lower cost but also a somewhat

lower energy density. As such, sodi-

um-ion batteries require a slightly

larger volume to deliver the corre-

sponding density.

Sodium-ion batteries are not a re-

placement for the widely used lithi-

um-ion chemistries, but a comple-

ment. By developing Prussian

White sodium-ion batteries with

abundant materials and high energy

density, we can preserve the scarce

minerals for applications where ex-

ceptionally high energy density is

required, like aeroplanes, cell

phones or computers.

One of the rst to discover the po-

tential of sodium-ion battery tech-

nology was Nobel Prize-awarded

scientist John B. Goodenough and

colleagues. Although Goodenough is

widely recognised as one of the fa-

thers of the lithium-ion battery, his

initial research was met with scepti-

cism. A longer-lasting, faster-charg-

ing and safer battery chemistry sim-

ply seemed too good to be true.

However, Goodenough’s research

sparked the interest of three scien-

tists at the Ångström Laboratory of

Uppsala University in Sweden. As

part of his master thesis, then student

Ronnie Mogensen, today Chief Sci-

entist at Altris, teamed up with his

supervisor, Associate Professor Reza

Younesi, and material chemistry ex-

pert, Associate Professor William

Brant, to take Goodenough’s re-

search and build it into something

real.

Together, the trio invented a sodi-

um-ion cathode material that they

later named Altris Prussian White. In

2017, a couple of years and a disser-

tation later, Ronnie, Reza and Wil-

liam founded Altris to excel their de-

velopment with Altris Prussian

White and sodium-ion battery tech-

nology.

The founders saw tremendous po-

tential in developing a high capacity,

pure sodium-ion cathode material.

And their different areas of expertise

turned out to be a perfect match, re-

sulting in Altris Prussian White.

Since then, the focus has been on ad-

vancing our patented cathode and

battery technology to achieve the

highest energy density possible, and

commercialise the innovation.

Today, Altris stands at the forefront

of sodium-ion battery development,

dedicated to taking its innovations

from conception to commercialisa-

tion. The company offers cathodes,

electrolytes, battery cells, and blue-

prints to create sodium-ion batteries,

primarily targeting customers within

grid storage, commercial transporta-

tion such as buses, heavy trucks and

boats, and personal transportation.

Altris’ sodium-ion batteries exhibit

exceptional performance in terms of

extended lifespan, exible operating

temperatures, and safety. They are

sustainable and readily recyclable,

crafted from cost-effective and abun-

dant materials: salt, wood, iron and

air. Moreover, they boast an energy

density comparable to the widely

used lithium-ion chemistry LFP.

As part of Altris’ commercialisa-

tion journey, battery industry, I was

appointed CEO earlier this year,

bringing more than 20 years of expe-

rience from, among other things,

holding various positions at French

battery developer SAFT.

Since the start, achieving real im-

pact has always been Altris’ guiding

star. This core principle is key. By

developing the next generation of

batteries, we contribute to a more

sustainable and electried world.

Because of our achievements, Al-

tris has gained the trust of the well-

renowned actors Northvolt and In-

noenergy who invested in a Series A

nancing in 2022 and a bridge -

nancing with a 60 per cent oversub-

scription in 2023. The company is

also preparing for a Series B nanc-

ing later this year.

Energy density is one of the main

areas of improvement for sodium-

ion technology. To enhance the ener-

gy density in a battery, a key factor

is to have high capacity in the cath-

ode material. As such, Altris reached

a signicant milestone earlier this

summer when it introduced a pure

Prussian White cathode material

with a capacity of 160 mAh/g.

This is the highest capacity in a

completely pure Prussian White ma-

terial declared to date – meaning a

material that does not contain any

conict minerals or toxic elements to

boost performance. The achieved ca-

pacity constitutes almost 95 per cent

of the theoretical capacity of Prus-

sian White, which is 172 mAh/g.

The secret behind this achievement

lies in an almost defect-free crystal-

line structure, a very high sodiation

of close to two Na-ions per crystal

unit cell and an optimised particle

size in the low micron range.

Following development of the

Prussian White cathode, earlier this

year, Altris also measured its high-

est energy density to date in a com-

mercial-sized sodium-ion battery

cell, amounting to 150 Wh/kg. This

makes the battery cell commercially

viable for a wide range of storage

applications, including grid energy

storage connected to renewable en-

ergy production.

With our latest achievement, we

have placed ourselves at the very

forefront of sodium-ion battery de-

velopment. The exceptional cathode

capacity has enabled us to increase

the energy density of our sodium-ion

battery cells. But this is only the be-

ginning. We are condent of achiev-

ing 160 Wh/kg and beyond in the

near future.

Having proven its technology and

gained the trust of industry leaders,

Altris’ next step is to scale up pro-

duction. Expectations for a success-

ful commercialisation are high and

the company is already in dialogue

with several prospective customers

and partners within an array of dif-

ferent industries.

In the coming years, our focus is to

continue to prove the technology and

scale up fast enough to be able to re-

spond to and serve the quickly ex-

panding market – all while staying

ahead in this highly competitive in-

dustry. It will not be easy, but I am

condent that we will make it.

Björn Mårlid is CEO of Swedish

sodium-ion battery developer Altris.

Amid the global shift

towards sustainable

energy solutions,

Swedish sodium-ion

battery developer

Altris has developed

a pure Prussian

White cathode

material with a

capacity of 160

mAh/g – making it

the highest capacity

declared to date.

Altris’ Björn Mårlid

discusses this

important milestone.

Powering the future with

Altris Prussian White

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Technology Focus

Altris’ Prussian White has an

almost defect-free crystalline

structure

Mårlid is condent of achieving 160 Wh/kg and beyond in the

near future

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2023

Final Word

erhaps it should have come as

no surprise that a meeting of

environment and climate min-

isters in Chennai, India, ended in

much the same way as a gathering of

energy ministers in Goa just six days

earlier.

In Goa, energy ministers were ac-

cused of serving up “very weak tea”

as they failed to set strong goals and

implementation plans to tackle cli-

mate change. It would be no exag-

geration to say that that tea has now

gone cold. Like the meeting in Goa,

discussions in Chennai wrapped up

without consensus on the global

transition away from fossil fuels.

And with the UN’s COP28 climate

summit less than three months away,

the rift between nations on making

real and concrete commitments to

avert the climate crisis seems deeper

than ever.

After three days of meetings the

Group of 20 (19 major nations plus

the EU) remained divided on calls,

led by developed nations, for the

emission of greenhouse gases to peak

by 2025 and reduce them by 60 per

cent by 2035 over 2019 levels.

Members could not agree on deplet-

ing carbon budgets, historical emis-

sions, net zero goals and the issue of

nancing to support developing

countries.

The demands were opposed by de-

veloping countries that said the miti-

gation targets would limit their abil-

ity to develop infrastructure and

grow.

Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s State

Secretary and Special Envoy for

Climate Action said that progress was

“blocked by a small group of coun-

tries”.

According to several people famil-

iar with the talks, China obstructed

the climate negotiations by refusing

to debate crucial issues such as

greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Speaking to the Financial Times, one

person said: “I’ve never seen such

wrecking tactics employed at a mul-

tilateral meeting before.” Another

person familiar with the talks de-

scribed the Chinese negotiator as a

“one-man wrecking ball”.

Another participant involved in the

discussions described China’s stance,

which was backed by Saudi Arabia,

as “stunning” and “increasingly ob-

structive”. They added that if the

countries impeding the talks were not

“willing to shift, then the world has a

real problem”.

Discussions with China, Saudi

Arabia and Russia were described as

“complicated”, by French Ecological

Transition Minister Christophe Be-

chu. He told the Agence France-

Presse news agency after the meeting

that he was “very disappointed” with

the outcome. “Records of tempera-

tures, catastrophes, giant res, and we

are not able to reach an agreement on

the peaking [of] emissions by 2025,”

he said.

The European Union’s Environ-

ment Commissioner also criticised

the outcome of the meeting. In his

closing remarks, Virginijus Sinkevi-

cius said: “At the end of our meeting

today, is the glass half full or half

empty? It is certainly empty when we

look at where we stand on G20 com-

mitments to address climate change

– we simply are nowhere.”

He added: “We were asked to make

bold choices, to demonstrate courage,

commitment and leadership, but we

collectively failed to achieve that.”

Sinkevicius also noted that some

delegations had even tried to walk

back previous climate pledges – a

position he said Europe could not

accept. “We cannot be driven by the

lowest common denominator or by

narrow national interests. We cannot

allow the pace of change to be set by

the slowest movers in the room,” he

told fellow ministers.

China and Saudi Arabia’s position

makes an agreement to ending fossil

fuel use and setting implementation

plans for tripling deployed renewable

energy capacity worldwide by 2030

renewable energy look increasingly

unlikely

China rejected calls for economy-

wide targets to reduce total CO

emissions by almost half by 2030, as

well as an agreement for global emis-

sions to peak by 2025. These targets

are intended to limit global warming

to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Responding to the accusations of

obstructing discussions, Beijing said

the claims are “completely inconsis-

tent with the facts”. The foreign

ministry said in a statement it “re-

grets” the failure to reach an agree-

ment at the meetings, which was

caused by “geopolitical issues”

brought up by other countries “for no

reason”. It said the G20 should build

political consensus among members

and “fully respect the different devel-

opment stages and national condi-

tions of countries”.

The Chennai meeting can only be

judged as another dismal failure. The

G20 could only acknowledge the

obvious: that measures to address

climate change are inadequate. There

were no new pledges or joint com-

muniqué, which is released when

there is unanimous agreement among

member nations on all issues. Instead,

there was simply an outcome state-

ment that dismissed the current

measures to address climate change

as “insufcient”.

This document will be submitted to

the Leaders for their consideration to

be annexed to the G20 New Delhi

Leader’s Declaration 2023 when they

meet September 9-10.

As the clock counts down to COP28

at the start of December, these min-

isterial and country leaders meetings

should see nations inching ever

closer to the agreements that are es-

sential if the Dubai climate summit is

to be deemed a success.

The G20 nations are responsible for

about 80 per cent of global emissions

and China remains the world’s big-

gest emitter of greenhouse gas.

Beijing’s co-operation at COP28 is

therefore critical in reaching agree-

ment on issues such as a global

emissions stocktake and a fund for

loss and damage resulting from cli-

mate change. To its credit, China is

developing renewable energy rapidly

and its emissions are lower than those

of the US on a per-capita basis.

Yet the apparent hardening of its

stance at the negotiations in Chennai

does not bode well for upcoming talks

and the urgent need to address the

increasing global temperature rise. As

it stands, China has committed to

reaching peak carbon emissions by

2030 and to be carbon-neutral by

2060. But President Xi Jinping has

said that the “method, pace and inten-

sity” to achieve this goal “should and

must be” determined by China, and

“will never be inuenced by others”.

Never is a long time; and unfortu-

nately the world does not have that

luxury. As Morgan stressed in Chen-

nai: “While res rage around the

world and temperatures break records,

the G20 as a group has unfortunately

been unable to act with the necessary

sense of urgency and clarity.”

In the 2015 Paris Agreement, 196

countries signed a legally binding

international treaty to hold “the in-

crease in global average temperature

to well below 2°C above pre-indus-

trial levels” and pursue efforts to

“limit the temperature increase to

1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Eight years later, the temperature rise

so far is at least 1.1°C, the UN Inter-

governmental Panel on Climate

Change has found. According to the

UN, to achieve the Paris target,

greenhouse gas emissions must peak

before 2025 at the latest and decline

43 per cent by 2030.

China and Saudi Arabia are both

signatories to the agreement and have

made pledges to cut emissions ac-

cordingly. And while no country likes

being dictated to, it is plain to see that

there is now a clear need for everyone

to do more. National interests must

be put to one side. The EU has shown

that it is possible to massively reduce

the use of gas in times of crisis. The

UK’s recent plan to re-invest in North

Sea oil and gas may be questionable

in terms of alignment with global

warming efforts, but it has shown that

a country can phase out the use of coal

for power generation very quickly.

To the contrary, China has approved

more than 50 GW of new coal power

in the rst six months of 2023, ac-

cording to recent research by Green-

peace. It is a direction of travel that

gives cause for concern, as these

plants will lock-in emissions for de-

cades to come.

In the face of a climate crisis that is

here already, it’s high time for heads

of state to throw out the cold, weak

tea served up as “agreements” at these

meetings, and for China to bring some

hot green tea to the table.

Time for some green tea

Junior Isles

Cartoon: jemsoar.com