Russia sues EU over ‘Third Energy Package’

Russia has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the EU's so-called 'Third Energy Package,' according to media reports.

“This procedure is provided for in the rules of the Organization,” a source said, adding that “Russia sent a note to the EU Mission at the WTO and notified the WTO Secretariat thereof,” Itar-Tass news agency reported.

A second news agency, Interfax, stated that a “source close to WTO” spoke of “the start [of a] court examination.” The agency said it obtained confirmation from the director of the Ministry of Economic Development’s department of trade negotiations, Maksim Medvedkov.

Signed in 2007, the Third Energy Package outlines a set of rules regulating the European gas and electricity market. The European Commission insists the Third Energy Package was aimed at increasing competition on the energy market, allowing other players to join the sector and liberalizing energy prices.

One of the core elements prohibits a single company from both owning and operating a gas pipeline and contains rules on third party access to the natural oil transportation grid.

“These and other elements of the Third Energy Package, in the opinion of Russia, contradict the obligations of the EU in WTO on basic principles of non-discrimination and market access...the Third Energy Package creates serious obstacles to ensure a stable supply of Russian gas to the EU, including a threat to the construction of new transport infrastructure, for example, in the framework of the ‘South Stream,'” Medvedkov told Interfax.

Moscow broke ground on the South Stream project after securing agreements with intergovernmental agreements with all countries which the pipeline would pass through: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia.

The Third Energy regulation mandates 50 percent of the pipeline can be operated by Russia's Gazprom, but the other 50 percent must be operated by a third party, a condition Russian energy ministers do not accept, as Gazprom is the only company that has the right to export gas via pipeline.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that the "Third Energy Package" and other documents “should not be backdated to the contracts that were signed before the decision on the Third Energy Package came into force.”

Medvedkov has stressed that Russia has unsuccessfully tried to solve “emerging problems” on a bilateral level.

Now, under WTO rules, Russia and the EU have 60 days to hold joint consultations. If no solution is found during this time, Moscow can demand the right to initiate the creation of a group of independent arbitrators to look into the case.

However, Medvedkov has not ruled out the possibility of Russia and the EU reaching an agreement during consultations.

“We do not aim to have legal proceedings with Brussels for the sake of the judicial process, we want to ensure predictable conditions for export to the EU under WTO rules,” he said.

The Third Energy Package is a set of regulations for an internal gas and electricity market in the European Union. Its purpose is to further expand the gas and electricity markets in the European Union. The package was proposed by the European Commission in September 2007 and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in July 2009. It entered into force on September 3, 2009.

In late 2013, Russia filed a lawsuit against the EU over energy adjustments.

Source: RT.com

Wind and Investment in 2013? Not so much :(

Unfortunately, 2013 wasn’t all good news. Wind energy hit the doldrums in 2012, with revenue falling precipitously to $58.5 billion from $73.8 billion in 2012, and just 35.5GW new capacity installations worldwide – a far cry from a record 44.7GW the previous year.

The wind market would have been even worse if not for China, which installed 16.1GW in 2013 (a whopping 45.4% of all global new capacity) and extended its status as the world’s leader with 91.4GW cumulative installed capacity – 30GW ahead of the US and nearly 60GW ahead of Germany. For context, the US market added just 1GW last year as Production Tax Credit uncertainty created industry headwinds. Clean Edge forecasts fuller sails in the future, with modest growth leading to $93.8 billion in market revenue by 2023.

Clean energy investment’s ledger ran into the red again last year, with total 2013 clean energy investments dropping to $254 billion, down from $286.2 billion in 2012 and a peak of $317.9 billion in 2011. Even China experienced less investment, with a 3.8% funding decline, the first year-to-year drop in more than a decade. Europe and the US fared even worse, with 41% and 8.4% plunges, respectively.

But even though overall investments continued their downward trend, Clean Edge sees a few bright spots. Clean energy funding jumped 55% in Japan to $35.4 billion, while some of the world’s biggest corporations made major investments, and the performance of clean tech companies in publicly traded markets outpaced other industries.

Read full article at http://cleantechnica.com/2014/03/27/2013-renewable-energys-best-times-worst-times/#ztxR5RuHEhzjusCK.99

Trends on clean energies for 2014

Trends for 2014

In the 2014 Clean Energy Trends Report, Clean Edge showcases five trends to watch for the coming year. For the first time, this year the authors looked at green building and electric and hybrid vehicles. Since 2000, these sectors have experienced compound annual growth rates of 68.9 percent and 38 percent respectively, according to Clean Edge.

The first trend to keep an eye on is in the utility sector.  Clean Edge believes that in 2014 we will start to see “enlightened utilities begin to embrace distributed generation assets.” As rooftop solar continues its steady march towards adoption, utilities will continue to grapple with how to maintain healthy businesses in the face of declining electricity sales. “Some forward-looking utilities, if not fully embracing a distributed energy future, are making investments, forming partnerships, and acknowledging that the threat of DG might also be a business opportunity,” the report states.  Clean Edge points to some examples of this that took place in 2013, such as Edison International’s purchase of SoCore Energy, a Chicago-based rooftop solar developer that does work in the commercial space. It also uses Duke Energy’s investment in Clean Power Finance as another example of utilities starting to think about profiting from distributed PV. 

This type of movement in the utility sector is taking place in Europe and Asia, too, said Clean Edge. German utility RWE is leading this transition by overhauling its entire business model while in Japan, a country that installed 7 GW of PV in 2013, consumers are seeking technological solutions to their energy woes in a post-Fukushima world. “The country already has some 30,000 homeowners who use fuel cells like Panasonic’s Ene-Farm to generate power on site,” said Clean Edge.

Energy storage is also mentioned as something to keep an eye on and the report said that consumer-sited battery technology is comparable to where PV was in the early 2000s with some early adopters already onboard.

This disruption in the utility sector will have a huge impact on regulators, said Clean Edge. The report quotes former FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff saying that regulators will need to change from being rate setters for monopoly markets to become rule setters for competitive markets.

Cities Spearheading Change

Interestingly, the 2014 Clean Energy Trends report explains that cities are now starting to take leadership roles in the transition to a low-carbon economy as a way to buffer themselves against the devastating effects of disasters caused, at least in part, by climate change.  New York, Seattle, Copenhagen, Sydney and others are showcased in the report as setting initiatives that seek to lower carbon emissions within their city limits. 

Many of those low-carbon initiatives center around the building sector, and Clean Edge predicts a rise in net-zero energy buildings in the coming years.  The report points to several high-profile net-zero energy buildings that have been erected over the past two years and said that these buildings are raising awareness and helping to prove the net-zero concept. 

Although skeptics may contend that examples of net zero buildings are isolated, that will change dramatically in coming years. The European Union has mandated that all new public buildings must achieve “nearly zero” energy status by the end of 2018, and that all other new buildings achieve the same status by the end of 2020.

The marriage of clean tech and the Internet is creating a growing “cleanweb” sector and this is another trend to watch according to Clean Edge.  The cleanweb is essentially the use of big data and the Internet to manage resources more efficiently or deploy renewable energy.  Everything from ridesharing to financing large-scale renewable energy projects is part of the clean web. Venture Capitalists are paying close attention to this sector as well as we pointed out in our 2014 Renewable Energy Finance Outlook.

Finally the report shows the growing interest in vertical farming. Clean Edge authors believe that as the world population grows vertical farming will become more and more mainstream.  This is the last of its five trends.

The full 24-page Clean Energy Trends 2014 report can be downloaded for free at the Clean Edge website.

Read full article here:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/03/renewable-energy-trends-illuminated-in-clean-edges-market-report?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4557407

The SmartGrids ERA-Net launches a new call for applied research projects

In order to support joint European research on smart grid issues, the SmartGrids ERA-Net launches its 3^rd call for research projects. The following countries are taking part in the call: Croatia, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey. The total funding budget is set at € 3 600 000.

Focus areas of the 3^rd SmartGrids ERA-Net call are:

• Efficient operation of active distribution networks;
• Smart retail and consumer technologies and services, including smart metering hereunder costs & benefits, customer aspects, user behaviour, and flexible demand and energy management strategies in an energy market environment;
• Information and communication technology (ICT) tools for smart grids;
• Interface between the grid and the end-users, including aspects related to security, privacy, regulation and business cases;
• Storage and balancing.

Who can apply?

Within the framework of the national limitations, the 3^rd SmartGrids ERA-Net call is open to any resident researcher/eligible institution/business within the participating countries – complying in each case with the national regulations on public funding, unless specified otherwise by the specific programme. The call has a distributed fund where each country funds its own researchers.
The projects should involve cooperation/task sharing between the project partners. The project proposals must include partners from at least three of the countries participating in the call (Croatia, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey).
The call has a two-step application process:

1. Each consortium submits a pre-proposal. These will be evaluated by experts in the funding bodies or involved programmes. Some pre-proposals will be selected for the second stage.
2. The chosen consortia are then invited to submit full proposals. Final selection is made by the national funding agencies after the full proposals have been evaluated by independent international experts.

Deadline for submitting pre-proposals is 2 September 2013, 17:00 CET.
The pre-proposals and the full proposals are to be written in English and submitted via an electronic form available on the SmartGrids ERA-Net website. Proposals will be rejected if they have not been submitted correctly in due time.


More information can be found in the published call text, and on the SmartGrids ERA-Net website www.eranet-smartgrids.eu.

Source: Nordic Energy Research

Northern Europe takes first step for a fully integrated European energy market

A strong regional integration of the energy markets in Northern Europe is the first step towards a fully integrated European market. This should urgently be speeded up by delivering the necessary investment in energy infrastructure and power generation. This was the main message from the north European energy industry on the North European Energy Dialogue Business Meeting in Brussels today.

With this starting point a strong  group of representatives from the northern European energy industry shipped a clear message to the North European Ministers before their North European Energy Dialogue in Copenhagen Wednesday 21st of November. The discussion about creating a strong regional integration of energy markets in Northern Europe is the first important step in making a fully integrated European energy market.

- The European energy industry is facing major challenges the coming years due to replacement of a vast number of aging power stations and massive investments in grids. We have to create an integrated European market, but to do so we have to facilitate the right conditions for investing in generation capacity and energy infrastructure. And we have to act now. Energy systems whether infrastructure or generation take years to build and are in operation for decades. 2020 is just around the corner and reducing the regulatory risk is crucial to secure the needed investments, says Lars Aagaard, CEO of Danish Energy Association.

He emphasizes that it is a huge challenge to integrate all the markets in Europe simultaneously, but points out that the Northern European countries in this respect have a strong foundation to build on to pave the way for the rest of Europe.

- Despite the economic crisis, investments in modernising our energy system are needed. Therefore the energy industry warmly welcomes the NEED-initiatives taken by Martin Lidegaard, Minister for Climate,  Energy and Building. But there is an urgent need to focus on common solutions and avoid inward looking national policies. We need an internal energy market without price regulation, with a true market coupling and open and equal access to all transmission grids with no capacity restriction.  Clarity about the future investment in power generation through an agreement on a long-term policy framework will be an important starting point to maintain a high security of supply and affordable energy prices. Furthermore, this will send the necessary long-term price signal to investors , says Mr. Aagaard.

Source: The Danish Energy Association

Record-high electricity generation from Vattenfall

Despite a challenging year for the energy sector Vattenfall presents a stable 2012 full year underlying operating profit for comparable units. Vattenfall will continue to streamline its operations, strengthen its financial position while maintaining its focus on sustainability.

Figures for year 2012 were:

• Net sales for 2012 decreased by 7.6% to SEK 167,313 million (181,040). For comparable units sales increased by 2%.
• The underlying operating profit decreased by 9.9% to SEK 27,747 million (30,793). The underlying operating profit for comparable units decreased by 1.6%.
• Reported operating profit rose 12.8% to SEK 26,175 million (23,209). Profit for 2011 was affected by net charges of SEK -7.6 billion. Profit for 2012 was affected by capital gains, impairment losses and other items affecting comparability amounting to SEK -1.6 billion, net.
• Profit for the year (after tax) rose 65.4% to SEK 17,224 million (10,416), of which the reduced corporate income tax rate in Sweden contributed SEK 3.5 billion.
• Electricity generation increased by 7.3% in 2012, to 178.9 TWh (166.7). 2012 was record year for Vattenfall’s electricity generation.
• The Board proposes a dividend of SEK 6,774 million, corresponding to 40% of profit for the year after tax. The dividend for 2011 was SEK 4,433 million.

Source: Vattenfall press release

Figures on Finnish District Heating - 2011

Energy year 2011 DISTRICT HEATING

23.01.2012

You also can download from here a resume of the electricity consumption in Finland (same period) for free

FINNISH ENERGY INDUSTRIES
Press release 
For publication 19.01.2012 10 am

Energy year 2011 DISTRICT HEATING:
Use of renewable energy sources in district heat production exceeded 20 per cent for the first time

Finnish Energy Industries’ figures show that district heat sales fell last year by more than ten per cent on the year before. Consumption was down due to the milder weather than in the previous year. Adjusted for temperature, district heat consumption grew by more than four per cent. District heat sales over the year totalled 30.1 billion kilowatt hours (TWh), with a monetary value of EUR 1.93 billion.

Residential properties accounted for 55 per cent of district heat sales. At the end of the year, there were almost 1.3 million residential properties with district heating, with almost 2.7 million people living in buildings with district heating.

Most public buildings are connected to district heating networks. Almost half of the heating energy requirement for all our buildings comes from district heating. In the largest cities, more than 90 per cent of the heating energy requirement of the buildings is covered by district heating. 

Volume of combined heat and power generation increased

Last year, the volume of district heat produced was 33.4 TWh. This is 13 per cent less than the year before, due to warmer weather conditions. Of the district heating, 74 per cent was produced in cogeneration with electricity, the share growing by 3 percentage points from the year before. Separate production of heat only covered 26 per cent of the production.

The volume of CHP electricity was 14.9 TWh. In combined heat and power generation, a third of the fuel quantity is saved compared to when they are produced separately. The emissions are reduced proportionally.

Carbon emissions down

Carbon dioxide emissions from district heat generation were 6.6 million tonnes, decreasing on the previous year by over 18 per cent. Most of the fall was due to lower production volumes than in the previous year, but also a result of increased use of renewable fuels. The average emission was 197 g per each kilowatt hour generated. The specific emission fell by almost six per cent.

Natural gas still most important fuel, use of wood up

Natural gas was used to generate 34 per cent of district heat and CHP electricity. Its share was down by just over one percentage point from the year before. The share of coal was 23 per cent. Its use fell by seven per cent, but the share rose by 1.5 percentage points. The share of peat increased by 1.5 per cent to 18 per cent. The use of wood, wood residue and other domestic renewable energy sources, such as biogas and secondary heat from industry, increased, and their share rose to 22 per cent. A good three per cent of district heating was produced from oil.

Mean price of district heat rose

The mean price of district heat inclusive of tax, including the energy fee and power charge, was 6.39 cents per kilowatt hour. The mean price rose by almost 17 per cent on the previous year. The price increase was particularly due to the rises in energy taxes at the start of 2011.  Fuel prices exclusive of tax also rose during the year.

Taxes make up almost 30 per cent of the price of district heat. Generally, the principal factor influencing the price level is the size of the district heating system. In large conurbations, district heating is cogenerated economically with electricity. Other factors contributing to the price level of district heating include the fuels used, age of the plant, structure of the conurbation, efficiency of investments, and the owner’s requirements with regard to returns.

Reliability of district heat supply excellent

A district heat customer is likely to have his heating supply disrupted for 1.7 hours a year on average. The reliability of district heat supply is 99.98 per cent. The outages are caused by system breakdowns and repairing them. The work of connecting new clients to the network and moving pipelines in conjunction with roadworks may also cause supply interruptions. Most of the interruptions are planned, i.e. the clients are notified in advance. 

Reliability of supply is excellent in Finland, even during spells of hardest frosts. Heating outages caused by faults in technical equipment usually affect a very limited number of customers, and they are brief. The high security of supply is the result of systematic quality control, upkeep and preventive maintenance.

The district heating production capacity is about 22,000 megawatts (MW). The maximum output requirement of clients connected to the district heating networks is about 18,100 MW.

Open Energy Year 2011 - DISTRIC HEATING ppt slides

Additional information:
Mirja Tiitinen, Adviser, Tel. 050 434 6994
Jari Kostama, Director, Tel. 050 301 1870

You also can download from here a resume of the electricity consumption in Finland (same period) for free