MorganEnergy

The March 2009 issue of EEnergy Informer is now available. Here is the contents list:

• Renewable Stimulus Creating Jobs Overseas?
• Sweden to Reverse Nuclear Ban
• IRENA: Do We Need Yet Another Energy Agency?
• Will A LNG Flood Lead To The Collapse Of Natural Gas Prices?
• Grid Operators Envision Windy Future
• A National Renewable Portfolio Standard: What Is There Not To Like?
• PJM Puts Price Tag On Climate Change Proposals
• Renewables Now Come In GW Size
• Southern Company Unit Applies For IGCC
• A Better Shade Of Green

The article on LNG is available for free. All other articles currently require a subscription to the paper edition of the magazine. To subscribe to EEnergy Informer click here.

Prime Minister Berlusconi and President Sarkozy have signed an agreement that will see EdF and Enel collaborate on the construction of at least four new nuclear power stations in Italy. The first plant is expected to be online in 2020. This is despite a referendum in 1987 that saw Italy close all operational nuclear plants in the country. EurActive has more details.

The latest post on EU Energy Policy is by none other than Andris Piebalgs, Europe’s Commissioner for Energy. In it he makes a confident plea for a revolution in energy technology:

It is clear that we are at the beginning of what has correctly been called the “third industrial revolution” – the rapid development of an entirely new energy system. We can expect a massive shift towards a carbon-free electricity system, huge pressure to reduce energy consumption and transport on the basis of renewable electricity. To make this shift in a manner that maintains, and in fact increases the EU’s competitiveness, means that stimulating rapid technological development in these areas has to be a central part of the EU’s energy policy. Indeed, this is at the heart of the question: how can the EU turn the challenges of climate change and energy security into an opportunity?

Read the whole article here.

A while back I linked to a story about a catastrophic failure of a UK wind turbine that people were speculating might have been caused by a passing UFO. Sadly the real explanation is much more prosaic. As this Guardian report reveals, the actual explanation was metal fatigue in some of the bolts holding the turbine together. Enercon, who made the turbine, is embarrassed; Ecotricity, who own the site, are disappointed that their time in the limelight appears to be over; and the British newspapers are off looking for the next promising alien invasion story.

Consolidation of energy trading markets continues with Germany’s EEX announcing that they will take over the operation of France’s Powernext. Platts has the full details.

The rush to nuclear in Europe is gathering pace. Poland has announced that it plans to build two new nukes.

In 1980 Sweden held a referendum on the use of nuclear power, and the people voted to phase it out. Now, however, the current government is having a re-think. Just like the UK, Sweden has a fleet of aging nuclear plants that need to be replaced with something. As coal and gas are now considered as dangerous, if nor more so, than nuclear, building new nukes is back on the agenda. The Guardian has more details.

The consortium formed by Scottish & Southern (SSE) and Iberdrola, with the purpose of building new nuclear plants in the UK, has a new member. The BBC reports that Gaz de France (GdF) has joined the group. The article also mentions a rival consortium comprised of RWE and E.ON. It is getting crowded in that market.

Energy Legal Blog has an interesting post up about Commissioner Jon Wellinghoff, the new acting FERC Chairman.

The February 2009 issue of EEnergy Informer is now available. Here is the contents list:

• Is Exxon’s Carbon Tax Part Of Obama’s Sea Change?
• Nuclear Eyes On Britain
• Energy Demand, Like Everything Else, to Slip In 2009
• Mounting Unpaid Utility Bills Pose New Challenge For Smart Meters
• Future Of Coal: Rhetoric vs. Reality
• Can DOE Make A Difference?
• Sempra Finds The El Dorado In Solar PVs
• AREVA’s Setbacks In Finland Cause for Nuclear Alarm
• New Year Letter To Obamas Warns On Factories Of Death

The article on Finland is available for free. All other articles currently require a subscription to the paper edition of the magazine. To subscribe to EEnergy Informer click here.