2025-09-03 07:58
BERLIN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Deutsche ReGas on Wednesday said it had signed long-term agreements with German chemical producer BASF (BASFn.DE) , opens new tab and Norway's energy major Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab for liquefied natural gas regasification capacity at its terminal in Mukran on the Baltic Sea. "We are proud to support the energy security of one of the leading chemical companies and to work with the leading supplier of natural gas for Germany and Europe," Deutsche ReGas CEO Ingo Wagner said in a statement. Sign up here. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. An Equinor spokesperson confirmed that the company has booked capacity at the Mukran terminal, for shipments from its Hammerfest LNG plant in northern Norway and volumes sourced from third parties. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/deutsche-regas-secures-lng-regasification-deals-with-basf-equinor-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 07:45
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Germany's chemical industry association on Wednesday said its capacity utilization hit its lowest level in more than 30 years in the second quarter as sales and prices declined on uncertainties around U.S. tariffs. In the April-June period, Germany's chemical industry was running at only 72% of its full production capacity, the lowest level since 1991, and well below the level required to break even, VCI said. Sign up here. The VCI association said pull-forward effects in business with the United States waned throughout the April-June period, as exports had been brought forward in anticipation of tariffs on goods from Europe. European chemical manufacturers are grappling with renewed challenges as U.S. tariffs disrupt global trade, leading customers to postpone purchases and weakening demand in a sector still recovering from the 2022 energy crisis. Overall production in Germany's chemicals sector including pharmaceuticals fell 3.8% quarter-on-quarter, contrasting with the January-March quarterly increase of 6.7%. "Weak demand, declining sales, and production far below pre-crisis levels - this is the current reality in our industry and also in large parts of German industry," VCI managing director Wolfgang Grosse Entrup said in a statement. The sector, the third-largest industry in Europe's economic powerhouse Germany, can be seen as a bellwether for the broader economy as it produces materials used in sectors ranging from automotive and construction to agriculture and textiles. Pharmaceutical output fell by 5.6% compared with the previous quarter. On an annual comparison, overall quarterly production was down 3.1%, or 5.1% when pharmaceuticals were excluded, and revenue fell by 2.7% compared with the same period last year. The industry maintained its 2025 guidance for production volumes including pharmaceuticals to fall by 2% and industrial sales by 1%. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/german-chemical-sector-running-lowest-capacity-more-than-30-years-vci-says-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 07:45
NEW DELHI, Sept 3 (Reuters) - India will test the installation of battery storage systems at some coal power plants, as the country grapples with integrating massive solar capacity while maintaining reliable electricity supply, an advisor to the country's power ministry said. The concept addresses a critical challenge facing India's power grid, where thermal plants must ramp down during peak solar hours but maintain capacity for evening demand when solar generation drops. Sign up here. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has been working on guidelines for coal-based power plants and technical minimum load requirements as the country rapidly expands renewable energy capacity. India is aiming to expand its non-fossil fuel capacity to 500 GW by 2030, but coal remains central to its energy security. The government plans to increase coal-based capacity by 97 GW by 2035, taking the total to around 307 GW to ensure round-the-clock power. "At times there are only two choices. Either you shut down the coal plant (during excess solar generation) or lose the thermal capacity in the evening, which we don't want," CEA chairman Ghanshyam Prasad told Reuters on the sidelines of PowerGen India 2025 event in New Delhi. "We are just trying this as an experiment," he said, adding that the country's top coal power generator NTPC (NTPC.NS) , opens new tab had been tasked with testing this at some plants and given funding support. The batteries would allow the coal plants to capture excess energy and dispatch it to the grid at a later point when needed, allowing the plants to operate at a stable rate, saving costs and extending their lives, CEA's Prasad said. Recently, NTPC floated a tender for setting up of 1.7 GW of battery storage across 11 coal plants. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-test-battery-storage-coal-plants-balance-grid-solar-power-surges-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 07:12
MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Russia will help China overtake the United States as the world's biggest producer of nuclear power, the chief of Russia's Rosatom state nuclear corporation said in comments broadcast on state TV on Wednesday after talks in Beijing. The United States operates the world's largest network of nuclear reactors, with nearly 97 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity. Sign up here. China is racing to build dozens of reactors though and had 53.2 GW of operating nuclear power reactor capacity as of April 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. "China has ambitious plans for the development of atomic energy. The task has been set to catch up and surpass the United States in installed capacity, which means reaching a capacity of more than 100 gigawatts," Alexei Likhachev, the Rosatom chief, told Russian state television. Asked by state television if Russia would help China in that target, Likhachev said: "Of course. We will help. We are already helping." Russia has already helped build four nuclear reactors in China and is building four more and China needs a large amount of uranium and nuclear fuel for its ambitious plans, Likhachev said. As a result China will need to develop a new generation of closed nuclear fuel cycle reactors based on Russian technology, he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-says-it-will-help-china-overtake-united-states-nuclear-power-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 07:00
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab will not resume construction of a biofuels facility at its Shell Energy and Chemicals Park in Rotterdam after an in-depth evaluation found it would not be competitive, the company said on Wednesday. The project's construction was paused in July 2024 due to weak market conditions. Shell in September 2021 had approved the development of the plant to produce 820,000 metric tons per year and had planned to bring it online in 2025. Sign up here. "As we evaluated market dynamics and the cost of completion, it became clear that the project would be insufficiently competitive to meet our customers' need for affordable, low carbon products," said Machteld de Haan, Shell's Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions President. "This was a difficult decision, but the right one, as we prioritise our capital towards those projects that deliver both the needs of our customers and value for our shareholders," Haan said. Along with other major oil companies, Shell has been shifting away from renewable projects and back to its traditional expertise of fossil fuel production. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/shell-scraps-plans-biofuels-facility-rotterdam-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 06:55
Focus shifts to U.S. jobs data, due on Friday Gold hit record high of $3,546.99/oz earlier in the session SPDR Gold Trust holdings rise 1.32% on Tuesday Sept 3 (Reuters) - Gold prices extended their record run on Wednesday, as persistent market uncertainty and growing investor confidence that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month lifted demand for the safe-haven metal. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $3,536.58 per ounce, as of 0645 GMT, after hitting an all-time of $3,546.99 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 0.3% to $3,602.40. Sign up here. Adding to market uncertainty and potential trade tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said it will ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on tariffs that a U.S. appeals court found illegal last week. "The Supreme Court decision has seemingly introduced a lot of uncertainty into the market because they could radically change what the macro landscape looks like if these decisions don't go the president's way," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. "The attempt at compromising Fed independence to some extent, that's a very big deal as well. The bias for gold is very clearly higher, momentum here seems rather one-sided." Trump has been exerting relentless pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates and publicly discussed firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Upping this battle, Trump last month attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, setting off a critical legal test over the Fed's ability to function without political interference. U.S. rate futures are pricing in a 92% chance of a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut at the end of the two-day policy meeting on September 17, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment. SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 1.32% to 990.56 tons on Tuesday, the highest since August 2022. Investors are now looking forward to the U.S. non-farm payrolls data, due on Friday, to determine the size of the Fed's potential rate cut later this month. Elsewhere, spot silver eased 0.1% to $40.84 per ounce, after hitting its highest point since September 2011 in the previous session. Platinum fell 0.6% to $1,395.03 and palladium slipped 0.4% to $1,129.58. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-prices-extend-record-run-strong-safe-haven-inflows-2025-09-03/
