2024-09-18 12:00

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Sept 18 (Reuters) - China's thermal power generation returned to growth in August for the first time in four months, but it still lagged the increase in overall electricity output as renewables continued to surge. Electricity from thermal sources rose 3.7% in August from a year earlier to 614.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), according to official data released on Sept. 14. Thermal power in China is overwhelmingly coal-fired, with only a small amount coming from natural gas. The gain in thermal generation was less than the 5.8% rise in total electricity output to 907.4 billion kWh, reflecting the strong increase in clean energy production. Hydropower rose 10.7% in August from the same month in 2023 to reach 163.5 billion kWh, although it is worth noting the pace of growth decelerated from July's 36.2% surge. The contribution of renewables also continued to rise strongly, with solar output surging 21.7% from a year earlier, while wind gained 6.6%. Nuclear generation rose 4.9% in August. The August power generation data confirms two trends that are shaping China's energy landscape. The first is that renewables are taking an ever bigger share of total electricity output, and this is likely to continue. The second is that while coal's share in generation is sliding, it remains the bedrock of China's energy system and is likely to remain that way for at least another decade. The rapid rollout of renewables all but guarantees that much of the increase in demand for electricity in coming years will be met by wind and solar. In the first seven months of this year installed solar capacity reached 124 gigawatts (GW), an increase of 28% from the same period in 2023. Installed wind capacity rose 38 GW over the same period, a gain of 6% from the first seven months of 2024. In contrast, in the first seven months of 2024, new thermal power capacity of 24 GW was commissioned, while hydropower saw only a marginal increase and nuclear remained steady. COAL HOLDS ON While the deployment of renewables is resulting in them claiming a larger share of generation, the amount of electricity from coal is still rising, and will likely continue to do so. China is still building new coal-fired plants at a rapid pace, with data from the Global Energy Monitor showing 173.5 GW currently under construction, which is about 76% of the global total. While older coal-fired plants will be retired, China is on track to increase its total generation from coal from the current 1,147 GW in coming years. This means that the world's biggest coal producer and importer is likely to mine and buy even more coal. China's coal output rose 2.8% in August from a year earlier to 396.55 million metric tons as production ramped up to meet the increased electricity demand, which in turn was stoked by hotter-than-usual summer temperatures. Coal demand for industrial processes such as cement and coal-to-chemicals is also increasing. This has led to rising prices for thermal coal in China's domestic market. The price at the northern port of Qinhuangdao , as assessed by consultants SteelHome, ended at 855 yuan ($120.60) a ton last week, up from a recent low of 825 yuan in late August. Firmer domestic prices have kept seaborne imports competitive, with data from commodity analysts Kpler showing arrivals of 30.42 million tons of thermal coal in August, a three-month high and up from July's 28.55 million. September imports of seaborne thermal coal are also on track for a robust outcome, with Kpler estimating 27.77 million tons, a figure that is likely to be revised higher as more cargoes are assessed by the end of the month. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-coal-use-output-are-rising-even-renewables-surge-russell-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 11:56

BRUSSELS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - European Union sanctions could target financial institutions that underpin battlefield product flows to Russia as well as the supply of products made in southeast Asia by Western subsidiaries, the EU's sanctions envoy said on Wednesday. The bloc has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022. EU envoy David O'Sullivan said sanctions were no "magic bullet" but the aim was to make it harder, slower and more expensive for Russia to fuel its war machine. He added that he was under no illusion about circumvention and that listing companies that sell dual-use goods to Moscow was often a "whack-a-mole" effort. The EU has made strides to cut down on circumvention via central Asian states, he said, and reductions in those flows were evident after diplomatic efforts with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and others. However, he faces a more difficult challenge in stemming similar flows in southeast Asia where countries are producers, not merely transit stations. "A lot of the product going through China is made by subsidiaries of western companies in southeast Asia," O'Sullivan said, speaking at a Brussels think tank event following visits to Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia to tackle these issues. "It is a question of identifying the financial institutions which are potentially funding the trans-shipment of battlefield products (to Russia)," he said. "Where these are identified, these institutions will be contacted saying...if they do not desist they are at risk of being listed. The U.S. has done this to great effect with three instances earlier in the year. We are starting to collect the information and compare notes." A growing challenge within the EU was to harmonise the implementation of the bloc's 14 packages of sanctions across 27 member states. Despite the limitations, he said the measures by the EU and western powers had pushed Russia into a war economy that would take a high toll on the country's economic future and which would become increasingly evident in the next year or two. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/financial-institutions-that-help-russia-are-new-focus-eu-sanctions-envoy-says-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 11:41

LAGOS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Nigeria's hydrological services agency has warned of potential flooding in 11 states after neighbouring Cameroon said it was starting to release water from one of its largest dams following recent heavy rainfall in West and Central Africa. The warning comes as Nigeria is already grappling with severe floods in northeastern Borno state where a dam burst its walls after heavy rains that have also caused floods in Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Niger - all part of Africa's Sahel region that usually receives little rain. The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) said it had been notified by authorities in Cameroon on Tuesday that they had started controlled water releases from Lagdo dam. Cameroon has several dams on the Benue River, which flows downstream to Nigeria. A spokesperson for Cameroon's utility ENEO, which manages the dam, told Reuters there was a possibility that the dam could be flooded, but the reservoirs had not been opened on Wednesday morning. The NIHSA said Lagdo dam managers would gradually release water in a way not to exceed the capacity of the Benue river downstream to prevent flooding. But 11 states, including Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi in the food producing central belt region and southern oil producing states of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers were at risk, said NIHSA. It urged federal and state authorities in Nigeria "to step up vigilance and deploy adequate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flooding that may occur as a result of increase in flow levels of our major rivers at this period". In 2022, Nigeria lost more than 600 people and farmlands to the worst flooding in a decade following heavy rain and after Cameroon released water from Lagdo dam. Experts said then that Nigeria's failure to complete a dam of its own that was supposed to backstop the Cameroonian one worsened the disaster. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, is prone to flooding but critics say defective infrastructure and poor planning worsen the situation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-flags-flood-risk-11-states-cameroon-releases-dam-water-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 11:40

DUESSELDORF/BERLIN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Russia's Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab is unlikely to succeed with its complaint against Shell's (SHEL.L) , opens new tab planned sale of a stake in Germany's PCK Schwedt refinery, a German court said on Wednesday, citing a preliminary assessment. Rosneft holds a 54.17% stake in the refinery, but was stripped of control by the German government in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent severing of energy ties between Germany and Russia. Shell has announced plans to sell its 37.5% stake in Schwedt to Britain's Prax Group but Rosneft has filed a complaint with the Higher Regional Court of Duesseldorf. Rosneft argues that under an agreement among Schwedt's ownership consortium existing shareholders have a right of first refusal. "We see little chance of success for the complaint," Anne Frister of the Duesseldorf court said. Rosneft and Shell were not immediately available for comment. Germany ended its longstanding and deep energy relationship with Russia in 2022, leaving it to find alternative supply and address assets held by Russian oil and gas firms in the country. This includes Rosneft's stake in the Schwedt refinery, which covers most of Berlin's fuel demand. The German government recently extended its trusteeship over Rosneft's stake in the hope a sale might materialise. Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab holds a 8.33% stake in the refinery. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rosneft-challenge-shells-schwedt-stake-sale-unlikely-succeed-says-german-court-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 11:35

JAKARTA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on critical minerals with Indonesia, home to some of the world's largest mineral resources, the UK's embassy in Jakarta said. The agreement will support policy dialogue, sharing of technical knowledge and expertise and cover areas like supply chain resilience, sustainable upstream and downstream processing, and mineral criticality, it said in a statement, which did not prove specific details. The partnership "puts both countries as key players in the critical minerals supply chain," Britain's development minister Anneliese Dodds said in the statement after signing the deal with Indonesia's energy minister. Indonesia has rich deposits of tin, copper and bauxite, among others, and is the world's largest source of nickel ore. It is seeking to extract more value from the mineral by attracting investment into its processing and in the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries. The announcement comes two months after the United States said it had approached Indonesia about joining a multinational critical mineral partnership aimed at accelerating development of sustainable critical minerals supply chains. Indonesia has massively expanded its nickel processing sector since it banned exports of unprocessed ore in 2020, but environmentalists have blamed the industry for deforestation, and water and air pollution caused by smelters. Earlier on Wednesday, Dodds told Reuters that Britain's agreement with Indonesia was intended to create local jobs and protect the environment, including from damage created by mining, calling the partnership "incredibly important". Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indonesia-britain-sign-collaboration-agreement-critical-minerals-2024-09-18/

2024-09-18 11:34

ROME, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday the European Union's 2035 target to end the sale of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emitting cars shows a "self-destructive" position on industrial and environmental issues. "The ban on endothermic engine (cars) from 2035 is one of the most obvious examples of a self-destructive approach," Meloni told an event in Rome. "Accompanying the industrial sector in the challenge of ecological transition cannot mean dismantling entire sectors," she said. In March 2023, EU countries approved a landmark law that will require all new cars to have zero CO2 emissions from 2035, effectively banning diesel and petrol vehicles, and 55% lower CO2 emissions from 2030, compared to 2021 levels. The EU measure was meant to speed up the electrification of the auto industry, but several automakers have recently started to scale down their electric vehicle (EV) roll-out plans due to poor demand. Meloni and her allies have always opposed the ban on internal combustion engines, but at the time of the EU decision, her government abstained on it along with Bulgaria and Romania, while Poland was the only country to vote against. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-ban-co2-emiting-cars-2035-is-self-destructive-italy-pm-says-2024-09-18/