Europe/Middle East/Africa

Major Wins For Solar As EU Increases Renewable Energy Target

Europe/Middle East/Africa, Head Lines, Policy, Solar

The European Parliament, European Council and European Commission have agreed to a binding 32% EU renewable energy target for 2030, up from the original proposal of 27%. James Watson, CEO SolarPower Europe commented ‘The deal is a good one for solar. We see a much more ambitious target than was expected just a few months ago and importantly we have a strong framework for self-consumption and prosumers. Households wake up this morning with the knowledge that they will have a new right – the right to self-generate, consume and store the energy they produce. This is a major achievement.

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Masdar City To Test Latest Concepts In Autonomous Electric Vehicles

Europe/Middle East/Africa, Region, Technology

ICONIQ Motors, a China-based EV company, has reached agreement to test its autonomous driving concept at Masdar City. The ICONIQ SEVEN, one of the world’s latest EV models is a futuristic vehicle, built on an intelligent, connected vehicle platform integrated with Microsoft’s AZURE cloud technology; and is set to hit the market in 2019. “Masdar City has put smart and sustainable mobility at the centre of its strategy, as highlighted by the historic success of its flagship driverless Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system,” said Yousef Baselaib, Executive Director of Sustainable Real Estate at Madsar. “It is the ideal location to test innovative autonomous driving concepts.”

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European Parliament Gives A Resounding Vote In Favour Of Clean Energy In Europe

Biomass, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Policy

European lawmakers have called for a renewable energy target of 35% for 2030 – rather than the 27% which the European Commission proposed in 2016. The MEPs have now backed measures substantially raising the European Union’s clean-energy ambitions. By 2030, more than one-third of energy consumed in the EU should be from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. The measures are intended to help cut carbon dioxide emissions. The EU is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States, releasing about 10% of global emissions.

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Hype Or The Future? Sectoral Coupling With Electricity-Based Fuels

Biomass, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Policy

Electricity-based fuels are at an early stage and deploying electricity from renewable energies to produce fuels such as hydrogen, synthetic liquid fuels or methane is crucial to avoid greenhouse gas emissions. There are significant reasons to boost this new and potentially massive sector. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is making around 130 million Euro available for creating incentives to utilise synergies for linking energy, transport and maritime industries.

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Nordex Benefiting Increasingly From Renaissance Of Spanish Wind Energy Market

Carbon, Deals & Finance, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Wind

The Nordex Group is benefiting increasingly from the renaissance of the Spanish wind power market: utility Gas Natural Fenosa Renovables (GNFR) has now ordered 58 AW132/3300 from the company in December. The contract covers the installation of six wind farms as well as multi-year services for the turbines. Construction of the first turbines will commence in the summer of 2018 and all the projects are located in regions of Spain where the Nordex Group has manufacturing facilities. In addition, the towers will be produced locally using the process developed by the company.

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Volkswagen Strongly Commits To E-Mobility And Digitalisation, Investing €34 Bn

Europe/Middle East/Africa, Head Lines, Technology

The Volkswagen Group has made a major announcement regarding its strategic goals until 2025. By the end of 2022: more than €34 billion is planned for the development of e-mobility, autonomous driving, new mobility services and digitalisation. Financial markets reacted positively to the Group’s strategic focus and Volkswagen’s share price were back at the pre-crisis levels. CEO Matthias Müller stated “We are reinventing the car. To achieve that, we are making targeted investments to provide the necessary funds from our own resources.” The Group has said it would electrify its entire model portfolio by 2030.

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Veolia Awarded €95m Contract To Operate, Improve Reims Waste To Energy Plant

Energy, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Policy

Veolia’s recycling and waste recovery business in France has been awarded a nine-year contract worth €95 million to operate and improve the Reims waste to energy plant. Treating the 60,000 metric tons of final waste generated each year by the Greater Reims population of 300,0000, this public service delegation contract maintains the target of continuously improving the site’s energy performance. This will be increased to 65% after works have been completed. This project to improve the plant also aims to greatly benefit the region.

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Beyond Petroleum. BP Returns To Solar; Following Shell, Total Into Clean Energy

Deals & Finance, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Head Lines, Solar

BP and Lightsource have announced a strategic partnership combining BP’s global scale with Lightsource’s solar expertise. BP will acquire 43% equity share in Lightsource for $200 million, with the majority of the investment funding Lightsource’s worldwide growth pipeline. The company will be renamed Lightsource BP. BP is not alone in moving away from oil and gas and towards clean energy. Anglo-Dutch Shell is purchasing electric car infrastructure companies, France’s Total is acquiring battery storage firms and Norway’s Statoil is pioneering floating wind farms.

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Global Trade In Biofuels Featured At International Renewable Mobility Conference

Biomass, Carbon, Energy, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Policy

A significant proportion of global energy use, is in transportation. Action is crucially needed to bring about an energy turnaround in this sector and it’s a topic that has moved higher up the political agenda again since Dieselgate, and with growing calls for a rapid introduction of electromobility. In Germany, the Working Group on Energy Balances (AG Energiebilanzen) has calculated the final energy consumption of 728 TWh by the transport sector in 2016. Data from the German Environment Agency (UBA) reveals that over 90 percent of fuel deployed is derived from mineral oil. World-leading experts meeting in a parallel forum at the 15th International Conference on Renewable Mobility will analyse biofuel trading worldwide, examining various perspectives on requirements, the current state of play and forecasts.

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Renewable Future Challenges UK And Germany To Build Flexibility In Power Systems

Efficiency, Energy, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Head Lines, Policy

A new economic study highlights that future energy systems in the UK and Germany, with very high levels of variable renewable generation, must be complemented by flexible resources, including energy storage. The study was released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). “This study highlights a seismic shift in how power systems will operate in the future. As wind and solar become the cheapest options for power generation, the race is on to develop and deploy the flexible resources that will complement them,” said Albert Cheung, head of global analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

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