2024-02-27 23:04

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A record year for building new wind farms and a rebound in investments in the sector have raised hopes that the EU may achieve its clean energy targets, industry group WindEurope said on Wednesday. In an annual report, WindEurope described 2023 as a year of "significant improvements" in key areas of Europe's wind energy sector, which struggled in 2022 with soaring inflation, interest rates and volatile energy markets after Russia invaded Ukraine. Investments in European offshore wind last year jumped to 30 billion euros, up from the scant 0.4 billion euros that were invested in 2022. EU countries also installed a record-high 16.2 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity last year, around 80% of which was onshore wind farms, the group said. The lobby group said EU policies to speed up project permits has encouraged the sector, in addition to the bloc's proposals to help wind projects access financing and index prices in government renewable energy auctions. Germany and Spain each permitted 70% more onshore wind in 2023, compared with the year before. Europe's wind firms have faced a bleak period of supply chain setbacks, inflation and equipment problems - although Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas (VWS.CO) returned to profit in the fourth quarter of 2023. WindEurope said it now expects Europe to install an average of 29GW per year from 2024 to 2023, reaching a total 393GW of wind energy capacity in 2030 - pulling close to the 425GW needed to comply with the EU's 2030 renewable energy targets. "This puts us within striking distance of actually delivering the 2030 wind targets, which are extremely ambitious," the group's Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu said. The EU warned last year countries' own energy plans mean they are not on track for the bloc's overall 2030 target to get 42.5% of its energy from renewables, including other sources like solar and biomass energy. WindEurope said the biggest risk to Europe's wind energy expansion is now sluggish investments in upgrading power grids to handle the fast-growing share of renewable energy. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/record-year-wind-farms-raises-hope-eu-green-energy-goals-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 22:35

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Extra Space Storage (EXR.N) , opens new tab on Tuesday forecast 2024 core funds from operations below analysts' estimates, as demand for self storage spaces decline from the highs at the peak of the pandemic. The return-to-offices by employees from remote working setups coupled with a decline in homes sales have weakened demand for storage, forcing self storage companies to lower rent to attain new customers. The self-storage REIT now expects 2024 core FFO between $7.85 and $8.15 per share, compared with estimates of $8.34 per share. "While we expect a headwind from lower new customer rates, we are confident in the durability of self-storage," CEO Joe Margolis said. The REIT, which owns more than 3,600 storage stores in 42 different states, reported a fourth-quarter adjusted FFO of $2.02 per share, narrowly falling short of analysts' estimates of $2.03 per share, according to LSEG data Total revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 came in at $797.8 million, compared with estimates of $720.8 million. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/extra-space-storage-forecasts-2024-core-ffo-below-wall-st-estimates-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 21:59

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Trans Mountain Corp (TMC.UL), the Canadian government-owned oil pipeline company, continues to target a second-quarter in-service date for its expansion and expects the project's cost to rise 10%, according to a filing. Trans Mountain said in the filing on Monday to the Canada Energy Regulator, however, that commencement for firm service contracts with shippers is May 1. That represents a one-month delay from its prior commencement date, RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note. The expansion will nearly triple the flow of crude from Alberta to Canada's Pacific Coast to 890,000 barrels per day, but has been plagued by years of delays and cost overruns. The new commencement date is in line with Trans Mountain's most-recent estimate of starting service in the second quarter despite ongoing construction problems. Cost estimates are now 10% higher than the C$30.9-billion estimate that Trans Mountain provided in May, but the company will provide another update to factor in actual costs after it is mechanically complete, the company said. Greater pipeline capacity will enable more Canadian crude to flow to refineries on the U.S. West Coast and in Asia. Canadian oil and gas producers will slightly increase capital spending this year in part because of the pipeline expansion, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said on Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trans-mountain-pipeline-sees-second-quarter-service-date-higher-cost-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 21:51

Feb 28 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand , opens new tab, sometimes seen as global monetary policy's "canary in the coal mine," takes center stage in the Asia and Pacific region on Wednesday when it delivers its latest interest rate decision. Australia's January inflation data are also on tap - annual inflation is expected to accelerate to 3.6% from 3.4% - and markets across the region should be relatively calm at the open after a quiet global session on Tuesday. U.S. Treasury yields inched up slightly on Tuesday after the bond market absorbed a $42 billion auction of seven-year paper without much trouble. This was a day after $127 billion worth of two- and five-year bonds were sold, and the relative ease with which these sales passed is encouraging for investors. The dollar flat-lined, the yen's rise on the back of surprisingly sticky Japanese inflation was minimal, Wall Street was mixed but within narrow ranges, and global and Asian stocks edged up a bit. All in all, a quiet session on Tuesday that is unlikely to give much direction for Asia on Wednesday, which means even more attention falls on the RBNZ's rate decision. All but one of the 28 economists polled by Reuters expect the RBNZ to keep its cash rate at a 15-year high of 5.50%, with the outlier at ANZ going for a 25 basis point hike. That's clearly a non-consensus call, but perhaps not all that outlandish. The swaps market is attaching around a 23% probability of a hike on Wednesday, and a near 50-50 likelihood of an increase by May. Inflation at 4.7% remains well above the central bank's target range of 1-3%. RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr said recently that the inflation challenge was not over, and the central bank's aim was to continue to slow it to around 2%. That 2% goal pursued by many major central banks today was invented in New Zealand in the late 1980s. With inflation running high at the time, the then finance minister plucked the 2% figure out of the air and a couple of years later New Zealand became the first country to formally have an inflation-targeting goal. Fast forward to today, and the RBNZ is in the same boat as many other central banks, facing sticky inflation, a strong labor market, weak growth, high mortgage rates, and a vulnerable consumer. Unlike the U.S. Fed, however, the RBNZ no longer has a dual mandate - its sole target is inflation. Will it surprise markets with a hike? Possibly, but as Brent Donnelly at Spectra Markets notes, since 2000 the RBNZ has never raised the cash rate when it has been above the two-year swap rate. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Wednesday: - New Zealand interest rate decision - Australia inflation (January) - Hong Kong GDP (Q4, final) https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 21:25

Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. shale producer Devon Energy (DVN.N) , opens new tab reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by lower oil and gas prices and forecast a 2% impact in first-quarter production due to severe winter weather. Concerns over global demand weighed on commodity prices throughout the reported quarter, with U.S. natural gas prices declining by more than half. Devon's averaged realized price without hedges fell to $44.93 per barrel of oil equivalent during the quarter, compared with $53.66 boe a year ago, with realized natural gas prices tumbling 58%. The company reaffirmed its 2024 production forecast at about 650,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) but forecast first-quarter production to be down 2% due to curtailments arising from severe winter weather. A severe winter storm dumped snow across a broad part of the country In January, shutting a Gulf Coast refinery in Texas and halving North Dakota's oil production. Devon's fourth-quarter production rose to 662,000 boepd, compared with 636,000 boepd in the year-ago quarter, backed by strong output from its Delaware assets. U.S. crude oil production had reached record heights in 2023 as companies focused on boosting drilling efficiency and cut costs. The company said it added a fourth frac crew in the Delaware basin in January and expects its capital program to be weighted towards the first half of 2024. Its adjusted profit of $1.41 per share was in line with estimates, according to LSEG data. The Oklahoma City-based company also raised its fixed quarterly dividend by 10%. The company's net income fell to $1.15 billion, or $1.81 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, from $1.20 billion, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/devon-energy-posts-lower-quarterly-profit-2024-02-27/

2024-02-27 21:24

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Glean, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to help companies search their own knowledge base, has raised $200 million in its latest funding round, signaling strong investor interest in startups that see popular demand for their AI-powered products. The funding, co-led by existing investors Kleiner Perkins and Lightspeed Venture Partners, valued Glean at $2.2 billion, up from the $1 billion it was valued at when it last raised in May 2022. Arvind Jain, co-founder and CEO of Glean, who also co-founded data management startup Rubrik, said he plans to use the funding to double the team to 700 people this year. Founded by former Google search engineers in 2019, Glean offers enterprises search and knowledge management solutions by connecting companies' applications and databases. The company has built conversational AI assistants and used large language models, including OpenAI's text-generation tool ChatGPT, to generate personalized summaries and answers based on a company's internal knowledge graph. The Palo Alto, California-based startup said it has nearly quadrupled its annual recurring revenue in the past year, serving customers such as Sony Electronics and Databricks. "Every CIO is trying to figure out the enterprise use cases of generative AI. Glean was built with data safety and governance in mind. When they layered on large language models, the adoption has really accelerated," said Mamoon Hamid, partner at Kleiner Perkins who led the investment. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-enterprise-ai-search-startup-glean-raises-200-million-plans-hiring-spree-2024-02-27/