2024-07-04 22:08

BRUSSELS, July 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of gigawatts of wind energy projects are waiting for permits to connect to Europe's power grid, a backlog that threatens to slow the shift to green energy, industry association WindEurope said on Friday. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Gaining access to the power grid is now the biggest hurdle to Europe's expansion of renewable energy, WindEurope said. With Europe's power networks upgraded too slowly to absorb more capacity, and sluggish grid-permitting procedures in many countries, some projects face waiting times of up to nine years to receive a permit. "The system is clogged up - and holding back hundreds of gigawatts of wind farms," WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said. BY THE NUMBERS European wind energy projects with a total of more than 500 gigawatts of potential capacity are waiting for an answer to their requests for grid connections, across countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Spain, the data published on Friday showed. Italy and the UK each have more than 100 GW of potential projects awaiting grid connection assessments. The EU has a target to derive 42.5% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. That implies expanding wind power capacity to 425 GW by 2030, up from 220 GW today. WHAT'S NEXT The queue of wind projects is at various stages and not all are likely to be built. For example, some are competing against one another for subsidies, WindEurope said. Part of the problem is that projects are assessed on a "first come, first served" basis when they apply, meaning the most mature projects - those most likely to go ahead - cannot jump the queue. Europe's energy industry has urged governments to spur investments in expanding grids to prepare for a bigger influx of renewable power, and filter applications so that projects that are ready to launch receive permits fast. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/years-long-wait-permits-blocking-european-wind-farms-industry-says-2024-07-04/

2024-07-04 21:26

UK mid-cap stocks jump after Labour's election victory Labour win seen as stability boost, gilts and pound strengthen Homebuilders among top gainers LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - British domestic-focussed mid-cap stocks were the biggest gainers on Friday after the centre-left Labour Party surged to a comprehensive win in a parliamentary election with blue chip stocks, government bond prices and the pound higher. Hopes that the incoming government will provide a period of economic stability after an often tumultuous 14 years of Conservative Party rule sent the FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) New Tab, opens new tab up as much as 1.8% in early trading to its highest since April 2022. The blue chip FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) New Tab, opens new tab was last up 0.2% and the yield on 10-year British government bonds or gilts, dropped 3 basis points to 4.17%, marginally better than other European markets. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Labour won a massive majority in the 650-seat parliament while Rishi Sunak's Conservatives suffered the worst defeat in the party's long history as voters punished them for a cost of living crisis, failing public services, and a series of scandals. "A landslide victory provides the sort of clarity and stability that equity markets need in an increasingly volatile world," said Ben Ritchie, head of developed market equities at abrdn. "If the new government gets this right, businesses with significant exposure to the UK economy should be the likely winners - a shot in the arm in particular for companies in the FTSE 250 and FTSE Small Cap". British home builders stood out, with an index tracking their shares up 2.3%. (.FTNMX402020) New Tab, opens new tab "We think the formation of a Labour-majority government will have a positive impact on housebuilders and construction materials," said Aruna Karunathilake, portfolio manager at Fidelity. "We expect Labour to reinstate housebuilding targets and perhaps also fund investment in local planning departments... That should alleviate builders’ concerns about planning bottlenecks impeding growth in the medium term." Analysts at Goldman Sachs said that while Labour's manifesto policies imply relatively limited changes to fiscal policy they would modestly boost demand in the near term. As a result, they raised their forecasts for British GDP growth by 0.1 percentage points in each of 2025 and 2026. GILTS IN FOCUS British government bonds, or gilts, will be in focus as the memory of the market chaos triggered by former prime minister Liz Truss' "mini budget" of September 2022 is still relatively fresh in investors' minds. Truss lost her parliamentary seat in Thursday's election. Britain's stretched finances will give any new government little leeway to increase spending, and so preserving investor trust while tackling numerous economic challenges will be paramount, though stability will help. "I do think this (election result) is in itself a positive for the gilt market," said James Lynch, fixed income manager at Aegon Asset Management. "I think you're taking away one of the sources of volatility which we have had for the gilt market over the last few years, which is political instability. And that now really has gone away for the next few years," he said. Relative economic stability in recent years has already been having an effect. The premium that investors demand for the extra risk of holding gilts rather than top-rated German 10-year bonds has remained stable this year at around 160 basis points - far below the 230 basis points seen during a mini-budget crisis in 2022. That premium was down 2 basis points at 159 basis points on Friday. The focus for bond investors will turn to the Bank of England, which is widely expected to lower interest rates either in August or September. Sterling was up nearly 0.13% against the dollar at $1.2775 and steady against the euro, which was at around 84.72 pence . The British currency has been edging up since Sunak called the election in late May, earlier than anticipated. It is the strongest-performing major currency this year, up 0.3% against the dollar. On a trade-weighted basis , the pound is now back where it was in 2016, at the time of the Brexit vote, reflecting a belief among traders and investors that a period of intense market volatility, driven by political and economic tumult under the Conservatives, may be drawing to a close. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/pound-steady-after-labour-set-win-big-uk-election-2024-07-04/

2024-07-04 20:45

July 4 (Reuters) - Suncor Energy (SU.TO) New Tab, opens new tab has shut down its 215,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Firebag oil sands site in northern Alberta as a precaution due to a wildfire about eight kilometres (5 miles) away, an Alberta government minister said on social media on Thursday. Suncor, Canada's second-largest oil producer, said it was keeping only essential workers at the facility, which lies roughly 100 kilometres northeast of the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray. The company declined to comment on whether Firebag production had been affected. "An emergency-response team is monitoring the situation closely and prepared to take further action if necessary," a Suncor spokesperson said in a statement. "There is no risk to our other operations or the Firebag airport at this time." Alberta's Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen said Firebag had been shut down on Wednesday night out of caution. There are more than 60 fires across Alberta and officials have rated the danger in the province's north as very high to extreme, he added. Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and more than two-thirds of its 5 million bpd of crude comes from Alberta's oil sands. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) New Tab, opens new tab, whose Kearl oil sands mine is about 20 kilometres north of Firebag, and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) New Tab, opens new tab, whose Sunrise facility is to the south, said their operations had been not affected at present. "We are closely monitoring the evolving wildfire activity across northern Alberta, including near our Sunrise facility," Cenovus said in a statement. The blaze threatening Suncor's site is part of the out-of-control Firebag Complex of wildfires, which is comprised of several new lightning-caused fires, according to Alberta's provincial wildfire agency. Weather forecasts show an extended period of hot weather will settle over Western Canada in the coming days, with temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) by next week. So far the wildfire season in Canada has been much quieter than last year, when more than 6,600 fires scorched a record-breaking 15 million hectares, an area roughly seven times the annual average. But large swathes of western Canada are still abnormally dry due to ongoing drought and wildfire season tends to peak in July and August. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/suncors-firebag-oil-sands-project-shut-due-wildfire-risk-alberta-minister-says-2024-07-04/

2024-07-04 20:41

BRASILIA, July 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA has sued Syngenta alleging the chemicals company caused "environmental damage" by producing and selling pesticides using much higher concentrations of a carcinogen than allowed under law, according to court documents seen by Reuters. In the suit filed last week, IBAMA said it was seeking damages to remedy the environmental and human health problems arising from the use of such a toxic product. IBAMA told a federal judge in Sao Paulo it had found evidence of use of a substance called "bronopol" at levels almost three times above the quantity authorized in the manufacturing of insecticide "Engeo Pleno." That substance was also illegally added to insecticides "Karate Zeon 250 CS" and "Karate Zeon 50 CS" but is not a part of their formula, according to IBAMA's allegations. Syngenta said it presented before the court "proof of the non-existence of any type of risk or environmental damage" resulting from the allegations made. The Switzerland-headquartered firm said health agency ANVISA, the agriculture ministry and IBAMA itself recently approved a new version of "Engeo Pleno" which would be "based on the levels of bronopol found in the formulations mentioned in the suit." The company did not comment on the other two products, but said it took multiple measures "to eliminate any possibility of failure of the nature detected by IBAMA during an inspection in 2021." Syngenta would have produced 4.7 million liters of these three insecticides, of which at least 4.4 million were marketed, according to evidence produced by the agency and presented to the court. IBAMA estimates that the sale of the allegedly adulterated products generated more than 400 million reais ($73 million) for the company. The agency has also asked the judge to force the company, controlled by ChemChina since 2017, to identify, collect and properly dispose of products sold that have not yet been withdrawn from the market. The courts have not made any decisions yet. The value of the compensation will be determined during the course of proceedings, according to court documents. To guarantee payment of damages in case IBAMA wins the case, the agency has asked the court to require the company to set aside 90 million reais. ($1 = 5.4849 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-sues-syngenta-alleged-environmental-damage-2024-07-04/

2024-07-04 17:04

ABUJA, July 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria has been chosen to host the newly formed Africa Energy Bank (AEB), its oil minister said on Thursday, as Africa’s top oil producer beat three rival countries for rights to the multilateral lender. The decision, reached at an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), places Nigeria at the forefront of Africa's energy future, Minister of State Petroleum Resources Heineken Lokpobiri, said in a statement. Nigeria's bid to host the AEB was strengthened in late May after it ratified the bank's charter and President Bola Tinubu approved a $100 million investment to the bank, greater than the required $83.33 million for member states. The fossil fuel-focused bank, a partnership between Afrexim Bank and APPO, aims to fund energy projects on the continent and support its energy transition goals. "This decision reflects our collective ambition to create African solutions to African energy challenges," Lokpobiri said. "The African Energy Bank will be instrumental in providing the necessary financial backbone for energy projects that will drive growth and development across the continent," he added. The AEB initially has $5 billion to spend when it takes off later this year. Analysts said that Nigeria, as a founding member of APPO and Africa's top energy producers, has shown strong interest in the bank as the country makes a new push for investment into its lagging oil and gas industry. "Hosting the bank would be a vote of confidence in Nigeria at a time its energy industry badly needs a boost," Clementine Wallop, director for sub-Saharan Africa at political risk consultancy Horizon Engage, said before the announcement was made. The three other countries that vied to host the AEB are Algeria, Benin and Ghana, after Ivory Coast and South Africa didn't meet the necessary requirements. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-beats-rivals-bid-host-new-africa-energy-bank-2024-07-04/

2024-07-04 16:14

PARIS, July 4 (Reuters) - Germany reported a rare outbreak of highly pathogenic H7N5 bird flu on a farm in the western part of the country, near the border with the Netherlands, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Thursday. The outbreak killed 6,000 out of a flock of 90,879 birds in the town of Bad Bentheim in Lower Saxony, Paris-based WOAH said, citing a report from German authorities. It was detected on June 29 and confirmed on July 2. The H7N5 strain is different from the H5N1 one that decimated bird flocks and spread to mammal populations and some humans around the world. It is the first outbreak anywhere of H7N5 on WOAH's public records New Tab, opens new tab on global animal disease outbreaks, which goes back to 2005. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/germany-reports-outbreak-h7n5-bird-flu-near-dutch-border-2024-07-04/