2024-06-26 12:00

LITTLETON, Colorado, June 26 (Reuters) - California has been the dominant force behind the build-out of utility-scale battery storage systems in the United States, adding just over half of the country's total battery capacity since 2019, data from energy data portal Cleanview shows. California's 8.6 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage capacity accounts for roughly half of all utility-scale battery capacity within the U.S. and is twice as much as the capacity in place in Texas, the second-largest deployer of battery storage. Total battery storage capacity in the U.S. is currently estimated at around 17.5 GW, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Cleanview. But that total could jump beyond 30 GW by the end of the year "if developers bring all of the energy storage systems they have planned on line by their intended commercial operation dates," according to the EIA. GROWING SHARE Such a rapid rise in battery storage capacity will allow power system managers to store increasing volumes of excess power generated by solar and wind farms, and then discharge that surplus power to consumers once renewable generation declines. Power producers in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state's power system, already use battery storage to supply as much as 20% of the system's electricity during peak consumption periods, data from gridstatus.io shows. For some periods during the CAISO system demand peak in early evening, batteries can be the largest single source of electricity, surpassing the volumes generated by hydro dams, nuclear reactors and natural gas plants. Such a high utilisation of batteries to manage system generation flows has important consequences both locally and nationally. Within CAISO, growing battery capacity has allowed system managers to store increasing volumes of surplus power generated by California's solar farms during the middle of the day, when system demand is usually at its lowest. By diverting some of that surplus power into batteries rather than onto the grid, CAISO managers can alleviate the so-called Duck Curve effect on prices which tend to swoop sharply lower when solar output peaks and then rise in the evening. As CAISO's solar capacity has outpaced the growth in battery capacity, CAISO power prices still undergo regular periods of weakness during sunny periods. But as more battery capacity is added to the system, battery storage should be able to limit the pressure on prices and help the CAISO managers improve system balances through the day. NATIONAL GUIDE CAISO's growing battery capacity and resulting expertise in storage utilisation will also help power system managers elsewhere in the United States. Solar capacity has outpaced the supply growth of all other power forms in most major U.S. power systems in recent years, and many system managers are grappling with the issue of generating too much solar capacity during sunny periods, and not enough clean power during other times of the day. Batteries can help solve that mismatch by storing growing quantities of surplus power for later use, by effectively shifting some of that surplus output from low-demand periods to times when consumer demand is highest. Batteries can also ensure that overall system generation mixes can continue to get cleaner by allowing producers to phase out outdated fossil-fuel plants and continue to expand the footprint of renewable and other clean energy assets. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/california-drives-us-battery-storage-growth-power-systems-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 11:54

BRUSSELS, June 26 (Reuters) - European Union countries agreed a sanctions package against Belarus on Wednesday, EU diplomats and Belgium said, to try to close off a route to avoiding restrictions on Russia. The EU adopted this week its 14th package of sanctions to punish Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which included clauses that increased responsibility on EU companies exporting via non-EU countries. "This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions," Belgium, which holds the EU presidency until the end of June, said on X. “With this package, we just closed the biggest loophole of our sanctions regime," the EU presidency said in a separate statement. Efforts to close loopholes have intensified since last year and diplomats say Belarus amounted to one of the biggest. The EU has been working since January last year to align sanctions already imposed on Belarus before Russia's invasion of Ukraine with measures in response to the war, but the country's major potash exports were one of the stumbling blocks. One diplomat specified the text aligns measures on dual-use goods such as chips found in basic appliances as well as advanced technology and military wares. The package dropped a provision some countries sought that would have allowed Belarusian potash and other agricultural goods to be exported via Europe in the event of price spikes. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-countries-agree-sanctions-belarus-plug-biggest-loophole-russian-measures-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 11:51

KATHMANDU, June 26 (Reuters) - Heavy rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods in Nepal, killing at least 11 people, with another nine killed by lightning strikes over the past two days, officials said on Wednesday. Landslides swept away three houses overnight in Lamjung district, about 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, killing four people including two children, district administrator Buddha Bahadur Gurung said. In Morang district about 500 km (310 miles) southeast of the Nepali capital, flooding has taken the lives of four people since Tuesday, district official Tek Kumar Regmi said. Another three died in landslides in Kaski in the west and Okhaldhunga in east Nepal. Hundreds of people are killed every year in floods and landslides, which are common in mostly mountainous Nepal during the monsoon season from mid-June to mid-September. (This story has been refiled to remove a duplicate word in paragraph 2) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/heavy-rains-nepal-kill-20-two-days-amid-landslides-lightning-strikes-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 11:47

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - A ship operated by Russian shipping group Sovcomflot rescued the crew of a tanker taking in water off Yemen's coast this week, the state-owned company, which is under Western sanctions, said on Wednesday. Sovcomflot tanker NS Africa was sailing southeast of the port of Nishtun in southern Yemen on June 23 when it responded to a distress call by the Lavant tanker whose crew had abandoned ship and were in a life raft in the open sea. "At 1410 local time, the crew of the tanker NS Africa ... carried out an operation to rescue 19 sailors, among whom were citizens of India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indonesia," SCF said in a statement. SCF added that the rescued seafarers were scheduled to disembark in the Egyptian port of Suez on June 29 with none of the crew missing or injured. Lavant's operators could not be located for comment. Maritime security sources said the vessel was unlikely to have been targeted by Yemen's Houthis. Iran-aligned Houthi militants first launched drone and missile strikes on the trade route in November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In over 70 attacks, they have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers. It is unknown whether the Verbena cargo ship, which was attacked by the Houthis earlier in June, was still afloat after it was separately abandoned by its crew. Dangers posed by ageing tankers hit by sanctions are among other perils ships face. Earlier this week the European Union imposed sanctions on Sovcomflot (SCF), following the designation of 14 of its tankers by Washington earlier this year that did not include the NS Africa. Sanctions on shipping companies are undermining safety at sea and pose dangers for trade as ship standards are impacted, SCF's CEO said in comments released on Tuesday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/russias-sovcomflot-says-its-ship-rescued-crew-tanker-off-yemen-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 11:38

High storage levels serve to calm market concerns THE's MD: would not take action if filling goals were met Believes other origins could offset Russian gas transit end Plenty of LNG reception capacity around European shores FRANKFURT, June 26 (Reuters) - Germany's natural gas caverns, at just over 79% capacity, are not far off legally-required filling levels for the coming 2024/25 winter, an industry executive said. "The underground inventories are currently well filled," said Torsten Frank, the head of Trading Hub Europe (THE), which coordinates a quarter of storage capacity under a government remit, sending calming price signals to wholesale markets. Germany's storage facilities, with a capacity of 23 billion cubic metres (bcm), were 79.04% full on Monday, industry data showed. THE, owned by pipeline transport companies, was commissioned by the Berlin government in 2022, when Germany and much of Europe was mostly cut off from Russian gas, to create a state buffer of emergency volumes of up to 50 terawatt hours (TWh), to complement private companies' activities. The company successively sold off all volumes by mid-May 2024 but will continue to buy and release gas to the market up to 2027 if necessary to ensure compliance with legally required minimum storage levels, he said. The levels are not far off compliance, with a required 85% and 95% by Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, respectively. "If those targets are reached, THE does not need to take any action," Frank, one of four managing directors of the Ratingen-based firm, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday and published on Wednesday. If the transit of Russian pipeline gas via Ukraine into Austria stops from next January, Frank said he believed the European market could supplement volume losses with pipeline gas or liquefied natural gas (LNG) from other regions into North Europe or the Mediterranean. "There is sufficient LNG terminal capacity, and the corresponding transport capacities running south from northwest Europe have been upgraded," he said. Ukraine has said it will not extend a five-year deal with Russia's Gazprom on the transit of Russian gas to Europe when it expires at the end of the year. The European Union has also adopted a package of sanctions on Moscow that aim to reduce Russia's revenue from LNG exports by banning trans-shipments off EU ports which have continued while most pipeline gas supply has dried up. "There are many LNG suppliers so that sufficient volumes could be transported to Europe even in case of a potential import ban on Russian LNG imports," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/german-gas-caverns-not-far-off-winter-targets-79-full-trading-hub-europe-says-2024-06-26/

2024-06-26 11:35

June 26 (Reuters) - Shell's (SHEL.L) New Tab, opens new tab Canadian unit said on Wednesday that it would build two carbon capture and storage projects in Canada, in a bid to reduce emissions from its own operations and achieve its climate goals. Shell Canada Products will build a project called Polaris in Scotford, which will capture approximately 650,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, and another known as Atlas Carbon Storage Hub, in partnership with ATCO EnPower. Technologies that capture carbon dioxide emissions to keep them from the atmosphere are central to the decarbonization strategies of many governments and global companies. The first phase of Atlas will provide permanent underground storage for carbon dioxide captured by the Polaris project, Shell said. The company said both projects are expected to begin operations towards the end of 2028. It did not disclose any financial details. Canada's Unifor workers' union earlier this month said its members at Shell's Scotford refinery have applied for a strike vote later in June after rejecting a mediator's terms of settlement related to compensation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-build-carbon-capture-storage-projects-canada-2024-06-26/