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If the UK government thinks a new funding model will solve all its nuclear power problems, it may have a nasty surprise coming its way.



Energy Monitor

The UK’s nuclear plan is a financial, environmental and political risk

Hydrostor, developer of a 400-MW, 8-hour long-duration advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) facility, has filed an application for certification (AFC) with the California Energy Commission (CEC) for its first project in the state, envisioning its commercial operation as early as 2026.



POWER Magazine

California 3,200-MWh CAES Project Proposed for Grid Stability After Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Retires

The head of the United Nations' atomic agency says talks he held in Tehran this week over Iran's nuclear program proved inconclusive.



Oil Price

UN Nuclear Agency Fails To Reach An Agreement With Iran

Advances in technology and funding have sparked optimism in an area that has promised much but delivered little in six decades

Financial Times

Nuclear fusion: why the race to harness the power of the sun just sped up  

African states should not be denied the opportunity to use nuclear energy, but it should be a solution of last resort.



AlJazeera

What role can nuclear energy play in Africa’s climate transition?

In September, Illinois lawmakers agreed to spend up to $694 million of energy ratepayers’ money over the next five years to keep several money-losing nuclear power plants open.

Nuclear energy produces no greenhouse gas emissions, meaning it can contribute to lowering carbon emissions. But today’s nuclear plants often can’t compete on price against cheaper existing sources of energy, particularly natural gas and government-subsidized renewables.

CNBC

Why Illinois paid $694 million to keep nuclear plants open

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cautioned that talks with Iran about complying with obligations agreed to under a 2015 deal to limit its nuclear program may not lead to a positive solution.

Bloomberg

U.S. Defense Secretary Lowers Expectations Ahead of Iran Talks

Major U.S. utility Southern Co. said it has agreed to design and build an advanced demonstration nuclear reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using technology developed by TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed company that earlier this week announced it would site a new Natrium nuclear reactor demonstration project in Wyoming.



Southern Joining Bill Gates-Backed Group on New Reactor Project

Upon completion, the nuclear power facility will have the capacity to meet 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.



Power Technology

Sberbank grants $800m loan for nuclear power plant in Turkey

Austria’s energy and climate minister Leonore Gewessler told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview that her country was ready to go to court if the EU decides to include nuclear power into the bloc’s taxonomy on sustainable finance.

Euractiv

Austria ready to sue EU over nuclear’s inclusion in green finance taxonomy

In the negotiations which led up to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Saudi Arabia spent a great deal of time attempting to insert the term “environmentally safe and sound” in front of references to “energy sources” and “energy supplies”. Given that the oil Saudi Arabia exports in greater quantities than any other country is now understood to be anything but environmentally safe, this seems bizarre. At the time, though, the aim was obvious to all concerned: the phrase was a way to keep nuclear power off the Rio agenda.

The Economist

The discreet charm of nuclear power

In the negotiations which led up to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Saudi Arabia spent a great deal of time attempting to insert the term “environmentally safe and sound” in front of references to “energy sources” and “energy supplies”.

Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood says the roadmap to net zero released by the federal government indicates “the door” to nuclear energy is “not being closed under any circumstances”.

“This roadmap today quite clearly sets out that nuclear is an option for Australia – the door is not being closed under any circumstances,” Mr Greenwood told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

Sky News Australia

Roadmap to net zero shows door to nuclear energy ‘is not being closed’

BRITAIN IS keen on nuclear power—in theory, at least. In 2010 the government gave permission for eight new reactors to be built in England and Wales, as part of its efforts to decarbonise electricity generation. 


Can smaller reactors make nuclear power economic?

France will re-launch the construction of nuclear reactors in a bid to decarbonize its electricity mix, reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and guarantee the country’s energy independence, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the nation on Tuesday.  



France Bets On Nuclear Power To Reach Net-Zero Goal

What’s worse: climate change or radioactive nuclear waste with a half-life of tens of thousands of years? This is the question at the heart of a debate over nuclear energy that is currently ramping up against the backdrop of the COP26 climate summit taking place in Glasgow.



Is Nuclear Waste More Dangerous Than Climate Change?

An EU decision on which types of investments count as sustainable will reverberate much further than the financial sector, which explains why European countries are arguing so fiercely about an EU Taxonomy for green investments.



EU prepares to include nuclear and gas in green investment list

THE DIABLO CANYON nuclear power plant lies about 200 miles north of Los Angeles on California's central coast. Its twin reactors sit between the Pacific Ocean on one side and emerald hills on the other. 

Will the climate crisis force America to reconsider nuclear power?

For more than two decades, promoters and purveyors of nuclear energy felt shunned at UN climate change conferences.

At the COP26 summit underway in Glasgow, however, they have been welcomed with open arms, the UN’s top nuclear regulator told AFP.

The spectre of Chernobyl and Fukushima, along with the enduring problem of nuclear waste, kept energy generated by splitting atoms on the sidelines, even if that energy was virtually carbon free.

Gulf News

Climate crisis could give nuclear energy a second wind

Helion Energy, a clean energy company committed to creating a new era of plentiful, zero-carbon electricity from fusion, today announced the close of its $0.5 billion Series E, with an additional $1.7 billion of commitments tied to specific milestones.

Tech Crunch

Helion secures $2.2B to commercialize fusion energy

Exelon Corp. will begin evaluating hydrogen production next year at one of its nuclear plants in New York, part of a growing push to use the most abundant element in the universe as a source of carbon-free power. 

Exelon to Study Making and Storing Hydrogen Power in a Nuclear Plant

According to senior economic and political sources close to the Iranian government exclusively spoken to by OilPrice.com last week, Tehran is now messaging senior figures in the European Commission in Brussels that it wants to talk about the quick resumption of negotiations in order to reactivate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – more widely known as ‘the nuclear deal’.

Iran Wants New Nuclear Deal By March 2022

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured a victory in the 31 October general elections to the lower house of parliament. This allows the government to maintain its updated energy policy, which lays out plans to restart safe nuclear reactors to help reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

Argus Media

Japan's election gives reprieve for nuclear

Every branch of the US Military is worried about climate change. They have been since well before it became controversial. Their conclusions are climate change is a significant threat multiplier. So their choice of Eielson Air Force Base to receive its first nuclear microreactor is a good one.

Forbes

U.S. Picks Eielson Air Force Base For The Air Force’s First Nuclear Microreactor

 Recent efforts by Tehran to advance its nuclear program and obstruct the work of monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) risk a complete collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, the leaders of the U.S., U.K., Germany and France warned on Saturday.



Politico

Western leaders warn Iran on nuclear deal

New commitments boost state-controlled utility but path ahead remains uncertain 

France’s nuclear drive offers chance of redemption for EDF 

A group of ten European countries have heaped pressure on the European Commission to grant nuclear energy a ‘green’ label under the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy, which acts as a guide to climate-friendly investments.



EU countries ramp up pressure to grant nuclear a ‘green’ investment label

Exelon, the owner-operator of Illinois's six nuclear power plants, recently announced that the Byron and Dresden nuclear plants will continue operating rather than retire this fall as previously planned. The announcement came after the Illinois state legislature and governor approved a clean energy bill supporting carbon-free energy resources.

Two nuclear power plants in northern Illinois reversed plans to retire early

The Guardian understands the funding is likely to be used to back the planned £20bn Sizewell C . The government will make its first direct investment in a large-scale nuclear reactor since 1995 after pledging to plough up to £1.7bn of taxpayers’ money into a new power plant. Treasury documents published alongside the autumn statement did not name which nuclear project would be in line for the public funds, but the Guardian understands it is most likely to be the planned £20bn Sizewell C plant in Suffolk. 

The Guardian

Government pledges £1.7bn of public money to new nuclear plant

In charge of the plant in Ukraine, he was held responsible for the world’s worst nuclear-power disaster and imprisoned.

The New York Times

Viktor Bryukhanov, Blamed for the Chernobyl Disaster, Dies at 85

France must build 14 new nuclear reactors, alongside a surge in renewables investment by 2050, if it is to meet its carbon-neutral goals at the cheapest cost, and without endangering supply, the country’s grid operator said in a report.



French grid: New nuclear reactors crucial for net-zero path

The government wants to bolster electricity supply and ease dependence on foreign developers like China.

U.K. Moves to Attract Financing for Nuclear Plants

Debate over energy has been supercharged by surging electricity costs

Brussels to delay decision on how to classify nuclear power for green finance 

The first nuclear power plant in Egypt, El-Dabaa, is set to bring about thousands of jobs, political, social and economic gains.



ESI Africa

El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in Egypt to bring about economic change

SMRs promise huge cost savings over traditional large-scale plants but the technology is unproven.

Mini nuclear reactors vie for key role in UK’s push to hit climate targets

A delicate EU mission to Iran this week failed to secure a commitment from Tehran’s new hardline administration to resume negotiations over reviving a teetering nuclear deal, according to EU officials. 



EU, US try to lure Iran back to nuclear talks as hopes fade

South Africa is looking to step up its power generation capacity and commission new coal and nuclear plants as it deals with an energy crisis.

Scheduled power cuts, or "load shedding" as national electricity utility Eskom calls it, have darkened homes and shut down industries for up to nine hours a day during the past week.

The National

Why South Africa is turning to nuclear energy to plug its power shortage

Long-shot money is flowing into start-ups that seek the energy of the stars. Driving the investments is a rising alarm about global warming.

Nuclear Fusion Edges Toward the Mainstream

Energy Trend

Despite Experts’ Opinions to the Contrary, Britain Is Set to Achieve 100% Self-Generated Renewable Energy within 14 Years

The UK government will announce plans to fund a new nuclear power plant before the 2024 election as a part of its Net Zero strategy, The Telegraph reported.

in-cyprus

UK to fund new nuclear power station as part of net zero drive

UK ministers will put nuclear power at the heart of Britain’s strategy to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in government documents expected as early as this week, the Financial Times reported.


Energy Voice

UK Net Zero strategy to focus on nuclear power: Report

The ‘green’ label for nuclear power has caused a spat between the EU’s two most powerful members.

The Business Standard

Is nuclear power ‘green’?

Rolls-Royce-led consortium already has £210m in private backing for plans to build 16 reactors across the country. The government is poised to approve funding for a fleet of Rolls-Royce mini nuclear reactors that the prime minister hopes will help the UK reach his target of zero-carbon electricity by 2035. A consortium led by the British engineering firm had already secured £210m in backing from private investors for the small modular reactor (SMR) project, a sum that the government is expected to match or better. Confirmation is expected before the spending review on 27 October, according to well-placed sources. 

UK poised to confirm funding for mini nuclear reactors for carbon-free energy

Government to publish fresh details of decarbonisation plan and funding model as early as next week.

UK to put nuclear power at heart of net zero emissions strategy

Australia has declared that the national nuclear waste storage facility, more correctly referred to as a radioactive waste site, will be at Napandee, near Kimba, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. The choice was widely expected as the government had already picked Napandee as its preferred site.

Australia Picks A Nuclear Waste Disposal Site - Now The Dance Begins

Though renewable energy could meet 100% of demand by 2025, the nuclear option still looms over discussions on how to rapidly lower emissions. Is it worth it?Get our free news app; get our morning email briefingWeeks out from the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, political figures and commentators have again suggested Australia should consider nuclear energy as part of its future power grid. Though renewable energy could meet 100% of demand by 2025 at certain times of day at current rates of progress – a trend that could be turbocharged with active support from the federal government – the prospect of an Australian nuclear power station still looms large in the public conversation. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning 

Explainer: should Australia build nuclear power plants to combat the climate crisis?

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday unveiled a 5-year, 30 billion-euro ($35 billion) investment plan for developing innovative technology and industrial activity, including building small nuclear reactors, electric cars and greener airplanes.

Tech Xplore

France's $35B innovation plan includes nuclear reactor funds

Emmanuel Macron expected to announce ‘mini-reactors’ as political and public opinion shifts

France bets on more nuclear power in face of Europe energy crisis

This year nuclear fuel has risen in price to its highest level since 2012

Hedge funds snap up uranium in bet on green energy shift

Power & Utilities | Nuclear

NEO Energy is buying JX Nippon E&P UK, the British business of Japan's ENEOS holdings, for £1.2billion in the latest of a string of North Sea acquisitions.


NEO Energy to buy JX Nippon UK assets in £1.2billion deal

Ofgem insists that private sector solution was ‘not feasible’

Two energy suppliers offered rival plans to Bulb’s government bailout

Investigation launched as costs of balancing supply and demand across Britain rise

National Grid to probe high prices in key electricity market

The lights going out at Bulb signals a worrying new stage to the energy crisis 

Have you got money to burn on energy bills?

State officials are reluctant to ask ratepayers to foot the bill for investments experts say are needed to fortify the grid against increasingly severe weather


The Washington Post

Longer, more frequent outages afflict the U.S. power grid as states fail to prepare for climate change

The Biden administration has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Puerto Rico transition to a greener and more resilient energy future, but it’s on the verge of making a multibillion-dollar mistake.



GreenBiz

Puerto Rico's once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a clean energy grid

Enel plans to invest 170 billion euros ($191 billion) this decade to accelerate its shift to greener energy sources.


Enel to spend $191bn to speed up energy transition

The energy crisis and soaring wholesale power and natural gas prices claimed its biggest victim so far in the UK when Bulb, a power and gas supplier serving 1.7 million customers, said on Monday that it would enter into special administration.



Energy Crisis Claims Its Biggest Victim In The UK Yet

The GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) will host the annual meeting of GO15, the world’s largest power grid operators globally, on Tuesday (November 23, 2021) at Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach.

Ahmed Al Ebrahim, CEO of GCCIA, will chair the meeting being the current president of GO15 organization following the global organisation’s most recent meeting for its directors and shareholders. 

Utilities Middle East

Global grid operators meet in Dubai to discuss sector opportunities and challenges

The Australia Renewable Energy Agency is expected to launch a new funding round of around $100 million in early December that will support the roll out of grid forming batteries, one of the last remaining gaps to fill for a 100 per cent renewable energy grid.

Renew Economy

New ARENA funding round to help plug one of last gaps to 100 pct renewables grid

Only a small fraction of dams actually produce electricity. Transforming them into hydropower plants might stop new ones from being built.

Wired

This Dam Simple Trick Is a Big Green Energy Win

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a $50 million term loan facility with Geometric Bank Limited for the Aba Integrated Power Project in Nigeria.



Afreximbank greenlights loan for Integrated Power Project in Nigeria

There's a run on camp stoves on Spain's Balearic Islands, while a key energy analyst says there could be gas shortages.

It's all proof that Europe's energy emergency isn't over.

Energy prices soared to the top of the political agenda last month — even being discussed by EU leaders. The reason was an unexpected surge in natural gas prices coupled with sluggish renewable energy production. That saw gas and power prices spike in many countries — causing squeals of outrage from consumers and immediate concern from politicians.

Europe’s energy freakout

Enel X, one of the winners of contracts tendered by Italy’s transmission operator to provide fast response frequency reserve to the grid, has contracted Fluence to supply two battery energy storage system (BESS) solutions. 

Energy Storage News

Fluence supplying 40MW battery storage in Italy for Enel X’s Fast Reserve projects

The UK’s National Grid expects significantly higher earnings for its 2021/2022 fiscal year ending in March 2022, due to the higher auction prices for electricity amid soaring natural gas and power prices in the UK and the rest of Europe.



UK’s National Grid Expects Windfall Profits From High Power Prices

Energy demand is high and supplies are low from Europe to Asia. Many countries in the European Union have enacted emergency provisions to help their most vulnerable citizens survive a winter of sky-high energy bills. 


Crypto Miners Are Worsening Kazakhstan’s Energy Crisis

New report conducted by Guidehouse Insights and commissioned by Civil Society Institute, Millennial Action Project and RMI shows lasting impact on local economies and job growth from investing in renewable energy, battery storage, and controls for microgrids.

CleanTechnica

Microgrids Powered By Renewable Energy Will Generate Half A Million Jobs & $72 Billion In GDP Growth By 2030

European gas prices rose on Wednesday after delayed approval of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. US natural gas futures dropped by 5 percent. Brent crude futures dropped 32 cents, or 0.4 percent, by 5:10 PM Riyadh time to $82.11 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $80.33 a barrel.

Arab News

Oil prices drop amid European gas prices rise: Energy Market wrap

DNG Energy has received South Africa’s first-ever consignment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Rotterdam, Netherlands in a historic moment for the South African energy market.



Milestone shipment of LNG will catalyse growth of gas economy in South Africa

Global energy demand will increase by 28 percent from now until 2045 due to rising economies and population, according to OPEC’s World Oil Outlook discussed at the ADIPEC energy forum in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.



OPEC: Global Energy Demand To Rise By 28% By 2045

Experts are forecasting serious sticker shock from home heating bills this winter. Nearly half of United States’ households heat their homes with fossil fuels, including natural gas, propane, or heating oil, and these consumers are expected to spend much more this winter because of fuel price increases.



High Natural Gas Prices Make This The Time To Build Back Better - With Clean Electricity

Sembcorp Energy (Shanghai) Holding, a subsidiary of Singaporean energy and urban development company Sembcorp Industries, has agreed to acquire a 98% interest in a 658MW renewable project portfolio in China.



Sembcorp to acquire 658MW renewable project portfolio in China

RES4Africa and PwC Italy have released the results of a survey assessing the perception of risk of investing in renewable energy in six African countries.



New survey assesses perception of risk of investing in RE in Africa

The high volatility of wholesale prices and turbulence in the energy supply market could discourage investors looking for stable returns and cashflows.



What the current energy market instability means for net-zero investment

The White House is debating whether to act immediately to try to lower U.S. energy prices or hold off on dramatic measures in the hope markets settle, as President Joe Biden”s concern about inflation runs up against climate, trade and foreign policy considerations.

Biden Team Debates Whether to Act Fast on Gas Prices or Wait

Finnish energy company Fortum (FORTUM.HE) on Friday posted a bigger-than-expected rise in underlying third-quarter operating profit, boosted by recovery from the pandemic and higher energy prices.

Reuters

Fortum's third-quarter profit beats forecasts

Exxon will meet its greenhouse-gas emission reduction target for 2025 four years earlier than planned as the company ramps up investment in low-carbon energy.



Exxon Boasts It Will Hit Emissions Target Four Years Early

Ten years ago, developing oil and gas projects was about the same as renewable endeavors. Not anymore.

Bloomberg Green

Cost of Capital Spikes for Fossil-Fuel Producers

Enstroga is the second energy company in the Netherlands to collapse and will no longer be supplying power and natural gas to households.

The energy crisis is bedding in across the world as the impact of persistently high gas and power prices is widening. It’s creating unbearable pressure on suppliers and any company that isn’t hedged is particularly exposed. The situation is the most acute in the U.K. but suppliers are collapsing in Europe and Asia.

Bloomberg Law

Dutch Energy Supplier Goes Under as Higher Energy Prices Bite

Shortages and greenflation will end the age of idealism on energy policy


Energy investment needs to increase—so bills and taxes must rise

It’s like tasering an elderly person who’s already on a pacemaker,” says a British newspaper boss of the newsprint market, where prices have risen by over 50% in a matter of months.

Soaring newsprint costs make life even harder for newspapers

AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman says Australia is well on the way to transitioning its power sector to renewables.

“What we’re seeing already is the planning for the exit of our traditional thermal generators and the massive investment in renewable generators,” Mr Westerman told Sky News Australia.

Australia ‘well on the way’ to transitioning its power sector

Public finance will be insufficient to meet the growing investment gap for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure worldwide. Luckily, EV chargers are an easy fit for private finance, says Siemens Financial Services.



Using private finance to scale up EV charging infrastructure

After successful commissioning at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agnew Hybrid  Renewable Microgrid was today officially opened in a celebration attended by dignitaries  including the WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Energy; Corrective Services Bill Johnston. 

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