Most recent 40 articles: Bloomberg Energy Science
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Utilities’ Extreme Plan to Stop Wildfires: Shut Off the Power - Bloomberg Energy Science (Oct 7) |
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Oct 7 · After facing billions of dollars in damages, companies from California to Texas are enacting blackouts when the weather conditions create high fire risk.
A growing number of utilities are resorting to an extreme measure to prevent their equipment from sparking catastrophic wildfires: turning off the power.
Electric companies serving about 24 million homes and businesses across the fire-prone US West now have plans to preemptively cut electricity during dangerous fire conditions, according to an analysis of data compiled by researchers at Stanford University. The proactive blackouts, however, run counter to the power companies’ main mission - which is to keep the lights ... Read more ...
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China’s Trina Solar Says New Duties Underscore US Expansion Plan - Bloomberg Energy Science (Oct 2) |
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Oct 2 · The Trina Solar Ltd. booth at the International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Expo in Shanghai, China.
The US has been locked in a battle with Chinese companies that produce parts for solar panels. That saga only underscores why China’s Trina Solar Co. wants to expand its presence in the US market.
That’s according to Steven Zhu, president of the company’s North America operations. Trina is currently nearing completion on a 5 gigawatt solar module facility it’s building in Wilmer, Texas. Read more ...
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Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, Turkey Discussing Energy Investment - Bloomberg Energy Science (Oct 1) |
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Oct 1 · Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power Co. is in talks with Turkey about investing in the country’s green-energy industry, according to Turkish officials familiar with the negotiations.
Turkey’s Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz told a local news channel over the weekend that a “Saudi-owned company” had expressed interest in investing $5 billion in energy and other sectors. The talks are between ACWA Power and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the officials said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. It’s not clear how far those talks have advanced. Read more ...
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Nuclear Fusion Is Unlimited Clean Power. So When Can We Have It? - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 26) |
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Sep 26 · Nuclear Energy Revival:
“We knew that if you could build very strong magnets, you could put it in the realm of commercially doable,” Bob Mumgaard, chief executive officer of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, says on this week’s Zero podcast.
Scientists have been trying to understand - and mimic - the way the sun produces energy for centuries. But recreating nuclear fusion on Earth presents an array of technical challenges. It involves merging atoms in a process that generates temperatures above 100 million degrees Celsius, and building a reactor that can handle those temperatures and produce more energy than it consumes.
Bob Mumgaard, chief executive officer of ... Read more ...
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Siemens Energy Will Stick With CEO Bruch to Lead Revival Plan - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 25) |
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Sep 25 · Siemens Energy AG extended the contract of Chief Executive Officer Christian Bruch for five years, counting on him to deliver on a turnaround plan after troubles at its Spanish wind-turbine business.
Bruch, whose current contract runs until 2025, will now remain in his position until April 2030, the company said Wednesday. Read more ...
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AI’s Power Needs Haven’t Boosted Offshore Wind, Orsted Says - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 24) |
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Sep 24 · Soaring AI-fueled demand for power across the US has yet to trickle down to the fledgling offshore wind industry, renewable energy giant Orsted A/S says.
“That is not yet a big power demand driver in offshore,” Chief Executive Officer and President Mads Nipper said on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. Read more ...
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French Nuclear Watchdog Says It Faces Serious Budget Shortfall - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 24) |
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Sep 24 · Nuclear Energy Revival:
France’s nuclear safety authority, which is in charge of supervising the country’s atomic plants and other facilities using radioactive materials, won’t be able to perform its duties next year if the government persists with insufficient budget plans, the head of the watchdog said.
Preliminary figures point to a €37 million ($41 million) shortfall in the regulator’s operating budget of €150 million for 2025, Bernard Doroszczuk, chairman of Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, said in a Parliamentary hearing in Paris on Tuesday. Read more ...
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Al Gore Says Fixing Grids Is Key Issue for Energy Transition - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · Modernizing the antiquated networks that deliver power to homes and companies should be considered the most-pressing issue for anyone in the US and Europe that wants to combat climate change.
That’s according to Generation Investment Management, the firm co-founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, which said on Wednesday that - in the developed world - “nothing else will matter as much” to the speed of the energy transition as upgrading the power grid. Read more ...
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AI Boom Is Driving a Surprise Resurgence of US Gas-Fired Power - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · New gas plants just keep on coming, defying expectations that their rapid growth was nearing an end.
Energy companies in the US are planning new natural gas-fired power generation at the fastest pace in years, one of the clearest signals yet that fossil fuels are likely to have a longer runway than previously thought.
From Florida to Oregon, utilities are racing to meet a surge in demand from power-hungry AI data centers, manufacturing facilities and electric vehicles. The staying power of gas, which in 2016 overtook coal as the No. 1 US source of electricity, has surprised some experts who not so long ago had projected the era of frenzied domestic demand growth for the ... Read more ...
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EIB, DBSA Commit €200 Million to South African Renewable Energy - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · The European Investment Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa Ltd. said they will commit a further €200 million ($220 million) to a program to support the generation of renewable energy by private operators in South Africa.
The two development banks, which contributed equally to the latest commitment, contributed €400 million to the project in 2022, they said in a statement on Wednesday. Read more ...
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Berkshire Partners on Clean Energy Project for Aerospace Site - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy division is partnering with a battery storage company to develop one of the largest solar and storage projects in the US for a manufacturing facility in West Virginia.
The project with Powin Energy Corp. will supply clean energy to a factory that makes titanium products for the aerospace industry, Powin Chief Executive Officer Jeff Waters said in an interview at the RE+ conference in Anaheim, California. Powin will supply 50 megawatts of lithium iron phosphate batteries that can discharge electricity for up to 12 hours, Waters said. Berkshire will oversee the construction and operation of the system, which will include 106 megawatts of solar power. Read more ...
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China’s Envision Energy Plans $1 Billion Green Hydrogen Park in Spain - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 9) |
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Sep 9 · Chinese company Envision Energy Co. plans to develop a $1 billion green hydrogen industrial park in Spain to help the European nation reach its greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is currently visiting China and is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding regarding the park, Envision said in a statement. Read more ...
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US Wind Farm Delay Has Carolina Plant Eyeing Europe for Sales - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 6) |
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Sep 6 · A delayed US offshore wind farm has Nexans SA looking to Europe for buyers for its undersea electric cables made in South Carolina, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Guérin said.
The Charleston factory had been scheduled to make cables in 2026 for Equinor ASA to connect one of its US offshore wind farms that was delayed, he said in an interview. So Nexans is offering the excess production capacity to offshore wind developers in Europe, where there’s strong demand for underwater high-voltage cables. Read more ...
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Japan Leadership Race Needs Nuclear Debate, Ex-IEA Chief Says - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 5) |
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Sep 5 · Japan needs more open debate about nuclear power in its leadership race if it wants to ensure long-term economic prosperity and national security, a former International Energy Agency chief said.
There’s a lack of debate within the Liberal Democratic Party ahead of a Sept. 27 vote to choose who will become Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s successor, according to Nobuo Tanaka, former IEA executive director. That’s because politicians fear stirring up public fears about nuclear catastrophes and hurting their chance of election, he said. Read more ...
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UK Is Set to Loosen Its 2030 Offshore Wind Power Target - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 5) |
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Sep 5 · The UK is preparing to pull back its target of building 55 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade.
The government may step back from the goal after early analysis showed that the nation will probably need less offshore wind than Labour was expecting, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. The target was slightly bigger than the previous government’s already ambitious goal of 50 gigawatts. Read more ...
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Coal Generates Less Than Half of Australian Power for First Time - Bloomberg Energy Science (Sep 3) |
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Sep 3 · The high winds that have been lashing southeastern Australia over the past few days have pushed coal-fired power below 50% of the country’s power mix for the first time ever.
The fossil fuel accounted for 49.2% of electricity generation in the week through Monday, the first time it’s fallen below half on a weekly rolling basis, according to figures from Open-NEM, a data aggregator. Wind farms generated just over a quarter of power during the period. Read more ...
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A Green Reason to Drill, Baby, Drill: Renewable Energy That’s Always On - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 29) |
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Aug 29 · “It’s a very seamless transition to go from drilling oil and gas wells to drilling geothermal wells,” Tim Latimer, chief executive officer of Fervo, says on Zero.
Before founding geothermal startup Fervo Energy in 2017, Tim Latimer was a drilling engineer in the oil and gas industry. “If it wasn’t for climate change, I probably wouldn’t have ever changed my career,” he says. “Because it was a fascinating career.”
Today, Latimer is applying his drilling know-how to renewable energy, using fracking technology to supercharge the output of Fervo’s geothermal wells. On this week’s Zero podcast, he talks about the opportunities the geothermal industry presents, what makes the ... Read more ...
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Meyer Burger Plunges With Europe’s Solar Industry in Crisis - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 27) |
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Aug 27 · Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger Technology AG’s shares are in free fall after failed plans to set up a cell factory in the US put the company on track for restructuring.
Meyer Burger shares fell nearly 18% Tuesday, after closing 45% lower on Monday, when the company announced it was putting its plans for a plant in Colorado on pause. The precipitous decline leaves the company now worth around $73 million, down from a peak of nearly $2.7 billion in February 2023. Read more ...
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The Secret Behind Germany’s Record Renewables Buildout - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 27) |
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Aug 27 · As most countries struggle to install clean energy fast enough, Germany tackled the industry’s toughest problem: slow permitting.
Talk to renewable-energy executives for long enough and almost everyone will complain about the time it takes to get government permits to build their power plants. Unless you’re operating in Germany these days.
“We’re quite pleased,” said Karsten Brüggemann, vice president of Nordex, which manufactures wind turbines. Particularly since 2022, he said, Nordex has seen a rapid rise in the number of turbines deployed and future wind farms permitted. Read more ...
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Top Wind-Turbine Maker Jumps Most Since 2021 as Profit Surges - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 25) |
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Aug 25 · Shares in China’s Goldwind Science & Technology Co. jumped the most in almost three years in early trade on Monday, after it reported a heftier-than-expected increase in net profit thanks to overseas sales that helped offset fierce competition at home.
The world’s largest wind-turbine manufacturer, which reported earnings late on Friday, rose 10% on the Shenzhen exchange, its most significant leap since November 2021. Goldwind’s first-half net profit increased 11% to 1.39 billion yuan ($195 million). Read more ...
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Top Wind-Turbine Maker Reports Earnings Rebound on China Boom - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 23) |
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Aug 23 · Goldwind Science & Technology Co., the world’s biggest wind turbine maker, reported an increase in first-half profit as China’s rapid renewables buildout lifted demand.
Net income rose to 1.39 billion yuan ($195 million) for the six months through June, up 11% from 1.25 billionBloomberg Terminal yuan during the same period in 2023, the Chinese company said in an earnings statement Friday. Read more ...
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More Chinese Solar Makers Face Insolvency as Glut Persists - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 16) |
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Aug 16 · More Chinese solar manufacturers are facing insolvency as acute oversupply and a fierce price war forces companies to sell below cost.
A unit of Zhejiang Bangjie Holding Group Co. is the latest firm to fall foul of creditors, after a local court was asked to put the firm into bankruptcy because it missed its debt repayments, according to a filing by the parent company this week. The court has yet too rule on the creditor’s application. Read more ...
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UK Plans Grid Links to Speed Floating Offshore Wind Farms - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 13) |
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Aug 13 · The UK’s electricity system operator has designed a plan to connect three proposed floating offshore wind farms with the grid, as the country’s decarbonization drive picks up speed.
National Grid ESO has planned the links for 4.5 gigawatts of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, an area of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Wales and southwest England. The connections have been designed before seabed leasing takes place for the wind farms, which will generate enough power to supply 4 million homes. Read more ...
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Here Are Some Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Wind Industry - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 11) |
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Aug 11 · The Zero podcast team looks back at recent episodes to gain some insight on where the wind industry is headed.
In the race against climate change, governments around the world are pushing desperately ahead with the expansion of renewables. Wind energy is one of the great pillars of hope.
Yet economic hurdles like rising costs and supply chain hiccups, as well as delayed approvals, kept the industry mired in crisis in recent years. Not to mention the recent public relations blow wind power took after debris from a busted wind turbine in the US washed up on the shore of Nantucket. Read more ...
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Ambani’s Reliance to Start Green Energy Giga Factories in A Year - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 7) |
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Aug 7 · Reliance Industries Ltd. plans to roll out its factories making renewables equipment over the next year, marking a milestone for billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate that’s been pivoting away from its fossil fuel roots.
“Over the next 12 months, our focus is to bring new energy manufacturing facilities on-stream, operate them efficiently and, start developing” renewable energy generation projects, the flagship of the retail-to-refining group said in its annual report for the year ended March 31. “We would develop supply chain locally for self-sufficiency and reduce the reliance on imports.” Read more ...
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SunPower's Demise Underscores Industry Primed for Casualties - Bloomberg Energy Science (Aug 7) |
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Aug 7 · Slim margins and high interest rates squeeze residential solar companies in the US, forcing executives to focus on cash, not growth.
The US residential-solar industry is under serious threat - a vulnerability borne out this week by the bankruptcy of SunPower Corp., one of the sector's most venerable names.
The California company had its own series of financial missteps. But those stumbles happened against the background of high interest rates, which make panels less affordable for homeowners, and a major subsidy cut in its home state - the country’s biggest solar market. The change has significantly slowed demand and crimped profits for rooftop firms. Read more ...
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US Oil and Gas Must Cut Methane 80% to Meet Industry Targets, New Data Shows - Bloomberg Energy Science (Jul 31) |
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Jul 31 · To meet their 2030 climate goals, fossil fuel producers need to curtail methane releases in key regions.
Permian Highway Pipeline signage near Monahans, Texas.
One of the most comprehensive aerial surveys of methane gushing from US oil and gas facilities shows operators must slash emissions by roughly 80% or more to meet major industry targets.
The nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund conducted about 30 flights between June and October of last year over fossil fuel basins that account for nearly three-quarters of onshore oil and gas production in the contiguous US. On average, the data collected show that around 1.6% of gross gas production is released as methane ... Read more ...
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From Trump to AI, Bill Gates Sees Climate Impacts for the World - Bloomberg Energy Science (Jun 25) |
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Jun 25 · The Microsoft co-founder, who is in London for a three-day climate tech conference, spoke with Bloomberg Green for a wide-ranging interview covering topics from artificial intelligence to the US election.
Bill Gates
Businesses hate uncertainty, and if Donald Trump is elected US president later this year, they will have to deal with a lot of it, says Bill Gates. That’s among a few things top of mind for the co-founder of Microsoft Corp., who is in London this week for a three-day conference. Read more ...
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New Silicon Valley Data Centers Will Ramp Up Electricity Use - Bloomberg Energy Science (Jun 12) |
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Jun 12 · New data centers planned for Silicon Valley have the potential to add 3.5 gigawatts of demand for electricity, PG&E Corp. said. That’s more than the output of three nuclear power plants.
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the eight primary data center markets in the US given its proximity to the headquarters of global technology giants that include the likes of Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. There are more than two dozen projects in the works over the next five years, executives with the California utility said during an investor presentation on Wednesday. More than half of the additional capacity will be located in the San Jose area, PG&E said. Read more ...
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AI’s Power Needs Means New Nuclear Power Tech Can’t Fail, US Energy Official Says - Bloomberg Energy Science (Jun 4) |
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Jun 4 · Nuclear Energy Revival:
Surging electricity demand for artificial intelligence and data centers means next-generation nuclear power “can’t fail,” according to a top US Energy Department official.
David Crane, undersecretary for infrastructure at the department, said he’s now “very bullish” on emerging designs for so-called small modular reactors. That’s a significant shift from his earlier stance, when “I didn’t really see” a case for using the technology. Read more ...
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Moving to Renewables Will Mean Using Less Energy Overall - Bloomberg Energy Science (Jun 4) |
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Jun 4 · Most of the energy from burning fossil fuels is wasted, which is not the case with solar and wind power. Electric cars and heat pumps increase energy efficiency even more.
Neptune Robotics' hull cleaning robot increases the fuel efficiency of ships.
People don’t want coal, oil or gas. Rather they want the products and services that the energy provides - home heating, public transport or sheets of steel. The distinction is important as we move away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, because it will mean the world could be consuming less energy in total without losing out the benefits it currently enjoys. Read more ...
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Battery Startup Verkor Secures Another €1.3 Billion for Plant in France - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 24, 2024) |
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May 24, 2024 · Rendering of Verkor’s Gigafactory.
French battery startup Verkor secured more than €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) in green loans to complete a plant in northern France, helped by President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to attract electric-vehicle investments and compete with the US and China.
The new €1.5 billion factory, under construction at the port of Dunkirk, helps expand a growing EV ecosystem in northern France, Verkor Chief Executive Officer Benoit Lemaignan said Friday in an interview. Read more ...
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Is Net Zero by 2050 Still Possible? Yes, But It’ll Cost 19% More - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 21, 2024) |
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May 21, 2024 · A new BloombergNEF report shows global climate goals are becoming harder to achieve the longer the world remains addicted to fossil fuels.
The sun rises beyond wind turbines at a wind farm in Muras, Spain.
Governments and companies need to spend an extra $34 trillion on the clean energy transition between now and 2050 to reach net-zero emissions, according to BloombergNEF. Read more ...
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France’s $1.1 Billion Floating Wind Project Eyes Giant Turbines - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 16, 2024) |
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May 16, 2024 · Wind turbines sit in the North Sea at the London Array offshore wind farm.
Belgium’s Elicio and Germany’s BayWa r.e. AG plan to build France’s first commercial-scale floating wind farm at a cost of as much as €1 billion ($1.1 billion) by 2031, and they’re counting on struggling Western turbine makers to build the giant windmills they need.
The consortium, which has been awardedBloomberg Terminal the 250-megawatt project by the French government, will install a maximum of 13 turbines off the southern coast of Brittany, Aldrik de Fombelle, head of the Pennavel project, told reporters Thursday. The group will pick a turbine supplier around 2029, and “anticipates” that it ... Read more ...
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First US-Built Boat Servicing Offshore Wind Farms Is Ready to Launch - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 11, 2024) |
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May 11, 2024 · The 262-foot Eco Edison will maintain wind turbines along the East Coast.
A new boat the length of a football field, built to help operate US offshore wind farms, will be christened Saturday in New Orleans with Republican and Democratic lawmakers looking on - a show of bipartisan support for an industry that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump frequently attacks.
The 262-foot Eco Edison, bobbing in the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, is the first US-built vessel for maintaining offshore wind farms. It was built by Danish energy giant Orsted AS and Massachusetts utility Eversource Energy to service their projects in the Northeast and is a sign of the companies’ ... Read more ...
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Renewable Sources Provided Record 30% of Electricity Last Year - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 07, 2024) |
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May 07, 2024 · The rise in renewables has been driven in large part by solar farms in recent years, the Ember data shows.
The share of global electricity from renewables rose to a record 30% last year as the growth of wind and solar power continued to far exceed that of fossil fuels.
That trend is set to accelerate this year, according to data from energy think-tank Ember. The group expects clean-power growth to more than make up for the overall rise in electricity demand, leading fossil fuel-derived generation to drop 2% in 2024. Read more ...
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Vestas CEO Says $217 Billion Wind Industry Has Yet to Reach 'Maturity’ - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 07, 2024) |
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May 07, 2024 · Wind power currently makes up less than 10% of the global electricity mix, and the industry will continue to face difficulties as it fights to scale.
The nacelle of a wind turbine.
Henrik Andersen is no stranger to crisis.
A decade ago turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S was in trouble when governments pulled back subsidies for renewable power. Andersen was brought in as a board member in 2013, following a record loss in the year prior. He helped restructure the company and returned it to profitability. Read more ...
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Extreme Weather Is Driving More US Power Outages, Studies Show - Bloomberg Energy Science (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · The US experienced twice as many weather-related power outages from 2014 to 2023 as in the previous decade. But they aren’t evenly distributed.
For decades, residents of eastern Queens in New York City have complained that they’re more likely to lose power when extreme weather hits, even as lights in other parts of the city stay on. A new study that looks at power outages across New York state suggests they’re right. Its broader conclusion - that different areas, even within the same neighborhood, can be more vulnerable to power outages - aren’t just limited to New York.
“We’re focusing on New York state, but power outages are a growing problem nationally,” says Nina ... Read more ...
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Total CEO Says World Must Adapt to Warming as Oil Thirst Lingers - Bloomberg Energy Science (Apr 26, 2024) |
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Apr 26, 2024 · Patrick Pouyanne at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.
The world could still be using more than 100 million barrels a day of oil by 2040, making it vital to start preparing and adapting for a warmer climate, said TotalEnergies SE Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne.
The warning from the outspoken 60-year-old Frenchman carries some weight, as under his leadership TotalEnergies is investing $5 billion a year into low-carbon fuels and renewables, while remaining a major supplier of oil and gas. The fact is that “it will take time” to build a clean global energy system that can satisfy the demands of a growing population, Pouyanne said. Read more ...
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