Big and Small Achievements Towards Energy Transition

The Mexican renewables sector is fighting for storage regulations and initiatives to boost clean energy sourcing, while countries like UK and the Netherlands are achieving milestones in green hydrogen production.

Ready for more? Here’s the Week in Energy!

MEXICO

AMLO Announces Thermoelectric Plant in Baja California

President López Obrador said his government will solve the problem of blackouts in Baja California Sur by building a thermoelectric plant.  He also affirmed that natural gas is going to be used to reduce emissions and to ensure enough electricity supply.

Renewable Energy Associations Ask for Storage Regulations

Representatives of renewable energy associations asked CRE to implement a regulation on electrical storage to support power plants. Héctor Olea, President of Asolmex said that unfortunately, the sector does not see this as a priority in the regulatory agenda.

New Initiative for Rooftops in Government Buildings

An addendum to the Energy Transition Law (LTE) could be approved by Congress. This initiative pursues to boost the installation of renewable energy projects in buildings owned by entities of the Federal Public Administration (APF). Nayeli A. Fernández, Federal Deputy, specified that this initiative does not only contemplate the installation of solar panels in the buildings currently occupied by government offices but also promotes clean technologies, in addition to the use of hybrid or electric cars.

INTERNATIONAL

Eni Unveils Energy-transition Plan

Italian oil company Eni has become the latest oil and gas supermajor to announce a long-term energy-transition strategy, vowing to build 55GW of renewable energy by 2050 and to reduce the emissions of its products by 80 percent by the end of the year. Its plan includes capturing and storing more than 10 million tons of CO2 per year by 2050, while also offsetting three times that amount annually through forest conservation projects. Other pledges include converting its European refineries into bio-plants for the production of hydrogen and for the recycling of waste materials.

Shell Unveils World's Largest Green Hydrogen Plant

Oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell and Dutch gas company Gasunie unveiled plans to build Europe’s biggest green hydrogen project in the Netherlands, powered by up to 10GW of offshore wind in the North Sea. The plant would ultimately be able to produce 800,000 tons of hydrogen by 2040, cutting the Netherlands’ CO2 emissions by about 7 megaton per year. The partners want to have the first hydrogen flowing from the project by 2027, powered by an initial 3-4GW of offshore turbines. The offshore wind fleet could grow as large as 10GW by 2040.

EDF Plans Hydrogen Production at UK Nuclear Plants

French energy company EDF has plans for massive production of hydrogen to be powered by its fleet of UK nuclear plants. The EDF-led Hydrogen to Heysham (H2H) consortium believes linking electrolysis to nuclear-generated electricity would produce enough hydrogen to meet a significant portion of the demand in the UK, while combining the reliable, baseload output of nuclear with the low-carbon certifications of green hydrogen production. Nuclear power at the point of generation shares the zero-carbon emission credentials with renewables although H2H does assign a nominal carbon footprint to its project to reflect the lifecycle emissions profile of a nuclear plant.