Latest news with #renewableenergy
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
US implements emergency permitting procedures to speed geothermal energy development
WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of the Interior said on Friday it was implementing emergency permitting procedures to accelerate reviews of geothermal energy development projects. The projects that will be fast-tracked include three in Nevada led by Ormat, which received funding in 2020 during the first Trump administration for research and development. 'Geothermal energy is a reliable energy source that can power critical infrastructure for national security and help advance energy independence,' Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said. 'We're fast-tracking reliable energy projects while strengthening national security and supporting American workers.' The Trump administration declared an "energy emergency" in President Donald Trump's first days in office, allowing him to use a series of steps to fast-track or skip over lengthy environmental reviews and permitting processes for oil and gas production as well as mining. His emergency orders did not apply to renewable energy like solar power or wind but now applies to geothermal, a form of renewable energy which harnesses heat generated within the Earth for heating, cooling and electricity generation.' It is a technology that enjoys support from Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who has previously invested in geothermal company Fervo Energy. Last week, the U.S. Geological Survey produced a report that said that geothermal energy in the Great Basin of Nevada and adjoining states could produce electricity equivalent to 10% of the current U.S. power supply.
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Victoria says it is getting out of gas – so why has it approved a new LNG import terminal?
Victoria has approved a plan to bring in gas by sea from other states and even overseas, giving the go-ahead to a gas import terminal near Geelong. Viva Energy's import terminal, which would enable up to 160 petajoules (PJ) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be shipped to Victoria each year – about 88% of the state's gas consumption – still requires approval under federal environmental laws. The state's planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, said her decision to approve the project was 'striking the right balance between development and environmental responsibility' and would not undermine Victoria's target of net zero emissions by 2045. But the Victorian Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, condemned the decision, calling the project 'polluting [and] unnecessary'. So, why is a state that's transitioning to renewable energy, and getting off fossil gas, planning to import more? Viva Energy's proposed LNG import terminal is located in Corio Bay, 7km from Geelong and about 75km south-west of Melbourne. It includes a new floating terminal and extended pier to allow LNG cargo ships to dock and turn, and regasification and treatment plants to store and convert the LNG back into gas, to be fed into the network via a new 7km pipeline. Once built, the terminal will operate for about 20 years. As well the terminal, pier and pipeline infrastructure, the plan requires about 490,000 cubic metres of seabed to be dredged for cargo ship access. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter The site is located next to the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site, a wetland of international significance that regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds and contains seagrass beds that are a nursery for fish. Before it can proceed, the plan still has to gain approval under federal environmental laws, and other technical and heritage consents. Victoria uses a lot of gas – about 180PJ a year – with the largest share used in buildings, mostly for space heating. That demand is declining as homes and businesses switch from gas to renewable electricity, and as the share of renewable energy grows towards Victoria's target of 95% by 2035. But the Australian energy market operator (Aemo) is still expecting gas shortfalls in Victoria from 2029, due to dwindling gas supply from fields in Bass Strait, and as coal-fired power stations prepare to close. This leaves Victoria more heavily reliant on gas piped in from the north: New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. 'It's all interconnected,' says Monash University engineer Graham Palmer. 'But the peak demand for gas in winter is greater than what the pipelines can deliver from the north.' One solution to that gap is to use less gas, hesays, although the process of transitioning the state's 1.7m homes with gas heating to efficient electric alternatives would be likely to take many years. The other option in the short to medium term is to store more gas in Victoria, he says – or, as the terminal proposal will allow for, import it as LNG from other states. 'Unfortunately, we're going to be dependent upon gas for some time,' Palmer says. 'On the one hand, there's the motivation to get off all fossil fuels, but we can't do it instantly, and this is the challenge. 'People interested in climate change are trying to grapple with the challenge of trying to manage these trade-offs.' Kevin Morrison, an Australian gas analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, says the process of freezing gas into LNG and converting it back is inefficient and emissions intensive. Australia has plenty of gas, most of which is exported as LNG, Morrison says, and about 8% of the gas used to make LNG is consumed in the process of freezing the gas to liquefy it for export. 'The side-effect is that the whole LNG supply chain is much more emissions intensive, because you are using all this energy.' The Australian Industry Group said the import terminal's approval was a boost for industry in Victoria, particularly given reliance on gas as a fuel source. 'While overall state gas use is gradually shrinking, Victoria's heavy industry, in particular, relies on gas and there is real concern that gas supplies could run short in the state within a few years,' Ai Group's Victorian head, Tim Piper, said. 'We need an all-of-the-above energy strategy to avoid that. An import terminal is one important tool in the belt, along with expanded north-south pipelines, local supply development, alternative supply from renewable gas, and efficient electrification.' 'Renewable gas' usually refers to a mix of hydrogen and fossil gas. Conservation groups were disappointed by the decision and remain concerned about the effect on emissions and the environment. 'Investing in new gas infrastructure locks us into decades of emissions at a time when urgent climate action is needed,' Jane Spence, a spokesperson for Geelong Sustainability said. Rivers and nature campaign manager at Environment Victoria, Greg Foyster, said: 'As the electricity system shifts to renewable energy, fossil gas could become Victoria's biggest climate problem. The smartest solution remains helping households and businesses shift to efficient electric appliances.'
E&E News
17 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
Great Plains grid operator asks to fast-track power plants
Another U.S. regional grid operator is proposing a process to fast-track connection agreements for power plants, a process aimed at heading off a looming shortage of generating capacity by the end of the decade. Southwest Power Pool, which spans the wind-soaked corridor from Texas to the Canadian border, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week to approve its Expedited Resource Adequacy Study process to take effect in late July. Little Rock, Arkansas-based SPP is the latest grid operator to accelerate power plant additions. FERC earlier this year approved a request from PJM Interconnection to do the same. More recently, FERC rejected a proposal from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which plans to re-file a revised version next month. Advertisement The rationale for the requests by regional transmission operators is largely the same: legacy fossil fuel power plants are being shuttered and new renewable and natural gas-fired replacements are stuck in a traffic jam of projects waiting on studies for approval to plug into the bulk power grid.
BBC News
21 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Solar farm by M1 Watford Gap services approved
Plans to install more than 15,000 solar panels on farmland near the M1 Watford Gap services have been will be put on an 18-acre (7.3 hectare) field close to the service station, the A5 and existing Northamptonshire Council received no objections to the Walker, from developer PS Renewables, told the authority's planning committee it was "a relatively small solar farm comprising a single field". The meeting of the council's strategic planning committee on Tuesday heard the panels would have little visual impact due to warehousing and wind turbines in the backdrop, the Local Democracy Reporting Service built, the site could generate up to 6mw of renewable electricity, which the applicants advised would be enough to power 2,100 Walker told the committee: "The solar farm will contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in line with legal requirements - and will importantly be electricity generated in the UK for use in the UK."He added the site was not previously used for growing crops but instead held livestock, which would continue once the solar farm was operational in the form of sheep committee members voted unanimously to approve the project. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Singapore taps TotalEnergies-RGE JV for subsea link to import clean power from Indonesia
SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - A Singapore government-appointed company will develop a subsea interconnector with Singa Renewables, a joint venture between Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) and France's TotalEnergies ( opens new tab for low-carbon electricity imports from Indonesia. Singapore Energy Interconnections (SGEI), a company appointed by the Singapore government to oversee the development of interconnections to enable electricity imports into Singapore, said on Friday that it had inked a memorandum of understanding with Singa Renewables for the project. However, the companies did not give any financial details or say when the project would be completed in the statement. The companies said that the project supports Singapore's target of importing up to six gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035 and strengthens its partnership with Indonesia in contributing to realising the vision of the ASEAN Power Grid. In a separate statement, Singa Renewables said it has been granted conditional licence from Singapore's Energy Market Authority to import up to one gigawatt of solar photovoltaic energy from Indonesia to Singapore. Earlier this week, Singapore-headquartered bio-based resources and energy group RGE and TotalEnergies announced that Singa Renewables would develop a utility-scale solar and battery project in Indonesia's Riau Province.
