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Electricity Generation News

06 Feb 2024

Wind Power Outpaces Gas Plants in Europe

© New Africa / Adobe Stock

Wind power production outpaced gas plants in Europe for the first time last year as fossil fuel electricity generation plummeted, cutting the region's carbon emissions, data from think-tank Ember showed.Europe is ramping up its renewable electricity generation as part of efforts to wean the bloc off Russian fuels and to help meet its climate goal of net zero emissions by 2050.Europe's fossil fuel power generation fell by a record 19% year-on-year in 2023, with gas-fired electricity production down 15% and coal electricity production down 26% the report by Ember showed.At the same time wind pow

08 Jan 2024

IACS Launches New Piping Recommendation

© TawanSaklay / Adobe Stock

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has launched a new recommendation, 177, to enhance the quality of machinery piping systems in shipbuilding.Piping systems convey different fluids at various temperatures and pressures to all parts of the ship, including to nearly every enclosed space on a vessel. As such, and because these systems are a means through which many of a ship’s control systems operate, it is crucial that these systems are designed to…

07 Dec 2023

Carbon Capture Chasm Exposed at Climate Summit

Copyright VectorMine/AdobeStock

Carbon capture and storage has emerged as flashpoint at the UN climate conference in Dubai about how big a role it is destined to play in reaching the target of net zero emissions.It has also prompted an unusual and bad-tempered confrontation between senior officials at the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).In the run up to the conference, the IEA called on oil and gas producers to let go of "the illusion that implausibly…

23 Nov 2023

Coal Shipments to Advanced Economies Down 17%

Source: BIMCO

“In the first 10 months of 2023, coal shipments to advanced economies fell by 17% y/y, as demand for electricity declined and the share of electricity produced using renewable energy rose. Also slowed economic activity and high energy prices affected electricity demand,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Between January and August, electricity production in advanced economies fell by 4% y/y, according to data from the International Energy Agency. In 2023, measures against high inflation slowed economic growth in advanced economies.

06 Sep 2023

ABS Approves Bumi Armada's Floating Concept for Carbon Storage and Injection

Rendering  of the floating carbon storage and injection unit (FCSIU) – Courtesy of Bumi Armada

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has awarded Approval in Principle (AIP) for Bumi Armada’s pioneering design for a floating carbon storage and injection unit (FCSIU).Bumi Armada’s FCSIU concept is a floating terminal capable of storing and injecting liquified carbon dioxide (LCO2) into depleted oil and gas fields or aquifers. This novel concept incorporates the ability to accept LCO2 deliveries in an offshore setting, the flexibility to manage LCO2 at low or medium pressure…

28 Aug 2023

Erik Thun Unveils New Lake Vanern MAX Bulk Carrier Series

Source: Erik Thun Group

Sweden’s Erik Thun Group has unveiled its next generation battery-hybrid, dry cargo vessel series being built at Shipyard Ferus Smit in the Netherlands.The Lake Vanern Max is hybrid, with a battery pack for peak shaving and power smoothening, reducing the reliance on auxiliary engines for electricity generation. The vessel is designed to stay at anchor without using auxiliary engines. Shore connection enables clean and silent port operations and allows the vessel to shut down all engines onboard…

15 Aug 2023

Amogy Calls for Ammonia Incentives

Source: Amogy

In its recently published white paper, ammonia-to-power technology company Amogy calls for policy makers to provide clear incentives for the uptake of ammonia as a shipping fuel.The paper Ammonia as an Essential Energy Carrier for the Energy Transition states that shipowners currently lack investment support for zero carbon propulsion systems and technologies.In the US, strong progress is being made on clean ammonia production. According to International Energy Agency project data…

03 Jul 2023

First Test of Ammonia Fuel Cell System a Success

Rune Tveit, Project Manager and Caroline Stephansen, Manager Test & Assembly (Photo: Alma Clean Power)

Norway-based Alma Clean Power announced it has successfully tested the world's first 6 kW direct ammonia fuel cell system.Alma Clean Power is working to develop modularized Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) systems for applications in the ocean space, and it says the the 6-kW unit is the first building block of a complete 100-kW SOFC module. The test validates the company’s design of a direct ammonia fuel cell (DAFC) system, delivering electrical efficiency of 61-67%.“I am very proud of the Alma team and their remarkable achievements in just over a year of system development.

27 Jun 2023

VSM Campaigns for Ramp-up of German Maritime Industry

Copyright Photofex/AdobeStock

With a number of evolving maritime business opportunities intermixed with geo-political headwinds, VSM, which represents the interests of the German maritime industry as a whole, launched a campaign aimed at the federal government and the EU to understand and support the tremendous growth potential for all things maritime in Germany.According to a press notice from VSM, the tasks are enormous: economical and clean merchant ships, plants and ships for offshore renewable energy…

24 May 2023

Hanwha Completes Purchase of DSME

Hanwha Group Chairman Seung Youn Kim

The Hanwha Group has completed its take over of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), renaming it Hanwha Ocean.Hanwha Vice Chairman Kwon Hyuk-woong has been appointed as CEO of the shipyard.The Korea Times reports that DSME suffered a 1.6 trillion won operating loss last year and 1.7 trillion won the year before. During the first three months of this year, it suffered 62.8 billion won in operating losses.Hanwha has already established a network of businesses that address renewable energy.

27 Feb 2023

DNV, Partners Launch JIP to Assess Offshore Wind Installation Emissions

Fred. Olsen Windcarrier's Bold Tern arrives in Taiwan (Image care of Fred Olsen. Windcarrier)

The maritime classification society DNV has, with its partners, launched a joint industry program to establish a monitoring and reporting framework for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the offshore wind installation sector. The partners of the JIP called EMRED, comprise energy companies, ScottishPower Renewables, RWE, Vattenfall, and Orsted, and installation and operation companies, Jan De Nul Group, DEME, Ziton, Cadeler, Van Oord, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, and DNV."The expansion of renewable energy generation is a key part of the global energy transition.

24 Feb 2023

Pushing the Envelope: A H2 Project Highlights French Teamwork on Alt-Energy

Copyright Parradee/AdobeStock

At the Sea Tech Week Maritime Transport conference this past September, held in Brest, France, there was no shortage of big-picture, creative ideas pertaining to maritime shipping and alternative energy.One such project, called Seaguel, was presented as part of a larger discussion on hydrogen (H2) as maritime fuel. The full session was titled “Distributing Hydrogen from Offshore Wind Farms as a Fuel for Ships.” The topic was developed by France Energies Marines (FEM), a public-private R&D collaborative focused on offshore renewable energy.Right now…

07 Feb 2023

Maritime Transport: Fuels, Emissions and Sustainability

Copyright AdriFerrer/AdobeStock

International trade by sea has long been a key part of the world economy and approximately 90% of traded commodities is reliant on shipping. Once wind-propelled in the days of sail, the current generation of ships now heavily rely on fossil fuels. Fossil fuel propulsion contributes to global warming with carbon emissions approximating 940 MtCO2e per year and also has health implications for communities surrounding ports through the release of air pollutants. The environmental impact of fossil-fuelled engines is further compounded by their use in port infrastructure…

16 Jan 2023

US Offshore Wind: Our Interconnected Future

© Cavan / Adobe Stock

It will take a team effort that spans sectors and even industries to meet the United States’ goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, writes Greg Lennon, ABS Vice President, Global Offshore Wind.As the United States offshore wind (OSW) industry considers the Biden-Harris Administration’s 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 goal, it’s easy to be struck by the monumental scope of the task ahead. From constructing enough installations before the aggressive deadline to the myriad support vessels needed to achieve these goals…

29 Dec 2022

How Will Japan Resolve Shipping Insurance for Russian LNG imports?

Credit: Evgeny
/AdobeStock

Japan, the world's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, is facing its latest challenge in securing vital gas supplies from Russia after Western reinsurers said they would halt marine war insurance for ships travelling in Russian waters from Jan. 1.Having joined other G7 countries in imposing sweeping sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, Japan has been reducing its reliance on Russian oil and coal, but it continues to buy Russian LNG amid elevated prices in a tight…

11 Nov 2022

US Inland Waterways: Looking for Rainmakers

(Photo: Ingram Barge Company)

As 2022 moves into its final months, low water levels and drought form the basis of the news impacting inland waterways operators and barge companies. In the first week of October, numerous barges were reported grounded in the Mississippi River, particularly south of Baton Rouge. This has consequences: barge rates jumped 218% in St. Louis, compared to 2021.Low water was so severe that on October 7 Ingram Barge CEO John Roberts issued a force majeure notice (force majeure - unforeseeable…

23 Sep 2022

Greece's Sole LNG Terminal Ramps Up Imports to Replace Russian Gas

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Greece has cut Russian gas imports by more than half this year thanks to increased deliveries from other producers to its sole liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Athens, the country's gas grid operator said on Thursday.Greece has relied on Russia for about 40% of its gas needs for years but it has ramped up LNG purchases from other countries in line with a European Union plan to cut dependence on Russian energy. It has been receiving Russian gas via the Turkstream pipeline which also delivers to Hungary via Serbia.Its LNG facility on the Revithoussa islet…

18 Aug 2022

Next US Energy Boom Could Be Wind Power in the Gulf of Mexico

© Mosto / Adobe Stock

With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains US$370 billion for climate and energy programs, policy experts are forecasting a big expansion in clean electricity generation. One source that’s poised for growth is offshore wind power.Today the U.S. has just two operating offshore wind farms, off of Rhode Island and Virginia, with a combined generating capacity of 42 megawatts. For comparison, the new Traverse Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma has 356 turbines and a 998-megawatt generating capacity.

09 Feb 2022

Japan to Divert LNG to Europe Amid Russia-Ukraine Tensions

Japan will divert some liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Europe after requests from the United States and the European Union, the industry minister said on Wednesday, a step that aligns the country with the West as tensions flare with Russia.Concern has mounted over the possible disruption of supplies from Russia, Europe's biggest gas provider, following the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine and heightened tensions between Moscow and the West.The extra shipments are expected to arrive next month, minister Koichi Hagiuda told reporters."We have decided to respond to requests from the United States and EU for sending LNG to Europe, where gas supply is tight," Hagiuda said after separately meeting with the U.S.

05 Aug 2022

Rhine Water Level Falls Again in Germany, Raising Freight Costs

© Dynamoland / Adobe Stock

Water levels on the Rhine in Germany continue to fall in hot weather, sending shipping costs higher because vessels cannot sail on the river fully loaded, vessel brokers said on Friday.Freight shipping on the river continues but with vessels sometimes forced to sail 75% empty.Low Rhine water will also hit output from two German coal-fired power stations in the coming months.The water level is particularly low at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz. The reference waterline level at Kaub was only 56 centimeters on Friday…

13 May 2022

TotalEnergies Confirms U.S. Offshore Wind Award. Says Wind Farm Could Come Online by 2030

Credit: TotalEnergies

After the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced TotalEnergies and Duke Energy Corp as the winners of two offshore wind leases in federal waters off the coast of North and South Carolina on Wednesday, the confirmation came Friday from TotalEnergies, too.TotalEnergies has won the maritime lease area OCS-A 0545 as part of the Carolina Long Bay auction. This bid for the development of an offshore wind farm in the Carolina Long Bay area offshore North Carolina was won for a consideration of US$ 160 million by TotalEnergies.Located 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) from the coast…

18 Apr 2022

What to Expect from the US Offshore Wind Market This Year

Copyright Ian Dyball/AdobeStock

After many false starts, the U.S. offshore wind market is building strong roots for a solid future. But as the market develops from its current northeast and mid-Atlantic niche new opportunities and challenges arise.The U.S. offshore wind market has long been seen as not delivering on its significant potential. With an offshore wind technical potential of more than double that of the country’s total annual electricity sales, the U.S. has long been seen as having the potential to be a major player in the global offshore wind market.

22 Jul 2021

Japan's Power Plan to Rattle Australian Coal, LNG exporters

An LNG plant in Australia - Credit: 4680.photos/AdobeStock

Japan has been largely forgotten as a source of demand for energy commodities, overshadowed by the rapid rise of China, but the country's new electricity generation targets will shake the market up.For many years Japan has been viewed as a largely steady source of demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and thermal coal used in power generation, with small variations in the volumes imported on a year-by-year basis.But this comfortable situation for commodity producers supplying…