Europe on the cusp of CCS revolution
Energy Transition by S&P Global Commodity Insights
Latest #EnergyTransition news on lower carbon energy sources and its impact on commodity markets.
Energy transition highlights: Our editors and analysts bring you the biggest stories from the industry this week, from renewables to storage to carbon prices.
The emerging European carbon capture and storage industry is celebrating milestones as leading projects take final investment decisions and prepare to start operations in 2025.
Developers warn of sector uncertainty, however, with frequent calls for greater policy clarity and funding support.
Operations will start in 2025 at leading CO2 storage sites at Norway’s 1.5 million mt/year Northern Lights facility and possibly Denmark’s 400,000 mt/year Greensand store, marking a watershed moment in Europe’s energy transition as the technology is deployed commercially at scale for the first time.
A number of others have reached financial close. Construction of the 2.5 million mt/year Porthos facility in the Netherlands is already underway, and the 4 million mt/year Northern Endurance Partnership’s phase one CO2 store in the UK North Sea took FID in December, with construction to start in 2025.
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A likely re-issuance of South Korea's low-carbon hydrogen power generation tender, which was recently undersubscribed, would need sweeteners to draw in more bidders and help the government achieve its decarbonization goals, according to experts. Korea Power Exchange's 6,500-GWh, 15-year tenders launched in May under the Clean Hydrogen Energy Portfolio Standards, picked Korea Southern Power Co on Nov. 22 as the only preferred bidder, with a capacity award of 750 GWh/year, raising concerns over tender design.
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The planned Dutch national hydrogen pipeline network will not be completed until 2033, a delay of three years to previous plans, network developer Gasunie said. Obtaining permits for pipeline construction and operation was taking much longer than expected, and Gasunie has also run up against personnel constraints to deliver projects.
The Renewable Energy Agency of Nuevo Leon joined the World Bank's Hydrogen for Development initiative to deploy low-carbon hydrogen, increasing renewables requirements and potentially creating new demand for International Renewable Energy Certificates. The initiative, launched by the World Bank Group in November 2022, aligns with global efforts to promote low-carbon hydrogen deployment in developing countries.
Australia's energy ministry amended the Carbon Credits Rule 2015 on Dec. 20, bringing the Carbon Credits Amendment Rules 2024 into effect to enhance credibility and transparency in the country’s Carbon Credit Unit Scheme. Project data and information will be publicly available on the Clean Energy Regulator's website. The ACCU allows participants to earn an credit for every ton of carbon dioxide equivalent removed or avoided.
The announcement by industrial gases group Air Liquide that it will start up its first pilot ammonia cracker at the port of Antwerp in Belgium in Q1 2025 represents the beginning of the commercialization of ammonia cracking technologies. Ammonia cracking is expected to play an important role in both emerging low-carbon ammonia supply chains to major end-user markets in Europe, as well as potentially emerging as the marginal ton of electrolytic hydrogen supply close to major import hubs.
California reduced economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 22% in the 16 years after the state passed its landmark climate law in 2006, according to the latest California Green Innovation Index. The state reduced its total CO2 equivalent output by 2.4% between 2021 and 2022, according to an annual report card by climate and budget-focused think tank Next 10.