Tag Archives: chat
Funds Warn EU Energy Policy Is Not Investment Friendly
Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:01am EDT * Commission has issued 2030 policy discussion document * Debate on firm policy goals displaced by cost worries * Major investment decisions must be taken before 2020 By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS, June 27 (Reuters) – Pensions, insurers and other funds responsible for 7.5 trillion euros ($9.75 trillion) in assets said investment is likely to shun the European Union unless it can draw up new energy and climate policy before the end of the year. Representing more than 80 of Europe’s largest investors, including HSBC Investments, Mercer Global Investments Europe and the BT Pension Scheme, the group on Thursday urged the EU executive not to delay draft law on 2030 policy. “The longer the delay, the more investors will start to doubt Europe’s resolve to make its low carbon roadmap a reality,” Craig Mackenzie, head of sustainability at Scottish Widows Partnership, said in a statement. Mackenzie is also board director of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), which published its reaction to a European Commission document that launches the debate on how to follow climate and energy legislation after it runs out in 2020. Without detailed policies, long-term investment needed for the multi-year planning cycles of the energy sector might not be forthcoming, the IIGCC said, adding its members are much better able to provide that than short-term financial markets . The group helps to fund heavy industry, including chemicals and steel , as well as infrastructure for green energy. To upgrade networks to absorb higher levels of renewable energy, the Commission, the EU executive, has estimated around 1 trillion euros is needed by 2020 and that figure rises to 7 trillion euros over the next 40 years, the IIGCC said. Debate on the goals the Commission outlined early this year has been sluggish as financial crisis has prioritised cost, competitiveness and saving jobs over climate and energy policy. Uncertainty has been aggravated by the collapse of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the European Union’s carbon market, which is too weak to drive low carbon investment. The European Union has been unable to agree on a rescue plan, although the European Parliament will hold another vote to try to resolve the issue next week. The IIGCC wants structural reforms of the carbon market, as well as a 2030 goal for a 40 percent cut in carbon emissions compared with 1990 levels and a system to ensure investors always have a target 15 years ahead. To achieve 2030 goals, major investment decisions must be taken before 2020, the group said, adding substantial progress on new law was needed before 2014 to ensure that happens. In 2014, the European Union has a change of parliament and Commissioners, which creates a hiatus in the law-making process. Commission officials have acknowledged the need for urgency. They also hope 5.1 billion euros of EU money, set aside in the multi-annual budget for energy infrastructure, can lure further investment. “We want to be able to (by the end of year) get energy markets back on track by a stable political framework up to 2030 with as much commitment as we can,” Philip Lowe, a director general in the European Commission, said on the sidelines of a London conference. Continue reading
A Year After Carbon Pricing, Australia Greener And More Efficient
Details Category: Carbon Market 27 Jun 2013 Published on Thursday, 27 June 2013 Australia greener a year later after Carbon Pricing’s launch Australia is greener, more efficient, and has reduced its greenhouse gas emission only a year after Carbon Pricing was launched in the country, according to a report by the Australian Government. It was on July 1, 2012, that Carbon Pricing was launched by the government of Australia, imposing a price of $23.72 per metric ton of emitted carbon on some 300 companies. It was designed to ensure that climate change was addressed while still maintaining a strong economy. A year after Carbon Pricing was launched, the report titled “How’s Australia’s carbon price is working – one year on,” released by Australia’s Department of Indusrty, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, shows that the country has increased power generation from renewable sources, is more energy efficient, and has reduced its carbon emissions. Comparing the period of July 2012 to May 2013 to the same period of the previous year, there was an increase of 28.5 percent in the electricity generated by renewable sources and an increase of 5.6 percent power from gas and liquid resource. There was also a drop in electricity generated from black coal and brown coal, 4.2 percent and 13.3 percent respectively, from the previous period. The intensity of the emissions from the National Electricity Market also dropped to 0.88 emissions per megawatt hour from 0.92 emissions/MWh the very day Carbon Pricing was launched, and since then emissions/MWh from the National Electricity Market has been relatively low compared to the time when the carbon tax was not being imposed. This decrease in figures translates to the country reducing over 12 million tones of pollution from electricity generation. Carbon Pricing has also improved the country’s energy efficiency. In the 11-month period of July 2012 to May 2013, the amount of electricity sent out to the National Electricity Market went down by 2.4 percent. According to the report, this decrease in the amount of electricity sent out is due to households and businesses responding to higher power prices, being supported by the government to improve energy efficiency, and the initiative to install solar panels and solar water heaters on their roofs thereby reducing the use of electricity from the grid. In addition to the impacts that Carbon Pricing is having on the country, the government’s Clean Energy Future plan – a roadmap to secure clean energy future – is also moving the country towards a low carbon path. Under the Clean Energy Future plan, targets such as 20 percent of the country’s electricity is expected to come from renewable sources by 2020; major investments in clean energy technologies; reducing the energy use and pollution of manufacturing companies; reducing the pollution of farmers on the land; and programs that improve energy efficiency. – L. Polintan Continue reading
Bluefield Bets On UK Solar Potential With Market Debut Of Fund
By Christoph Steitz FRANKFURT | Tue Jun 25, 2013 (Reuters) – Asset management firm Bluefield Partners is betting that the solar industry has the potential to grow in Britain, while taking a beating elsewhere in Europe, benefiting from favourable laws and a relatively underdeveloped market. Bluefield, which specialises in buying and managing energy and infrastructure assets, plans to list the Bluefield Solar Income Fund ( IPO-BSI.L ) on the London Stock Exchange on July 12 to raise up to 150 million pounds for the acquisition of solar plants in Britain. “The UK is in its infancy compared to markets like Germany or Italy ,” James Armstrong, managing partner at Bluefield, said on Tuesday. “We’re just going into a market that has significant growth potential.” According to figures by European solar industry association EPIA, Britain’s cumulative solar installations more than doubled in 2012 to 1.83 gigawatts. This compared with 32.4 GW in Germany and 16.4 GW in Italy , where lavish incentives for solar power have led to soaring installations over the past few years. Demand in these markets is expected to drop sharply this year, however, as governments reduce the incentives and make investment in solar power less rewarding. Armstrong pointed to favourable legislation in Britain, which said in its updated renewable energy roadmap in late 2012 that its solar market had the potential for up to 20 GW by 2020. Bluefield’s fund aims to invest the proceeds from the initial public offering within 12 months to buy solar plants that it expects will provide stable annual levels of power generation with low operational costs. Armstrong said he expected the fund to grow to about 300 million to 400 million pounds in assets over the next two to three years. Bluefield has clinched deals with British power companies including British Gas Solar, the solar contracting unit of Centrica ( CNA.L ), for exclusive access to solar projects until April 2014. The Bluefield fund will finance solar projects but not build them, reducing its operational risk. Armstrong did not want to disclose plans for concrete investments after the IPO, saying only: “We have a deep and significant pipeline.” (editing by Jane Baird) Continue reading
