Europe must tackle the runaway gas prices
Kristian Ruby
Climate change, skyrocketing energy prices and the mounting inflation are looming large in everyone’s minds. The world is experiencing the worst crisis of the century.
Our economies are far too dependent on imported fossil fuels. And the consequences of this dependence are serious: security of supply is uncertain; consumers face high bills; government interventions provoke market disruptions, destabilising investor confidence…
Europe’s electricity industry is caught in the middle of a perfect storm.
Issues and challenges for the Energy Sector
Georgios Stamatelopoulos
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Monitoring 10 wind turbine gear oils online – Cleanliness and oil degradation by inline sensors
Steffen D. Nyman and Morten Henneberg
We have known for decades that clean oil will improve system reliability and uptime, as well as prolonging component and oil life in service. This is especially top of mind for wind turbine owners and operators. Oil analysis are used to predict failure and hinder unscheduled downtime. However, the oil analysis mainly show the status at the specific time of the sample, and it is difficult to ensure the sample is completely representative. The oil cleanliness in a wind turbine gearbox (WTG) is hugely affected by load, idle or standstill, and only sampling every 6 months makes the trending even more inaccurate.
Wind farm managers equipped for expansion in the energy transition: 24/7 control room meets the highest usability and ergonomic standards
wpd windmanager
With the planned capacity expansions for renewable energies in Germany, the tasks for companies in the renewable energy industry are multiplying. This also affects wpd windmanager GmbH & Co.KG, which currently manages 507 wind farms and 78 solar farms worldwide with a total output of 6,011 MW as technical and commercial operations manager. The company became active at an early stage in order to effectively counter the development in the wind energy and solar sectors and the associated expansion of its own portfolio. A few years ago, the company had a control room installed that meets the growing demands for usability and ergonomics. The decisive benefit: an automatic source activation by the PixelDetection software ensures that the operator is proactively alerted to malfunctions.
Digital maintenance management
Eckhardt + Partner
E-charging infrastructures, PV and wind power plants, transformers, storage facilities – increasing complexity and location expansion of objects challenge project developers in the energy sector: The path to a successful energy transition is paved with numerous maintenance points. The path to a successful energy transition is paved with numerous maintenance points. Only timely maintenance of technical elements prevents damage or penalties. Excelation: assets enables immediate documentation of all tasks performed and reminders of upcoming deadlines. The practice-oriented digital solution makes it easier for project managers and inspectors to organise, control, communicate and document due maintenance work and all inspection dates Via PC or app, they direct technicians, keep up to date with all facts about plants, vehicles and objects – and keep an eye on costs.
Intrusion detection for ICS as a service
Sascha Jäger
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Fit for CCUS – Overview of politics, technology and market
Aleksandra Würfel
If the European climate neutrality goals and their achievement are to be taken seriously, then we are in the decade that is the signpost for this cross-industry transformation. This creates the need for low-carbon technologies such as Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) to be anchored in EU legislation today. The CCUS potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be used across industries, sectors and countries, and the development of technologies and the necessary legal framework for CCUS must be promoted. Especially in the EU Green Deal, EU taxonomy and EU ETS frameworks that will be important for the next few decades, market regulations that can create economic incentives for CCUS and thus the production of negative emissions must be formulated.
Analysis of waste residence times in a waste incineration power plant
Henriette Garmatter and Roland Scharf
The heterogeneity of waste poses a challenge for incineration in waste-to-energy plants. New analytical methods are therefore being developed to collect information on the heterogeneous waste properties already during waste feed and before incineration. In order to relate this information to measurement data collected later during operation, the residence time of the waste in the feed system and on the incineration grate must be known. , by means of which both the total residence time and the residence time in the feed system and on the grate can be determined experimentally.
The potential role of ammonia in a clean energy transition
Qian Zhu
Some properties of ammonia make it suitable for use as an energy storage medium, a hydrogen carrier and as a fuel. Ammonia is the second most produced chemical in the world. Technologies for production, safe handling, transport and storage of ammonia are mature and global supply and distribution infrastructure already exists. Therefore, ammonia could form the basis of an integrated energy storage and distribution solution, and be a low-carbon fuel for power generation, transport and industrial processes as well as a valuable feedstock to produce fertiliser, explosives, pharmaceuticals and textiles. The challenges and opportunities of ammonia fuel use, the potential CO2 emission reductions that can be achieved including life cycle analysis are discussed, and the impacts of firing/cofiring ammonia on electricity costs are analysed.
Cybercrime in Germany:
The malware is available in the online store
Esther Ecke
Critical infrastructures were again heavily targeted by cybercriminals in 2021. This is one of the findings of the Federal Criminal Police Office‘s (BKA) „Cybercrime“ 2021 situation report, which has now been presented. Another finding: Ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly dangerous. The browser is the number one gateway for ransomware and other malware. The best protection against such attacks from the Internet is a virtual browser. A virtual browser allows you to surf the Internet without hackers gaining access to corporate networks.
Power Plants - Reducing Environmental Impact and Optimising Operating Costs with Mobile Reverse Osmosis
Lisa Bloss
As high water quality is essential for power generation, power plant operators are increasingly looking for ways to optimise the use of water in steam and cooling circuits. However, the introduction of new technologies can bring challenges, such as disruption to plant operations and significant expense. It will be shown how mobile reverse osmosis units, which are integrated into the process upstream of the operator’s desalination plants, help minimise potential water treatment problems and simplify the implementation process.
Decision-making aid for project managers: Which material is suitable for applications in aggressive environments?
Technoform
Under extreme conditions, such as those found in flue gas cleaning in power plants and industrial facilities, materials must reliably and permanently maintain their mechanical properties despite chemical and thermal stresses. The challenge for project managers is to select the right material that meets all requirements and also offers the best possible price-performance ratio.
Editorial
Kristian Ruby
Secretary General of Eurelectric, Brussel
Europe must tackle the runaway gas prices
Climate change, skyrocketing energy prices and the mounting inflation are looming large in everyone’s minds. The world is experiencing the worst crisis of the century.
Our economies are far too dependent on imported fossil fuels. And the consequences of this dependence are serious: security of supply is uncertain; consumers face high bills; government interventions provoke market disruptions, destabilising investor confidence…
Europe’s electricity industry is caught in the middle of a perfect storm.
The Russian storm
Russia’s manipulation of gas supplies has disrupted the electricity markets. Wholesale prices reached 405 €/MWh in August, a 532 % increase from January 2021. Retail prices have mirrored the increase, new contracts in capital cities having increased by 84 % during this period.
Policymakers are facing pressure to control the runaway prices and alleviate the pressure on consumers. Several EU Member States have opted for VAT reductions, energy vouchers and incentives to increase the energy efficiency of household heating systems. These are the measures with the highest direct impact on consumer bills.
But further interventions are now coming. The European Commission has recently tabled a regulation which enables a cap on the revenues of inframarginal electricity generators – hoping to collect EUR 117 billion, mostly from those who have made the right choices for the energy transition. This amount is out of proportion.
Instead of tackling the root cause of the crisis, the astronomical trading price of imported gas, policymakers make fighting the symptoms instead: wholesale electricity prices. Eurelectric encourages policymakers to consider capping the imported gas price to counter its knock-on effects across the economy.
The dispatchable generation storm
Europe’s clean dispatchable fleet is experiencing a historical period of stress. Nuclear generation has dropped by 33 TWh this year, as 31 of the 56 French nuclear reactors are out due to maintenance and repairs.
Hydropower generation has also shrunk by 37 TWh this year, amid reduced reservoir levels. Extreme drought is not only taking a toll on our crops and comfort, but also on the power sector. The situation is more acute in Southern Europe, where countries turn to reservoirs to serve agricultural production. But continental Europe has not been spared. In July, Austria’s hydropower produced 33 % less electricity than last year’s average.
Europe needs all its generation assets to ensure a reliable and continuous electricity supply, while accelerating its decarbonisation agenda. Firm, dispatchable clean capacities are without any doubt required to balance the system. Eurelectric’s pre-war scenarios have assessed the need to ramp up capacities by 62 % by the end of the decade – including 16 GW of addi-tional hydropower.
By 2030 the EU plans to deploy 753 GW of additional renewables – the equivalent of 80 % of its total installed capacity – to ensure an af-fordable, carbon neutral, independent supply. A war time effort is needed to increase the domestic power generation. Cutting the red tape is a must since 90 GW are stuck in permitting – 80 % of planned wind capacity awaiting approval.
Investment hurdles
Annual investment in generation must reach EUR 84 billion, while distribution networks require EUR 38 billion. The energy transition is capital intensive, but the benefits that stem from it are immense: energy independence; carbon-neutral domestic electricity production; en-ergy savings through improved efficiency.
Investments must continue, yet regulatory uncertainty in troubled market. Forward markets are already struggling, amid the high rise in collaterals reflecting the volatile energy prices. Policymakers must urgently take measures to transition towards more flexible collateral standards, while immediate credit lines are needed to mitigate the impact on generators and ensure continuous investment in decarbonised electricity sources.
Inflation is biting in the supply chains. The global average cost of solar PVs grew by 16 % and those of wind turbines by 9 %, as the price of raw materials critical for energy transi-tion technologies has registered a marked increase. Lithium was 738 % pricier in 2021 than in 2020, while cobalt rose by 156 %, nickel by 94 %, aluminium by 76 % and copper by 34 %.
Europe’s common problems require common solutions. The challenge is to balance these short-term interventions with the long-term decarbonisation policies. In doing so, the EU must avoid lock-in effects and the creation of new dependencies.
Electrification: bridging Europe’s energy security
Europe’s energy security is under threat. Energy savings are needed to counter Russia’s offensive against EU’s economy, which relies on Russia for about half of its gas needs, and a quarter of its oil and petroleum needs.
The progressive decrease in Russian gas flows and the potential complete halt of supplies has prompted the EU to find solutions for the heating season. A mandatory target of 80 % filling levels of gas supply storage has been established, and already met. But the price paid for this achievement is not insignificant.
In addition, Member States must devise plans to reduce demand by 15 %. This measure is instrumental in ensuring that Europe can overcome the heating season, with little to no disruptions. Without moderation measures, Eurelectric’s Power Barometer has shown that Europe’s gas storage are likely to be depleted by March, in the event of a complete halt of Russian supplies by 1 November. This will impact the security of supply for the coming winter and prolong the supply crisis.
Similarly, electricity demand reduction plans are being explored. The European Commission called on Member States to cut the use of electricity by 5 % during peak hours and 10 % overall. This is a necessary measure, considering the drop in gas supplies and the limited of generation assets.
But, going forward, electrification rates must grow significantly. Supported by domestic clean generation capacities, electrification has the potential to replace the use of gas and petroleum for heating, in-dustry, and transport needs. Europe can be independent, energy efficient and carbon neutral if it speeds up the uptake of renewables, EVs and heat pumps.