Energy security

Rotating blackouts could be imminent due to extreme weather, high winds

Rotating blackouts could be imminent and more power shutoffs might be needed Tuesday and Wednesday due to extreme heat and high winds, energy officials warned.

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) declared a Stage 2 emergency order Saturday around 6 p.m., meaning that rotating blackouts throughout the state could be expected if people didn’t conserve energy from 3 to 9 p.m. The grid operator had previously issued a Flex Alert, asking customers to conserve energy from Saturday to Monday during a statewide heat wave in order to not overpower the grid system. The conservation of energy helps the power grid maintain reliability during the heat wave, according to ISO.

The ISO said the grid system is strained due to a loss of 1,600 megawatts of power — roughly equivalent to the amount electricity to power 1.2 million homes. The loss of power was from a combination of fires, high temperatures and load on the system. After 9 p.m., the ISO reported there were no blackouts.

PG&E also warned customers Saturday that a “Public Safety Power Shutoff,” might be needed Monday and Tuesday to help prevent wildfire danger. The warning is due to an offshore wind event expected late Monday night through Wednesday morning, the public utility announced Saturday afternoon. 

Energy security

Oil Industry Is Fading Away in Land of the World’s Richest Reserves

Venezuela’s oil industry—rich in reserves, a crucial Allied resource in World War II, a founding member of OPEC—is grinding toward a halt.

Venezuela has greater oil stores than any other country. But after years of corruption, mismanagement and more recently U.S. sanctions, its oil output has dropped to a tenth of what it was two decades ago.

From Lake Maracaibo in the west to the Orinoco oil belt in the east, abandoned wells rust in the sun as looters scavenge the metal. The last drilling rig still working in Venezuela shut down in August. The country is on course, by the end of this year, to be pumping little more oil than the state of Wyoming.

“Twenty percent of the world’s oil is in Venezuela, but what good is it if we can’t monetize it?” said Carlos Mendoza, an ambassador under the late socialist president Hugo Chávez, who enjoyed an oil bonanza when prices were high but starved the industry of investment and maintenance funds.

Energy security

Leningrad II-2 reaches minimum controlled power

Announcing the milestone yesterday, Rosenergoatom, the operator subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said the commercial launch of the sixth VVER-1200 had started on 19 July when the first fresh fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor core, and that its commercial launch was scheduled for 2021.

"Minimum controlled power is the lowest capacity level that enables us to conduct a number of tests and to verify the physical parameters of the reactor core to make sure it complies with the project requirements," Alexander Belyaev, the chief engineer at the Leningrad NPP-2, said. "Once these operations are completed and the associated calculations are submitted to [regulator] Rostechnadzor, we will have to obtain a power start-up licence and to start gradual power ramp-up."

During this week, over 50 tests will take place at the unit in accordance with the physical launch schedule. Those reviews will help to specify the neutron-physical parameters of the nuclear reactor’s first fuel loading and confirm that all the nuclear safety systems are working in a reliable manner.

Energy security

Oak Ridge developing 3D-printed nuclear reactor core

The US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core prototype, with the ultimate goal of the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) Demonstration Program being to create an advanced, full-sized, 3D-printed reactor with integrated sensors and controls from fewer components by 2023.

According to the World Nuclear Energy Association, the United States has 98 nuclear reactors operating in 30 states providing 20 percent of the nation's energy supply without generating carbon emissions. Unfortunately, most of the reactors are based on half-century-old technology with only one new reactor being built in the last 20 years and many facing retirement in the next two decades as their licenses expire.

Replacing these reactors will be extremely difficult and expensive for a number of reasons, but the biggest is that American commercial reactors have traditionally been large civil engineering projects that use one-off designs that take decades to design, develop, build, demonstrate, test, gain official approval, and bring online.

Energy security

German Government will continue to support companies participating in Nord Stream 2

The Federal Government of Germany continues to have a positive attitude towards the Nord Stream 2 project, expects its completion and will continue to provide political support to the companies participating in it, according to the statement published on Monday on its website.

According to the statement, the German government still positively evaluates the Nord Stream 2 project. From its point of view, it is primarily a commercial project. The government is currently not aware of how the project will be implemented technically, but it assumes that Nord Stream 2 will be completed. The government will continue to provide political support to the companies participating in the project, the statement said.

Germany’s authorities do not believe that slowing down the construction of the pipeline threatens Germany’s energy security. Berlin stated once again that they fundamentally reject US extraterritorial sanctions against Nord Stream 2, but they do not intend to bill Washington for slowing down the project.

Energy security

Saudi Arabia's Oil Tanker Flotilla Is Reaching The U.S., Despite Some Objections

A flotilla of Saudi tankers loaded with crude oil has begun arriving on the U.S. Gulf Coast, worrying American shale producers who face uncertainty because of an oversupply of oil.

At least 18 very large crude carriers, each carrying 2 million barrels of oil, are headed to the U.S., according to Michelle Wiese Bockmann, markets editor and oil analyst for Lloyd's List, a shipping news service in London.

The first tanker, the Dalian, arrived last Friday and is floating off the coast of Houston and has yet to discharge any of its cargo, according to Lloyd's shipping tracking. The last one is due to arrive at the end of May.

All the ships were loaded in eastern Saudi Arabia in late March and early April, Wiese Bockmann says.

The surge in Saudi oil shipments comes amid an oil glut and an estimated 30% drop in global demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. It also adds to tanker congestion at U.S. ports, as fuel storage runs short. American oil producers and senators are pressuring the Trump administration to block the shipments.

Energy security

The United States, Oil Market, Russia and the Arab World

Man prefers to rule primarily because genetic traits and material evidence hold and compel it. The division of societies is due to his decisions.  On the other hand, guidance from time to time is causing maturity in its manners. It also helps in the aggressive occupation of human life from objects. The variability of hormones in the human body varies according to the geographical elements. From the 13th to the 18th century, such people performed many feats.  Circumstances and events made these hormones such that the search for dry shores from the sea began to determine destinations. Hormonal variability reduces the element of consistency in their destinations. All the changing factors from the passage to the passer-by are the reasons for their increase in difficulties. 

In these two great cultural powers, along with genes, the boundaries of regions also have a profound effect. Easterners are adherents of the doctrines of reconciliation and sentimentality, while Westerners are adherents of the doctrine of materialism and individualism.  Under Western society, people migrated in search of permanence (family system) and materialism, which made him an explorer of land and beaches, freeing him from the turmoil of the seas and the storms of gravity. The stillness and utility of the interior gave him a distinct name.  The pirates and looters were so busy preparing to become the Maharaja of the land that new inventions caught up with them. This skill extended their reach to the dry shores. 

Energy security

U.S. Ban On Saudi Oil Could Force Riyadh To Reroute 40 Million Barrels

Saudi Arabia may be forced to reroute tankers carrying some 40 million barrels of crude oil to the United States if President Trump goes through with a threat to ban imports, Reuters has reported, citing shipping data and unnamed sources.

There have been reports that Washington is discussing a ban on Saudi imports of crude oil or impose tariffs to stem the decline in U.S. oil prices. When President Trump first floated the idea of oil import tariffs, it was taken as a threat to large oil exporters to the U.S. such as Saudi Arabia to finally reach an output cut agreement with their partners in OPEC+. Now, the stakes are higher.

According to Reuters’ sources, Saudi Arabia had first tried to seek storage options for the oil now at sea. Many tanker owners, however, were unwilling to agree to such a change in plans as it would have meant stranding tankers, with the prospects of finding a buyer quickly grim.

Aramco “offers its larger customers with refineries in multiple regions of the world optionality to take their crude purchases from Aramco into the region,” the company told Reuters in a statement. “Changes in ship destinations are routine in the course of our business, particularly in a company of our scale.”

Energy security

This Trend Will Reshape Power Generation In The Coming Decades

The decarbonization of electricity production around the world today may be seen as part of a technological shift. Everyone wants electricity or its immediate benefits like cell phone charging. And until relatively recently, most consumers didn’t care how it was produced as long as it was affordable and accessible. But environmental or political movements aside, we are also witnessing a technological shift. The production of electricity on a commercial or wholesale scale is moving away from big-and-complicated machines and systems to small-and-less complicated forms of production. This implies no more gigantic projects that take 10 years to complete with costs that tally into the tens of billions. What’s interesting is that we seem to be witnessing a reversal of the idea of economies of scale with respect to both production of electricity as well as the optimal size of the distribution grid itself. This seems like a fairly radical departure that may shape the industry for decades.

Energy security

Nuclear industry’s response to Covid-19 outbreak

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis has led to a slowdown of the economic growth of countries across the world. The global pandemic has called for considerable measures to be taken in every aspect of life worldwide. The coronavirus spread has affected numerous industries and the global economy. One such industry is the power sector, which has witnessed a visible impact in the last two months. The electricity demand curve has taken a new shape in the affected regions.

During this ongoing Covid-19 crisis, apart from fossil fuel and renewable power technologies, nuclear reactors are also playing a crucial role in a number of countries in maintaining electricity supplies. Nuclear technology is a major baseload power-generating source and accounted for 10.3% of global power generation in 2019. The nuclear power sector is growing in many countries as demand for electricity increases. Some 31 countries are currently operating nuclear reactors for their electricity generation. Countries with significant nuclear power capacity are: the US, France, Japan, China, Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, Canada, and Ukraine, with more than 10 gigawatts (GW) of cumulative installed capacity each. Germany, the UK, Sweden, Spain, India, and Belgium have 5GW-10GW cumulative installed nuclear power capacity each.

Energy security

Saudi oil industry face huge risks as American, European refiners refusing Riyadh's crude

Oil prices collapsed to their lowest levels in decades in March amid coronavirus concerns and OPEC+’s failure to reach a deal on production cuts, which prompted Riyadh and its allies to open the taps.

Refineries in the United States and Europe are rejecting to accept any more Saudi oil, even at discounted prices, owing to a crude glut and lack of storage space, the Wall Street journal has reported, citing Saudi officials and oil traders.

Gulf Agency Company Ltd, a Dubai-based maritime logistics company, says buyers in India have also cut back on Saudi crude as that country has gone into lockdown to try to slow the spread of COVID-19. According to the company’s sources, at least 52 Indian ports have invoked a force majeure amid the outbreak, allowing them to cancel orders without incurring penalties.

Traders also told the WSJ that Russia – the oil exporter whose market share Saudi Arabia has been most keen to capture, has been able to compensate some of the decline in exports to Europe by redirecting them to China, a country where demand has been enjoying a slow recovery amid that country’s efforts to fight the pandemic.

Energy security

Is the U.S. Also to Blame in the Oil Price War?

The Saudi-initiated oil price war has sparked a virulent reaction from some U.S. lawmakers, who accused Riyadh of waging “economic warfare” on the United States and threatened a host of potential reprisals, from economic sanctions to a halt to U.S. assistance for Saudi Arabia.

The problem is that the United States is probably as responsible as anyone for the plunge in oil prices. No country has added more oil to the global glut in recent years than the United States—and despite the recent plunge in crude prices, U.S. producers are still increasing output. That gives Moscow and Riyadh zero reason to swallow a financial hit on their own by lowering their own production levels, which in the meantime just increases the pain for all.

Nonetheless a half-dozen leading Republican senators wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week, lamenting that America’s energy sector “is now under direct threat from a country that professes to be our ally.”

Energy security

US report identifies nuclear workforce trends

The 2020 US Energy & Employment Report (USEER), prepared under a Memorandum of Understanding between NASEO and the EFI clean energy think-tank, identifies important trends and skill sets for the USA's energy workforce. The report was first published in 2016 and 2017 by the US Department of Energy. EFI and NASEO have since 2018 organised and implemented USEERs to provide continuity with the previous editions and to provide year-to-year comparisons.

The report is intended to inform policymakers, academic decision-makers and the private sector in developing integrated energy, security, economic development and workforce plans.

"This kind of integration is key to maximising the benefits of the nation’s abundant energy resources, rapid pace of energy innovation, and dynamic energy markets … Creating a single and consistent measure of employment across the entire US energy system is critical to that understanding," the two organisations said.

The 2020 USEER analyses five sectors of the US economy: fuels; energy efficiency; motor vehicles; electric power generation; and transmission, distribution and storage. Nuclear industry employment falls into two of those sectors - electric power generation (EPG) and fuels. EPG covers all utility and non-utility employment across electric generating technologies, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewable energy technologies. Also included in the employment totals for EPG are firms engaged in facility construction, turbine and other generation equipment manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and wholesale parts distribution for all generation technologies.

Energy security

Saudi Arabia And The U.S. Could Form The World’s Newest Oil Cartel

The United States and Saudi Arabia have been discussing the idea of setting up an oil accord, Bloomberg reports, citing Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. Such an agreement would effectively amount to a cartel, which, by definition, is a group of independent market participants agreeing to act together to influence the market in a way favorable to them.

For now, however, this is just an idea that some officials in the Trump administration support. The chance of it becoming anything more is unclear, according to Brouillette.

“There are many, many ideas that are floated around the policy space, that is one of them,” the U.S. Energy Secretary told Bloomberg in an interview. 

“I don’t know that it is going to be presented in any formal way.”

The U.S. oil industry has suffered a heavy blow from the combination of the coronavirus outbreak and the price war that Saudi Arabia started after Russia refused to cooperate on deeper production cuts. Producers are slashing spending plans, suspending share buybacks, and some have already asked oilfield service providers for substantial discounts to their services.

Energy security

Why Russia and Vladimir Putin are waging an oil war with America

...Beyond the market share battle, analysts said that Russia could be retaliating for Washington's recent campaign of energy sanctions -- penalties made possible by the shale oil revolution.
For instance, just three weeks ago the Trump administration announced sanctions against a subsidiary of Rosneft in response for its support of the Maduro regime of Venezuela.
"Russia's strategy seems to be targeting not simply US shale companies -- but the coercive sanctions policy that American energy abundance has enabled," Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients Monday.
Croft said that Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft and a close Putin confidante, appears to have convinced Moscow to take on the US shale industry.
"Like Putin, Sechin hails from the Russian intelligence services and is a strong nationalist," Croft wrote. "Undercutting American energy dominance therefore most likely appeals not only to his bottom line but also to his ideological affinities."

Energy security


The countries building miniature nuclear reactors

Huge computer screens line a dark, windowless control room in Corvallis, Oregon, where engineers at the company Nuscale Power hope to define the next wave of nuclear energy. Glowing icons fill the screens, representing the power output of 12 miniature nuclear reactors. Together, these small modular reactors would generate about the same amount of power as one of the conventional nuclear plants that currently dot the United States – producing enough electricity to power 540,000 homes. On the glowing screens, a palm tree indicates which of the dozen units is on “island mode”, allowing a single reactor to run disconnected from the grid in case of an emergency.

This control room is just a mock-up, and the reactors depicted on the computer screens do not, in fact, exist. Yet Nuscale has invested more than $900m (£685m) in the development of small modular reactor (SMR) technology, which the company says represents the next generation of nuclear power plants.

Energy security

Putin just sparked an oil price war with Saudi Arabia — and US energy companies may be the victims

Vladimir Putin just sparked what could end up being one of the ugliest oil price wars in modern history, and American oil and gas companies may be the victims.

This weekend Saudi Arabia dropped the oil bomb. It not only cut its forward crude price to Chinese customers by as much as $6 or $7 per barrel, but is also reportedly looking to raise its daily crude output by as many as 2 million barrels per day  into an already oversupplied global market. Look out below.  

The move by the Saudis is both a market share grab and a loud signal to Moscow that it’s done playing games.  The dramatic action is in response to a contentious, and ultimately failed, OPEC meeting in Austria on Friday. OPEC members laid out a proposal to further cut oil output quotas by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day. 

Energy security

New green technology generates electricity 'out of thin air'

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a device that uses a natural protein to create electricity from moisture in the air, a new technology they say could have significant implications for the future of renewable energy, climate change and in the future of medicine.

As reported today in Nature, the laboratories of electrical engineer Jun Yao and microbiologist Derek Lovley at UMass Amherst have created a device they call an "Air-gen." or air-powered generator, with electrically conductive protein nanowires produced by the microbe Geobacter. The Air-gen connects electrodes to the protein nanowires in such a way that electrical current is generated from the water vapor naturally present in the atmosphere.

"We are literally making electricity out of thin air," says Yao. "The Air-gen generates clean energy 24/7." Lovely, who has advanced sustainable biology-based electronic materials over three decades, adds, "It's the most amazing and exciting application of protein nanowires yet."

The new technology developed in Yao's lab is non-polluting, renewable and low-cost. It can generate power even in areas with extremely low humidity such as the Sahara Desert. It has significant advantages over other forms of renewable energy including solar and wind, Lovley says, because unlike these other renewable energy sources, the Air-gen does not require sunlight or wind, and "it even works indoors."

Energy security

Is This The Death Knell For Nuclear?

It’s nearly impossible to discuss climate change and the future of the energy industry without discussing nuclear energy. Nuclear energy produces zero carbon emissions, it’s ultra-efficient, it’s already in widespread use, and could be scaled up to meet much more of our global energy needs with relative ease, but it is, and will likely always be, an extremely divisive solution.

For all its virtues, nuclear energy certainly has its fair share of drawbacks. It may not emit greenhouse gases, but what it does produce is deadly nuclear waste that remains radioactive for up to millions of years and we still don’t really know what to do with it other than hold onto it in ever-growing storage spaces. And then there are the horror stories that keep civilians and politicians alike wary if not outright antagonistic toward the technology. Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island loom large in our collective doomsday consciousness, and not without good reason.

We’re still dealing with the aftermath of these nuclear disasters. Japan is in many ways still reeling from 2011’s Fukushima nuclear disaster and recently even threatened to throw radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean or letting it evaporate into the air because they are running out of storage space for the wastewater they have been using to keep the damaged Fukushima reactors from overheating again. So yeah, nuclear isn’t perfect.

Because of all of these reasons, as well as financial burden, nuclear energy has been on the decline in much of the world (with some notable exceptions in the nuclear-friendly administrations in China and Russia).

Energy security

Victor Davis Hanson: Chaos in Europe – It's tricky being world's largest importer of gas, oil and critic, too

Despite its cool Green parties and ambitious wind and solar agendas, Europe remains by far the world’s largest importer of oil and natural gas.

Oil output in the North Sea and off the coast of Norway is declining, and the European Union is quietly looking for fossil fuel energy anywhere it can find it.

Europe itself is naturally rich in fossil fuels. It likely has more reserves of shale gas than the United States, currently the world’s largest producer of both oil and natural gas. Yet in most European countries, horizontal drilling and fracking to extract gas and oil are either illegal or face so many court challenges and popular protests that they are neither culturally nor economically feasible.

The result is that Europe is almost entirely dependent on Russian, Middle Eastern and African sources of energy.

The American-Iranian standoff in the Middle East, coupled with radical drop-offs in Iranian and Venezuelan oil production, has terrified Europe — and for understandable reasons.