Tag Archives for price
EU Power Generators Warn Plan to Cut Use of Coal May Backfire
STAFF REPORTS
Bloomberg
NEW YORK — A group representing power generators across the European Union warned that the bloc’s plans to limit the use of coal may backfire, encouraging utilities to seek returns on new fossil-fuel plants instead of putting money into clean energy.
European Commission is considering a law that would effectively block many coal-fired plants from getting support payments under the region’s capacity market, which is intended to ensure steady supplies of electricity when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.
https://about.bnef.com/blog/eu-power-generators-warn-plan-to-cut-use-of-coal-may-backfire/
Met coal outlook
This Coalhub report forecasts met coal prices will remain low and then “rebalance” between 2017-2019.
The latest quarterly contract settlement of $93/t is expected to shake up the market. Seaborne met. coal exports are forecast to fall this year, due to reductions from US, Australia and Canada.
Chinese import demand is forecast to fall in 2015 and 2016, which will prevent a significant price recovery.
Average unit metallurgical coal costs are projected to fall by an average 19% y/y in 2015. However, further cost reductions will be difficult to achieve.
Offshore UK wind farms increasingly expensive and unreliable
A December 2013 Telegraph article describes the growing costs and rapid drop offs in generation capacity being experienced at offshore wind farms in the UK
… due to wear and tear on their mechanisms and blades, the amount of electricity they generate very dramatically falls over the years; so that a turbine that initially produces on average at 25 per cent of its “capacity” can degrade over 15 years to produce less than 5 per cent. With offshore turbines, the effects of weather and salt corrosion are so damaging that output falls from 45 per cent to barely 12 per cent.
Wind PTC described as “energy socialism”
Thomas Stacy’s comments on wind energy in Ohio are anything but flattering.
The industry’s lobbying association, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), knows LOW VALUE is the real problem with wind, but cleverly turns our attention to “still high, but steadily declining costs” as the reason the industry needs the PTC to continue year after year after year.
They quite insincerely claim that, “Soon we won’t need the PTC, but today we still do.” Knowing full well lowering cost is not the answer. You see the wind PTC doesn’t pay for the wind industry to fix the fuel supply intermittency problem.
Robert Bryce: It’s Not ‘All of the Above’ After All
Robert Bryce, who was the keynote speaker at the ACC 2010 Coal Market Strategies Conference in Tucson, AZ, has a new NationalReview.com article describing the recent EPA GHG rule proposal. Bryce argues that the proposed rule is a wasteful and damaging sham that fails on a variety of fronts. He focuses on two reasons in his NRO article;
- Coal is an “essential” fuel, both here and around the world, and
- Even a complete sacrifice of U.S. economic well being and competitive advantage – in the form of shutting all coal-fueled generation – would have no impact on worldwide CO2 emissions.
Greenpeace co-founder blasts wind as a “destroyer of wealth and negative to the economy”
Greenpeace co-founder, Dr. Patrick Moore sounded off on the wind industry on Wednesday. Speaking at the University of Guelph, Moore castigated the industry in Ontario as “a destroyer of wealth and negative to the economy”, given that it takes jobs from the economy and increases electricity prices. If it weren’t for the generous subsidies and direct payments the renewables industry receives, Moore claimed there would not be any wind farms in the province of Ontario.
They are ridiculously expensive and don’t work half the time … And no matter how many are built, they won’t replace coal, gas or hydro or nuclear plants, because they are continuous and wind is not always reliable.
Grid reliability problems predicted for Texas & New England
The recently published NERC long-term reliability assessment findings indicate that changing fuel prices and a host of new EPA regulations could “threaten the stability of power grids in Texas and New England within the next decade.”
NERC projected that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ on-peak planning reserve margin in 2021 will be more than 5% below the recommended 15% level and said the situation in ISO New England will be only marginally better.
Steel price increases being felt through supply chain
February 3 Wall Street Journal article details the impacts of increasing steel prices throughout the supply chain.
The impact of escalating steel prices in the U.S. is starting to filter through supply chains, with companies that buy and process steel raising their own prices, stockpiling in advance of possible more increases and boosting volume to offset rising costs.
Steelmakers have increased prices six times, for a total increase of 20% to 30%, since November on basic flat-rolled steel, used in everything from cars to toasters, to offset higher input costs of raw materials, such as iron ore and coal. Higher costs for steel, which are expected to continue well into this year, are hitting bottom lines of companies and prompting additional price increases.
The approaching energy crisis
The Daily Caller has posted an interesting article by Dr. Charles Steele Jr. with Working People for Fair Energy. In this article, Dr. Steele describes the impending economic and social difficulties that will be caused by the EPA’s new greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations – due to go into effect on January 2, 2011.
Noting that electricity prices have already risen precipitously over the past two years, Steele argues that the new EPA regulations will “cause an energy crisis of new proportions, as costs will skyrocket and the overall reliability of our electricity (system) will be damaged.” Steele goes on to describe how regulation-driven increases in the cost of electricity costs will hit those with low incomes and those on fixed incomes the hardest.