The world’s largest synchronous electricity network has allowed many European countries to make power trading a part of everyday grid balancing. Until now, France has usually acted as the grid’s largest exporter, thanks to its location and nuclear fleet. But in 2020, Norway rose above France to become Europe’s powerhouse. What changed in the two countries, and is this an anomaly or a trend?

Renewables threaten to revolutionise the geopolitics of power generation, but until then, location is everything. Germany consumes the largest amount of power in Europe, with most of this coming from coal-fired plants. But as the country attempts to phase out more than 20GW of fossil fuels, how will it power its heavy industries?

Read full article here

After years of gloom, the oil industry’s out of its slump.

Three-quarters of senior oil and gas professionals surveyed by energy and maritime services company DNV GL AS say they are optimistic about the sector’s growth in 2019, their sunniest outlook since before the crude-price collapse in 2014. Confidence across the energy industry is now where it was in 2010, when Brent soared to $95 a barrel, about 50 percent above today’s level.

That good cheer will translate into higher spending, with 70 percent of professionals saying they’ll maintain or increase capital expenditure budgets this year. Many companies now say they’re competitive even as oil-price volatility heightens in reaction to geopolitical turmoil, after cutting costs to survive a collapse that lasted until 2017.

“Growth will be important and there is a strong belief in new investment,” said Liv Hovem, chief executive officer of DNV GL’s oil and gas unit. “They’re quite confident that there will be a demand for oil and gas going forward. They’re also confident about their competitiveness.”

Read entire article HERE.