Precious metals top this week’s selection of energy and commodity charts, as palladium prices continue to climb, but provide little upside for platinum. Plus: US natural gas prices, Middle East economies’ oil dependency, European coal-to-gas generation switching and Chinese LNG imports.
Posts tagged ‘electric power’
 
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December 31, 2018 06:00 UTC 
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Prices of a key Australian thermal coal grade went on a rollercoaster ride in 2018 following unexpected friction during yearly contract talks with a major export market, Japan. This hiccup in trade was shortlived and gave way to sustained high prices that could continue to shore up the sector. Following a period of cost-cutting and readjustment to new market realities over the last few years, the Australian coal sector now looks in better shape, while new coal-fired power plant builds across Asia should provide reliable demand for the fuel. |
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December 19, 2018 11:16 UTC
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Despite a record rate of US coal-fired power plant closures in 2018, domestic coal prices are unlikely to come under significant pressure, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics, partly because exports are currently providing an outlet for excess supply. A lack of downside pressure will be welcomed by producers. Despite promises by US President Donald Trump to put coal miners back to work and his efforts to repeal Obama-era legislation seen as hostile to the industry, use of the fuel has continued to decline in the power sector. |
 
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November 7, 2018 06:30 UTC
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Could using low-carbon electricity to turn water into hydrogen and other gases keep the EU’s gas industry relevant in an increasingly CO2-constrained future? The EU gas and power sectors are certainly interested in testing such technology at scale, as it could help them both with their different challenges going forward. |
 
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February 8, 2018 04:01 UTC
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UK energy start-up Gravitricity announced February 7 it had received a GBP650,000 ($903,400) grant from Innovate UK, the UK government’s innovation agency, for a plan to use old mines shafts to store energy. The idea is relatively simple: A massive weight would be raised up the mine shaft using a winch powered by electricity at times of low power prices. The weight could then be released quickly or slowly depending on the power requirement, with the potential energy of the falling weight used to drive a generator. |
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January 3, 2018 07:23 UTC
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The one question that I get asked every other day is “What’s the future of coal in Asia?” Especially after the Paris Climate agreement a couple of years ago, where 196 countries signed a pact to reduce carbon emissions by 2022. No doubt renewable energy capacity additions have picked up pace since then, but is it so easy to displace King Coal from the energy mix? |
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December 8, 2017 08:00 UTC
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A series of sweeping changes at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission would alter the agency’s mission to adapt to an evolving US nuclear industry, which is in the grips of a struggle for its economic survival. |
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November 3, 2017 05:01 UTC
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New York’s State Energy Plan, self-proclaimed to include some of the nation’s most ambitious 2030 clean energy targets, has perhaps by necessity intensified the discussion of carbon prices in the wholesale power markets, possibly redefining their traditional role. |
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September 18, 2017 15:28 UTC
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The California Independent System Operator was expected to break a more than decade-long peakload record September 1 as a heat wave sat over the region. However, the ISO never had to enter emergency stages and prices were half of what they were back in 2006 when the record was set, even as demand continued to rise. |
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August 24, 2017 05:01 UTC
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A federal appeals court has extended by 60 days the abeyance period for the Clean Power Plan litigation pending the Environmental Protection Agency’s review of that regulation. But in an unusual move, two of the 10 judges on the panel reminded the agency of its statutory obligation to regulate greenhouse gases, indicating that at least some of the judges may be growing impatient with the continued delay in regulating carbon emissions from power plants. |