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Friday, September 24, 2021

Energy 155, IEA flip-flop on oil and gas, Germany's high power prices and blackout

The International Energy Agency (IEA), a group of unelected bureaucrats issued a strong report last May telling the OECD member-countries and all other countries around the world to stop investing in oil, gas, coal anymore, starting this year -- to "save the planet." See IEA flip-flops in report #1 vs report #s 2, 3 and 4 below (to save Europe from blackouts, save themselves and their double talk).

(1) Net Zero by 2050   A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (224 pages)
May 18, 2021 
https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/0716bb9a-6138-4918-8023-cb24caa47794/NetZeroby2050-ARoadmapfortheGlobalEnergySector.pdf

(On page 20 -- no new coal plants, no new oil and gas fields this year 2021; by 2030 phaseout of all coal power plants in rich countries, by 2040 phaseout of all other coal plants even in poor countries.)

(2) IEA urges Opec to increase oil production 
Izabella Kaminska  MAY 20 2011 
https://www.ft.com/content/0d57a22c-693b-3408-993d-1265598801f2  

The International Energy Agency urged the Opec oil cartel to step up output, saying there was a “clear, urgent need for additional supplies”.

(3) Oil Markets Baffled As The IEA Calls For More Production 
By Cyril Widdershoven - Jun 13, 2021, 6:00 PM CDT 
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Markets-Baffled-As-The-IEA-Calls-For-More-Production.html

In its latest Monthly Oil Report, the IEA called on OPEC+ to increase production in order to counter higher demand in 2022. 
… after its shocking Net-Zero by 2050 report called for no more investments in oil and gas, stated that “OPEC+ needs to open the taps to keep the world oil markets adequately supplied”.  At the same time, the IEA has also reiterated that market realities are at odds with its proposed strategies to reach net zero-emission levels by 2050.

(4) IEA urges Russia to ramp up gas supply to Europe 
More could be done to fill storage sites ahead of winter heating season, says energy body
David Sheppard in London, Max Seddon in Moscow and Nastassia Astrasheuskaya in Dushanbe September 22, 2021 
https://www.ft.com/content/eb231586-7214-44af-99c2-b42ee408e206

Some European members of parliament have called for an investigation into Gazprom, Russia’s state-backed monopoly exporter of pipeline gas. Foreign officials and traders have questioned why the company has limited top-up sales in the spot market to Europe, saying that this has fuelled a surge in prices that is raising household bills and threatening industries across the continent.

Related:  

Suddenly Worried About Gas Prices, Biden Wants OPEC+ To Produce More Oil  
David Blackmon   Aug 12, 2021,09:23am EDT 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2021/08/12/suddenly-worried-about-gas-prices-biden-wants-opec-to-produce-more-oil/?sh=11fa523b1131  

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a request on Wednesday to OPEC+ leaders, urging them to ... produce more oil? Really? Just one day after the U.S. Senate voted to approve a massive $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” bill loaded up with incentives, mandates, subsidies and slush funds designed to stimulate the buildout of electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy in the U.S., the President wants the rest of the world to pump more oil.
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Below, Germany power generation. See low wind onshore and offshore output starting late May 2021 to present except mid-August. It's still the conventionals -- coal, nuke, gas -- that save Germany from large-scale blackouts and deindustrialization.


https://www.agora-energiewende.de/service/agorameter/chart/power_generation/24.09.2020/24.09.2021/today/

Then some reports of blackout or near-blackouts in Germany, Europe:

(1) European Power Grid Narrowly Misses Widespread Blackout As Frequency Drops Suddenly 
By P Gosselin on 10. January 2021 
https://notrickszone.com/2021/01/10/european-power-grid-narrowly-misses-widespread-blackout-as-frequency-drops-suddenly/

A European power grid disturbance occurred at around 2 p.m. according to the Austrian Power Grid (APG). The normal frequency for Europe is 50 Hz and on Friday afternoon it dropped sharply to 49.75 Hz.

“A larger supply area must have broken away,” blackout expert Herbert Saurugg told futurezone.

(2) Last-Ditch Effort: Germany Weighs Electricity Rationing Scheme To Stabilize Its Now Shaky Green Power Grid 
By P Gosselin on 19. January 2021 
https://notrickszone.com/2021/01/19/last-ditch-effort-germany-weighs-electricity-rationing-scheme-to-stabilize-its-now-shaky-green-power-grid/

Germany’s Economics Minister Peter Altmaier presented a draft law that would allow electric utilities “to temporarily cut off the charging power for e-cars when there is once again too little electricity available”, an idea known as “peak smoothing”.

“Shutdowns due to power shortages have been practiced for some time. Aluminum smelters, for example, have to put up with having their power cut off for limited periods of time,” reports Tichys Einblick. “These, like refrigerated storage facilities, consume great amounts. It’s a dangerous game because after three hours the molten metal has solidified and the factory is ruined.”

(3) Green Folly: Berlin’s City E-Buses Leave Passengers Out In The Cold…Diesel Buses To The Rescue 
By P Gosselin on 17. February 2021 
https://notrickszone.com/2021/02/17/green-folly-berlins-city-e-buses-leave-passengers-out-in-the-cold-diesel-buses-to-the-rescue/

The Berliner Morgenpost reported some of the green electric buses operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) had been taken out service due to range problems in the extremely cold weather. Up to 23 electric buses had to be replaced by diesel-powered buses last Monday. Ultimately the German capital plans to convert its entire fleet to electric by 2030.

(4) Germany’s ‘Green’ Energy Failure: Germany turns back to coal and natural gas as millions of its solar panels are blanketed in snow and ice 
Laurie Foti  Feb 12, 2021 
https://worldnewsera.com/news/startups/germanys-green-energy-failure-germany-turns-back-to-coal-and-natural-gas-as-millions-of-its-solar-panels-are-blanketed-in-snow-and-ice-tech-news-startup/

Sun and wind can’t afford it. Now, we’re replacing it completely with black ones (dirty fossil fuels – emphasis ours).

Professor Harald Schwarz: The guaranteed output of wind energy and photovoltaics is between zero, two, or three percent. So de-facto is zero. You can see that what we have days in the year where there is neither wind.”

(5) This is why we have the most expensive electricity in the world 
Deshalb haben wir den teuersten Strom der Welt
Veröffentlicht am Februar 18, 2021 
https://blackout-news.de/aktuelles/deshalb-haben-wir-den-teuersten-strom-der-welt/

(6) Germany has the highest electricity price in an international comparison 
Strompreis im internationalen Vergleich
Veröffentlicht am April 4, 2021 
https://blackout-news.de/aktuelles/strompreis-im-internationalen-vergleich/  

Land               Preis pro KWh in € %

Deutschland      0,33       100,0 
Bermuda            0,31       94,9
Dänemark          0,29       87,2
Belgien, Portugal             0,27       82,1
Irland, Japan     0,25       74,4
Großbritanien, Italien    0,23       69,2
Australien, Österreich, Tschechien          0,21       64,1
Niederlande, Spanien    0,20       61,5
Belize, Griechenland, Schweiz    0,19       59,0
Frankreich          0,19       56,4
Slowakei, Slowenien      0,18       53,8
Kenia, Niederlande, Peru, Polen              0,17       51,3
Finnland, Rumäniem     0,16       48,7
Estland, Schweden         0,15       46,2
Israel    0,14       43,6
Malta    0,14       41,0
Brasilien, Honkong, USA              0,13       38,5
Island   0,12       35,9
Südafrika            0,11       33,3
Südkorea            0,10       30,8
Kanada            0,09       28,2
Norwegen          0,08       25,6
China, Indien     0,07       20,5
Russland            0,05       15,4.

Quelle: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/13020/umfrage/strompreise-in-ausgewaehlten-laendern

(Related data, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/)

(7) Electricity prices reach new record 
Published September 9, 2021  
https://blackout-news.de/en/news/electricity-prices-reach-new-record/

(8) Germany: Coal tops wind as primary electricity source 
In the first half of 2021, coal shot up as the biggest contributor to Germany's electric grid, while wind power dropped to its lowest level since 2018. Officials say the weather is partly to blame.
September 13, 2021 
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-coal-tops-wind-as-primary-electricity-source/a-59168105

In total, conventional energy sources — including coal, natural gas and nuclear energy — comprised 56% of the total electricity fed into Germany's grid in the first half of 2021.


(9) Record Power Prices & Blackouts Hit Germany
By Paul Homewood   SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2021/09/19/record-power-prices-blackouts-hit-germany/

The Germans have broken a record again. Drastically increased wholesale prices and expensive emission rights are driving electricity prices in Germany to ever new record levels. In addition, of course, there are also high taxes and levies for renewable energies and the network charges, which we have already listed in our article “This is why we have the most expensive electricity in the world”. 
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See also:
Energy 152, BWorld Insights on RE and Nuclear; Global news on renewed coal, gas demand, August 26, 2021 
Energy 153, High natgas and coal prices, September 10, 2021 
Energy 154, Europe rising energy prices, blackout threats, 31 reports, September 21, 2021.

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