Tag: Turkey

Best in Energy – 20 January 2023

China traders buy spot market crude

EU LNG price survey off to slow start

U.S. renewables displace gas and coal

EU refiners focus on biofuels growth

Russia is losing the energy war ($FT)

Turkey’s energy transition stalled in 2022

U.S. REAL PERSONAL INCOMES less current transfer payments (PILT) were down marginally in the three months from September to November 2022 compared with the same period in 2021. Real PILT captures the combined impact of changes in employment, wages and other compensation, and inflation. Turning points are one of the main indicators the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)’s Business Cycle Dating Committee uses to identify the onset of recessions and expansions. The deceleration in PILT to zero is a sign the economy is close to stalling:

U.S. PETROLEUMINVENTORIES including the strategic reserve increased by +2 million barrels in the seven days ending on January 13 after rising by +22 million barrels the week before. The combined two-week increase was the largest since the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the second quarter of 2020. But similarly large increases occurred in the first weeks of 2020 and 2019 so the rise was probably attributable in part to seasonal factors. Inventories are still -94 million barrels (-5% or -2.76 standard deviations) below the prior ten-year seasonal average:

Best in Energy – 13 December 2022

EU agrees carbon border tariff in principle

China deletes epidemic phone tracking app

China faces exit wave of infections ($BBG)

China’s internal aviation rebounds ($BBG)

U.S. shale oil revolution is maturing ($BBG)

Turkish Straits re-open to oil tankers ($BBG)

U.S. solar roll out slows on trade restrictions

U.K. grid cancels stand-by notices for coal units

Battery materials technology

COAL-FIRED generators typically require 2-3 hours from initial notification to reach full power from a hot start, 6-7 hours from a warm start, and 10 or more hours from a cold start. Assuming the two massive coal units at Drax are typical, if the U.K. transmission operator wants them to be available during the evening peak from 1600 to 1900 GMT, notice to light up and begin warming must be given by 0600 GMT. If the forecast reserve margin improves during the day, however, the stand-by notices can be cancelled later, as happened on December 12.

The table below shows typical timelines for coal-fired and gas-fired generators showing how it takes (1) from initial notification from the grid controller to synchronisation with the grid – at which point the generator can start providing power to the network; and (2) from synchronisation to reaching maximum power output (“Technical Assessment of the Operation of Coal & Gas Fired Plants,” Parsons-Brinckerhoff for the U.K. Department of Energy, 2014):

LONDON and southeast United Kingdom are now a quarter of the way through the typical heating season. After an exceptionally warm period from mid-October to late November, which depressed heating demand, temperatures have plunged far below normal, erasing the earlier deficit in degree days, and putting winter heating demand on an entirely different trajectory:

Best in Energy – 8 December 2022

Semiconductors as fulcrum of U.S./China conflict ($FT)

U.S./EU explore deal on technology and subsidies ($WSJ)

Saudi/China summit showcases U.S. triangulation ($FT)

China’s relationship with the Arabian peninsula (trans.)

Western allies try to unblock oil queue at Turkish Straits

Renewables growth sharpens focus on need for dispatch

United Kingdom approves first new coal mine for decades

U.K. temperatures fall well below seasonal average

U.S. coal-fired generation in slow retreat

Abadan oil crisis – U.K. official history

BRITAIN’s electricity transmission system is heading towards what is likely to be the first triad event of winter 2022/23 on the early evening of December 8. Freezing temperatures with little wind and an early end to solar generation will maximise demand on the island-wide transmission system from 1630-1800 GMT. Net demand has been climbing steadily towards likely-triad levels in recent days. Major customers with discretionary loads have a strong incentive to reduce demand in these critical periods to benefit from lower transmission charges through throughout the entire year ahead. Deliberate “triad avoidance” behaviour helps curb peak loads and reduce stress on the system: