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Norway leading the way on renewable and UK slips behind

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Research has found Norway is the world leader in renewable energy use, making up 56% of its total energy supply, while the UK ranks 20th as renewable energy only accounts for 13%.
A study by energy tariff comparison platform Utility Bidder has revealed which countries rely the most on fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) renewable energy (hydropower, biofuels and waste, wind and solar) and also nuclear energy to reveal the distribution of energy sources around the world.
The top 5 countries with the highest share of renewable energy

Rank

Country

Total energy supply (ktoe)

Renewable energy supply (ktoe)

Renewable energy as % of total supply

1

Norway

23,753

13,308

56%

2

Brazil

289,130

133,460

46%

3

New Zealand

20,589

8,641

42%

4

Sweden

49,204

20,115

41%

4

Denmark

16,011

6,529

41%

5

Finland

32,031

11,866

37%

20

UK

169,543

22,842

13%

Norway uses the biggest share of renewable energy in the world, making up 56% of its total energy supply. It also utilises hydropower more than any other country as that accounts for 45% of its supply alone. The country is known for being experts in the field of hydroelectricity with many steep valleys and rivers, as well as increased rainfall due to climate change, meaning hydroelectricity is a fruitful opportunity.

With the second highest supply of renewable energy, Brazil is also the leader in biofuel and waste energy, which accounts for 32% of its total energy supply. Brazil is the second-largest producer of ethanol fuel and is an industry leader, with its sugarcane-based ethanol being touted as the most successful alternative fuel to date, based on advanced agri-industrial technology.

Renewable energy sources in total account for 42% of New Zealand’s energy supply. It is also the world leader in wind and solar energy which makes up 25% of New Zealand’s energy supply. Situated in the path of the ‘Roaring Forties’, a set of strong and constant westerly winds, the nation is perfectly positioned for wind power and enjoys plenty of sunshine for solar energy too, as well as having an increasing market for solar hot water heating systems.

The top 5 countries with the highest share of fossil fuels

Rank

Country

Total energy supply (ktoe)

Fossil fuel energy supply (ktoe)

Fossil fuels as % of total supply

1

Singapore

37,752

37,062

98%

2

Australia

132,431

122,927

93%

3

South Africa

134,645

122,398

91%

4

Luxembourg

3,453

3,122

90%

4

Netherlands

70,715

63,733

90%

4

Morocco

20,295

18,260

90%

5

Mexico

184,021

164,657

89%
18 UK
169,543
132,062
78%

Singapore relies on fossil fuels more than any other country, with 98% of its total energy supply coming from traditional fuel sources. It uses the highest proportion of oil in the world relative to total energy supply, as oil makes up 73% of Singapore’s supply. It is home to major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil, due to its ideal trading location and perceived safe environment.

Australia follows closely behind as the second most reliant on fossil fuels as this makes up 93% of its total energy supply. It is relatively evenly split between coal, oil and natural gas as each accounts for 31%, 33% and 29% of the total energy supply respectively.

While being the third most reliant on fossil fuels, South Africa also uses the highest proportion of coal in the world standing at 73% of its total supply. This is largely because coal is one of the most affordable fuel sources, but also due to a lack of real alternatives in the country too.

The Netherlands ranks joint fourth overall and also has the highest supply of natural gas than any other country, standing at 45% of its total energy supply. Fifty percent of this comes from the Groningen gas field, the largest gas field in Europe, however, the Dutch government has committed to stop regular production from the Groningen field by 2022.

The top 5 countries with the highest share of nuclear energy

Rank

Country

Total energy supply (ktoe)

Nuclear energy supply (ktoe)

Nuclear energy as % of total supply

1

France

246,349

103,966

42%

2

Sweden

49,204

17,349

35%

3

Switzerland

24,884

6,916

28%

4

Slovakia

16,318

4,110

25%

5

Belgium

55,162

11,341

21%
12 UK
169,543
14,639
 9%

France is the leading country when it comes to nuclear energy, making up 42% of its energy supply, with 56 operational nuclear reactors producing 103,966 ktoe – the second largest amount produced, just behind the USA which produces 219,737 kote of nuclear energy which equates to 10% of its energy share.

You’ve done as much as you can with short payback, what else can you do?

 960 640 Guest Post
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By David Kipling, OnSite Energy

Many companies have by now committed to energy reduction targets either through sustainability policy, net zero goals, CO2 emissions reduction targets or via CCA agreements. Further energy efficiencies are going to be needed, as the targets are getting tougher. For CCA, renewables don’t count, it is only efficiency that is eligible.

Where efficiencies can be found will depend on your company’s existing processes and sources of energy. 

The good news is there has never been so much innovation in energy technology.  Costs are falling and the range of applications and efficiencies are improving.   So if you appraised a technology three or more years ago, its probably worth revisiting that appraisal to take account of current pricing and improved efficiencies.  

At OEP, we take a data-led, technology agnostic approach.  We can often add-value by introducing technologies and solutions that hadn’t been considered, from artificial intelligence & internet of things sensing, to the latest heat recovery, absorption chillers, or wind technology.

If this sounds interesting then please get in touch with David Kipling at david@on-site.energy or call him on 07824 018991.  OEP specialises in supporting energy intensive industry.

Italian renewable industry expands future renewable development

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

The Italian Government is expanding the integration of renewables in its generation mix to create an infrastructure for supporting sustainable green generation, thereby tackling the issues of land constraints and making continuous strides in meeting the net carbon neutrality ambition by 2050.

The constant decline in the development costs for offshore wind and floating solar PV has garnered special recognition in the country’s renewable energy plan. The Italian renewable capacity, excluding hydropower, is estimated to reach 60GW by 2030 from the current 36GW, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5%, according to GlobalData. 

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “The floating offshore wind project is a technological advancement and investments in the segment provides Italy the prospect of staying ahead in the growth curve. Along with the floating offshore wind projects, developers are also looking at building hybrid offering with integration of solar PV to improve the generation yield.” 

This year is attracting growing interest from various players that are active in the supply chain and who are investing in the Italian renewable energy landscape. In June 2020, Italian developers began work on the €750m (US$840m) 7Seas Med floating wind project with 25 floating wind turbines with 10 megawatts (MW) capacity. Terna has pledged an additional investment of €7.3bn (US$8.3bn) by 2024 to meet the growing demand for electricity from green energy.

Recently, Saipem signed a pact with renewable energy (RE) developers Agnes and Qint’X, to co-develop a project combining 450MW of offshore wind capacity with floating solar PV technology in the Italian Adriatic Sea. In a similar instance, Eni New Energy SpA has laid its plans to invest €14.7m (US$17.3m) and construct a 14 MW floating solar PV plant in Brindisi.

GlobalData says Italy is one of the primary markets for several global investors, as the country provides a perfect amalgamation of ideal climatic conditions, optimum solar irradiance, and wind speed to implement cutting-edge solar and wind technology. Floating offshore wind turbines provide more access to deeper water than conventional fixed-bottom wind turbines. This expands the practical range for wind energy development, and can potentially get access to locales with steadier and higher wind flow.

Das added: “Being limited in geographic landmass, the country is making use of its coastlines and its waters to meet its RE installation targets by the conclusion of the decade. Italy has the 2nd largest solar PV installed capacity in Europe and is looking to make headways in the offshore wind segment. The RE space is seeing global players like European Energy A/S, Sonnedix, Octopus Investments Ltd, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners KS investing in the country, making giant steps towards sustainability and zero-carbon generation.”

COVID to accelerate transition to renewable energy

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

It’s being predicted that the energy transition will be accelerated by several years by the COVID pandemic, with trillions of dollars expected to flow through economic relief packages into the deployment of low- and zero-carbon infrastructure, as well as research and development into technologies that enable it.

That’s the conclusion of Lux in its new report Owning The Energy Transition: 2020 COVID-19 Update, which outlines these changes and predicts the impact of the disruptive global energy transition going forward.

“The aftermath of COVID-19 will shake the economic fabric of the energy sector,” said Yuan-Sheng Yu, Senior Analyst at Lux Research. “We witnessed many historical firsts, such as oil futures trading in the negatives, U.S. renewable energy in the electricity mix surpassing coal, and the largest year-over-year drop in global CO2 emissions.”

Yu explains that while the sudden effects may be a flash in the pan as the world returns to normalcy, 2020 provided a preview of the more permanent challenges the industry will face in the next decade. This “white swan” event will force companies to learn how to be more resilient, while countries planning their post-COVID recovery will capitalize on the opportunity and accelerate the energy transition through improved resiliency and greater agility and by insulating themselves from the macroeconomic impacts of the volatile conventional energy sector.

“The pandemic highlighted the risks of disruptions to our current energy infrastructure and supply chain,” added Lux Research Analyst Tim Grejtak. “In response, we will see aggressive diversification of business portfolios to avoid the risk of underutilized and, eventually, stranded assets in order to capitalize on opportunities provided by increasing renewable energies.”

Grejtak cites long-duration energy storage investments and project developments in the first half of 2020 by the likes of Highview Power, Form Energy, and AES Distributed Energy as just the beginning of the added urgency of companies preparing for the energy transition.

Analyst Runeel Daliah added: “While COVID-19 momentarily pushed aside climate change from the political discourse, companies and countries that deprioritize climate change mitigation efforts in favor of near-term financial recovery would be making a mistake – decarbonization is an unavoidable megatrend that will continue to loom well after COVID-19.”

Daliah points to countries forging ahead with decarbonization strategies centered around hydrogen, such as Portugal, South Korea, Australia, and Germany, which recently unveiled a $10.2 billion National Hydrogen Strategy.

Meanwhile, Lux Research Senior Analyst Christopher Robison emphasized that the most noticeable effect of COVID-19 on modern life was the drastic reduction in mobility – As the world sheltered in place, there was an immediate reduction in emissions and improvement in air quality, with residents in some cities notorious for pollution seeing blue skies for the first time.

“The magnitude of the longer-term impact of COVID-19 on mobility remains unclear as more people work from home and replace work travel with virtual meetings, but the push to reduce and eliminate emissions from the transportation sector has only increased, with many post-COVID stimulus plans focused on low- and zero-emission vehicles,” said Robinson.

EDF’s solar PV expansion in UK ‘to provide impetus for economic recovery’ amid COVID-19

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

French utility EDF is launching a major solar-plus-battery storage hybrid initiative in the UK as part of its plans to increase its installed renewable base.

Analyst house GlobalData anticipates that this is likely to provide a boost to its solar portfolio in the country and also act as a green stimulus to the stagnant economy, which is now slowly resuming activities.

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “EDF renewables has been a key player in the wind sector in the UK, however, it has not performed significantly in the solar PV sector. GlobalData’s figures suggest that more than 800MW of active wind plants are owned by the company in the UK, however, there is a notable abcense of the company in the solar sector. With this initiative, EDF Renewables would be able to strengthen its solar foothold and become a noteworthy player in both areas.”

Looking at ways to expand the current renewables portfolio in the UK, the EDF Group plans to have a 50GW renewables portfolio by 2030 becoming Europe’s market leader in clean energy.

Das concluded: “COVID-19 provided an opportunity to successfully produce electricity by minimizing the use of coal in the generation mix for over a month. It has supported the country’s target of decommissioning coal-based power plants by 2025, which might now be brought a year ahead. This is expected to reduce emissions, which had already seen a drop by 42% last year. EDF’s initiative is likely to aid the cause and help in achieving the country’s net-zero target.”

Transition to renewables ‘to fuel post-COVID recovery’

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

Investment in renewable energy expansion will be an important cog in the wheel towards the post-COVID-19 economic recovery journey.

Expanding the renewables will not only help countries deliver stronger climate action under the Paris Agreement, but also fuel the economic activities across the value chain forming a powerful recovery mechanism to recuperate from the COVID-19 crisis.

That’s according to research from GlobalData, which says due to technological advancements, economies of scale and competitive auctions, the Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) for renewables has seen steep decline. For example, the LCOE of solar PV had witnessed a drop of 86% to reach 0.05USD/kWh in 2019 when compared with 2010. Likewise, for onshore wind the drop was 50.0% to 0.05USD/kWh.  

The declining LCOE has brought the renewable at par with fossils and in some countries even cheaper. This trend of cost competitiveness and innovation is likely to continue and could attract countries and investors to increase their renewable appetite. For instance, 2019 saw the highest solar power capacity additions and also the highest investment in the offshore wind segment. 

However, the planned investments in this sector until 2030 is lesser than the investments made in the last decade. The COVID-19 pandemic recovery stimulus provides an excellent window of opportunity for governments to channelize their investments in the renewables to offset the silos in the future investment schedule. These were earlier unable to reach the desired  2030 installations target decarbonizing the economy and putting forward a strong step towards climate sustainability. 

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “ During the COVID-19 pandemic, renewable energy took the center stage. With declining electricity demand, utilities focussed on generating electricity from cost-effective renewable sources. By the end of 2030, the cumulative renewable installed capacity is estimated to be 3,600GW, about 1,900GW more than that of 2020, which is substantially lower than the required built-up of about 2,800-3,000GW for limiting the global temperature rise by 2c.  

“Incorporating higher investments in renewable energy might provide an opportunity to increase the investments and make up for the shortfall in the required installed power capacity by 2030. 

“Hence, increased investments in renewable energy in the recovery packages would benefit greatly and usher in a multitude of economic benefits. Not only it will provide a better opportunity in addressing climate change goals and global warming issues but also creates new jobs and stimulate economic activities.”  

GUEST BLOG: Why the new energy generation should not focus on the past

 960 640 Guest Post
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By Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO, Azuri Technologies

The saying goes, the best way to predict tomorrow’s weather is to assume it will be the same as today. A lot of the time it will be. But this approach gives you no insight into what the future will bring and fails horribly when disruptive change is around the corner and people are left unprepared. That’s why weather forecasts were invented.

Similarly, in the energy sector it’s all too easy to look to traditional markets today for tomorrow’s energy solutions. But in doing so we are in danger of not letting go of the past and failing to be properly prepared for the future. Two hundred years of electricity history and infrastructure makes it difficult for alternative approaches to compete with what is already there.

Instead we must look at places where the established order does not exist, where innovative approaches compete on their own merits and where the future is able to shine through. Look at renewable energy. In the mainstream, there are people with solar panels on their roofs, there are solar farms, wind farms and hydro power, but the renewable energygenerated by these generally goes back into the grid.

To see the true value of renewable energy, look to where the grid does not exist. In sub-Saharan Africa, 600 million people, that’s well over half the population of the continent, have no access to the grid. Here households are increasingly using solar power as their first step to getting energy access. Solar and batteries have many advantages. For one, the cost of connecting to the grid, on average, is about $2,000, whereas a basic solar home system can be purchased for as little as $50. These solar systems may not have the capacity of the grid, but they do deliver something the grid cannot in Africa: clean and reliable power that can be managed by the customer themselves.

Learning to innovate

The past can provide some valuable insights, but these must be applied with new technologies and perspectives. Many households in Africa without any electricity spend around 50 cents per day on fuel for lighting and to get someone to charge their mobile phones. In 2012, companies started offering small solar home systems on a rent-to-buy basis (PayGo). At that time, 50 cents per day would buy you a single small light and some phone charging. Dial forwards to 2019 and the same money will get you a home lighting system with 4 LED lights, phone charging, rechargeable radio and torch. For $1 a day you get a 24-inch smart TV with 60 channels of satellite content.

The cost of solar is coming down at a rate of around 15% annually. Similarly, the cost of batteries is falling rapidly, driven by the demands of the electric car industry, especially in China. If we can go from powering a small light to providing basic household electricity in 7 years, imagine what will be possible in another decade. The same money will likely get you about 4 times the power of today’s systems; enough power to drive a TV, fridge, fan, laptop, lights, phone charging and internet access. Couple that with gas for cooking (and heating if necessary) and you have pretty much covered the household needs for many homes.

A leapfrog generation

The cost of accessing the grid is not reducing. If the cost of connecting to the grid is unaffordable, it may well simply become redundant in the future. After all, standalone power gives you what you need at an affordable price.

At a time when the world’s leaders are meeting regularly to look at the future of the climate, it is good to reflect on global trends in sectors which can have a direct impact. While predicting the climate from historical information remains very difficult because of the complexity of global interactions, looking at the trends in the cost of solar and batteries is much simpler.

These trends tell us that new technology and new ways of energy generation will overtake conventional ways very soon.

In many parts of Africa, it already has. Look at the millions of off-grid households that have already found the cheapest source of electricity that generates no carbon whatever. Of course, there is still some carbon footprint from the equipment’s manufacture, but this is reducing all the time. The gap between what these systems can power compared to normal household use of the grid is rapidly reducing to zero.

On a continent with the highest annual population growth on the planet at about 3%, that’s adding the equivalent of nearly half the population of the UK every year, it’s encouraging to see millions of households skipping the fossil fuel generation and jumping directly into clean electricity and a digital world powered by the sun.

About The Author:- 

Simon leads the team at Azuri Technologies, bringing affordable clean energy to rural off-grid households in Africa. He has 25 years global experience in building rapid-growth, technology-based businesses, including 7 years at Symbian, the phone OS maker, where he was a member of the Leadership Team and VP Global Marketing. Simon also founded Myriad Solutions Ltd and was named a Global Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. Simon was formerly an Industrial Fellow at the London based Royal Society and Research Fellow at Cambridge University in the UK. Since Azuri Technologies was launched in 2012, nearly a million people have benefited from clean, reliable energy in rural Africa.  

Renewables to represent 30% of US total installed capacity by 2030

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

The contribution of renewable power to total installed capacity in the US is expected to double from 15% in 2018 to 30% by 2030, reaching a total of 442.8 gigawatt (GW).

According to the latest numbers from GlobalData, that’s equivalent to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%, attributed to more states adopting and updating renewable energy policies, as well as imposed emission taxes increasing the cost of fossil fuel power generation.

Energy utilities in the US are also in favour of switching to renewable power as they must comply with the state renewable energy targets. 

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘US Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2019 – Market Trends, Regulations and Competitive Landscape’, reveals that the share of coal-based capacity will decline from 27.2% in 2018 to 13.5% in 2030 as it is replaced by renewable energy, storage projects and stable gas-based generation in the near future. 

Arkapal Sil, Power Industry Analyst at GlobalData, said: “During 2019-2030, offshore wind capacity is set to see the largest growth rate among renewables reaching 11.7GW from 60 megawatt (MW) at a 62% CAGR, while solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is expected to reach 220GW from 75.3GW, growing at a 10% CAGR.”

The onshore wind segment, which registered a growth of 22% CAGR during 2000-2018 (reaching 96.3GW), will witness a steady growth of 5% CAGR over the forecast period to reach 185.5GW in 2030 and account for 12% of overall generation mix compared to 8% in 2018. 

Sil added: “Biopower, geothermal and solar thermal segments are expected to jointly grow at an average of 3% CAGR over the forecast period. Increased renewable capacity addition will open up new markets for wind turbines, modules for solar plants and associated equipment required for transmitting the generated power to the grid.”

Renewable capacity expansion will necessitate grid modernization in order to manage a high volume of renewable energy with inherent variability. This, in-turn, will involve huge investment in grid infrastructure and open up new markets for energy storage systems to enable a steady supply of power when adequate renewable energy is unavailable. GlobalData estimates that the battery storage market in the US is expected to reach around $5bn in 2030. 

Sil concluded: “The increased cost of nuclear power due to higher safety standards will result in a slight decline in the nuclear capacity during the forecast period. As a result, gas-based power will dominate the generation mix, accounting for 41% of installed capacity, and catering to the country’s base-load power requirement in 2030.”

Falling cost of renewables ‘boosts climate ambitions’

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

Renewable power is the cheapest source of electricity in many parts of the world already today.

That’s according to the latest report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

The report contributes to the international discussion on raising climate action worldwide, ahead of Abu Dhabi’s global preparatory meeting for the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September.

With prices set to fall, the cost advantage of renewables will extend further, Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018 says. This, says IRENA, will strengthen the business case and solidify the role of renewables as the engine of the global energy transformation. 

“Renewable power is the backbone of any development that aims to be sustainable”, said IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera. “We must do everything we can to accelerate renewables if we are to meet the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement. Today’s report sends a clear signal to the international community: Renewable energy provides countries with a low-cost climate solution that allows for scaling up action. To fully harness the economic opportunity of renewables, IRENA will work closely with our members and partners to facilitate on-the-ground solutions and concerted action that will result in renewable energy projects.”

The costs for renewable energy technologies decreased to a record low last year. The global weighted-average cost of electricity from concentrating solar power (CSP) declined by 26%, bioenergy by 14%, solar photovoltaics (PV) and onshore wind by 13%, hydropower by 12% and geothermal and offshore wind by 1%, respectively. 

Cost reductions, particularly for solar and wind power technologies, are set to continue into the next decade, the report finds. According to IRENA’s global database, over three-quarters of the onshore wind and four-fifths of the solar PV capacity that is due to be commissioned next year will produce power at lower prices than the cheapest new coal, oil or natural gas options. Crucially, they are set to do so without financial assistance.

IRENA says onshore wind and solar PV costs between three and four US cents per kilowatt hour are already possible in areas with good resources and enabling regulatory and institutional frameworks.

For example, record-low auction prices for solar PV in Chile, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have seen a levelised cost of electricity as low as three US cents per kilowatt hour (USD 0.03/kWh).

Read IRENA’s report “Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018” 

Read IRENA’s report “Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050”

Huge energy storage site planned in Utah

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:

A plan to launch an Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) project in central Utah has been unveiled by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) and Magnum Development.

The ACES initiative, the largest project of its kind, will develop 1,000 megawatts of 100 percent clean energy storage, thereby deploying technologies and strategies essential to a decarbonised future for the power grid of the Western United States.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that carbon emissions from the U.S. power sector have dropped 30 percent since 2005 (www.emissionsindex.org), because of a combination of natural gas and renewable power replacing retiring coal-fired power plants.

MHPS claims it has been instrumental in the transition and last year became the global market share leader for heavy duty gas turbines. As a next step in decarbonisation, MHPS has developed gas turbine technology that enables a mixture of renewable hydrogen and natural gas to produce power with even lower carbon emissions. 

The MHPS technology roadmap aims to use 100 percent renewable hydrogen as a fuel source, which will allow gas turbines to produce electricity with zero carbon emissions.

Magnum Development owns and controls the only known “Gulf Coast” style domal-quality salt formation in the western United States. With five salt caverns already in operation for liquid fuels storage, Magnum is continuing to develop Compressed Air Energy Storage and renewable hydrogen storage options. Strategically located adjacent to the Intermountain Power Project, the Magnum site is positioned to integrate with the western U.S. power grid utilising existing infrastructure.

In many parts of the western United States, there are times of day when demand for electricity is lower than the production of renewable power. This leads to curtailment of renewable generation and negative electricity pricing. As such, continued deployment of renewables will require that excess power be stored for later use. To serve the needs of the entire western United States, many gigawatt-hours of storage capacity are required.

Initially developing enough energy storage to completely serve the needs of 150,000 households for an entire year, the ACES initiative will deploy four types of clean energy storage at utility scale. These energy storage technologies include:

  • Renewable hydrogen
  • Compressed Air Energy Storage
  • Large scale flow batteries
  • Solid oxide fuel cells

“For 20 years, we’ve been reducing carbon emissions of the U.S. power grid using natural gas in combination with renewable power to replace retiring coal-fired power generation. In California and other states in the western United States, which will soon have retired all of their coal-fired power generation, we need the next step in decarbonisation. Mixing natural gas and storage, and eventually using 100 percent renewable storage, is that next step. The technologies we are deploying will store electricity on time scales from seconds to seasons of the year,” said Paul Browning, President and CEO of MHPS Americas. 

“For example, when we add gas turbines powered with renewable hydrogen to a hydrogen storage salt-dome, we have a solution that stores and generates electricity with zero carbon emissions.”

“Central Utah is the ideal location for this project, and Utah is a business friendly state for projects like this. Magnum’s site adjacent to the Intermountain Power Project is positioned to take full advantage of existing regional electricity grid connections, fully developed transportation infrastructure, ample solar and wind development capacity, a skilled workforce currently transitioning away from coal, and, of course, the unique salt dome opportunity,” said Craig Broussard, CEO of Magnum. 

“Magnum and MHPS are great partners. Magnum has the below-ground technologies necessary to store energy at utility scale, while MHPS has the above-ground technologies such as hydrogen-fired gas turbines, compressed air storage, solid oxide fuel cells and battery storage technology, to supply electricity at grid scale. With the ACES initiative, we will dramatically accelerate the vision of a western renewable energy hub that we launched over a decade ago.”

“The unmatched investment and innovation brought forward by MHPS and Magnum Development to rural Utah again demonstrates the power of the forward-looking energy policy I have advanced throughout my administration. Utah continues to set the standard among states for driving next generation solutions to market,” said Gov. Herbert. “I’m proud that Millard County’s skilled workforce, strategic energy infrastructure and unique geological salt domes have put Utah on the map as the epicenter of utility-scale storage for the Western United States.”

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay