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Photo: S. Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.netIRENA: Coming Decade Pivotal for Development of RES in SEE
December 12, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | RES and EE | Energy policy
The coming decade (until 2030) could prove pivotal for the development of renewable energy sources (RES) in South East Europe (SEE) “as costs for renewables continue to fall and SEE governments undertake energy sector reforms”, wrote the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in its Renewable Energy Market Analysis series dedicated to SEE....
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Photo: Alenka Lena KlopčičNorth Macedonia’s Energy Strategy Unrealistic in Plans for Hydropower
December 9, 2019 | Peter PalčecElectricity | RES and EE | Coal | Energy policy
Two out of three scenarios in North Macedonia’s draft Energy Strategy foresee a coal exit by 2025, which is excellent news in a country traditionally dominated by coal-fired electricity. However, the strategy’s plans for hydropower are unrealistic, states a press release from the CEE Bankwatch Network. North Macedonia’s new draft Energy Strategy is the first in the Western Balkans to put a...
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Photo: TAP AGTurkey and Azerbaijan Mark TANAP Completion; SEE Expects Increased Energy Security
December 3, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikNatural gas | Energy policy
Turkey and Azerbaijan formally marked the completion of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on Saturday. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, construction of the TANAP gas pipeline “guarantees the security of gas supply for the region of South East Europe (SEE)”....
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Photo: Roman PeklajENTSO-E: Winter Cold Spell Could Cause Adequacy Issues in Some SEE Countries
December 2, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity
Under normal conditions, the pan-European adequacy analysis indicates no risks of electricity supply shortages during system-wide peak moments. Nevertheless, extreme cold spells, combined with low renewable generation and unplanned outages of generation and transmission, indicate a risk of supply shortages in Belgium and France in January 2020, said the European Network of Transmission System...
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Photo: Anže KržeEn.economics & Industry 019: Slovenia Unlikely to Get Major New Energy Facilities by 2030
November 22, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | Natural gas | RES and EE | Transport | Energy policy | New technologies
Considering all the obstacles the energy sector is facing when constructing new facilities, “the year 2030 is tomorrow, and even if we start working today on everything Slovenia's National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) includes as well as what it doesn’t, it is simply impossible to build anything until 2030,” said the CEO of Holding Slovenske elektrarne (HSE), Stojan Nikolić, at...
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Photo: iStockphotoGreater Electrification Will Call for Greater Network Investments
November 20, 2019 | Valerija HozjanElectricity | RES and EE | New technologies
Since the Slovenian electricity distribution network was not built to handle the loads envisaged in the European and national energy policy as part of the mass electrification of personal transport and heating, this means that we would have to build most of the LV network from scratch and then step up efforts to construct a stronger MV network and transform the 110/20 kV and 110 kV charging...
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Photo: Alenka Lena KlopčičEnergy Community: WB6 Coal Plants Struggle to Meet Emissions Standards
November 19, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | Energy policy | CO2 emissions
All contracting parties which have coal in their energy mix are not in compliance with the emission ceilings established under their national emission reduction plans (NERPs) for at least one of the three pollutants (nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and dust) of the large combustion plants directive, shows the Energy Community Secretariat’s Annual Implementation Report, published on Monday....
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Photo: Roman PeklajACER: Efficiency in Interconnectors Use Still Low in Balancing Timeframe
November 13, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity
Although the level of efficiency in the use of interconnectors in Europe in the balancing timeframe improved somewhat (by 1 percentage point to 23%) in 2018, it is still relatively low when compared to the level of efficiency recorded in the day-ahead (87%) and intraday (slightly above 50%) timeframes in 2018, said the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in its Electricity...
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Photo: Andreja KrašnaMIGRATE Shows That Power Quality Can Be Maintained Even With 90% PE Penetration
November 7, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | RES and EE | New technologies
While it is possible to safely operate the power transmission grid with 70% of power electronics (PE) penetration in terms of grid stability and other protection issues, an even higher share of PE-based generation units (90%) is possible when talking about ensuring adequate power quality. This has been proved by the EU-funded MIGRATE (Massive InteGRATion of power Electronic devices) projects, said...
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Photo: Roman PeklajMIGRATE: Increased Cross-border Power Trade Crucial for Security of Supply
November 6, 2019 | Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | RES and EE | Energy policy | New technologies
The aim of the new electricity market design is to ensure that renewable energy sources (RES) become part of the market. One of the important provisions in this regard is short term trading and increased cross-border trading, which will help keep down the overall system costs in Europe, said Elaine O’Connell from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy at the MIGRATE work...
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