FOCUS
Photo: S. Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.netSlovenia’s Petrol Wants to Generate 500 GWh of Electricity from RES by 2025
December 11, 2018 | Andreja ŠalamunElectricity | Oil and oil derivates | RES and EE | Energy policy | CO2 emissions | Economy
The Slovenian energy company Petrol currently generates 150 GWh of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) per year, which is sufficient for nearly 45,000 consumers, according to the company’s Director of the Strategic Activity of Electricity Generation, Suvad Bajrić. Petrol wants to further increase its RES generation, reaching 500 GWh per year by 2025, which would suffice for 150,000...
Read more
Photo: www.cez.czEuropean Parliament Warns Balkan Countries to Stop Destructive Hydropower
December 10, 2018 | Peter PalčecElectricity | Energy policy | Ecology
The European Parliament urged the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to review their support for hydropower plant projects in its resolutions last week on the European Commission’s 2018 reports on Albania and Montenegro. The votes come as a clear sign that the European institutions are starting to reconsider their support for hydropower...
Read more
Photo: S. Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.netEBRD: Western Balkan Countries Need to Increase Share of RES
December 5, 2018 | Peter PalčecElectricity | Natural gas | RES and EE | Coal | Energy policy | CO2 emissions | Economy | Ecology
Power generation in the Western Balkans is at a critical juncture. Much of the current capacity is based on coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs), but many of these are old and coming to the end of their useful life. The presence of non-hydro renewables such as solar and wind in the energy mix is almost negligible. Addressing this challenge successfully will require a new strategy, focusing on...
Read more
Photo: Roman PeklajENTSO-E: Winter Cold Spell Would Require Close Monitoring in Slovenia
November 30, 2018 | Tanja Srnovršnik VolaričElectricity
Europe’s supply of electricity will be secure under normal conditions in the upcoming winter. However, in the event of a cold spell, the situation will need monitoring in certain areas including Belgium, France, Northern Italy, Central–Northern Italy and Slovenia. “This monitoring will especially be needed in January and February in the event of outages combined with low wind and solar,”...
Read more
Photo: Roman PeklajEurelectric: Europe’s Power Sector Can Decarbonise by 2045
November 28, 2018 | Ana Vučina VršnakElectricity | RES and EE | Energy policy | Economy
Eurelectric, the trade body of the European power sector, presented the second part of its Decarbonisation Pathways study on Tuesday at a high-level event in Brussels. It stressed that the European power sector can be fully decarbonised ahead of the 2050 targets set by the Paris Agreement through strong electrification of key economic sectors. “Increased investments in renewables and grids will...
Read more
Photo: www.pixabay.comSecond Wave of Digitalisation Is Turning Power Sector Upside Down
November 22, 2018 | Valerija Hozjan, Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | RES and EE | Energy policy | New technologies
In the short term (2-3 years), digital transformation has the potential to increase an energy company’s earnings by up to 4% per year. In the long term (over the next five to 10 years) this potential is even higher, reaching 25% a year over present levels, according to the consulting company A.T. Kearney. The electricity sector first experienced digitalisation 20 to 30 years ago, but now a...
Read more
Photo: Roman PeklajSEE Region Is Particularly Vulnerable to Climate Change
November 19, 2018 | Peter PalčecElectricity | Natural gas | Energy policy | CO2 emissions | Economy | Ecology
Goran Svialnović from the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) stressed that the South East Europe (SEE) region is particular vulnerable to climate change. “A study commissioned by the council to investigate the impact of climate change in the SEE region shows that the annual temperature in the region has already increased by 1.2°C. The study, which takes into account two scenarios, shows that...
Read more
Photo: Roman PeklajEUW: WB Facing Different Electricity Problems Than EU
November 13, 2018 | Tanja Srnovršnik Volarič, ViennaElectricity | RES and EE | Energy policy
The Western Balkans doesn’t have exactly the same problems that EU member states are facing in terms of high penetration of renewables and lack of interconnection capacities. However, the problem is the transposition and implementation of legislation, said Jasmina Trhulj from the Energy Community Secretariat last week at European Utility Week (EUW) in Vienna, Austria. She noted that only about...
Read more
Photo: Alenka ŽumbarACER: 2017 Marks Another Decrease in EU Retail Energy Prices
November 6, 2018 | Tanja Srnovršnik VolaričElectricity | Energy policy
Average energy retail prices for households in the EU in 2017 decreased for the second consecutive year, but were still higher than in 2008. Over recent years, the overall decrease was more pronounced for industrial consumers than for households, and was more pronounced for gas than for electricity, according to the latest market monitoring report published by the Agency for the Cooperation of...
Read more
Photo: BSPSlovenian Power Futures to be Launched Late in Q1 2019
October 26, 2018 | Tanja Srnovršnik VolaričElectricity
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) and the Slovenian power exchange, BSP Southpool, plan to launch the Slovenian power futures late in the first quarter of 2019, said Lukas Dehn, Project Manager at EEX, at Thursday’s workshop on power futures held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The introduction of the long-term financial products will “enable increased financial security for our market...
Read more
