Energy: Desertec takes some heat
Five years after its launch in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, "Desertec is showing few results," notes German news website Spiegel Online. The project hoped to exploit the solar and wind...
View ArticleGermany: ‘New stress with power’
Germany’s new energy policy “is a curse,” argues Handelsblatt, which reports that instead of causing shortages, the 2011 decision to abandon nuclear power resulted in an overproduction of solar and...
View ArticleEstonia: Shale is chic
IQ The Economist, Vilnius – Estonia has an asset that enables it to avoid dependence on Russian gas: shale oil. In spite of the pollution it generates, the country has chosen to continue to use and...
View ArticleSolar Power: ‘EU Readies Solar Tariffs In China Fight’
The European Union is planning to impose import taxes on Chinese-made solar panel equipment in a move which is likely to trigger “one of the largest trade battles of recent decades,” writes the...
View ArticleRomania: Green light for shale gas exploration
Romania has taken a “discreet” step towards shale gas extraction, announces Jurnalul naţional. On April 29, the Environment Ministry gave the green light to foreign energy companies, including US giant...
View ArticlePoland: ‘Shale gas only for Poles’
Days after North American companies Marathon Oil and Talisman Energy stopped shale gas fracking in Poland, news emerges that the country’s chief geologist and deputy environment minister Piotr Woźniak...
View ArticleEuropean Union: ‘BP and Shell raided over allegations of petrol-price fixing’
The London offices of oil giants BP and Shell were raided on May 15 by investigators from the European Commission probing allegations that companies were manipulating the price of crude oil. This is...
View ArticleEuropean Council: Casting shadows on energy policy
Le Figaro, Paris – From a lack of investment to an underdeveloped renewable energy sector, plus competition from American coal: the domestic energy market faces a slew of obstacles. This is driving...
View ArticleEuropean Union: ‘EU aims to create jobs with cheaper energy’
At the European Council summit on May 22, national leaders of member states will likely approve a change of course on Europe’s energy policy. As Der Standard points out — Whereas in recent years the...
View ArticleCyprus: ‘Energy triangle for Europe’
Cyprus, Greece and Israel could play an important role in securing the EU’s energy resources, reports Politis. In the course of discussions on May 22, the European Council examined “the question of a...
View ArticlePoland: ‘Expensive electric energy will be cheaper’
As of July 1, electricity prices in Warsaw and northern Poland will drop by 4 per cent in an effort to boost consumption after the economic slowdown has driven down demand. “It is high time, as prices...
View ArticleEuropean Parliament: ‘Europe revives plan to increase electricity charges’
The latest proposal to reduce emissions quotas on the carbon credits market, which is under discussion in the European Parliament, will increase electricity prices. The change will affect 12,000...
View ArticleShale Gas: Where is the stink coming from?
Polityka, Warsaw – Poland, and Europe in its wake, will soon decide on the future of their shale gas deposits. For the technology’s opponents, this is the last moment to save the continent from...
View ArticleNuclear Energy: ‘Germany risks nuclear waste chaos’
In a ruling delivered on June 19, the higher administrative court in Schleswig, northern Germany, withdrew an authorisation to store nuclear waste at a temporary site in Brunsbüttel. In the light of...
View ArticleNatural Gas: Caspian gas will not flow through Nabucco
Greek daily Eleftherotypia evokes Leonard Bernstein’s musical comedy “West Side Story” to announce the contract for the construction of the European segment of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) signed...
View ArticleNetherlands: ‘Rabobank turns against shale gas’
The country’s largest bank is refusing to lend to companies that wish to invest in shale gas. The Amsterdam daily reports that Rabobank “does not want to contribute to energy which it believes to be...
View ArticleEnergy: ‘Brussels wants to facilitate construction of nuclear power plants’
According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, the European Commissioner for Competition, Joaquín Almunia, wants the builders of nuclear power stations to have access to the same level of funding as green energy...
View ArticleRenewable energy: The lessons of Desertec
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich – The Desertec project hoped to exploit the energy potential of deserts to supply Europe with green electricity. A great idea, but it’s struggling to make headway. It’s a...
View ArticleEnergy security: Cyprus, Greece and Israel sign ‘historic’ agreement
Greek and Cypriot newspapers report that on August 8, Cyprus, Greece and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding, which aims to boost energy security for the eastern Mediterranean. Described as...
View ArticleSolar Energy: ‘Danish tax rebates build EU solar farms’
Danish entrepreneurs are investing significant sums in photovoltaic power stations in other countries, while benefiting from tax rebates stipulated by Danish law. In a nutshell, the Danish state is...
View ArticleUnited Kingdom: ‘Fracking will cut energy bills, says poverty chief’
Hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a controversial technique to extract shale gas from rocks, has the potential to drive down energy bills and save low income families from cripplingly high electricity...
View ArticleThe Netherlands: ‘PvdA achieves goal: to delay shale gas’
The Dutch government decided on August 26 to postpone its decision on shale gas exploration in the Netherlands until mid-2014. According to a technical report, presented by Minister of Economic Affairs...
View ArticleEU-Russia: Brussels’ probe into Gazprom threatens G20 talks
The European Commission is drafting a formal complaint against Russia’s state-owned gas firm Gazprom complaining the petrochemicals giant is abusing its “dominant position in the gas market”, writes...
View ArticleEnergy: ‘Prosecutors to investigate 80bn in solar grants’
Appeal court prosecutors are preparing to investigate the handing out of power station licences to firms just before a major cut in the price paid for solar electricity in late 2010 amid claims some...
View ArticleRenewable energy: Germans pay dearly for ‘energy transformation’
The policy of “energy transformation” undertaken by Germany in the 2000 could result in a 20 per cent increase in the cost of electricity to consumers in 2014, announces Süddeutsche Zeitung, on the eve...
View ArticleSlovakia: ‘State buys SPP, families will have cheap gas’
The Slovakian government is preparing to take control of gas prices by purchasing the remaining 49 per cent stake in Slovakia’s main gas distributor SPP. Pravda notes that the deal will see Bratislava...
View ArticleCyprus Natural gas: First on-site test of natural gas production
The first gas production tests in the “Aphrodite” field, located in block 12 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone began on September 5. The procedure will enable experts to test the quality of the gas...
View ArticleGermany: ‘Plan B for green energy’
In response to the continued rise in electricity prices prompted by subsidies for green energy, Handelsblatt has published a feature on alternatives proposed by industry to reduce energy costs without...
View ArticleMalta: ‘China set to invest in Enemalta’
The Maltese government concluded an agreement with China Power Investment Corporation on September 11, which will enable the Chinese energy group to acquire a stake in the Maltese publicly owned power...
View ArticleHungary: ‘Total state control’
The Hungarian government, on September 11, agreed to sell its Algyö gas depot, located in the south of the country, to private energy company MOL for about 150 billion forints (€500m). The depot, says...
View ArticleElectrical energy: Uniting for a cheaper bill
El País, Madrid – Contrary to Brussels' intentions, a decade of liberalisation on the electricity market has resulted in steeper bills for householders. To combat this trend, consumers are banding...
View ArticleShale Gas: ‘Battle for shale has begun’
“Brussels is preparing regulations concerning shale gas extraction. The pressure is growing for them to be restrictive,” writes Rzeczpospolita. In line with European Parliament proposals passed on...
View ArticleShale Gas: There will be no revolution in Europe
Les Echos, Paris – This week, France confirmed its ban on shale gas exploitation and the European Parliament demanded environmental impact studies before all test drilling starts. More obstacles for a...
View ArticleRomania: ‘Pungești-Chevron case. Behind the scenes of a huge scandal’
Pungești, a poor town in Vaslui county in eastern Romania, has become the centre of the Romanian revolt against shale gas. Since October 14, locals have been protesting against an exploration project...
View ArticleRomania: ‘Anti-shale’
“The Romanian Orthodox Church has become one of the main actors in the protests against the exploration and extraction of shale gas,“ points out Adevărul. Although the Church has yet to express an...
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Nuclear energy: UK finds ‘nuclear power is the cheapest way’ to reduce emissions
The controversial deal with French energy firms EDF and Areva and their Chinese partners CGN and CNNC to build a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point C in Somerset (south-west England) will create...
View ArticleEU-China solar panel dispute: Brussels cracks under pressure
“China has won a major trading dispute with EU over solar panels,” writes Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, commenting on an October 22 decision by the European Commission’s anti-dumping advisory committee to...
View ArticleEnergy policy: Every man for himself
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt – Germany is going down the green energy road, Poland is drilling for shale gas, and the United Kingdom has announced the building of new nuclear plants: when...
View ArticleSlovenia: ‘What will Bratušek say to Putin about South Stream?’
The South Stream pipeline is among the issues that Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek will discuss with President Vladimir Putin on her visit to Moscow in December. Russian gas company Gazprom is...
View ArticleIndustry: ‘High electricity costs threaten European prosperity’
“Europe is increasingly losing ground in terms of energy when compared to other economic powers,” points out the 2013 World Energy Outlook Special Report presented on November 12 by the International...
View ArticleRenewable energy: ‘Energy giant axes £4bn UK turbine project’
German energy firm RWE npower is withdrawing from the £4bn (€4.7bn) Atlantic Array windfarm project in the Bristol Channel after rising costs made the project uneconomic, reports The Guardian. The...
View ArticleNatural gas: EU opposes construction of South Stream
“In its current form the South Stream gas pipeline cannot operate on European territory,” writes the website of the Sofia-based weekly Kapital, which cites remarks made by the European’s Commission’s...
View ArticleRomania: ‘The match in Pungești’
The eastern Romanian town of Pungești was the scene of violent clashes on December 7 between some 500 demonstrators protesting against US company Chevron’s shale gas exploration project and security...
View ArticleUnited Kingdom: ‘Fracking gets the green light’
The UK should throw its weight behind hydraulic fracturing, the controversial procedure to extract shale gas from deep fields, the chairman of the government’s climate change advisory group Lord Deben...
View ArticleNatural gas: ‘South Stream goes on, the Slovenian energy sector stands firm’
Slovenian PM Alenka Bratušek met her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on December 10 for talks on the development of the South Stream gas pipeline in south eastern Europe. Both pledged...
View ArticleCroatia: ‘Gazprom interested in INA takeover’
According to Poslovni Dnevnik, the Russian energy giant is considering the acquisition of a majority holding in Croatian oil company INA. Apparently, the question was recently raised by Gazprom CEO...
View ArticleRenewables: ‘Electricity war between Berlin and Brussels’
On December 17, the European Commission announced, the launch of an investigation into German tax exemptions for Green energy, which have been of benefit to hundreds of companies. Brussels is demanding...
View ArticleUkraine: “We will not subsidise Gazprom!”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has condemned the 16 June decision by Russian energy giant Gazprom to suspend gas supplies to Ukraine, in the wake of Kiev’s refusal pay arrears and an...
View ArticleEU-Russia: Bracing for winter
The approach of winter “reminds every-one [Russian president] Vladimir Putin still holds the cards when it comes to supplying gas”, writes economic journalist Liam Halligan in The Spectator. What will...
View ArticleNatural gas: ‘Putin writes off South Stream’
Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced he will no longer build the South Stream gas pipeline, due to EU opposition. Speaking at a press briefing with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in...
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