News | Headlines Energy prices rose by 59% in 2021 Worldwide Finance


Energy prices used in the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) ended 2021 59% higher than on the first trading day of the year. The increases were largely driven by increased demand from the initial phase of global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. To give a comparison, most other commodity indexes included in the GSCI increased by about 20%. The precious metals index was the only one to decline. The energy index of the GSCI increased more than twice as much as the industrial metals index on a percentage basis during 2021, this being the next highest commodity index group price change.


The GSCI tracks the performance of global commodities markets. Its index is a weighted


average of commodity prices, and updates the weight it allocates to each commodity every year. In 2021, the energy index group made up 54% of the GSCI, and two crude oil benchmarks, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil, accounted for around 70% of the weighting in the energy sector index. WTI crude oil makes up the largest share of the overall GSCI at more than 21%. Prices in energy commodity futures markets also greatly increased throughout the year. For example, the futures price of RBOB (a reformulated grade of petrol/ gasoline used as the benchmark for gasoline trading) increased by 67% during 2021. The only commodity included in the GSCI that increased more was coffee, whose futures price increased by 81% during 2021. Among energy commodities, prices for


petroleum products such as RBOB and ULSD (ultra-low sulphur diesel, which is used as a benchmark for heating oil trading) increased the most during 2021, at 67% and 64%, respectively. Prices for crude oils such as WTI (62%) and Brent (55%) increased by slightly less. Futures prices for gasoil (what ULSD is called in Europe) increased by 54% during 2021. Natural gas prices increased the least among energy commodities, although 38% is still a relatively large increase.


Several factors contributed to the higher energy commodity prices throughout 2021, including weather disruptions, such as the February winter freeze and Hurricane Ida; increased demand for gasoline and diesel; and increasing demand for crude oil and natural gas at a rate faster than increased production.


The Texas grid is ‘ready for winter weather’ USA Weatherisation


Mindful of the widespread power cuts and system damage during last winter’s ice storms, and the subsequent shake-up in regulatory control of its responsibility for system reliability, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has filed its final winter weatherisation readiness report with the Texas Public Utility Commission. The report shows 321 out of 324 electric generation units and transmission facilities fully passed inspection for new winterisation regulations from the Commission. “The Texas electric grid is more prepared


for winter operations than ever before,” commented Interim ERCOT CEO Brad Jones. ERCOT conducted onsite inspections at 302 electric generation units during December, representing 85 % of the megawatt hours lost during last year’s Winter Storm Uri due to outages, and 22 transmission station facilities. Three resources have been identified for further review but remain operational. They represent approximately 0.4 % of the total ERCOT generation fleet.


“We are confident these 321 inspected facilities either meet or go beyond the new requirements from the Commission and we


will continue to work with the other 3 facilities to ensure they correct remaining deficiencies,” said Woody Rickerson, ERCOT VP of System Planning and Weatherisation. “Our teams spent thousands of hours preparing for and conducting these 324 onsite inspections to ensure the electric grid is prepared for winter.”


The Commission will determine any potential enforcement actions resulting from the inspections. Last year, the Texas Legislature increased the maximum penalties for violating weatherisation rules to $1 million per day per violation


Olkiluoto NPP achieves first criticality


Finland Nuclear power The EPR reactor installed at unit 3 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Finland achieved first criticality on 21 December, power utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced.


TVO said a new nuclear power plant was last commissioned in Finland more than four decades ago. OL3, where construction started 16 years ago, will generate about 14% of Finland’s electricity after the start of regular generation.


“This moment will be remembered forever as a sign of the hard work to put our new plant unit into operation. It speaks of the strong professionalism in the nuclear industry and the desire to make Finland’s largest climate work a reality,” said Marjo Mustonen,


TVO Production Director. OL3 project manager Jouni Silvennoinen said OL3 would be connected to the national electricity grid in January 2022.


After start-up, the power level will be increased step by step with commissioning tests performed at each power level. Electricity production will start at a capacity of 30%, or about 500MWe, at the end of January 2022. OL3’s regular electricity production will begin in June 2022.


The Areva-Siemens consortium is constructing the OL3 plant under a fixed-price turnkey contract. They have joint liability for the contractual obligations until the end of the guarantee period of the unit. Construction of Olkiluoto 3 began in 2005 and completion of the reactor was originally scheduled for 2009.


6 | January/February 2022 | www.modernpowersystems.com


However, the project faced a series of delays and setbacks. The project to build OL3 is some ten years behind schedule and significantly over budget. STUK project manager Essi Vanhanen said construction of the plant has been ‘a learning place for everyone involved’. “We commend the TVO teams for this significant milestone and we thank the Framatome and Areva project teams that persevered to reach it. This milestone paves the way for safe, reliable, low-carbon electricity generation to the residents of Finland,” said Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome. “From the fuel manufactured in our plants to the long-term operational and outage services that Framatome will supply to OL3 in the future, we are honoured to support this unit in reaching its full potential.”


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