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Global electricity production falls again


Worldwide Power generation The International Energy Agency Monthly Electricity Statistics report, published in July, included data up to end-April and shows that for OECD membership total net electricity generation was 803.4 TWh in April 2023, decreasing by 2.5% year-on-year. This decrease was driven by lower production from fossil fuel sources (-5.3% y-o-y), mainly from coal fired plants (-18.1% y-o-y). Renewable energy production also saw a slight decrease in April 2023 (-1.2% y-o-y), as lower precipitation in the recent months in


North America impacted hydropower production, and lower wind speeds in the northern hemisphere resulted in lower wind power production.


Nuclear power, despite plant closures in OECD Europe, increased by 2.7% y-o-y for total OECD membership.


The greatest decrease was in Germany, where total net electricity production was 40.8 TWh in April 2023, down by 13.0% y-o-y compared to the same month last year. Electricity production from nuclear plants declined by 66.3% y-o-y, reflecting the


planned shutdown of the last three nuclear plants in mid-April, which marks the end of the nuclear era for Germany. Electricity production in the country from fossil fuels fell by 14.6% y-o-y, mainly driven by the decline of coal (-21.1% y-o-y), and production from renewables increasing 4.8% y-o-y.


The IEA’s Monthly Electricity Statistics features electricity production and trade data for all OECD member countries and electricity production data for a selection of other economies.


ACWA granted land for 10 GW wind project Egypt Wind power


ACWA Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to allocate land for a hugely significant 10 GW wind project in Egypt. Egypt has adopted an ambitious programme to advance the electricity sector in various fields, which includes maximising the utilisation of new and renewable energy resources, encouraging investment in these fields to enable energy independence from fossil fuels, continuing to reduce carbon emissions, and an aim of increasing renewable energy


capacity in the energy mix to 42% by 2035. This focus also aligns with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the National Climate Strategy 2050 with a view to mitigating the impact of climate change challenges and achieving sustainable economic growth.


The MoU allocates approximately 3000 square km of land west of Sohag, an urban centre, for the project, which is expected to generate around 50 000 GWh of clean energy annually, providing electricity to around 11 million households and mitigating the impact of 25.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions.


The 10 GW plant is expected to provide the Egyptian economy with US$6.5 billion savings in annual natural gas costs, in addition to creating up to 120 000 job opportunities and long term will add about 2500 jobs during the operation and maintenance phase after completion.


ACWA Power has three other facilities in Egypt, that are either in operation, under construction or in advanced development, including a 120 MW solar PV project in Benban, a 200 MW solar PV facility in Kom Ombo, and the 1.1 GW Suez Wind Energy project.


EU sets support conditions for German H2 plants


Germany Hydrogen economy The German economic ministry (BMWK) has released a statement, reports online news agency Clean Energy Wire, to the effect that the European Commission has set framework conditions for planned German state support to build and operate about 24 GW of hydrogen power plants and fossil gas units which will later be converted to hydrogen. The ministry and the Commission have worked out a ‘common understanding’ for support to build these gas-fired power plants, which the government considers a necessary supplement to intermittent renewables in securing the electricity supply. “The progress made [in the talks] with the European Commission is an important first step, even if this does not mean that the intended measures have already been approved by the European Commission under state aid rules,” said the ministry.


The official state aid consultation process will continue after the summer break. Over the past few months, Germany and the EU


agreed on important legislation to speed up renewable energy expansion, said German economy minister Robert Habeck. “Now it is a matter of initiating the conversion of our power plant fleet to hydrogen and thus set the course to achieve climate neutrality for the entire electricity sector.” Habeck said the results of the talks with the Commission meant that his ministry could now develop the power plant strategy, which it had promised earlier this year to show how to guarantee supply security in the future. Earlier plans suggested that the first auctions would be held this year, but the minister now says these will start in 2024.


The economy ministry has described three different schemes under the joint understanding to cover the proposed state support: Tenders for 15 GW of new and existing gas units which have to be converted to hydrogen by 2035 (10 GW set to be auctioned from 2024-2026, of which up to 6 GW will be new).


Tenders to support power production from 8 | July/August 2023| www.modernpowersystems.com


renewables-based hydrogen at 4.4 GW of ‘hydrogen sprinter power plants’ in regions with early access to the fuel, and auctions in 2024-2028 for new projects or converted gas power plants.


Tenders for 4.4 GW of projects that combine renewable electricity with electrolysers for green hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogen power plants.


With a planned future energy system based on intermittent renewable electricity generation, Germany will need solutions to guarantee its supply in times of low wind or insolation, such as bioenergy, imports from neighbouring countries, storage systems or the hydrogen power plants. These units would only run when needed, such as during peak demand hours. Recently the German government agreed on an update to its National Hydrogen Strategy with the aim of speeding up the development of a market for the fuel, which it sees as essential for the path to climate neutrality by 2045.


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