Headlines | News Renewables drive up global generation


Worldwide Global generation The International Energy Agency’s May report shows that for OECD members total net electricity production amounted to 854.4 TWh in May 2024, up by 3.7% compared to the same month last year.


This overall increase was led by strong generation from renewable sources (+6.6% y-o-y), mainly driven by solar power, which surged by 19.7% y-o-y and, to a lesser extent, by wind power (+5.8% y-o-y). Hydropower generation remained at 2023 levels (-0.2% y-o-y), as lower production in the OECD


Americas (-11.6% y-o-y) and in OECD Asia-Oceania (-9.3% y-o-y) was compensated by a significant recovery in OECD Europe (+16.8% y-o-y). The share of renewable sources in the OECD electricity mix settled at 39.4%, one percentage point higher than in May 2023. Electricity production from fossil sources grew marginally by 0.5% on a year-on-year level, mainly because reduced electricity generation from fossil fuels in OECD Europe (-11.4% y-o-y) and Asia-Oceania (-5.5% y-o-y) was offset by a significant increase in the Americas (+6.6% y-o-y). In this region, the jump


OECD electricity production by fuel type year-to-date comparison Electricity production (TWh)


0 Coal


combustibles Nuclear


Hydro Wind Solar Other


Jan-Apr 2023 May-23 Jan-Apr 2024 May-24


Natural gas Other


200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400


in fossil-fuel based electricity production mostly resulted from increased reliance on natural gas-fired plants (+6.9% y-o-y). Overall, fossil fuels provided 43.4% of total electricity generation in May 2024, down by 1.4 percentage points compared to the same month last year.


Electricity production from nuclear power increased by 5.5% y-o-y, with positive variations being registered in all OECD regions. In particular, nuclear power generation grew by 14.1% in OECD Asia-Oceania, by 5.5% y-o-y in OECD Europe and by 3.1% in the OECD Americas. The share of nuclear power in the OECD electricity mix remained stable at 16.7%. In OECD Europe, total net electricity production reached 266.4 TWh in May, a notable 3.0% increase compared to May 2023. A decline in electricity production from combustible fuels (-11.4% y-o-y), was offset by significant growth in electricity production from renewable sources (+9.6% y-o-y) and nuclear (+5.5% y-o-y). The rise in renewables was mainly driven by increase in solar electricity production (+18.3% y-o-y) and hydro (+16.8% y-o-y). Solar generation reached a record-high share of 14.9% in the electricity mix, while hydroelectric power recovered from drought conditions that had significantly reduced output in the previous year.


Texas PUC selects 16 gas projects for potential loans USA Gas firing


Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) commissioners on 29 August authorised the agency’s executive director to enter into a loan agreement with selected Texas Energy Fund applicants that successfully complete a further review, with initial loan disbursements to be made by the end of 2025.


The loans will be made through the TEF, which voters approved in 2023. In July, Texas governor Greg Abbott, R, said he wants to double the programme’s size “to build more new plants as soon as possible.”


The 16 gas fired generation projects total almost 10 GW. Potentially they would receive 3% state-backed loans supporting their development. If all projects advance through a due diligence review, the portfolio would represent a total of $5.4 billion in loans. The PUCT had originally selected 17 projects to advance in the loan application process, but soon after rejected one, the application, amounting to 1.3 GW, from NextEra and Aegle Power, which ‘failed the due diligence phase.’ The funds are available through the Texas Energy Fund loan programme, which voters


approved last year to incentivise new power plants. The PUCT received 72 loan applications representing more than 38 GW in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system. Regulators took other actions at the open meeting to strengthen the state’s electric system, including adopting a reliability standard for the ERCOT region. The Texas grid “is more reliable today than it has ever been, and we know our system must continue to evolve to meet the growing demand for power,” PUCT chairman Thomas Gleeson said in a public statement.


Trina delivers first Italian utility scale storage project Italy Energy storage


Trina Storage has commissioned its first utility storage project in Italy, Torre di Pierri. The system is developed and owned by Trinasolar’s International System Business Unit, its global project development arm, and has seen the two business units collaborate on the site. Located in Avetrana in the Province of Taranto, Italy, Torre di Pierri is a 9.3 MWh standalone system that supports grid stability


and arbitrage. Trina Storage was contracted by Trinasolar ISBU for the provision of the battery energy storage system, representing the first time the former has delivered a utility-scale energy storage project in Italy.


While Trinasolar ISBU owns and operates the Torre di Pierri facility, it has a contract with Terna, the Italian transmission system operator, to deliver its services for up to 1000 annual operation hours as a Fast Reserve,


contributing to grid stability. Extra capacity will be used by Trinasolar ISBU to reduce the price differences in the electricity market. The contract was a result of Terna’s ‘Fast Reserve’ tender, a grid balancing service aimed at improving the stability of grid frequency while leaving asset owners margins for arbitrage. Trina Storage’s system underwent rigorous testing by Terna and E-Distribuzione, the distribution system operator, before going live.


www.modernpowersystems.com | September 2024 | 5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45