Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz’s Post

🇮🇹 Italy relies excessively on #gas for power generation. Recent news from Italian TSO Terna suggests that change could be underway. In April 2024, IEEFA highlighted the excessive usage of gas in Italy's power generation sector (https://lnkd.in/e-9QSP5x). The findings of this study raised concerns that Italy was not moving away from gas, neither pipeline gas nor LNG, and that gas was an essential pillar in its energy roadmap. One of the drivers of gas usage in Italy is the support of gas plants by capacity payments. 🔍 Interestingly, the results of the capacity market auction for the year 2025 released by Terna have awarded little new capacity, out of which only 100 MW of gas-fired generation. No new gas plants have been awarded capacity payments. This news is not a game changer in the Italian market but might show that the country is slowly heading in the right direction to reduce its gas dependence. Read Terna's press release: https://lnkd.in/d4-ZpADn Jonathan Bruegel Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz

The oil and gas industry has pursued energy transition avenues to decarbonize its operations. However, heightened energy security fears amid the Ukraine invasion have brought back the focus on fossil fuels, which has led companies to scale down their energy transition pursuit. This will likely continue in 2024, but the switch towards low-carbon energy is expected to proceed, albeit at a slower pace, according to GlobalData Plc. GlobalData’s thematic report, “Energy Transition in Oil and Gas,” highlights the energy transition related developments in the oil and gas industry. Companies are switching towards renewable power and other low-carbon options in their energy transition efforts. Full report 👇 https://lnkd.in/dP6fPTWd #energy #mix #oilandgas #energytransition #lowcarbon #geothermal #wind #solar

In the US, #Solar and wind represent 99% of all electricity generation capacity additions, according to data from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Solar alone installed a cumulative 7,899 MW in January through April 2024, representing 80.5%. However, #renewableenergy "has a long ramp of growth ahead of it if the United States is to achieve its goals of decarbonizing the energy sector." Despite all the growth - more needs to be done: https://buff.ly/3VI1lP2

While overall demand for gas dropped by 7% YoY, gas and the gas network continued to be the backbone of Ireland's electricity and energy system - generating almost half of the electricity used last year. It's wonderful to see wind energy's contribution to electricity generation increase from 34% in 2022 to 39% in 2023. However when we have days when there's little or no wind, when instead we have colder crisper days with no wind - like the week before Storms Isha and Jocelyn rocked up - that's when Ireland depends on the gas network to keep the country's lights on!

It’s clear that natural gas is a critical part of the energy mix during times of peak demand and when renewables are intermittent. On Aug. 2, U.S. natural gas-fired power plants generated more than 7 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity, making up almost half of all electricity generated in the contiguous United States that day. The increase is attributed to hotter weather, low natural gas prices and new combined-cycle generating capacity, according to the EIA. Over the past few years, the balance of sources of electricity generation in the United States—especially in the summer—has shifted to more renewables and natural gas and less coal. As electric generation capacity from renewable sources grows, natural gas is used increasingly to balance the intermittent nature of electricity produced from wind and solar. In fact, since 2014, the share of U.S. electricity generation from natural gas in the summer has increased every year except 2021, increasing from 29% in 2014 to 45% in 2024. Read more: http://spr.ly/6049Uo7vX

Great analysis by RenewEconomy on Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)'s latest gas shortfall warning, in a market where 75% of #gas output is sent overseas. IEEFA Asia Pacific sees more can be done on the demand side, and Victoria's gas transition plan is already having an impact. Plus gas use in #power generation continues to slide, but the latest GSOO shows a large resurgence. #energytransiton https://lnkd.in/gRauJfQH

the volatility ride: gas-to-power demand volatility is climbing to new highs in northwest Europe amidst the rapid expansion of variable renewables and the continued phase-out of coal-fired power plants. this highlights the growing role of gas-fired power plants in ensuring electricity supply security. the northwest European power system is undergoing a profound transformation: wind power output more than doubled since 2016, while coal-based generation declined by two-thirds amidst the gradual closure of coal-fired power plants in the region. in this context, gas-fired power plants play an increasingly important role in complementing variable renewables and ensuring electricity supply security during peak demand and/or low renewable power supply. the flexibility services provided by gas-fired power plants is naturally increasing the volatility of gas-to-power demand and consequently the short-term variability of gas prices. while gas-fired power generation dropped by almost 30% since 2017, the volatility of gas-to-power demand increased by almost 60% during the same period. this trend is set to continue over the medium-term amidst the rapid expansion of renewables and the coal phase-out by 2030 is most northwest European markets. this raises a number of questions on the investments required across the gas value chain: while gas demand expected to decline in northwest Europe, the range of its short-term variability is set to increase. this is set to drive the value proposition of gas flex providers, such as salt caverns, LNG peak-shavers and linepack management. there is also a question whether only flex services should be remunerated or there is a case to remunerate also the capacity... what is your view? how will the role of gas evolve in the European power market? how should be the flexibility services provided by the gas system valued? #gas #LNG #TTF #JKM #power #wind

Hot take time...if you enjoy the stability an interconnected grid offers, then neither thermal nor renewable generation is your enemy. The increase of RELIABLE reliance on renewable generation is a full spectrum win but, there will ALWAYS be a place for thermal generation. The less stress placed on those thermal units means fewer forced outages, less rushed/more effective maintenance cycles, and better availability when those resources are needed the most. #onegridoneteam #gridreliability #reliableenergy #energymarkets #renewableenergy #thermalenergy

The January Gas Demand report shows that gas generated 44% of the electricity used in Ireland in the first month of the year, while overall demand for gas increased by 29% in January when compared to December. During the cold snap, with little wind around, gas powered up to 80% of electricity, in contrast during the much windier conditions during storms Isha and Jocelyn, wind generated over 70% of electricity. These results show the inter dependency of weather reliant renewable energy and the 'always on' gas network. https://lnkd.in/eNriqKFV #gasdemand #gasdemandGNI

Gas generated 47% of total electricity in 2023.   Gas was the largest energy source of electricity generation in Ireland for the first 10 months of 2023, and wind energy was the key source in December. Both wind and gas made an equal contribution of 41% in November. June saw the highest reliance on gas during the year, as it provided 58% of electricity supplies during the month. Wind energy made its largest contribution in December, generating 53% of all electricity in the State. Gas peaked at 89% of electricity generation during April, but never fell lower than December’s 9.5%. Wind peaked at 80% in December, but at times fell to lower than 1% every month.  Read more: https://lnkd.in/eS3W4teX #GasDemand #GasDemandGNI