| 23/12/2003 |
New
WADE Publications on Decentralised Energy
The World Alliance for Decentralised Energy (WADE) has issued
two new publications. First, the "Guide
to Decentralized Energy Technologies" is an introductory
review of the main applications and systems for distributed energy.
Second, a brochure
on WADE's aims and activities which includes a Sankey chart
of the world's electricity system and some outputs of WADE's economic
model. |
| 22/12/2003 |
New
COGEN Europe Member: MDE Dezentrale Energiesysteme
COGEN Europe welcomes its new member MDE
Dezentrale Energiesysteme GmbH, Germany’s market leader
in the field of environmentally friendly distributed power systems
up to 1000 kW. MDE is a mid-sized enterprise based in Augsburg,
Germany. They have supplied more than 4000 gas engines and 1600
power modules, and the company has installed more than 300 MW
cumulative power in Germany alone. More information is available
on MDE's website. |
| 18/12/2003 |
European
Parliament approves Cogeneration Directive
COGEN Europe welcomes the European Parliament's decision to adopt
the Cogeneration Directive. Today in the Plenary session of the
Parliament in Strasbourg the second reading of the Cogeneration
Directive was passed with a resounding majority in favour a set
of amendments that meet the agreement also of the Council of Ministers.
For more details, read COGEN
Europe's Press Release (pdf, 25 Kb) and the Second
Reading Agreeement with corrections. |
| 18/12/2003 |
COGEN
Europe Micro-CHP Working Group: Next Meeting
The next meeting of our Working
Group on micro-CHP will occur on 20 January 2004 in COGEN
Europe's Office in Brussels. Amongst other items, the meeting
will look at COGEN Europe's input into the implementation of the
European Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings, the follow-up
to the Cogeneration Directive, national conditions for micro-CHP,
and the environmental benefits of micro-CHP. |
| 17/12/2003 |
Cogeneration
Directive will finally go ahead
The Council and the Parliament have agreed on an approach to the
Cogeneration Directive, thereby narrowly avoiding a conciliation
procedure. The Energy Group of the Council on 10 December 2003
backed a compromise proposal. Subsequently, the Parliament's ITRE
Committee in an extraordinary session on 15 December voted to
accept the minor amendments made to the text and to ratify the
agreement between the Parliament and the Council. The Committee
had initially decided to table 59 amendments
to the common position (pdf, 141 Kb), concerning the main
sticking points such as harmonised definitions, support for small
generation plants, binding EU and national targets and timetables,
and a uniform way of calculating and categorising cogeneration
(see EurActiv 5 December 2003). If the EP had insisted on these
changes, the dossier would have had to go to conciliation. This
could now be avoided. The EP will vote on its new report, which
was drafted by Norbert Glante (PSE, Germany), in its plenary session
on 18 December. The compromise amendments will then have to be
officially adopted by the Council, probably as an 'A point', at
a Council meeting before the end of 2003. |
| 17/12/2003 |
CHAPNET
Virtual Workshop
The real Workshop occurs today in COGEN Europe's Offices. Participate
at the meeting on the Chapnet
Website, on which we will upload presentations from the meeting
as they are being given. Send your input to us before 17:00, and
your comments will be discussed at the meeting. |
| 17/12/2003 |
Siemens
to build 400 MW Cogeneration Plant in Antwerp
The Power
Generation Group (PG) of Siemens, a member of COGEN Europe,
has secured a contract for the construction of a new turnkey cogeneration
plant at the BASF chemical plant in Antwerp, Belgium. The order
is worth approximately € 230 million. The new natural gas
fired combined cycle power power plant, consisting of one block,
will supply approximately 400 megawatts of electricity and a maximum
of approximately 300 tons of steam per hour to the production
facilities of the chemical plant. The power plant is scheduled
to be placed in service in August 2005. By combining heat and
power production, the plant will prevent unnecessary energy losses
and reduce CO2 emissions, thereby providing an environmentally
friendly power generation option. For more information read Siemens'
Press Release. |
| 15/12/2003 |
$
533 Million for Cogeneration Projects in Saudi-Arabia
Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil and gas giant Aramco
said last Friday that it has launched a private finance initiative
worth two billion riyals ($ 533 million) to build cogeneration
installations supplying four of its industrial sites in the kingdom's
eastern province. A special purpose company, jointly owned by
a Saudi and foreign company, would be created to build, finance
and operate the plants. They would produce more than 1, 000 megawatts
of electricity and more than 1.8m kilos per hour of steam, it
added. The company's present electricity and steam needs come
from two different sources, but the future "cogeneration
plants will enhance efficiency by combing the production",
Aramco said. "This will be the first large-scale independent
power project (IPP) to be undertaken in the kingdom by the private
sector". |
| 12/12/2003 |
New
EU legal Initiatives on Energy Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency
Services
On 10 December, the European Commission proposed a new
legislative package to promote investment in the European energy
sector. Whilst the Commission claims that this package will
"strengthen competition and help prevent the reoccurrence
of blackouts", reactions from MEPs, environment groups, the
power industry and even within the Commission were anything but
enthusiastic. Also on 10 December, the Commission issued a proposal
for a European Directive
on energy end-use efficiency and energy services. It would
require Member States to respect two energy savings targets -
notably saving every year 1% more of the energy previously used
- and to ensure that suppliers of energy offer energy services
for the period 2006 to 2012. COGEN Europe is particularly concerned
about serious negative impacts of the proposed energy infrastructure
measures, we therefore will issue our opinion on the proposed
measures soon. |
| 11/12/2003 |
EIB
launches €500 million initiative to support EU climate change
Policy of the EU
The European Investment Bank, EIB, has announced plans to help
to bring about a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in support
of EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme. The new initiative will
be mainly implemented through project financing activities, both
inside and outside the EU, such as a dedicated project Financing
Facility of €500 million for projects relate to the European
Emissions Trading Scheme. For more information read the EIB
Press Release, go to EIB's
homepage, or contact Orlando
Arango, T: +32 (2) 235 00 84. |
| 09/12/2003 |
Parliament
adopts draft Report on Cogeneration Directive
The European Parliament's Industry Committee on 2 December adopted
a report drafted by Norbert Glante (PES, Germany) on the proposed
Cogeneration Directive for the EP's second reading. The MEPs decided
to reintroduce many of the EP's amendments from the first reading,
even though the Council had rejected them. The committee's amendments
focus on the need for harmonised definitions of cogeneration,
support for micro-cogeneration plants, and binding targets and
timetables to increase use of cogeneration. EP, Commission and
Council will hold an informal trialogue before the EP's plenary
session in December to try to avoid conciliation. Should the negotiations
succeed, the plenary vote will be postponed to January 2004 to
allow time for necessary compromise amendments to be drafted.
For more information read the Parliament's
Press Release and Parliament's Draft
Recommendation for Second Reading from 6 November 2003 |
| 08/12/2003 |
The
National Allocation Plan - Getting the Rules right for Cogeneration
After extensive consultation and having
considered all options, COGEN Europe and other European industry,
environmental and local authority associations, have come up with
a set of basic principles and rules to ensure adequate allocation
to cogeneration installations in National Allocation Plans. The
paper is addressed to national Ministries and other agencies working
currently on the development of National Allocation Plans. It
has been issued
jointly by Cembureau, CEPI, Cérame-Unie, CIAA, COGEN Europe,
Energie-Cités, EuMIGT and WADE. Download
"The National Allocation Plan - Getting the Rules right for
Cogeneration" (pdf, 150 Kb) |
| 08/12/2003 |
WADE
Study on Decentralised Energy in Brazil
WADE have
issued it's 'National Survey of Decentralized Energy in Brazil
2003/2004'. This comprehensive report gives an insight into the
Brazilian power sector with the intention of informing the cogeneration/DE
industry, the energy industry and the financial community of the
opportunity to develop cogeneration and other forms of DE project.
Issues discussed include the current status of the electricity
sector, future growth & energy demand predictions, Cogen/DE
market potential, environmental issues and the legal framework
for DE. More information and order details are available on the
WADE website. |
| 08/12/2003 |
Deutsche
Bank warns that EU Emissions Trading Scheme may be at Risk
Deutsche Bank has warned that the EU's plan to launch its Emissions
Trading Scheme by January 2005 could be at risk due to the lack
of time to resolve a number of outstanding problems related to
it. "The timetable for the lead-up to emissions trading is
extremely ambitious. This view stems largely from the many grey
areas and unanswered questions that remain, as well as the limited
time available for solving massive problems in the initial allocation
of credits," the bank said in a report issued on Thursday.
The report, which outlines a number of problems related to Emissions
Trading, is available on-line. Download.... |
| 08/12/2003 |
COGEN
Europe Conference 2004: Programme available
The preliminary programme and the registration form for COGEN
Europe's Annual Conference 2004 (26-27 February 2004) are now
available on our conference
page. |
| 04/12/2003 |
Gas
Turbine Cogeneration Plant for Irish Pharmaceuticals Company
COGEN Europe member Centrax
Gas Turbines of the UK have received an order for the supply
of a gas turbine powered generator set, which set will provide
5.2 MW of electricity plus heat from the exhaust for use in the
production process at the manufacturing plant of Wyeth Nutritionals
near Limerick in Southern Ireland. Delivery of the new unit will
be next October with hand-over to the customer scheduled for November
2004. For more information on this project, download Centrax'
Press Release (doc, 30 Kb). |
| 02/12/2003 |
Will
the EU fail to meet its Kyoto targets?
The European Union and many Member States will probably fail to
meet their promises on cutting greenhouse gases, the European
Environment Agency (EEA) says today in a press
release. According to latest projections, "existing domestic
policies and measures... will reduce the EU's total emissions
in 2010 to only 0.5% below 1990 levels, leaving it 7.5% short
of the Kyoto target." Even that assumes the best performers
- Sweden and the UK - will do better than they have promised.
If they simply meet their promises, the EU's reduction will shrink
to 0.2%. The 13 other members will also miss their individual
Kyoto targets, with Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Austria and Belgium
exceeding theirs by more than 20%. The latest projections will
be published in the forthcoming EEA report. A summary of the report
is published on the EEA
website. |
| 28/11/2003 |
EU
Power Expansion Plans - and what about the Climate Implications?
Emergency proposals put forward by EU transport and energy Commissioner
Loyola de Palacio to increase Europe's electricity generation
capacity are encountering significant opposition within the European
Commission, the European Parliament and environmental groups.
A draft communication on energy infrastructure and security of
supply currently undergoing inter-service consultation within
the Commission was prepared by Ms de Palacio's department in the
aftermath of recent power blackouts in Europe. The communication
will be published with three legislative proposals: A Directive
on electricity supply and infrastructure, a Decision on trans-European
energy networks (TENs) and a Regulation on access to gas transmission
networks. One key criticism is Ms de Palacio's failure to even
mention possible implications for EU efforts to curtail greenhouse
gas emissions. Critics are also questioning the communication's
failure to link measures to encourage capacity expansion to long-promised
initiatives to manage demand and promote energy efficiency. |
| 28/11/2003 |
European
Paper Industry goes Biomass
The European paper industry declared its intention to boost its
use of biomass in heat and power production, the industry federation
CEPI announced.
The voluntary commitment is to lift by 25% the amount of biomass
in on-site power and heat production by 2010, and to raise the
share of biomass from 49% to 56% in on-site total energy consumption
for heat and power production.
CEPI combined its commitment with a call for recognition of forestry
by-products as a renewable energy source and demanded a level
playing field in the use of renewable energy sources and wood
for the paper industry. The EU pulp and paper industry alreday
generates 90% of its on-site electricity production in CHP installations,
17% of Europe’s renewable energy and 28% of its biomass-based
energy. |
| 25/11/2003 |
Cogeneration
Directive: Latest News from Council and Parliament
On 20 November, the latest Council proposal outlining a possible
compromise with the European Parliament on the draft Cogeneration
Directive has been issued. Meanwhile, the second reading of the
Directive continued with a debate on 26 November on the draft
second reading report in Parliament's ITRE Committee. COGEN Europe
has sent voting recommendations to Committee members. All
three documents are available in the Member
Area of our website (download requires password).
 Council
proposal (204 Kb)
COGEN
Europe Voting Recommendations (77 Kb)
Notes
from the ITRE Meeting on 26 November (68 Kb) |
| 24/11/2003 |
Free
workshop on Cooling, Trigeneration and Component Integration
The thematic cogeneration network Chapnet
organises a two day workshop on cooling, tri-generation &
component integration on 28-29 January 2004 in Mälardalens
University, Västerås, Sweden. Participation in the
workshop is free of charge. Each participant is responsible for
his own expenses. More information is available on the Chapnet
website. |
| 17/11/2003 |
UK:
Decision Document on Electricity Distribution Charges
The UK Energy Regulator Ofgem has on Friday published its initial
decision on the future of the structure of electricity distribution
charges. It is assumed that the proposals announced will make
the structure of charges more transparent to customers and generators.
Also, the new system aims to make it easier for distributed generators,
such as cogeneration, to connect to distribution networks. The
new system will be introduced in a phased approach. Copies of
the document ‘Structure of Electricity Distribution Charges
– Initial Decision’ are available from the Ofgem
website or by emailing distribution@ofgem.gov.uk
|
| 13/11/2003 |
UK
Government admits policy failure on Cogeneration and climate protection
A
20% gap in the delivery of the UK Government's cogeneration target
has now been confirmed in new
Government research published this week. This means the UK
will fail to cut its carbon emissions by 1.3 million tonnes. The
UK's cogeenration target is 10 GWe by 2010 but new work by Cambridge
Econometrics for the DTI and DEFRA confirms only 8.1 GWe of CHP
capacity may be delivered by the end of the decade. The results
of the research were announced at the CHPA's annual conference
in London. The DTI commissioned work by Cambridge Econometrics
- "Modelling good quality Combined Heat and Power capacity
in the UK to 2010, revised projections" - can be downloaded
from the website
of the Department for Trade and Industry. |
| 12/11/2003 |
Emissions
Trading and Cogeneration: Germany aims to get Allocation Rules
right
The German cogeneration association B.KWK
has issued this Monday a statement on how cogeneration should
be treated in the German National Allocation Plan. Referring to
the first Emissions Trading period 2005-07, the association suggests
that existing cogeneration installations, which qualify as highly
efficient, should receive freely all allowances to cover their
emissions. New installations, in turn, should obtain all allowances
needed to cover emissions of the power plant and boiler, which
the cogeneration installations substitutes ("substitution
model"). Download
the statement (in German, pdf, 47 Kb)
The German Government actually has alredy taken steps to ensure
adequate treatment of cogeneration in its National Allocation
Plan. In October, the Environment Ministry has issued a draft
law to transpose the European Emissions Trading Directive into
national legislation. Article 8(4) of this law states that
the German National Allocation Plan should contain rules to "take
into account energy efficiency and climate protection technologies,
such as the production of electricity and heat by cogeneration"
(own translation). Other countries should follow this example
and issue suitable allocation rules to ensure that Emissions Trading
becomes a means to promote CO2 savings through cogeneration, as
stated by the European
Emissions Trading Directive. |
| 12/11/2003 |
Financing
Guide for Community Heating Schemes
The UK's Community Energy Programme, jointly managed by the Energy
Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust have this week launched a new
Financing Guide designed to help managers of potential community
heating schemes and consultants assessing schemes to develop a
sound economic and funding case. This document provides broad
guidance on financing vehicles, revenue maximisation and how the
national Community Energy programme calculates the economic benefits
of community heating schemes. Although developed for the United
Kingdom, this document provides much information which is useful
for other countries, too. It can be downloaded from the EST's
website. |
| 06/11/2003 |
Micro-CHP
Working Group: Agenda for 7 November meeting
The first meeting of COGEN Europe's working group on micro-CHP
is scheduled for Friday 7 November 2003 in Brussels. The final
agenda for this meeting (pdf, 16Kb, requires members' password)
is now available. COGEN Europe members who wish to participate
in the group and have not registered yet can download the announcement
and registration form from the working
group's page on this website. |
| 05/11/2003 |
Draft
Report for second Reading of the Cogeneration Directive
The draft Recommendations for the second Reading of the European
Cogeneration Directive in the European Parliament from 23 October
2003 is now available in English. The text can be downloaded from
the Member Area of this webpage. Download...
(doc, 192 Kb) |
| 04/11/2003 |
EBRD
and Netherlands launch carbon credit fund
The
Dutch Government and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development have launched a new
Carbon Fund to invest in carbon dioxide reduction measures in
central and eastern Europe. The EBRD will use €32 million
of Dutch funds to buy carbon credits from Joint Implementation
projects for the account of the Netherlands. The EBRD said it
would focus on energy efficiency projects, such as district heating
upgrades, and renewable energy projects under the fund. Full
story... |
| 04/11/2003 |
Institutional
Investors call for Greenhouse Gas Disclosure
(Point Carbon)
A group of 87 institutional investors managing assets of over
US$9 trillion on 3 October wrote to the world’s 500 largest
companies by market capitalisation, calling on them to disclose
their greenhouse gas emissions. The move by the Carbon
Disclosure Project shows that investors are increasingly seeing
information on firms' greenhouse gas emissions as relevant to
their investment decisions. The EU’s emissions trading scheme,
due to start on 1 January 2005, appears to be the most immediate
risk – and opportunity. |
| 03/11/2003 |
UK:
No progress on Cogeneration
(UK Gas Report, n° 243) Despite support measures of the government,
the development of cogeneration in the UK is in a stalemate since
two years. It is therefore doubtful whether the country can realise
its initial target of doubling the installed capacity between
2000 and 2010. The use of gas has increased by 7.8% in 2002, but
the ratio between electricity and gas prices is still too low
to incentivise new investment in cogeneration. Whilst cogeneration
covers a major part of power demand in the petrochemicals and
paper industry, it is far less used in other sectors of industry.
In the buildings sector, most units are installed in the hotel
and leisure sectors, whilst hospitals account for the biggest
capacity. |
| 03/11/2003 |
ECN
issues New Report on Renewable Electricity Policies in EU-15 and
Norway
COGEN Europe Member ECN's Policy Studies Department has published
a new report on "Renewable
electricity policies in Europe, country fact sheets 2003".
This report provides a clear and systematic overview of policy
instruments used in EU Member States and Norway for the promotion
of electricity from renewable energy sources. It can be used as
a reference book, which describes the proportion of renewable
energy sources in the present fuel mix and the development of
renewable energy sources for every country in the European Union.
For each Member State the national renewable electricity targets
are indicated, and an overview of the policy instruments that
are in place to promote the use of renewable energy in order to
achieve the targets. The report can be downloaded from the ECN
Website. |
| 03/11/2003 |
EU
Energy Products Tax Directive adopted
After six years' difficult and often interrupted negotiations,
the EU Directive setting minimum tax rates for all energy products
has finally been adopted. It is set to enter into force on 1 January
2004. The Directive was finally agreed by EU Finance Ministers
in March. None of the suggestions issued by the European Parliament
in September to reduce the Directive's many exemptions has been
accepted by EU governments. As a result of the numerous compromises
required to win the required unanimous backing from the EU-15
states, the Directive will have few near-term consequences for
tax levels on most energy products. Even so, its existence greatly
strengthens the longer-term potential for upwards harmonisation
of EU energy tax rates. The
European Commission wants to propose "in the coming weeks"
transitional arrangements on how the ten countries due to join
the EU next year should comply with the rules. The Directive will
allow EU Member
States to apply total or partial exemptions, or reductions in
the level of taxation, to high-efficiency cogeneration. Until
the European Cogeneration Directive defines this term, Member
States can apply national definitions of high efficiency cogeneration
The full text of the Directive will soon be available on the Europa
Website. See also the Commission's
Press Release and the Prelex
website on the development of the Directive. |
| 03/11/2003 |
"Micro-CHP
needs specific treatment in the European Directive on Cogeneration"
COGEN Europe, together with a number of other organsiations and
companies, has forwarded a paper with this title to the European
Commission and the European Parliament. The aim is to stimulate
careful consideration of micro-CHP technologies in the forthcoming
regulations of the European Cogeneration Directive. The paper
has been endorsed by important suppliers and the Dutch micro-CHP
working group. Download
(pdf, 46 Kb) |
| 25/10/2003 |
Emissions
Trading Directive in force
The Emissions Trading Directive ("Directive 2003/87/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003
establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading
within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC")
has come into force today with its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Union. The full
text of the Directive is available in all Community languages
on the Eur-Lex
website. |
| 24/10/2003 |
COGEN
Europe On-line Quiz
Today we have launched our on-line quiz "How well do you
know the electricity industry?". The quiz asks a series of
tricky questions related to the characteristics of Europe's electricity
generation and supply system, energy efficiency and distributed
generation. If you answer all of them correctly you may be amongst
the 10 winners. The quiz is open until 24 December 2003.  |
| 21/10/2003 |
More
Links on the European Cogeneration Directive
Our "Links" section now contains a specific page related
to the European Cogeneration Directive. It offers a number of
official documents of EU institutions, and COGEN Europe's input
into the process. Go there... |
| 21/10/2003 |
Avedore
CHP Plant in Denmark teaches us a Lesson
(Scotsman) Denmark’s Avedore power station is one of the
most advanced and most efficient power station in the world, utilising
a staggering 94% of the energy of its fuel. The average electricity
producing power station in the UK is only at 40-50%. Avedore burns
coal, gas, oil, straw and wood pellets. Avedore produces 820 MW
of electricity, serving some 1.2 million households, and the heat
for approximately 160,000 homes. It is an example of the distinct
approach to energy policy taken in Denmark in response to the
oil crisis in the 1970s. Recent major electricity blackouts have
made security of supply a key issue, but also remind us also of
this crisis of three decades ago, when oil price hikes sent western
industrial economies into a tailspin. In the aftermath of the
energy crisis, members of the Danish Parliament decided every
new plant built in the future must be a CHP station - an approach
which may well come into fashion again. Read
the complete article... |
| 20/10/2003 |
Free
CHP Workshop
You are invited to a free workshop looking at CHP issues and standards.
The workshop will be held at EA Technology, Chester, England,
on the 17th November as part of the EU funded Chapnet programme.
More information is available on the Chapnet
website... |
| 17/10/2003 |
Launch
of COGEN Europe's micro-CHP Working Group
COGEN Europe's Working Group on micro-CHP will be launched again.
A first meeting of the Group is scheduled for Friday 7 November
2003 in Brussels. Participation is restricted to COGEN Europe
Members. For more information download the announcement
and registration form (doc, 68 Kb) and the draft
agenda (doc, 40 Kb, requires members password) or go to the
Working
Group's page on this website. |
| 13/10/2003 |
Statement
by COGEN Europe: Europe at the crossroads for the electricity
system
COGEN Europe has issued today a statement on the future of the
European electricity system in the light of recent large-scale
power failures and climate change. Decentralising electricity
production through CHP and local renewable energy is the way to
go, reducing the strains on grid infrastructure, and saving CO2
emissions, energy consumption, and billions of Euros. Download...
(pdf, 14 Kb) |
| 07/10/2003 |
Caterpillar
Subsidiary Invests in Polish Cogeneration Plant
Caterpillar
Power Ventures broke ground on a new 37 MW cogeneration plant
in the city of Starachowice, Poland. The plant will be equipped
with a gas turbine from Solar
Turbines and construction of the site will be completed by
Turbomach Industrial
Energy Systems. The plant will reduce emissions, stabilize
district heating prices and provide lower electrical costs for
industries located in Starachowice's "Special Economic Zone".
The privately funded project represents a total investment of
about $42. The Starachowice project will be the first commercial
investment in Poland relying on a long-term power purchase agreement
with the local electrical distribution company ZEORK. Full
story... |
| 02/10/2003 |
European
Parliament starts second reading of CHP Directive
Yesterday the European Parliaments ITRE Committe had a first exchange
of views on its second reading of the Cogeneration Directive.
Notes from the debate at this meeting are available for COGEN
Europe members in the Member Area of this webpage. Download...
(pdf, 72 Kb, requires password). |
| 01/10/2003 |
Commission's
Reaction on Council Opinion on CHP Directive
On 26 September the European Commission gave it's view on EU
Member States' position on the draft Cogeneration Directive
to the European Parliament. COGEN Europe members can also download
from this website the Commission's Communication
from 26 September (pdf, 100 Kb) |
| 30/09/2003 |
New
COGEN Europe member: Golden Forest
COGEN Europe welcomes its new member Golden
Forest. Energy efficiency, environmental consciousness and
sustainable development are the key word for this Swedish consulting
firm. More information on http://www.goldenforest.nu/ |
| 26/09/2003 |
Emissions
Trading: Survey of National Allocation Plans updated
Our survey of National Allocation Plans and CHP-related issues
in Emissions Trading has been updated. It is available for COGEN
Europe members in the Members Area of this webpage. Amongst other
things, this this survey will provide input into the next meeting
of COGEN Europe's Working Group "Emissions trading &
CHP" on 10 October in Brussels. Download
(requires password) |
| 23/09/2003 |
Chapnet
Conference Presentations available for free
A number of high-quality presentations given during the Chapnet
Network Conference on 17 September in Brussels can be downloaded
for free from the Chapnet
webpage. They cover topics such as cogeneration component
integration, gas turbines, gas engines, biomass cogeneration,
distributed energy, micro-cogeneration, optimisation of operation
of cogeneration systems, cooling and trigeneration, and cogeneration
in the newly associated states. Chapnet
is
the first European thematic network on medium and long term research
and technological development needs for cogeneration. Its results
will allow the cogeneration European CHP business to retain its
global leadership, and it will facilitate co-operation across
Europe through EU-funded, national and industrial programmes.
The overall co-ordination of Chapnet is done by COGEN Europe.
|
| 19/09/2003 |
European
Cogeneration Review 2003 - Greece Report is ready
The country report on Greece of the European Cogeneration Review
2003 is now available. The report, which takes stock of the development,
current situation and prospects of cogeneration in Greece, is
available to COGEN Europe Members free of charge and two months
ahead of sales to non-members. Non-Members can obtain copies of
the Greek country report from 19 November at the price of €
80.
 
|
| 19/09/2003 |
Emissions
Trading Directive close to Publication
The European Emissions Trading Directive is close to its official
publication. A provisional, unofficial version is already available
on the European
Commission's Emissions Trading Website. This site also contains
the proposal for a new Directive regulating the inclusion of the
Kyoto flexible mechanisms (JI and CDM) into the European Emissions
Trading Scheme. The Kyoto Protocol and Emissions Trading will
initiate the emergence of a new low-carbon economy, setting a
new context for the development of CHP. |
| 16/09/2003 |
COGEN
Europe Annual Conference 2004
COGEN Europe's Annual
Conference 2004 "Europe's Cogeneration Potential - Time To
Deliver" will occur on 26- 27 February 2004 in the Renaissance
Hotel in Brussels. It will be set in the context of significant
changes in the energy arena, including the EU enlargement to 25
countries, changing investment structures in the power sector
as a result of emissions trading legislation, and the promotion
of cogeneration through the European CHP Directive. The conference
will examine these issues along with the implications of recent
events such as the blackout in the USA and this year's summer
heatwave. Further details will be provided as soon as they become
available on the conference
website. If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting
at this event, please contact Anna Limbrey for further details
(Tel. +32 2 772 82 90; Fax. +32 2 772 50 44; anna.limbrey@cogen.org). |
| 16/09/2003 |
European
Cogeneration Directive: Amended Proposal and Council's Position
The Council of Minister's opinion
on the draft European Cogeneration Directive has been made available
in the member area
of our website, together with the amended
proposal issued by the Commission. COGEN Europe will provide
further analysis and evaluation of these documents soon. |
| 15/09/2003 |
New
Eurostat CHP Statistics for the European Union
The latest cogeneration statistics from Eurostat, the Statistical
Office of the European Communities, have been made available on
in the member
area of this website. According to the data published, CHP
electricity generation in the EU in the year 2000 totalled 248.7
TWh, which was 9.6% of total gross electricity generation. Industrial
plants produced more than half of cogenerated electricity, notably
in the chemical industry, pulp and paper industry and refineries.
Denmark continues to rank top amongst EU countries with almost
53% of its power produced with CHP. More... |
| 15/09/2003 |
Join
COGEN Europe now and save Money
As we are now in the final quarter of the year, we can offer a
deal to potential members to join up til the end of next year
at a reduced cost. Of course you can pay just til the end of this
year at a prorata cost. More information is provided on our "How
to join COGEN Europe" page. |
| 03/09/2003 |
CHAPNET
Week 15-19 September at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
The
CHAPNET network will organise a whole week of thematic seminars
on cogeneration-related research and development needs and activities,
combined with a network conference. All events will occur in Brussels
between 15-19 September. The seminars will focus on pre-normative
research, gas engines, micro-CHP, cooling & trigeneration,
and education & training. The network conference will occur
on Wednesday 17 September. All events are be open to the public.
Further information and registration information is provided on
the CHAPNET
website. |
| 16/07/2003 |
Dutch
ERUPT
Programme for
JI projects
The
Dutch government intends to purchase emission reductions from
JI projects through it's ERUPT programme. Under
ERUPT 3, 17 companies have been invited to submit an offer before
the 28th of August 2003. This offer should include a validated
Project Design Document (PDD). As required under the Marrakech
Accords, each PDD should be made public for commenting for a 30
days period. The first two PDDs have now been made public at the
Carboncredits
website for global stakeholder commenting. More information,
PDDs and contact details of the validators on http://www.senter.nl/asp/page.asp?id=i001412&alias=erup |
| 14/07/2003 |
DECENT
Consortium issues final Report on Distributed Generation in Europe
The final report of the DECENT
study is now available. The project identified the main barriers
and success factors to Distributed Generation projects in Europe
and developed a number of policy recommendations to promote Distributed
Generation within the European internal energy market. DECENT
was undertaken by an international research consortium which included
COGEN Europe. The final
project report, together with additional documentation, is
available on the DECENT website. |
| 08/07/2003 |
Romanian
Cogen Association joins COGEN Europe
COGEN Europe welcomes its new national member for Romania, the
CHP association 'COGEN Romania'. For more information on the association
and on CHP in Romania contact the Executive Secretary of the association,
Alexandra Andreescu. |
| 04/07/2003 |
Flemish
Parliament unanimously adopts Law on CHP Certificates
On 2 July the Parliament of the Belgian Region of Flanders adopted
a Law on a certificate system for CHP electricity. The law had
the unanimous backing of all political parties. The CHP certificate
scheme will be similar to the so-called "green certificates"
system for electricity produced from renewable energy sources,
which is already in force in Flanders. Producers of "green
electricity" can sell these certificates to electricity suppliers,
who every year have to submit a certain number of certificates.
Failure to present the certificates required will result in a
fine. The very ambitious target for certificates ensures that
certificates are always scarce, meaning their value value will
be close to the amount of the fine. Flemish Ministers now have
to develop a concrete CHP certificate system in order to implement
the Law. Preparations are alreday at an advanced stage and the
scheme will only require the approval of the Flemish Ministers
and the Council of State. It is expected that the system will
become operational early next year. More information is available
from David Mertens at Cogen
Vlaanderen (T: +32 16 58 15 13, Mobile: +32 497 444 377, E-mail:
david.mertens@cogenvlaanderen.be) |
| 04/07/2003 |
EU
Emissions Trading Directive agreed
On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favour of a compromise
package on Emissions Trading, thereby finalising a Directive which
will establish the world's first international emissions trading
market. As a formality, the Council of Ministers will adopt the
Directive without discussion in one of its next meetings, and
it will enter into force as soon as it bears the signatures of
both the President of the Parliament, and the President of the
Council. More information: Press
release from the Parliament's rapporteur - Press
release from the European Commission - EU
parliament approves greenhouse gas trading system (AFP) -
GHG
trading: Parliament approves compromise (EurActiv) - EP
breakthrough on greenhouse gas emissions trading (EU Business)
A proposed amendment to give specific attention to CHP when allocating
allowances (see
our recent initiative) was downgraded to an unspecific recital
in the Directive's preamble stating that the Directive “will
encourage the use of more energy efficient technologies, including
combined heat and power technology, producing less emissions per
unit of output, while [the CHP Directive] will specifically promote
combined heat and power technology.”
COGEN Europe's Working
Group on 'Emissions Trading & CHP' will follow up to this
statement.
The group has met yesterday in Brussels. A dedicated
area on Emissions Trading in our webpage has also been created
(access requires members login). |
| 27/06/2003 |
WWF's
Power Switch Initiative
WWF calls on the EU to reduce energy consumption by 1 per cent
every year in order to combat climate change effectively. The
organisation is addressing this issue in its PowerSwitch!
initiative. With this initiative, WWF challenges the power
sector - the companies producing electricity and the people guiding
their decision-making - to become CO2-free by mid of the 21st
century in developed countries, and make a major switch from coal
to clean in developing countries. WWF believes that in the longer
term, Europe should look towards a cut of about 50 per cent carbon
pollution from the power sector by 2020. |
| 13/06/2003 |
Emissions
Trading: MEPs adopt draft report with CHP-related amendments
The European Parliament's ENVI Committee has adopted its draft
opinion (second reading) on the Emissions Trading Directive on
11 June (see
ENVI Committee website). The Committee agreed by 47 votes
against 3 with 2 abstentions to re-introduce several of the first-reading
demands which were not accepted in the Council's common position.
Amongst these are the CHP-related amendments 18-20 which could
help avoid disincentives for the conversion of heat-only applications
to CHP under the Emissions Trading regime. Due to time constraints
(Member States should have their national allocation plans ready
by March 2004) Parliament has, however, defined 5 priority issues
which may dominate the desired quick compromise with the Council
of Ministers. A detailed report is available on the EurActiv
pages. |
| 12/06/2003 |
Next
Meeting on Emissions Trading
The second meeting of COGEN
Europe's Working Group "Emissions Trading & CHP"
has been scheduled for 3 July 2003 in Brussels. |
| 12/06/2003 |
Council's
first Reading of Cogeneration Directive almost finalised
The Council of Ministers is likely to reach agreement on its 'Common
Position' on the proposed European Cogeneration Directive before
the summer break. The latest version
of the Council's Working Party on Energy from 4 June is available
in the Members' Area of this website (download requires password).
It could become the final document if no additional comments from
Member States are brought forward. Together with the European
Parliament, the Council shares responsibility for the development
and adoption of the Directive under the so-called Co-decision
procedure. |
| 04/06/2003 |
Greenhouse
Gas Emissions in rich Countries on the Rise again
A new UNFCCC report confirms that the developed world, which stabilised
its emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases during the 1990s,
is likely to see these emissions rise by the end of the current
decade. Based on projections provided by the governments themselves,
the report anticipates that the combined emissions of Europe,
Japan, the US and other highly industrialised countries could
grow by 17% from 2000 to 2010 despite domestic measures currently
in place to limit them. More information: Press
release - Executive
Summary - UNFCCC
website
The country with the biggest overall increase is Spain, where
greenhouse gas emissions had risen 34.8 percent between 1990 and
2000. Under the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Burden Sharing Agreement,
Spain was allowed emissions to rise no more than 15 percent above
1990 levels. Spain's increase is more than double that in the
United States, which saw a rise of 14.2 percent in the same period.
|
| 03/06/2003 |
WADE
Papers on Rules and Carbon Credits for Decentralised Energy
The World Alliance for Decentralized Energy (WADE) has issued
two interesting papers on "The
Right Rules for Decentralized Energy" and on "The
CDM, Carbon Credit and Decentralized Energy", which help
stimulate the debate on development parths for this more sustainable
approach to electricity generation. |
| 03/06/2003 |
The
DG-FER project on Distributed Generation in Europe
DG-FER aims to develop a roadmap for distributed energy in Europe,
bringing together the various elements that comprise all the technologies
and systems that make up distributed generation. For more information
read the latest DG-FER
press release (doc, 25 Kb) or go to the project's webpage
http://www.dgfer.org. |
| 02/06/2003 |
Emissions
Trading and CHP: Modifications of the EU Directive are necessary
Together with four other international organisations (Climate
Action Network Europe, Confederation
of European Paper Industries, World
Alliance for Decentralized Energy, and WWF)
COGEN Europe has issued today a leaflet urging the adoption of
CHP-related amendments to the Emissions Trading Directive proposed
by the European Parliament, if major risks for the future development
of cogeneration are to be avoided.
Download
the leaflet "Will Emissions Trading put Combined Heat and
Power at Risk?" (pdf, 226 Kb) |
| 28/05/2003 |
British
Gas to launch Microgen Micro-CHP units
(The Independent) British Gas is to become the first energy company
in the UK to sell a Stirling engine based micro-CHP unit from
next year. The new micro CHP technology has been developed by
the BG subsidiary and COGEN Europe member Microgen. The micro-CHP
plants will cost £2,000, about £600 to £700
more than a conventional condensing boiler, but will reduce the
average domestic electricity bill by about £150 a year.
The company plans to begin offering them commercially in late
2004. It believes that by 2010 demand for the boilers could reach
as many as 200,000 a year - about 15 per cent of the annual boiler
replacement market. That means that within a decade there could
be one million in use. Each boiler would reduce household carbon
dioxide output by 1.5 tonnes a year. For more information read
the full
article, or go to the Microgen
website. |
| 28/05/2003 |
COGEN
Europe Position on Emissions Trading and CHP
With its latest Position
Paper, COGEN Europe again warns of the artificial barrier
to the development of some of the largest CHP potentials in Europe
which the Scheme could create, particularly by punishing the upgrade
of exisiting installations to CHP. COGEN Europe's Working
Group on 'Emissions Trading & CHP' will therefore intensify
its efforts to address this issue both in the EU Directive and
in National Allocation Plans. Download
the Position Paper (pdf, 35 Kb) |
| 19/05/2003 |
CHP
Directive: Comparing the Positions of Parliament and Council
The European
Parliament's first reading of the proposed CHP Directive has
come to an end, and the debate within the Council
of Ministers is equally at an advanced stage. What are the
key differences between the positions of these two institutions?
COGEN Europe has created a short summary "Development
of the CHP Directive: Comparing the Positions of the European
Parliament and of the Council of Ministers" (pdf, 52 Kb)
to help our Members not to lose track of the rather complicated
procedure (download requires password). |
| 15/05/2003 |
European
Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the Rise
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the European Union have increased
for the second consecutive year, moving the EU further away from
meeting its commitment to achieve a substantial emissions cut
by the 2008-2012 period. The annual emissions inventory compiled
by the European Environment Agency shows that 10 of the 15 Member
States are heading towards overshooting their agreed share of
the EU GHG emissions target by a wide margin. More
information... |
| 14/05/2003 |
First
Announcement of Chapnet Week in September 2003
The Chapnet
network will organise a whole week of thematic seminars on
cogeneration-related research and development needs and activities,
combined with a network conference. All events will occur in Brussels
between 16-19 September. The seminars will focus on gas engines,
micro-CHP cooling & trigeneratio, and education & training.
The network conference will occur on 17 September. All events
will be open to the public. Further information and registration
information will be provided on the Chapnet
website. |
| 13/05/2003 |
European
Parliament adopts Report on Cogeneration Directive
The European Parliament's plenary session in Strassbourg today
adopted a legislative
resolution on the proposed EU Cogeneration Directive on 13
May (available in all Community languages). 5 out of 85 amendments
have been rejected.
In parallel to the Parliament procedure, the EU Council of Ministers
is working on the proposed Directive in order to develop its 'Common
Position'. The Council's latest
revision of the draft Directive dates from 30 April. The Council
of Ministers on 14 May is expected to approve a general approach
on the proposed Directive.
The Parliament and the Council share responsibility for the development
and adoption of the Directive under the so-called Co-decision
procedure. |
| 05/05/2003 |
First
meeting of Working Group "Emissions Trading & CHP"
The first meeting of COGEN
Europe's Working Group "Emissions Trading & CHP"
will occur next Tuesday 13 May from 10:30 - 17:00 in the COGEN
Europe Office in Brussels. Meeting documents are available in
the Member Area of this
page (password required). A number of useful weblinks on Emissions
Trading have been placed on the Working
Group's page in the public area. Contact: Peter
Löffler |
| 27/04/2003 |
€200
million for EU's Intelligent Energy Programme
The European
Parliament's Industry Committee approved last week at second
reading the "Intelligent Energy – Europe" programme,
a multiannual plan covering the period 2003-2006 and replacing
the existing framework programme which expired on 31 December
2002. In its Common Position, the Council of Ministers accepted
most of Parliament's amendments, including those regarding the
integration of the candidate countries, the dissemination of and
access to the programme, and the introduction of transparent criteria
for selecting participants. As regards the programme's budget,
a compromise figure of €200 million has been agreed, the
Council having initially proposed €190m. This amount will
be distributed among four areas: improvement of energy efficiency
(SAVE, € 64m), promotion of new and renewable energy sources
(ALTENER, € 72m), energy aspects of transport (STEER, €
30m) and the promotion of renewable energy sources and energy
efficiency in the developing countries (COOPENER, € 34m).
More information and all relevant documents on the new programme
can be found on the PreLex
database on inter-institutional procedures. |
| 17/04/2003 |
Vaillant
becomes a Player on the Micro-Cogeneration Market
COGEN Europe Member Vaillant Hepworth Group has established itself
as a new player on the micro-cogeneration market by taking over
the "ecopower"
business from Valentin Energie- und Umwelttechnik GmbH in Gera.
Vaillant also pioneers the development of a fuel cell micro-cogeneration
unit. For more information, read the press
release. |
| 17/04/2003 |
Cogeneration
Directive: Latest Developments in the Council
The latest revisions of the Cogeneration Directive by the Energy
Working Party of the Council of Ministers have been made available
in our Member Area
(requires password). The Council shares powers as legislator
on the Directive with the European Parliament under the so-called
Co-decision Procedure. Its views and amendments are therefore
crucial. |
| 16/04/2003 |
Experts
issue Global Green Energy Roadmap, including a 20% Cogeneration
target for EU
Germany's official Advisory
Council on Global Change (WBGU) has issued ambitious proposals
for achieving a sustainable global energy system. Industrialised
countries should adopt radical goals on cutting fossil fuel use,
boosting renewables and improving energy efficiency, it says in
a report delivered to Germany's environment, research and international
development ministries. The report recommends generating, by 2012,
20% of electricity in the EU through cogeneration. To promote
this, the German Federal Government should argue within the EU
for the swift setting of binding national cogeneration quotas.
For more information see the press
release and report
details. |
| 14/04/2003 |
Free
CHAPNET Workshop on CHP Component Integration
A one-day workshop on CHP Component Integration within the framework
of the CHAPNET
project will occur on 8 May 2003 in Düsseldorf, Germany
- the last day of Power-Gen
Europe 2003. This workshop is open to everybody and it will
be free of charge. The workshop should help identify latest component
developments, present on-going research, and define areas for
future research projects. Speakers will include representatives
from Dalkia, Farmatic, Innogy, Technische Beratung Energie, Wärtsilä,
Alstom and others. An agenda is available on the CHAPNET
webpage. Registrations should be forwarded to Géraldine
Roy, Lead Market Analyst at Alstom, Tel : +44 1522 586819, E-mail:
geraldine.roy@power.alstom.com
|
| 11/04/2003 |
Documentation
of COGEN Europe's Annual Conference
Delegates from across Europe and abroad attended COGEN Europe's
2003 Conference
on 3-4 April in Brussels. Each participant will receive a
CD-ROM with the complete conference proceedings.. The CD-ROM can
also be ordered by those who did not attend the event.
|
| 10/04/2003 |
DTE
Energy Technologies signs joint Distribution Agreement
COGEN Europe member DTE
Energy Technologies has announced the signing of a joint distribution
agreement with the Swiss Menag
Holding AG, unifying the two companies' product lines. The
agreement's vision is for each company to utilize the products,
services and distribution networks developed by the other. DTE
Energy Technologies will provide its broad portfolio of energy|now
products, including on-site cogeneration systems between 75 KWe
to more than 1 MWe (internal combustion engines, Stirling engines,
and miniturbines) and its System Operations Center™. For
more information read the Press Release...
|
| 01/04/2003 |
New
CEN Workshop to determine Cogeneration
Euroheat & Power is sponsoring a 'CEN
Workshop on Manual for Calculating Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Electricity' to determine CHP. The aim is to further develop
Euroheat's CHP
Manual. COGEN Europe has had intensive discussions in the
past with Euroheat & Power on this subject and in our opinion
the current Manual needs more work on it make it acceptable to
the whole range of CHP plants. It is thus very important that
a wide representation of the CHP Community attends this exercise
so that the final document represents the whole sector not just
District Heating CHP projects. This is not just an academic exercise
as the resulting output from the CEN Workshop Agreement may be
used to assess what is a CHP in Europe. COGEN Europe urges everybody
with a stake in this matter to register.
The kick-off meeting of this CEN Workshop will take place on 2003-05-05
on the CMC premises.
 CEN
Workshop homepage
Draft
business plan
Registration
form |
| 26/03/2003 |
European
Parliament Controversy on draft Cogeneration Directive
The Parliament's ITRE Committee discussed yesterday its draft
report and proposed amendments to the EU
Cogeneration Directive. Not less than 240 modifications of
the 14 Articles of the Directive have been brough forward. The
debate was sometimes quite confrontational, particularly on the
issue of cogeneration definitions, with little compromise in sight.
More information: Meeting
papers (draft report and amendments) - Meeting
notes by COGEN Europe (pdf, 85 Kb, download requires Member
password).
COGEN Europe's Spanish national member COGEN
Spain has, in the meantime, proposed an alternative evaluation
methodology of primary energy savings from cogeneration as a potential
approach to be taken in the Cogeneration Directive: Presentation
of this method (ppt, 218 Kb, download requires Member password). |
| 26/03/2003 |
China
a World Leader in Decentralised Energy
The World Alliance for Decentralized Energy (WADE) has published
its 'National Survey of Decentralized Energy in China - 2003'.
This seems to be the first detailed assessment of the current
and prospective markets for clean DE projects - high efficiency
cogeneration and decentralized renewable systems - for China.
The survey shows that China has already become one of the world
leaders in the development of DE, with an overall DE share of
the national power market at around 15% compared to a world average
of 7%. This has been based largely on cogeneration systems. DE
development over the next ten years could exceed, under favourable
conditions, a massive 50 GWe. COGEN Europe is the European Member
of WADE. Press
Release (pdf, 32 Kb) - Survey
(pdf, 840 Kb) |
| 2/4/03/2003 |
Pilot
Cogeneration Plant captures waste Heat for Water
A pioneering Aberdeen City Council initiative to efficiently generate
electricity and heat in multi-storey blocks of flats has been
given a £736,000 Scottish Executive grant from the Government's
Community Energy programme. The
money will go towards the trailblazing combined heat and power
scheme for multi-storey blocks in Stockethill containing 288 flats
- Woodhill Court, Oldcroft Court, Castleton Court and Beechwood
Court. The
system is very efficient. Power bills for tenants are slashed
and carbon dioxide emissions are half that of conventional systems.
Generators are housed in an outbuilding and burn gas to produce
electricity for lights and appliances. Waste heat is captured
to warm up rooms and water. The drawback is that start-up costs
are high, despite the government grants made available. The Stockethill
project is costing £2.6 million. More
information... |
| 19/03/2003 |
Business
Opportunities in South East Asia at COGEN Europe's Annual Conference
Experts from the EC-ASEAN
COGEN 3 Programme will present business opportunities arising
from "100 New Cogeneration Projects in South East Asia"at
COGEN Europe's
Annual Conference 2003. The experts will equally be available
for individual consultations during the entire Conference. Participation
at the COGEN 3 event is free of |
