|
|
COGEN
Europe
News Archive 2006
|
|
| 15/12/2006 |
Parliament
welcomes Commission's Green Paper on a European Strategy for
Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy
Yesterday
in Parliament, the report on the Commissions Green Paper on
a European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure
Energy, presented by Eluned Morgan was adopted with a large
majority. The European Parliament asks for binding targets
for the reduction of CO2 emissions and for the increase in
the use of renewable energy sources. In addition, the report
asks the Council and the Commission to set energy efficiency
measures as cross cutting-priority for all EU policy areas
and supports an EU target for energy efficiency improvements
of at least 20% by 2020. Read
the European Parliament press release. |
| 12/12/2006 |
COGEN
Europe's response to the European Parliament's vote on the
Green Paper on Energy
On
the eve of the European Parliament’s vote on the European
Commission’s Green Paper on Energy, a group of leading
energy efficiency industries are urging the European Parliament
to get serious about energy savings. With the industry being
able to deliver an estimated reduction of at least 20% in
CO2 emissions within 20 years, whilst saving billions of EURO
in energy costs and delivering hundreds of thousands of jobs,
ambition should be high. With the effects of climate change
already being felt and with energy prices remaining high,
the time for action is now.
Read this press release here.
|
| 08/12/2006 |
COGEN
Europe welcomes the new German Presidency.
COGEN Europe urges
the new Presidency to put energy efficiency measures in electricity
supply to the top of their agenda for urgent implementation.
Read COGEN
Europe's open letter to welcome the Presidency. |
| 04/12/2006 |
Subject:
Commission slashes NPA2 allocations
The
Commission has just released its first set of decisions concerning
the phase-2 National Allocation Plans in which they have reduced
the allowances by almost 7 per cent below the emissions proposed
by the national allocation plans and 7 per cent below the
2005 emissions.
Please find below the table extracted from the Commission's
Press release.
Member
State |
Proposed
cap |
Allowed
cap |
Germany
(1) |
482 |
453.1 |
Greece |
78.5 |
69.1 |
Ireland |
22.6 |
21.15 |
Latvia |
7.7 |
3.3 |
Lithuania |
16.6 |
8.8 |
Luxembourg |
3.95 |
2.7 |
Malta |
2.96 |
2.1 |
Slovakia |
41.3 |
30.9 |
Sweden |
25.2 |
22.8 |
UK |
246.2 |
246.2 |
To look at this in more detail, please follow the following
link: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/ip_1650.htm
In
addition, the Commission has released a 17-page communication
on the assessment of phase-2 NAPs that provides the reader
with the methodology used by the Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/pdf/nap2006/20061128_communication_en.pdf
It
will be very interesting to follow the evolution of phase-2
allowances in the days and weeks to come. Perhaps more crucially
though it will be essential to monitor the way in which governments
will treat cogeneration installations, both existing and new
entrant in the hope that the end in over-allocation will not
put cogenerators at a competitive disadvantage.
|
| 27/11/2006 |
Workshop
on “Technical and financial aspects of energy efficiency
and CO2 reductions through Cogeneration, Trigeneration and
Polygeneration in the European Food and Drink Industry”.
COGEN Europe organises on Tuesday 12 December in Brussels
the Workshop on “Technical and financial aspects of
energy efficiency and CO2 reductions through Cogeneration,
Trigeneration and Polygeneration in the European Food and
Drink Industry”. This event is organised within the
Optipolygen project, a project that looks into assessing the
potential to save energy in the food sector by applying polygeneration.
The outcomes of this project are important for other industry
sectors as well.
The food and drinks industry is one of the largest sectors
in Europe. Food industries consume considerable resources
for their energy needs, including fuels and electricity. Polygeneration
can help food industries meet their energy needs at lower
costs and lower environmental impact. The results of the Optipolygen
project show the potentials to save energy in the different
sectors (meat, dairy, cereals, sugar, etc) and thereby save
money, which contributes to the sector’s competitivenessThe
aim of the Workshop is to highlight the potential for cogeneration
in the European food sector. Next to a policy overview on
energy efficiency by Mr. Guido de Wilt, the Commission expert
on cogeneration, the outcomes of two related projects (Optipolygen
and BESS) will be presented together with contributions from
the market players.
Attendance to this event is free of charge. Please find here
the draft agenda and the registration form. More information
on the Optipolygen project can be found on www.optipolygen.org
For more information on the Workshop, please contact Stefan
Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org
|
| 24/10/2006
|
Dimas
shows the EC is serious aut phase-2 NAPs
The European Commission is likely to send several Member States
back to the drawing board after Commissioner Dimas (Environment)
expressed irritation on Monday at the fact that “the
first 17 notified national allocation plans [for 2008-12]
propose a cap about 15% above actual emissions in 2005."
The Commission has made it clear that it expects Member States
to ensure that the phase-2 NAPs are consistent with international
commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and the European Burden
Sharing Agreement.
The
Finnish environment minister and council president Jan-Erik
Enestam however stressed that not too much weight should be
placed on 2005 emissions, given that 2006 or 2007 emissions
could be significantly higher, especially if hydropower generation
is lower than in 2005. His position was in line with the Council
resolution on climate change that avoided any reference to
2005 emissions.
|
| 23/10/2006 |
ConocoPhillips
to Expand Europe's Largest Combined Heat and Power Station
10/20/2006 HOUSTON – October 20, 2006 ConocoPhillips
[NYSE:COP] today announced the approval of an investment of
approximately $400 million (£210 million) to expand
the capacity at its Immingham Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
plant in the United Kingdom by 450 Megawatts (MW), from 730
MW to 1,180 MW. This expansion would make Immingham CHP one
of the world's largest and most efficient power stations and
an additional source of low carbon heat and power for the
U.K. Commercial operation of the expansion is currently expected
to start in the summer of 2009.
The plant provides steam heat and electrical power to ConocoPhillips'
Humber refinery and steam heat to Total's Lindsey oil refinery,
both adjacent to the plant in North Lincolnshire, U.K. By
combining the production of heat and power, Immingham CHP
uses 20 percent less fuel and produces 25 percent less carbon
than the alternative of producing heat and power separately.
Immingham CHP will now contribute 12 percent toward the U.K.'s
CHP target of 10 Gigawatts by 2010.
"The expanded CHP capacity demonstrates ConocoPhillips'
commitment to include lower carbon technologies in the company's
portfolio," said Bob Hassler, president of ConocoPhillips
European downstream operations. "This major long-term
investment by ConocoPhillips is timely in view of the U.K.
government's ongoing industry support for combined heat and
power. This support has included the granting of the Climate
Change Levy exemption for the plant's power output and the
more favorable treatment for CHP operations in the second
phase of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme."
Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said, "Combined heat and
power plants like the one being expanded at Immingham are
designed to produce both electricity and usable heat. They
bring environmental benefits due to their very high levels
of efficiency."
The Immingham CHP commenced commercial operation late 2004,
and is one of the largest, cleanest and most efficient of
its type in Europe. The expanded plant, together with ConocoPhillips'
Humber refinery, is strategically placed to realize the vision
of an ultra-low-carbon integrated energy hub able to supply
heat and power to a wide range of local industrial customers.
If current studies demonstrate economic feasibility, the enlarged
Immingham CHP could be modified to utilize gasification technology
to operate as a 'clean coal' facility with carbon dioxide
stored or used for enhanced oil recovery.
ConocoPhillips is an integrated petroleum company with interests
around the world. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.
|
| 20/10/2006 |
Framework
for Intelligent Energy - Europe II adopted
The
EU Member States adopted on 12 October 2006 a decision to
establish the European Competitiveness and Innovation Programme
2007-2013 programme.
Around
20 per cent of the € 3.2 billion budget envvelope of
this programme will be allocated to the Intelligent Energy
- Europe II programme. The concrete sum currently discussed
is around the € 730 million mark.
Press
release:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/misc/91292.pdf
Full
text of the decision:
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/06/st03/st03622.en06.pdf
|
| 20/10/2006 |
Action
Plan for Energy Efficiency
Yesterday,
at long last, the European Commission released the Action
Plan on Energy Efficiency. COGEN Europe welcomes the action
plan but believes that Energy Efficiency is not yet at the
main stream of energy policy. A press
release with COGEN Europe's reaction has been issued. |
| 13/10/2006 |
Hydrogen
& Fuel Cell Platform R-Draft Implementation Plan (Oct
06)
Presented at the European Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Platform
3rd General Assembly (Brussels, 4-6th October 2006)
The
Implementation Plan (2007-2015) comprises 4 Innovation and
Development Actions (IDAs), which emphasize the priorities
for Europe and encompass all necessary activities to achieve
the “snapshot 2020” targets of the HFP. The 3rd
IDA concerns “FC for CHP and Power Generation”.
The goal is to have more than 1 GW in capacity in operation
by 2015, with PEMFC, MCFC and SOFC technologies all contributing
to this target.
The key 1 GW target is based on the cumulative deployment
of FC technologies in residential applications (1 to 10 kW)
with 80,000 units, small industrial applications (10 kW to
1 MW) with 2600 units and larger industrial applications (<
1MW) with 50 units.
Most of the hydrogen for industrial power generation is expected
to come from by-product hydrogen.
The
total budget requirement for IDA 3 has been estimated at EUR
2853 million, with 49% of those funds to go to SOFC R&D
and demo projects.
The
Implementation Plan also includes performance and price targets
for stationary applications. These are laid out in the table
in the attachment. |
| 05/10/2006 |
7th
Annual WADE Decentralized Energy Conference Expo & Annual
Meeting, Prague
Simon Minett will be speaking at this event on the “Opportunities
and Obstacles for CHP and DE around the World”. In addition,
COGEN Europe will be holding it’s EGM during this event
on the 30th October. Members of COGEN Europe are entitled
to attend the WADE event at the much reduced rate of €650
for the two days including the dinner. |
| 03/10/2006 |
Upcoming
Commission proposals
At
the end of this year the European Commission will put forward
the most important and ambitious energy package it has ever
presented, reacting to the call of the Heads of State at the
Hampton Court Summit for a European Energy Policy. “Producing
such a package can only be done on the basis of a full and
wide public = and expert consultation, something that I place
enormous importance on”, according Mr Andris Piebalgs,
Energy Commissioner, during his speech in Bratislava 28 September
at the Annual Conference of Gas Infrastructure Europe. His
intention is that at the end of the year the Commission tables
the following measures:
-a EU Strategic Energy Review, that will endeavour to provide
a vision – a central European energy objective –
that will underpin a European Energy Policy and give a practical
step-by-step road map on how to achieve this vision
- the Long-term Renewables Road Map
- the Internal Energy Market Review and the final results
of the Sectoral Competition Energy Enquir-
- a Priority Interconnection and Infrastructure Plan
- a Communication on Sustainable Coal
- a “PINC” Communication on nuclear energy in
the EU as required by the Euratom Treaty
In
addition to these documents the Action Plan on Energy Efficiency
will also be tabled by the European Commission and in 2007
a Strategic Energy Technology Plan will follow. |
| 26/09/2006 |
Positive
vote for reference values!
The
CHP committee (set up under the CHP Directive) has voted positively
for the Commission Decision for harmonised efficiency reference
values. Out of a total number of 321 votes, 236 were positive.
The proposed Commission Decision has now been sent to the
European Parliament under the right of scrutiny. COGEN Europe
is extremely pleased that the Member States have given their
endorsement to the reference values as this is a vital part
of the realisation of the CHP Directive. We now hope the European
Parliament also returns very positive comments. |
| 22/09/2006 |
COGEN
Europe responds to the EU Green Paper on a European Strategy
of Energy
COGEN
Europe has today issued a Policy Paper in response to the
EU Green Paper entitled “A European Strategy for Sustainable,
Competitive and Secure Energy”. COGEN Europe agrees
with much of the analysis of the Green Paper and its supporting
documents, though emphasises the need for a more holistic
view of energy use which considers electricity, heat, transport
and water usages as all part of the same system rather than
separately. Download COGEN
Europe’s Policy Paper. |
| 21/09/2006 |
EU
Energy Efficiency Plan
The
EU Energy Efficiency Plan due to be published next week aims
to cut energy consumption by 20% by 2020. The Action Plan
will provide a framework of policies and measures in order
to achieve this target. COGEN Europe will give its response
to the Action Plan once it is published. |
| 20/09/2006 |
Meeting
of the Working Group on “Small & Medium-scale CHP”
The internal COGEN Europe Working Group on “Small &
Medium-scale CHP” is meeting on Friday 29 September
in Paris. Issues such as air quality, grid connections and
support schemes, will be discussed. In addition, several speakers
have been invited. Mr Ulrik Stridbaek, senior policy advisor
at the International Energy Agency (IEA), will provide an
outlook for CHP in Europe. The PEP-Net project will be presented
and country overviews of Italy and France will be given. Please
note that participation is only open to COGEN Europe members.
In case you are interested, please contact as soon as possible
Stefan Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org
|
| 04/09/2006 |
COGEN
Challenge Newsflash
Please
find here
the latest COGEN challenge Newsletter. COGEN challenge is
an EU-wide campaign that promotes the use of small-scale cogeneration
(up to 1 MW). To this end we are developing a database with
1,000 examples of small-scale cogeneration projects, the Showcase.
If you are an operator or a supplier of cogen units wherever
in Europe, please add your unit in the showcase, where you
can present information on your installations. To register
go to the Showcase on the project website www.cogen-challenge.org.
In addition, we invite small-scale cogeneration equipment
suppliers and developers to register their company in the
European suppliers and developers directories. Use COGEN challenge
as a platform to promote your product and to get new clients
by contacting Mr Stefan Craenen (email: stefan.craenen@cogen.org).
|
| 01/09/2006 |
Announcement
of a cogeneration week in Sofia, Bulgaria on 11-15 September
COGEN
Europe is co-organising a series of (biomass) CHP events that
will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria during September. The Bulgarian
Minister of Economy and Energy has formally agreed that these
events take place under his patronage.
COGEN
Vlaanderen, our Flemish national Member, organises on 11-13
September together with two technical universities the “Base
Course on Cogeneration”. Required knowledge is the level
of student, bachelor or master of engineering sciences, or
equivalent knowledge. Please find here
the flier for the “Base Course on Cogeneration”.
For more information, please contact Michel Raskin on michel.raskin@cogenvlaanderen.be
On
14 September the first Regional Workshop on “Biomass
CHP in Bulgaria” will take place. This is a first event
in a series of workshops on biomass CHP in Europe which aim
to stimulate the use of regional biomass CHP applications,
inform local actors about the possibilities and potentials,
and to facilitate markets for manufacturers. The opening speech
will be delivered by the Bulgarian Minister of Economy and
Energy and by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. Mr
Guido de Wilt, the CHP expert of the European Commission,
will also give a presentation. Please find the programme of
this event here.
If you are interested, please contact Mr Joep Coenen on joep.coenen@cogen.nl
On
15 September the internal COGEN Europe Working Group on “CHP
from renewables” will take place. The meeting will take
place at the premises of the Energy Efficiency Agency of the
Minister of Economy and Energy. Please the agenda here
and contact Stefan Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org
in case you wish further information. |
| 28/08/2006 |
Biomass
CHP Best Practice Guide now available
The
BIO-CHP project is dedicated to the promotion of best practice
biomass CHP throughout Europe. The intention is to contribute
to an increased - and more efficient - use of biomass for
CHP production. The project disseminates biomass CHP experience
based on collected data from more than 65 existing CHP plants
in Denmark, The Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Sweden and
Finland. The results from the project are gathered in the
"Biomass CHP best practice guide”, giving well
documented operational performance data from biomass CHP plants
in operation. The key findings are the following:
-
Plant owners often overestimate the efficiency, which can
be achieved - there are huge differences between the nominal
efficiency for electricity and heat as estimated in project
planning, and the performance achieved in the practical operation
of the plants;
- The
internal consumption of electricity in the plants is significant,
and some technologies perform better than others in this
context;
-
Operational stability and availability of the plants are not
impressive; for some technologies it is critically low;
-
Utilisation of the installed capacity is often low, either
due to part load operation or to extended periods of plants
being out of operation.
The
“Biomass CHP Best Practice Guide” can be downloaded
here
from the project homepage. |
| 23/08/2006
|
Announcement
of the first Regional Workshop on "Biomass CHP in Bulgaria"
Thursday 14 September 2006
In
response to the emerging debate on renewables, COGEN Europe
has set a Working Group on “CHP from renewables”.
The network was established two years ago and currently consists
of more than 30 European experts. Four subgroups have been
set up (support schemes, standardisation, technology development
and information/communication), good working relations with
stakeholders (e.g. the European Commission) have been established
and events have been organised (e.g. the “European Biomass
CHP Conference 2006” in January 2006).
The
subgroup on “Information and Communication” will
organise the first Regional Workshop on “Biomass CHP
in Bulgaria” on Thursday 14 September 2006 in Sofia,
Bulgaria. This is a first event in a series of workshops on
biomass CHP in Europe which aim to stimulate the use of regional
biomass CHP applications, inform local actors about the possibilities
and potentials, and to facilitate markets for manufacturers.
Please find the draft programme of this event here.
If you are interested, please contact Mr Joep Coenen on joep.coenen@cogen.nl.
This
Workshop is being organised in conjunction with a meeting
of the internal COGEN Europe Working Group on “CHP from
renewables”. This meeting takes place on Friday 15 September
in Sofia, Bulgaria. For more information on this meeting,
please contact Stefan Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org.
|
| 18/08/2006 |
Next
meeting of the Working Group on “Small & Medium-scale
CHP”
The
internal COGEN Europe Working Group on “Small &
Medium-scale CHP” is meeting on Friday 29 September
in Paris. Mr Ulrik Stridbaek, senior policy advisor at the
International Energy Agency (IEA), will also attend the meeting
and provide an outlook for CHP in Europe. Next to this the
leaders of the subgroups (air quality, grid connections and
support schemes) will present the progress of their respective
subgroup. Please note that participation is only open to COGEN
Europe members. In case you are interested, please contact
as soon as possible Stefan Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org
|
| 16/08/2006 |
Another
milestone reached in the COGEN Challenge campaign: the registration
of the 200th small-scale CHP plant
Since
the start of the COGEN
challenge
campaign
on 7 February 2006 another milestone has been reached. By 16
August 2006 the 200th small-scale CHP unit was registered in
the COGEN
challenge
database! At the moment this database contains an overview of
CHP examples from the following 13 EU Member States: Austria,
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg,
Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom. The aim of COGEN
Challenge project is to register 1,000 small-scale cogeneration
units.
If you are curious to know which ones are already listed, just
have a look at the database, which provides information on cogeneration
installations in buildings as diverse as single family house,
hospitals, industrial sites and many others. If you have not
yet registered your small-scale CHP Unit, please click here
to register your project.
For more information on the COGEN
challenge
campaign, please contact Stefan Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org |
| 30/07/2006 |
Next
meeting of the Working Group on “CHP from renewables”
The
COGEN Europe Working Group on “CHP from renewables”
is meeting on Friday 15 September in Sofia, Bulgaria. An overview
of the national biomass CHP situation in Bulgaria will be presented
and the leaders of the subgroups (support schemes, standardisation,
technology development and information/communication) will discuss
the progress of their respective subgroup. Please note that
participation is only open to COGEN Europe members. In case
you are interested, please contact as soon as possible Stefan
Craenen on stefan.craenen@cogen.org
The reason for the choice of this location is the fact the Working
Group’s Subgroup on “Information and Communication”
will organise on Thursday 14 September the first Regional Workshop
on biomass CHP in Sofia, Bulgaria. This is a first event in
a series of workshops on biomass CHP in Europe which aim to
stimulate the use of regional (biomass) CHP applications and
inform local actors about the possibilities and latest developments.
Please note that this event is also open to non-COGEN Europe
members. More information will follow. If you are interested,
please contact Mr Joep Coenen on joep.coenen@cogen.nl |
| 04/07/2006 |
Registration
of 100th small-scale CHP Plant
An
important milestone since the launch of the COGEN
challenge
campaign on 7 February 2006 has been reached. In the beginning
of June the 100th small-scale CHP unit was registered in the
COGEN
challenge
database! At the moment this database contains an overview of
CHP examples from ten countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain).
The
aim of the COGEN
challenge
project is to register 1,000 small-scale cogeneration units
(up to 1 MW) in the database on the website, the Showcase. If
you are curious to know which ones are already listed, just
have a look at the database, which provides information on cogeneration
installations in buildings as diverse as single family house,
hospitals, industrial sites and many others.
Click here to register
your small-scale project in the Showcase. |
| 04/07/2006 |
COGEN
Challenge Newsflash
Please find the latest COGEN
challenge
Newsletter (in English
and in Spanish).
COGEN
challenge
is an EU-wide campaign that promotes the use of small-scale
cogeneration (up to 1 MW). To this end we are developing a
database with 1,000 examples of small-scale cogeneration projects,
the Showcase. If you are an operator or a supplier of cogen
units wherever in Europe, please add your unit in the showcase,
where you can present information on your installations. To
register go to the Showcase on the project website www.cogen-challenge.org
In addition, we invite small-scale cogeneration equipment
suppliers and developers to register their company in the
European suppliers and developers directories. Use COGEN
challenge
as a platform to promote your product and to get new clients
by contacting Mr Stefan Craenen (email: stefan.craenen@cogen.org). |
| 28/06/2006 |
Germany
approves final draft phase-two Nap
Germany has approved its phase-two national allocation plan
(NAP) for the second phase of the EU emission trading scheme
on Wednesday 28 June.
The NAP requires greater cuts in carbon dioxide emissions than
previously expected.
The plan sets an annual cap of 482m tonnes of CO2 for the more
or less 1,000 German companies covered by the scheme.
Power utilities will carry the impact of the cuts. Consequently,
allocations to power firms will be 15% lower than in the first
phase-one (2005-2007), those to other sectors will be 1.25%
lower. Germany’s NAP would ensure that it meet its Kyoto
target, which is a 21% cut in CO2 emission by 2008-2012 against
1990 levels. |
| 28/06/2006 |
Most
EU member states will miss the phase-two Nap deadline
Several EU member states will fail to meet the deadline to submit
their phase-two national allocation plans (NAPs) for the EU
emission trading scheme to the European Commission on Friday.
In the first phase, only 5 out of 15 EU member states were on
time, while in phase-two only two countries are expected to
submit their NAP by Friday, namely Germany and Estonia.
The UK, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Latvia said
they will be late, while Spain announced a delay of two weeks
and Slovenia hoped to submit a plan by September.
The June legislative elections in the Czech Republic elections
have meant the NAP issuance has been severaly delayed.
For the Netherlands, France and Belgium public consultations
will only finish in July.
Austria, Hungary, Italy and Sweden had hoped to meet the deadline
but were expected to be late.
The European Commission has frequently insisted it will not
accept delays. Timely submission and approval of the NAPs is
important to allow the second phase (2008-2012) of the EU ETS
to advance as intended, providing clarity for industry on the
emission cuts they are expected to make. |
| 16/05/2006 |
COGEN
Europe releases Position paper calling for better treatment
of cogeneration under the European Emissions Trading Scheme
In
its Position Paper COGEN Europe calls for the fair treatment
of cogeneration installations and urges Member States to use
the best practices that have already been identified in phase-1
national allocation plans.
COGEN Europe and its Members call on Member States to ensure
that efficient cogeneration installations are not hit by an
under-allocation of carbon allowances under the second phase
of the ETS, which is due to begin in 2008, but for which the
allocation plans are already on the drawing boards throughout
Europe.
Verified emissions data shows that there was an over supply
of at least 63 million allowances in 2005, while installation-level
information indicates that coal-fired plants with efficiencies
of under 40% have been able to sell extra allowances for a profit.
This is not acceptable, especially when high efficiency cogeneration
plants have had to buy emission allowances to comply with the
ETS. This is clearly contrary to the spirit of the ETS Directive.
You
can download the COGEN Europe Position Paper by clicking here.
You can download the COGEN Europe Press release by clicking
here. |
| 16/05/2006 |
EU
emissions trading scheme delivers first verified emissions data
for installations
On 15 May 2006, the European Commission
released the 2005 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions data and compliance
status of more than 9,400 installations covered by the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme. For four Member States, Cyprus, Luxembourg,
Malta and Poland, no information has been received as their
emission allowance registries are not yet operational.
By the compliance deadline of 30 April 2006 some 8.980 installations
have fulfilled their obligations with regard to reporting 2005
emissions. These installations account for more than 99% of
allowances allocated.
Verified emissions data from 21 of
the 25 Member States in the European Union show that in 2005
the trading sectors emitted 63.6 million tonnes less than they
were allocated for that year.
Excluding data from new entrants, the 21 Member States with
active registries have allocated an annual average of 1,829.5
million allowances to installations in the scheme's first trading
period, covering 2005 to 2007. The trading sector emitted 1,785
million tonnes during 2005 and was allocated 1,848.6.
Germany: towards stricter caps
Just
5 countries applied a cap that came in below actual emissions;
Austria, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK. In contrast, Germany
is considering introducing a stricter cap in the second phase
NAP, following the 21-million surplus for 2005.
In the current German draft of the second phase national allocation
plan, power generators are facing a reduction on their emissions
of 15 per cent, industrial emitters of 1.25 per cent only.
In a more detailed report on by DEHSt, 67 per cent of participating
facilities had enough or even more allowances than required.
The surplus of allowances for energy producers was 9.5 million
tonnes or 2.5 per cent of the amount received. With energy-intensive
industries, the surplus was about 11.1 million tonnes.
Germany's environment minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a statement
that 9 million tonnes of the surplus were due to actual emissions
reductions in the country, while 12 million of the surplus was
due to the special rules in the German allocations plan, causing
an over-allocation.
Germany's NAP allows for ex-post adjustments of allowances,
and according to Gabriel the extra 12 million tonnes will not
enter the market if Berlin is allowed to keep this provision.
Currently Germany is locked in a legal battle with the European
Commission, as the EC has dismissed the use of ex-post adjustment
in NAPs. |
| 11/05/2006 |
EU
Energy Efficiency Directive 2006/32/EC
The European Parliament and the Council
of the European Union have published a directive on energy end-use
efficiency and energy service. The directive 2006/32/EC has
been published in the Official Journal of the European Union
on 24 April 2006. The directive will enter into force on the
20th day following its publication in the Official Journal.
The full text of the Directive can be found here. |
| 11/05/2006 |
COGEN
Europe will have a stand at POWER-GEN 2006 in Cologne from 30
May to 01 June.
Simon Minett, Thomas Bouquet, Stephan Craenen and Anna Limbrey
welcome you to the COGEN Europe stand L12. |
| 11/05/2006 |
Commission
to release 2005 emissions data at 08.00 on 15 May
The European Commission is to release
aggregated verified emission reports for member states at 08.00
CET on 15 May.
The
European Commission will issue a press release as well as publish
the information in the Community Transaction Log providing a
snapshot of verified emissions reports as of 30 April, the date
for companies to surrender their allowances in accordance with
their verified emission reports.
The
release of information is likely to have an impact on the carbon
market with the percentage of verified emissions reports giving
a clear indicator of how long or short the emissions trading
scheme was in 2005.
The data is not believed to include verified emissions reports
from countries without a full functioning national registry.
Some countries are missing data for example Poland with the
second larges allocation in the scheme whose data will not be
available. |
| 11/05/2006 |
EC
to rethink 6 per cent cut for phase two NAP's
The European Commission may reconsider theoretical cuts in member
states' national allocation plans for phrase two following the
publication of 2005 verification date, a Commission official
told the Carbon Expo conference in Cologne. The
Commission, which published phase two allocation guidance
on 22 December last year, had initially said it would be looking
to cut phase one national allocation plans by six pert cent.
However, in the light of verified emissions data released
by the Netherlands, Czech Republic, France and Spain all showing
lower than expected emissions, the Commission has hinted that
it may rethink its strategy.
"For
the emission reductions that have been released to date, it
does seem that from the market's reaction they were lower
than anticipated. We will require comments on how to intertwine
200-12 NAP guidance that we have published and what it says
about at 6 per cent reduction from NAP1 to NAP2 being anticipated.
That would need to be married together with what we now have
from the 2005 data." EC official Olivia Hartridge told. |
| 12/04/2006 |
COGEN
Europe project GenDis
COGEN Europe is partner in the Community funded FP6 project
GenDis that aims to analyse the impact of distributed generation
of electricity networks from an SME perspective. A detailed
pre-normative study of the problem has been undertaken and the
project team currently looks into the issue of metering, in
order to measure two-way flow fairly. At a later stage lab-
and full-scale trials will determine the effect of embedded
loads on model distribution networks and a model distributed
grid will be constructed to test proposed solutions. Another
outcome of the project is a structured training package to disseminate
the results to SMEs. In case you want to get more information,
please visit the project
website or download the project
brochure. |
| 10/04/2006 |
COGEN
Europe represents ELEP Project @ "SmartGrids - Electricity
Networks of the Future" Conference in Brussels
COGEN Europe disseminated the latest
ELEP (European Local Electricity Production) Project deliverables
on Interconnection Rules and Connection Charging at the SmartGrids
Technology Platform Conference.
Given
the focus of the Technology Platform on integrating both large
centralised generators and smaller distributed power sources
to provide consumers with a highly reliable cost-effective power
supply, ELEP's activities and results were of interest to many
participants. The material available for dissemination (in particular
European Policy Recommendations on Interconnection rules and
connection charging for decentralised generators) was quickly
taken up by delegates.
For more information on ELEP, click here.
Key elements of the SmartGrids future vision include:
Compatibility of the electricity network with new forms of energy
resources and carriers
Use of innovative techniques to increase the overall system
efficiency
Use of information and communication technologies to develop
new services and innovative markets.
Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik, also present
at the event, reiterated the EU Commission's vision of a single
European grid.
For more on SmartGrids, click here |
| 06/04/2006 |
Report
of the European Biomass CHP Conference 2006
Following
the recent publication of the Biomass Action Plan (COM 2005,
628) and the final phase in the discussions on the implementation
of the Directive on CHP (2004/8/EC), COGEN Europe organised
with the support of the DG Energy and Transport of the European
Commission the European Biomass CHP Conference 2006 in Brussels.
Both European Commission policy initiatives should provide a
fresh stimulus for the wider and greater use of bio-energies
across Europe. The potential is huge and with increasing prices
for fossil fuels and security of supply currently high on the
EU agenda, the opportunities are more urgent and attractive
for investors. COGEN Europe intends to gather momentum for biomass
CHP as an environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient conversion
technique that has the potential to bring many benefits to society,
markets and environment.
An increased uptake of biomass CHP can contribute to achieving
strategic EU energy goals, such as energy efficiency, security
of supply and the reduction of CO2 emissions. The many solutions
to the regulatory, market and R&D barriers, as identified
during the Conference, can help the issue move forward, improve
the market conditions for biomass CHP and thereby increase the
competitiveness of Europe's energy industries.
Please click here for the conference
report, summary
and press
release |
| 22/03/2006 |
COGEN
Europe issues official response to the Green Paper on energy
efficiency
COGEN Europe has issued its official response to the Green Paper
on energy efficiency. “By identifying the promotion cogeneration
as one key measure for making Europe more energy efficient,
the Green Paper represents a good analysis of the current situation.
The fact that with a share of only 10% of electricity generation
the use of cogeneration is far below the Community target of
18%, highlights the need not only to implement the Cogeneration
Directive in a rigorous manner, but to complement this piece
of legislation with a set of flanking measures”, Frank
Knecht of COGEN Europe says.
In order to exploit the potential of the cogeneration sector
fully to contribute to overall energy efficiency, the European
Union and the Member States should focus on five main areas:
The rigorous implementation of the Cogeneration Directive
The establishment of cost-effective support mechanisms
The creation of a fair market framework for independent producers
of heat and power
The launch of long-term information campaigns on cogeneration
The wider use of voluntary agreements with the industry
Please click here
for the full text on the COGEN Europe position paper
|
| 16/03/2006 |
Next
meeting of the Working Group on “CHP from RES”
The internal COGEN Europe Working Group on “CHP from
RES” is meeting on Monday 24 April in Hannover.
Mr Andreas Heinz (European Commission), responsible for the
Biomass Action Plan, will attend the meeting. Next to this
there will be an overview of the biomass CHP situation in
Germany, a presentation of the new bio-plant of Wärtsilä
in the Ardennes and the leaders of the four subgroups (support
measures, standardisation, technology developments and information/communication)
will present the progress of their resp. subgroup. Please
note that participation is only open to COGEN Europe members.
In case you are interested, please contact Stefan
Craenen.
For those who are interested, please note that on Tuesday
25 April the International Biomass CHP Conference at the
Hannover Fair 2006 takes place. This one-day, free-of-charge
event is titled “The Highly Efficient Use of Biomass
in CHP Plants - Experience, Potential and Recommendations”
and is co-organised by Mr Adi Golbach from BKWK, the German
national member of COGEN Europe. Mr Michel Raskin, the chair
person of the Working Group, will deliver a speech at this
event. For more information, please contact Adi
Golbach |
| 10/03/2006 |
Green
Paper on EU energy policy
On
Wednesday
8 March 2006 the European Commission presented the Green Paper
on “A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and
Secure Energy”. Since Green Paper on Security of Supply
(2000) worked has progressed but given recent developments a
new impetus is needed for a comprehensive European energy policy.
The most fundamental question is whether there is agreement
on the need to develop a new, common European strategy for energy,
and whether sustainability, competitiveness and security should
be the core principles to underpin the strategy. Therefore Commission
proposes that a Strategic EU Energy Review will be presented
to the Council and the EP on a regular basis.
mportant
issues in the document are the urgent need for investment, the
increasing dependency on imports so domestic energy should be
made more competitive, the high energy prices are probably here
to stay – but also offer a drive towards energy efficiency
and innovation, address the climate change issue and the aim
for fully competitive internal energy markets (lower consumer
prices, develop interconnections, consolidation should be market
driven).The Green Paper identifies 6 key areas for action:
1. Competitiveness and the internal energy market
2. Solidarity between Member States
3. Diversification of the energy mix
4. Climate change
5. A strategic European energy technology plan
6. Coherent external energy policy.
Please find the Green Paper here. |
| 10/03/2006 |
COGEN
Hungary annual conference
The annual conference of COGEN Hungary took place in Visegrád,
just north of Budapest on 7-8 March. The conference was attended
by some 175 persons. There was a lot of attention on the first
day to the EU Directive on cogeneration and its implications
for Hungary. Simon Minett attended from COGEN Europe and delivered
a speech entitled “Moving forward – using the Cogeneration
Directive to achieve long term growth”. Over the past 5
years Hungary has been an interesting market for CHP with its
share of electricity production rising from 9% in 2000 to 20%
today. Much of this growth has come from gas engine CHP installed
on District Heating networks. More details of the conference
and the work of COGEN Hungary can be found on their web-site
www.mket.hu |
| 17/02/2006 |
COGENchallenge
project is IEEA Project of the Month
The Intelligent Energy Executive Agency gave the COGENchallenge
project "Project of the Month" honors in its quarterly
newsletter. This coincides with the launch of the COGENchallenge
information campaign on small-scale cogeneration.
COGENchallenge, which is lead by COGEN Europe,
aims at raising awareness for micro and small-scale cogeneration.
The web-based information campaign will gradually build up an
on-line showcase of 1,000 small-scale cogeneration installations
from around Europe to demonstrate the reliability and adaptability
of this technology.
Owners, operators and suppliers are invited to include their
unit by signing up for the campaign.
For more info on the COGENchallenge Website click
here
Contact the coordinator: Stefan
Craenen
For more info on the IEEA Intelligent Energy News click here |
| 17/02/2006 |
COGEN
Europe present at DG Competition Energy Sector Inquiry public
presentation
Following
the release of the investigation's preliminary findings in November
2005 and a day ahead of the publication of a 200-page preliminary
report, The European Commission gathered European gas and electricity
sector stakeholders, unveiling the probe's main findings and
indicating what the new steps could be.
The Energy Sector Inquiry -which is lead by DG Competition-
has been actively assessing the market distortions plaguing
the European gas and electricity markets and has identified
five problematic areas:
Concentration of market power
Vertical foreclosure
Lack of market integration
"Endemic" lack of transparency
Unsound price formation mechanisms
In
the first keynote speech, EU competition commissioner Neelie
Kroes, despite signalling that intention was to give a "general
ward of warning", threatened to "use her tools to
the full" and was considering launching individual anti-trust
investigations within the coming weeks or months that would
set "valuable precedents" for the sector.
While the full implementation of existing EU legislation appeared
as a key focus of the Commission for the months to come, with
a review of member State implementation in 2006, Commissioner
Kroes said the sector could expect greater transparency obligations
and a push towards full structural unbundling, along the Dutch
model.
The many stakeholders invited to speak all underlined the urgency
of the situation and urged the Commission to take transitional
measures. Mr Gert van Ingen, COGEN Europe Chairman and CEO of
Akzo Nobel Energy thus called for "brave actions in the
next few months, especially for consumers".
The difficulty of balancing the urgency of the need for action
and the necessity to consult widely and carefully examine current
market structures was apparent throughout the day.
Energy Commissioner Piebalgs indicated that a decision would
be taken at the end of 2006 as to whether or not new legislation
would be forthcoming or not. He also announced that several
infringement procedures would be launched against three unnamed
Member States for not correctly transposing and implementing
the Electricity and Gas Directives. For
further information, please visit the EU Commission's Energy
Sector Inquiry webpage here |
| 14/02/2006 |
Eurostat
releases 2002 CHP statistics for the EU-25
Eurostat, the statistics arm of the
European Commission, has published CHP statistics for the EU-25
in 2002 in the March 2006 issue of "Statistics in Focus
- Energy and Environment".
The publication can be downloaded here. |
| 09/02/2006 |
Germany
considering auctioning CO2 emission allowances
The
German government, in an attempt to curb windfall profits for
electricity utilities, is considering auctioning a yet undetermined
amount of emission allowances in the second phase of the European
Emissions Trading Scheme.
Electricity consumers in Germany have consistently complained
that utilities have been factoring in the carbon price to the
price of electricity sold to end consumers while receiving allowances
for free, thereby damaging industrial competitiveness and going
against the spirit of the emissions trading scheme. |
| 06/02/2006 |
Potentials
for energy efficiency in Eastern Europe and CIS
With the support of the United Nations,
the Energy Efficiency 21 (EE21) project ‘Energy Efficiency
Investments for Climate Change Mitigation’, has demonstrated
that it is possible to identify, develop and finance energy
efficiency and renewable energy investment projects that will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Eastern Europe and the CIS.
The potential for energy efficiency in this region is large
as their inefficient and polluting energy systems are glaring
economic and environmental problems. They provide some of the
most promising self-financing opportunities to reduce global
greenhouse gas emissions. With only 6 per cent of the world’s
population, these countries produce some 12 per cent of greenhouse
gases. The investment potential in Eastern Europe for energy
efficiency projects with a payback period of less than five
years is estimated to be between US$ 5 and US$ 10 billion. More
information can be found here. |
| 03/02/2006 |
European
Finance Ministers open way for reduced VAT on district heating
European Finance Ministers meeting
in Brussels on Wednesday agreed to include district heating
to the list of sectors eligible for reduced VAT rates. Under
the European Union's sixth VAT Directive, Member States were
already able to apply reduced VAT rates of up to 5% for electricity
and gas. The French and Portuguese CHP and district heating
sectors stand to benefit most for this change as both countries
levy high VAT rates on district heating.
The inclusion of district heating in the option provided for
by Article 12 (3)(b) of the 1992 VAT Directive is an important
victory for the European cogeneration sector as a whole and
will help increase activity in several countries once governments
implement the change. |
| 23/01/2006 |
COGEN
presents its Position Paper on the EU Action Plan on Biomass
On 7 December 2005 the Energy Commissioner
Andris Piebalgs presented the Biomass Action Plan that aims
at more than doubling the use of biomass energy for electricity,
heating and transport by 2010. Biomass offers a vast potential
for future energy generation, although the biomass share among
the RES has not substantially increased over the recent years.
COGEN Europe welcomes the EU efforts to increase the biomass
contribution in the RES debate. With the issue of its Position
Paper COGEN Europe wants to inform the broader public of its
view on the valuable role biomass cogeneration should play in
the Biomass Action Plan. We believe that biomass in combination
with cogeneration should be the first choice whenever a suitable
heat demand and supply of biomass fuel are available.
Position
Paper on the EU Action Plan on Biomass
|
| 13/01/2006 |
European
industry calls for the implementation and expansion of the Buildings
Directive
Today,
a group of seven European industry associations issued a joint
statement on the future of the Energy Performance of Buildings
Directive. Co-signed by COGEN Europe, the statement calls for
full and rapid implementation of the Directive by all Member
States. Moreover, the signatories call for expanding the scope
of this piece of European legislation. Key amendments to the
current Directive should be:
Inclusion
of existing buildings below 1,000 square metres
Extension of inspection requirements
Higher standards for public buildings
The
Buildings Directive was adopted by the European Parliament
in December 2002 and should have been transposed into national
law by the beginning of this year. According to estimations
by the European Commission, the rigorous implementation of
the Directive across the EU-25 could lead to annual energy
savings in the magnitude of 41 Mtoe. With additional measures,
annual energy savings of up to 70 Mtoe are possible within
the next 15 years, the Commission says.
“The
Buildings Directive is one of the main pillars of European
policy for the promotion of cogeneration. However, due to
the delays in implementation, this Directive has yet to deliver
any real improvements in the market”, Frank Knecht of
COGEN Europe says. “In addition, due to the current limitations
four fifths of the potential market is not covered yet.”
Technologies that would benefit from an expansion of the Buildings
Directive are in the micro- and small-scale segment of the
market, such as internal combustion engines, Stirling engines,
micro-turbines and fuel cells.
Joint industry statement |
| 09/01/2006 |
Europe
could more than double the use of biomass for energy purposes,
Austrian Presidency says
The Austrian Presidency starts with
prioritising the EU Action Plan on Biomass. The President of
the EU Agriculture Council, the Austrian Minister for Agriculture
and the Environment, Mr Josef Pröll, has put the action
plan as the first item of the next Council meeting agenda on
23 January 2006. “As a leader in the use of alternative
energy sources, Austria has a particular responsibility in this
context”, the minister said. He also stated that in the
coming four years alone, Europe could more than double the use
of biomass for energy purposes.
The Council discussions of the EU Action Plan on Biomass coincide
with the Biomass Conference organised by COGEN Europe at the
same day. This conference is aimed at informing a wide range
of stakeholders about the latest developments on the European
level, as well as channelling the input of the business community
the decision-makers in Brussels. Speakers of the conference
include Ms Mechtild Rothe (MEP), Mr Claude Turmes (MEP), Mr
Andreas Heinz (European Commission), and Mr Michel Raskin (Chairman
of the COGEN Europe working group on renewables).
Austrian Presidency press
release
Biomass
Conference website |
|
