Nigeria Is Committed To OPEC Agreement- NNPC Boss
Nigeria, one of the OPEC member countries, has pledged to abide by the output cut agreement of the organisation, OPEC, and its allies aimed at stabilising the global oil market.
The country’s national oil company Group Managing Director Mallam Mele Kyari made the promise while speaking at the virtual Gulf Intelligence: Global’ UAE Energy Forum 2021.
The NNPC Boss noted that despite the negative effects of the production cut on government’s revenue, it was the best step towards redeeming the value of hydrocarbon resources at the global market in the interest of all.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Outlook for Africa/Nigeria’s Oil & Gas Sector in Post-Covid Era’, he said NNPC was hopeful that by the end of the year, demand for crude oil would pick up and there would be a marginal increase in output, stressing that the corporation was focusing more on gas, condensate and other revenue streams to tackle the revenue challenge arising from the OPEC+ production cut arrangement.
He explained that gas proved to be a steady and reliable revenue stream during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, adding that gas production and utilisation would remain a key priority for the corporation in 2021.
Earlier in his presentation, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Minister for Energy & Agriculture, H.E. Eng. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei appealed to all oil producing nations not to flood the market with crude oil.
He said the UAE was, at the moment, more concerned about balancing the market forces of demand and supply in the global market than growing market share.
Ghana: Energy Ministry’s Account Department Burgled (Photos)
Ghana’s Ministry of Energy has been burgled, energynewsafrica.com can confirm.
Sources within the Ministry told this portal that the incident happened on the night of Sunday, January 3, 2021.
According to the source, the suspect burgled into the Accounts Department of the Ministry through one of the rear windows and unplugged a number of computers and packed them into empty boxes he found in the office.
The source said there was a laptop in one of the rooms the suspect entered but he never took it.
This, according to the source, makes them wonder why the suspect packed the computers but decided not to pick the laptop which was handy.
The source explained that it took the intervention of two of the security personnel who were going through the corridors of the Ministry on their routine night checks to detect the presence of the suspect.
The source said the unarmed security personnel, upon sensing danger, ran for cover, giving the suspect opportunity to escape through the window.
CCTV footage available to energynewsafrica.com shows the suspect who was wearing a lacoste-branded shirt over a pair of trousers coming through the window of one of the rooms adjoining the accounts office.
After climbing down from the window, the suspect, then, proceeded to one of the windows of the accounts office, unscrewed the window, entered and started his operation.
It took about six minutes for the arrival of the security personnel to come around.
The Ministry has since reported the incident to the Ministries’ police.
When energynewsafrica.com contacted the station, an officer who sought anonymity, confirmed the incident and indicated that “o arrest has been made so far.”
According to the officer, investigation is still ongoing and would inform the public when any arrest is made.
The source explained that it took the intervention of two of the security personnel who were going through the corridors of the Ministry on their routine night checks to detect the presence of the suspect.
The source said the unarmed security personnel, upon sensing danger, ran for cover, giving the suspect opportunity to escape through the window.
CCTV footage available to energynewsafrica.com shows the suspect who was wearing a lacoste-branded shirt over a pair of trousers coming through the window of one of the rooms adjoining the accounts office.
After climbing down from the window, the suspect, then, proceeded to one of the windows of the accounts office, unscrewed the window, entered and started his operation.
It took about six minutes for the arrival of the security personnel to come around.
The Ministry has since reported the incident to the Ministries’ police.
When energynewsafrica.com contacted the station, an officer who sought anonymity, confirmed the incident and indicated that “o arrest has been made so far.”
According to the officer, investigation is still ongoing and would inform the public when any arrest is made.
Ghana: Man, 45, Electrocuted In Tema
A 45-year-old steel bender working on top of a two-storey building at Community 7, Tema, in Greater Accra in the Republic of Ghana, was electrocuted in the early hours of Friday, January 15, 2021.
The man, identified as Efo Newton, died on the spot while working with colleagues on the structure.
According to an eyewitness and a co-worker, Maxwell Koomson, they had been working on the building for days and went there today to continue.
He said they arrived very early to work, and at the site, the deceased climbed to bend the steels.
Few minutes later, Mr. Koomson said they felt an electric shock on the building.
Immediately, he said they rushed to where the deceased was working, only to find his lifeless body with his arms folded on top of the bending steels.
“We called personnel from the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Tema Community 8 Ghana Police Service to the scene, where the personnel of the ECG, after disconnecting power in the area, conveyed the lifeless body downstairs,” the eyewitness narrated.
Assemblyman for the Area, Kwesi Assumaning said the incident was brought to his attention around 7am and quickly rushed to the scene.
At the scene, he said he saw the lifeless body of the Efo Newton and called the police to scene.
The body of the deceased had since been deposited at the Tema General Hospital morgue pending autopsy.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Pandemic, Electrification Bring Hydrocarbon Demand Peak Forward To 2027
New research by McKinsey & Company has shown that aggregate fossil fuel demand would peak in 2027 with oil peaking in 2029 and gas in 2037, partially due to the impacts of Covid-19.
A report published by global consultancy McKinsey & Company named “The Global Energy Perspective 2021” found that, while coal demand peaked already, peaks in demand for oil and gas were not far behind – falling in 2029 and 2037, respectively.
According to McKinsey, the pandemic has resulted in a profound reduction in energy demand. The company stated that it would take between one to four years to recover – with electricity and gas demand expected to bounce back more quickly than oil demand.
Spending In Africa’s Upstream Sector Down By US$14 Billon, Assets Value Hit By US$200 Billion FallHowever, demand for fossil fuels will never return to its pre-pandemic growth curve. Over the long-term, McKinsey claims, the impacts of behavioural shifts due to Covid-19 are minor compared to “known” long-term shifts such as decreasing car ownership, growing fuel efficiencies and a trend towards electric vehicles, whose impact is estimated to be three-to-nine times higher than the pandemic’s by 2050. Christer Tryggestad, senior partner at McKinsey, said: “While the pandemic has certainly provided a substantial shock for the energy sector across all fuel sources, the story of the century is still a rapid and continuous shift to lower-carbon energy systems. “The share of electricity in the energy mix is set to grow by around 50 per cent by 2050 and it’s set to capture all global energy growth as hydrocarbon consumption plateaus. However, in our reference case, fossil fuels continue to play a significant role in the foreseeable future”. While the earlier peak of hydrocarbon demand means a substantial reduction in forecasted carbon emissions, the world remains significantly off of the 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway and will run out of its carbon budget for 2100 in the early 2030s. “There is still a long way to go to avert substantial global climate change. According to our estimates, annual emissions would need to be around 50 per cent lower in 2030 and about 85 per cent lower by 2050 than current trends predict to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Despite the increased momentum towards decarbonization, many governments still need to translate ambitious targets into specific actions. Additionally, given the unparalleled size of many economic recovery packages post Covid-19, the focus of the stimulus measures will play a key role in shaping energy systems in the decades to come”, Tryggestad added. Global-Energy-Perspective-2021-final It is worth noting that the findings are taken from four scenario outlooks conceived by McKinsey: • 1.5ºC Pathway: a top-down view of how a pathway that limits global warming to 1.5ºC could look across sectors and energy products, taking economic and technical feasibility into consideration • Accelerated transition: A progressive view, driven by a governmental response to Covid-19 and “next to normal” behavioural changes. This scenario assesses the impact of 10 conceivable shifts happening at an accelerated pace (uptake of EVs, recycling, renewables, hydrogen, etc.) • Reference case: McKinsey’s outlook on the continuation of existing trends. This scenario reflects expectations of how current technologies can evolve and incorporates current policies and extrapolation of key policy trends • Delayed transition: Post-pandemic, the societal focus is on economic recovery; energy transition continues at a lower speed; lower incentives to invest in decarbonization technologies, and low fossil fuel prices delay cost parity
Ghana: IES Wants Electricity Expansion Increased By 3.5% Annually To Attain Country-wide Coverage By 2025
The Institute for Energy Security (IES), an energy think-tank in the Republic of Ghana, has suggested to the President of the West African nation, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo, to increase electricity access by at least 3.5 percent annually for the next four years in order to achieve universal access to electricity by 2025.
Ghana’s electricity access rate was about 85.17 percent at the end of 2020.
What it means is that, out of the estimated 31 million populations, 85.17 percent has access to electricity.
Delivering his inaugural address last Thursday, January 7, 2021, following his re-election in last year’s Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, President Akufo-Addo promised to ensure that the communities without electricity are connected to the national electricity grid in his second term.
Reacting to the President’s promise, the IES, in a statement, expressed belief that the President’s decision was based on his recognition that electricity is critical in the country’s development matrix for inclusive development and growth.
“The need for universal electrification led to the adoption of the National Electrification Scheme (NES) in 1985 at what point electricity access stood at 25 percent within the country. The scheme projected for a universal electrification in Ghana by 2020,” IES lamented.
IES, which seeks security in energy demand and supply, observed that by 2020, access to electricity had risen to 45 percent with an annual growth rate of two percent, adding that the annual growth rate stood at 2.2 percent from 2000 to 2010, with national electricity access reaching 67 percent of the entire country.
IES explained that from 2010 to 2016, Ghana’s electricity access had an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent extending electricity national access to 83 percent in the country.
Touching on the growth rate from 2016 to 2020, it said Ghana’s electricity growth rate experienced the lowest access over the last two decades, with an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the four years, culminating in a national electricity access to just above 85 percent.
The IES argued that the slow growth rate from 2017 to 2020 resulted in the extension of the target date for the universal electrification to 2025.
“Though IES is pleased with the government’s renewed resolve to act on this mandate, it remains cautious in hope as recent history does not instill confidence. The IES, as a result, entreats the appropriate authorities to make the necessary investments and regulatory mechanism to ensure a fulfillment of the promise,” it noted.
The energy think tank stressed that the growth must be with the renewable energy sources as towns without electricity are difficult-to-reach areas, mainly lakesides and islands.
It was of the view that the increase in Ghana’s population and the current need for economic growth and the prospect of universal electrification access are key factors in boosting confidence in the local markets, especially in the many people without access to electricity as that would make them viable markets for industries to reach.
The IES further urged the government to consider revising its decision to freeze discussions and issuance of licences for new Independent Power Producers (IPPs), including renewables that are cheaper and more environmentally friendly, since that decision stalled many renewable power project, some of which had secured all the technical permits from the relevant government and district agencies.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The IES argued that the slow growth rate from 2017 to 2020 resulted in the extension of the target date for the universal electrification to 2025.
“Though IES is pleased with the government’s renewed resolve to act on this mandate, it remains cautious in hope as recent history does not instill confidence. The IES, as a result, entreats the appropriate authorities to make the necessary investments and regulatory mechanism to ensure a fulfillment of the promise,” it noted.
The energy think tank stressed that the growth must be with the renewable energy sources as towns without electricity are difficult-to-reach areas, mainly lakesides and islands.
It was of the view that the increase in Ghana’s population and the current need for economic growth and the prospect of universal electrification access are key factors in boosting confidence in the local markets, especially in the many people without access to electricity as that would make them viable markets for industries to reach.
The IES further urged the government to consider revising its decision to freeze discussions and issuance of licences for new Independent Power Producers (IPPs), including renewables that are cheaper and more environmentally friendly, since that decision stalled many renewable power project, some of which had secured all the technical permits from the relevant government and district agencies.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: Students Body Welcomes Suspension Of Electricity Tariff Hike
Nigeria’s National Students Association (NANS) has commended the Federal Government over its directive suspending the recent electricity tariff hike in the country.
Several interest groups opposed the directive by the West African nation’s electricity regulatory commission, NERC, to distribution companies to increase tariff effective January 1, 2021.
Power Minister Sale Mamman, later, told journalists the Federal Government had directed NERC to suspend the tariff and rejected the assertion that the supposed hike was about 50 percent.
The Minister, however, announced that the Federal Government would offer subsidies to low electricity consumers.
In a statement, NANS’ President, Sunday Asefon said the suspension of the tariff by the Federal Government would go a long way in relieving the pains it would have inflicted on electricity consumers upon implementation.
The statement said that NANS took the decision to commend the suspension at its virtual meeting of January 8.
“The meeting extensively reviewed the recent actions taken by President Muhammadu Buhari, intervening and ordering the suspension of the outrageous electricity tariff,” the statement said.
The students’ body described the tariff hike policy as anti-people and ill-timed as conceived under groaning inflation in the polity.
It noted that putting the implementation of the policy in abeyance would help in pacifying the already incensed consumers.
The statement also commended the National Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC) for reversing the action, saying NANS could have been provoked into organising protests across all campuses in opposition to the policy if it had been effected.
The statement further appealed to electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to make prepayment meters available for every household at no extra cost to the consumers as being witnessed in civilised countries.
“NANS had earlier rejected the hike in the electricity tariff, as we believe that the hike was insensitive, ill-timed, and anti-people. “We commend President Buhari for hearkening to the agitations of Nigerians. I want to say unequivocally that the suspension of the tariff hike is commendable at this time.
“We, therefore, call on our members across the country to suspend action and see how the compliance with the reversal will be,” the association said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Pakistan: Seven Top Officials Of Central Power Generation Company Suspended After Massive Blackout
Pakistan’s Central Power Generation Company has suspended seven officials of Guddu Thermal Power Station on account of negligence during their duties which caused a massive power failure that plunged several cities of the country in darkness.
“Seven officials working under Plant Manager-III are hereby laced under suspension with immediate effect and until further orders, on account of the negligence of duty which caused power failure found in view of a preliminary inquiry,” the company said in a notification as carried by Daily Pakistan.
This development comes after the federal government constituted a committee to investigate the sudden electricity failure that hit the country on late Saturday night.
Ghana: Gov’t Needs To Invest In Transmission & Distribution System To Prevent Power Outages In 2021-INSTEPRThe suspended officials are Additional Plant Manager Sohail Ahmed, Junior Engineer Deedar Channa, Foreman Ali Hassan Golo, Ayyaz Hussain Dahar Operator, Saeed Ahmed Operator, Attendants Siraj Ahmed Memom and Ilyas Ahmed. On Saturday night, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and other cities were plunged into darkness, leaving the masses in shock and panic due to the power failure. Following the blackout, citizens took to social media to vent their ire on the situation and mocked Prime Minister Imran Khan for his inability to handle the crises Pakistan is going through. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Seychelles: China To Provide $11 Million Funding For Renewable Energy Projects
China is supporting the production of renewable energy in the Seychelles archipelago with a package of 11 million dollars.
This support is important in this island country, which is banking on solar off-grid to supply electricity to its 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean.
China is multiplying its investments in renewable energies in Africa.
The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, made the announcement during a visit to Seychelles.
In this financing, 4.6 million Dollars will be destined for the construction of small off-grid solar power stations.
These off-grids should enable several islands of the archipelago to become autonomous in terms of electricity.
This is the case of Curieuse Island located one kilometre north of the large island of Praslin.
According to Flavien Joubert, the Seychelles Minister of Agriculture, Climate Change and the Environment, the other part of the Chinese funding will enable the installation of solar panels on the roofs of public buildings, particularly schools.
“Both countries are working on the same issues such as climate change and the environment. China is now focusing on greener and more sustainable development. It’s the same for the Seychelles, because we cannot opt for rapid development because it would lead to the destruction of the environment,” says Minister Flavien Joubert.
Less active in renewable energy projects a few years ago, China intends to catch up by increasing investment in this very dynamic sector in Africa.
Beijing is moreover solicited by some African countries like Angola, which has just officially launched an appeal to Chinese investors for clean energy projects in this Central African country.
Ghana: Scrap Stabilisation Levy- COPEC Tells President Akufo-Addo
One of Ghana’s downstream sector advocacy groups, Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), is calling on the President of the West African nation to scrap the Stabilization Levy.
The group argues that the levy serves no purpose since Ghana has deregulated its downstream petroleum sector.
Discussing issues affecting the prospects in the energy sector on Energy 101 programme aired on a local radio station, Asaase Radio, in the nation’s capital, the Head of Research and Training Unit at Chamber of Petroleum Consumers-Ghana (COPEC), Benjamin Nsiah said over the years, the stabilisation levy has not been activated in times of hikes in the price of petroleum products, therefore, making the law ineffective and non-beneficial to ordinary consumers.
He further argued that during last year’s Christmas festivities, prices started going up and the government of Ghana should have activated the stabilisation levy to cushion consumers since the impact of Covid-19 had affected the finances of many people but that was not the case.
According to him, since covid-19 was normalising and production in the sector started, it affected demand and supply which also affected price of the product at the international market.
Therefore, this automatically impacted on Ghana’s petroleum prices.
“We at COPEC have been calling for the scrap of the Stabilization Levy because, now we have a deregulated market and it means that our petroleum prices should be able to determine the price for themselves,” he stated.
Mr. Nsiah also argued that per the deregulated policy in operation in Ghana, it does not mean that any time there is a problem with prices of petroleum products, either suppliers or consumers could just advocate triggering of the stabilisation levy to cushion either of them.
“Based on demand and supply, we should be able to determine prices of products so no one or institution sits somewhere and thinks that because we are in a deregulated market, there is a levy called price stabilisation levy so any time we could cushion petroleum suppliers or petroleum consumers, depending on how you look at it with that particular levy,” said Mr. Nsiah.
During the Christmas period, prices of petroleum products in Ghana were increased marginally at the pumps.
Consumers complained about how difficult it was for them to buy the products.
It was for this reason that stakeholders were advocating for the activation of the stabilisation levy to cushion ordinary consumers in such circumstances.
COPEC said the time is due for Ghana to look at that particular price law because it has not been used actually over the years.
The Energy Sector Act is to use the Stabilisation and Recovery Levy as a major source of subsidising the various products, especially for premix fuel and residual fuel in Ghana.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Appoint Minister, One Deputy For Energy Ministry-Creg Afful Suggests To Prez Akufo-Addo
The Managing Editor for energynewsafrica.com, an online portal operated in the Republic of Ghana, Michael Creg Afful has suggested to the President of the West African nation, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo, to appoint a substantive Minister and one deputy to head the Energy Ministry in his second term instead of the three deputies he assigned to the sector in his first term.
President Akufo-Addo secured a second term mandate after the December 7, 2020, Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana.
He was subsequently sworn into office last Thursday and is due to appoint substantive and deputy ministers for his new administration.
Speaking as a panelist on Energy101 programme on Asaase Radio, a local radio station in Accra, capital of Ghana, Creg Afful contended that the Energy Ministry has a number of agencies with competent heads to augment the efforts of the sector minister, so keeping one deputy should not be a challenge to the sector.
“We have the Ghana Gas working. We have GNPC working. We have Energy Commission working. We have NPA working. We have ECG working and we have NEDCO working,” he stressed.
He said all these agencies work to ensure smooth operations of the country’s energy sector, therefore, to cut down on cost, the President needs to appoint a substantive minister and his deputy for the four-year term.
“You know we have a Director In-Charge of Distribution that supervises NEDCo and Electricity of Ghana (ECG). There is also a director in charge of Generation and Transmission. And these departments work to ensure that there is availability of power,” he noted.
Mr. Creg Afful was, based on that, of the view that there is no need to have three deputies in charge of petroleum, power and finance and infrastructure as the country witnessed during the President’s first term.
“We only need one deputy minister because like I said, Petroleum Commission’s CEO is working, VRA’s CEO is working, CEO of GRIDCo is working so why should all these people be working and yet need more? We need a substantive Minister and his deputy,” he suggested strongly.
Most Ghanaians criticised the President for creating and appointing over 130 ministers and their deputies in his first term in office.
Delivering a speech to commence his second term of office, President Akufo-Addo assured the nation of his avowed commitment to working with only hard working people and with reduced ministries, as well as ministers to ensure Ghana’s sustainable development.
Personality Profile: Who Is Bai K. Blyden?
Bai K. Blyden is an electrical engineer by profession and founder of the Strategic Consulting Group BBRM.
He has over the last 34 years contributed his expertise to over forty major and minor power plant projects and their associated interconnections around the world.
These included detailed power plant and transmission systems design engineering, systems and operations planning, project development feasibility assessment oversight and construction management.
Among his more notable assignments, Mr Blyden served as Project Manager on the Calpine team, which planned a 70,000 MW development programme which included EPC oversight.
Within this scope, he also served as a Site Construction Manager for the Emergency Peaker Programme which constructed and commissioned eleven (11x45MW) general electric simple cycle gas turbine units in response to California executive order D-26-01 issued to protect the grid around Silicon Valley at the peak of the 2001 California energy crisis.
GE Calls For Accelerated Deployment Of Renewables & Gas Power To Drive Impactful, Faster DecarbonisationMr Blyden has also worked on large nuclear, hydro and mid to small distributed energy systems having held senior technical consulting and staff positions with various utilities, AE and Manufacturing firms such as TVA; Pacific Gas & Electric; Bechtel, ABB, Cummins, The New York Power Authority, Texas Utilities. He is currently completing the updates on the electrical systems computer models for the 2x940MW Plant Hatch power station at Southern Company as part of the Calculations Design Basis Validation Programme for Configuration Management and Post Fukushima retrofits. An early advocate of an Integrated African Grid, Mr Blyden has presented a conceptual framework and technical analysis for a centralised African Power pool with links to North Africa at the first IEEE Region 8 conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, December 1983. Since then, he has authored several papers on African Energy Development with a particular emphasis on the strategic role of Regional Power Pool Interconnections, Micro Grids and Knowledge development. Towards this end, he has developed The African Power Development Knowledge Engine which is an advanced training and development conceptual framework designed to harness the dynamic results created by linking African technical colleges and universities to current international R&D focused on Power. Mr Blyden earned an MS.EE from Moscow Energetics Institute in Power Systems, Generation and Industrial Distribution Systems, and has been awarded numerous professional development certifications and accreditations. Fluent in multiple languages which include English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic, Mr Blyden brings a multicultural mindset and an exceptional relationship building acumen. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and serves as Chair of the IEEE PES International Practices subcommittee for Africa. He serves as a Senior Advisor to Centric Ltd, a commercial startup with 21st century structurally advanced and sustainable green building systems.
World Bank Lends $200m For South African Renewables
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) private-sector arm of the World Bank has supplied a $200 million loan to South African commercial lender Nedbank Group to bolster the latter’s green finance operations and fund renewable energy projects.
The IFC announced the credit line in December and has estimated South Africa offers a $588 billion, ten-year opportunity in “climate smart” renewable energy and urban infrastructure investments.
Arvana Singh, head of sustainable financial solutions for Nedbank, said: “This transaction continues to demonstrate Nedbank’s commitment to engage in alternative climate finance mechanisms. These will further develop markets and support projects which create positive impacts aligned to the United Nations sustainable development goals, in pursuit of Nedbank’s commitment to building a greener and cleaner economy.”
What The U.S. Political Transition Might Mean For Africa Generally And Its Oil And Gas Sector In Particular (Article)Adamou Labara, IFC country manager for South Africa, added: “While the immediate future calls for solutions to the economic damage caused by Covid-19, it is critical that we take this opportunity to rethink the structure of our economies, to build a fairer, more resilient, low-carbon future. Working with our partners to develop a strong climate finance market is an important part of this process.” The South African government has committed to reducing carbon emissions 42% within five years and is aiming to more than double the nation’s power generation capacity by 2030, with renewables supplying “as much as 20% of the mix,” according to a press release issued by the IFC on December 21 to announce the green finance loan.
Scientist Propose Innovative Microgrid Model that Rely On Solar And Hydrogen
A global research team has developed a novel energy deployment model to manage oversupply in remote solar microgrids.
This model utilises hydrogen fuel cells as a backup power generation source.
The team demonstrated the model via the Transient System simulation program (TRNSYS) software.
Their model comprised of solar PV system connected to a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell.
The fuel cells provide power to the system when the load exceeds the energy generated by the PV plant.
Under their model, a 21.4 kW solar array had an annual power yield of 127.3 kW h/m2 under standard conditions.
This combination is capable of producing high-density hydrogen at seven bars according to the scientists.
The researchers conducted the simulations on a system in Beijing over a period of 12 months.
The results indicated that the fuel cell operated at full capacity between March and September, when the PV system had higher energy production.
According to the researchers, the proposed system configuration and sizing will ensure that the annual amount of hydrogen consumed would be equivalent to the annual amount produced.
Details of the research can be found “Efficient photovoltaics-integrated hydrogen fuel cell-based hybrid system: Energy management and optimal configuration,” which was recently published in the Journal of Sustainable Energy.
Report: Gas, Renewables Will Accelerate Energy Transition
Accelerated and strategic deployment of renewables and gas power can change the trajectory for climate change, enabling quick and substantive reductions in emissions, while in parallel continuing to advance the technologies for low or near zero-carbon power generation.
This is according to the latest white paper released by General Electric (GE), entitled Accelerated Growth of Renewables and Gas Power Can Rapidly Change the Trajectory on Climate Change.
GE states that the power industry has a responsibility, and the technical capability to take significant steps to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help address climate change at scale.
The solution for the power sector is not an either/or proposition between renewables and natural gas, but rather a multi-pronged approach to decarbonisation with renewables and natural gas power at its core.
The paper emphasises the following:
• Addressing climate change must be an urgent global priority, requiring global action
• Additional renewable energy with natural gas, which has the benefits of flexibility and dependable capacity, is the most effective near-term solution to reduce carbon emissions in the energy sector
• Even with rapid growth, renewable energy production is not occurring at a fast-enough pace or scale to deliver the CO2 reductions needed to fight climate change
• Gas power is an affordable, efficient and dispatchable means to complement renewables, with less than 50% of the CO2 emissions compared to coal
• To impact the trajectory of climate change globally, we need accelerated, strategic deployment of renewables and gas power.
Ghana: Ministry Of Energy Launches Distribution Of 500,000 Improved Cook StovesViewed separately, renewables and gas generation technologies each have merits and challenges as a means to address climate change and optimum solutions will differ regionally. Such solutions will depend upon factors such as fuel availability and security, land use constraints, renewable resource availability, and the emphasis a particular region is placing on climate change. Together, their complementary nature offers tremendous potential to address climate change with the speed and scale the world requires.