Meeting the upcoming electrical shortages.

[Airband]

Yes, utility-grade energy storage is a good use for batteries. Being lugged around in automobiles as an energy source - not so much.

[Malcolm]

Looks like the smart money is going to capital spending in the oilpatch.  

Varcoe: Oil prices slide as Canadian industry spending — and oilpatch jobs — hit a nine-year high

Oil prices have been on a stomach-churning ride this week, falling below US$66 a barrel amid pessimism over future demand growth and uncertainty about OPEC’s next moves.  

The turbulence arrives as employment in the Canadian oilpatch has hit a nine-year high — topping 210,000 workers in the sector last month — and industry capital spending returns to 2015 levels.  

 

Prices for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude, which had closed above $80 a barrel in mid-August, tumbled again Tuesday.   The near-month contract for oil closed at $65.75 a barrel, down almost $3 on the day and continuing a recent slump.  

“All indications have been that the market has been getting weaker, but current fundamentals in no way justify a $12-a-barrel selloff over the past two weeks,” Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter, said Tuesday.  

“Everyone is glued to their screens today, basically just waiting for this selling pressure to end, to see where we bottom out.”  

Oil markets have dipped this month amid concerns about the global economy, increasing production and weakening demand in China, one of the pivotal drivers of international growth.  

 

Related video: Falling Oil Prices Threaten Clean Energy Adoption Amid Climate Crisis (Climate Crisis 247)

 

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On Tuesday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) released its monthly oil market report, projecting consumption will increase by two million barrels per day (bpd) this year and 1.7 million next year.  

Both would be all-time records for demand, yet they’re down slightly from the group’s previous outlook. Meanwhile, supplies are rising in the United States, Brazil and Canada, OPEC noted.

Canada’s oilsands have been one of the main contributors to new output in 2024, as operators have boosted spending and output to capitalize on new pipeline capacity that has allowed for increased exports from Western Canada.  

There are also nagging concerns about whether OPEC+ countries will bring more curtailed production online near the end of the year. The cartel recently decided to delay a plan to add 2.2 million bpd of supply in October, until at least December.  

 

“Right now, the market is very much in this bearish mood, so it’s just stuck in the mode where it sees nothing but negativity,” said Martin King, RBN Energy’s managing director of North America energy market analysis.  

“There’s still this view that OPEC will try and put more supply to the market, unless they are more clear about what they’re going to do.”  

Despite the apprehension facing oil markets, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Tuesday it anticipates Brent crude prices will bounce back above $80 a barrel this month.

In its latest short-term energy outlook, the EIA forecasts the international benchmark price to average $84 a barrel next year, while West Texas Intermediate crude averages almost $80.  

 

That would be a lucrative level for producers and the Alberta government, which projects WTI to average $76.50 a barrel for the current budget year.  

With less oil production coming from OPEC and its partners in the next two months, oil demand is expected to outstrip production, the U.S. agency said.  

For Canadian oil producers, the sudden price plunge is garnering attention, but not prompting executives to make cuts to their capital plans.  

“It’s an ugly day in the market,” said Surge Energy CEO Paul Colborne.  

“Everybody will wait and watch…In November, December, there would be cutbacks if oil stayed this low — but I don’t think it can stay this low.”  

 

Colborne noted the Canadian industry has several factors playing in its favour, including a weak loonie relative to the U.S. dollar, and a narrowing price discount for heavy crude this year. Most companies have pruned their debt levels and can ride out short-term volatility.  

Spending by the Canadian oil and gas sector has increased this year as the $34-billion Trans Mountain expansion began commercial operations in May, improving market access for the industry and ending years of pipeline congestion. The anticipated startup of the LNG Canada project next year is also expected to spur gas exports.  

Capital expenditures increased to $11.9 billion during the second quarter, its highest level since the third quarter of 2015, ATB Economics noted.  

 

“We’ve seen an upward trend in oil and gas (capital spending) and it’s coinciding with an improvement that we’re seeing in oil and gas employment nationally,” said ATB chief economist Mark Parsons.  

“The big driver there is market access.”  

Employment in the Canadian energy sector is now at its highest point since October 2015. The industry employed 210,000 people last month, creating 14,400 new jobs over the past year, according to Careers in Energy.  

With the recent decline in oil prices, the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index has fallen by almost 10 per cent since the end of August, although it’s still up five per cent this year.  

The TSX30 list, which ranks the best-performing companies (by share price appreciation) over the past three years on the Toronto Stock Exchange, was also released Tuesday. Alberta-based oil and gas firms made up 11 of the issuers holding down the top spots.  

 

Calgary-based Athabasca Oil Corp. notched third place and CEO Rob Broen cited growth in the company’s long-life oilsands assets, its strengthening financial position and returns of capital to investors for its performance. 

As for this month’s volatility in oil prices, Broen said Athabasca will continue with its strategy of returning money to shareholders and planning for competitive growth.  

“Fundamentals are still strong,” he said in an e-mail. “Companies are much more resilient to volatility than ever before with clean balance sheets.”

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

[Malcolm]

Europe’s renewable energy boom is driving down electricity prices – but it’s not all good news (msn.com)

Europe has seen a record number of hours this year where electricity prices dropped below zero – a sign of progress in renewable energy generation but also a growing challenge that has lessons for other countries.

A surge in clean energy production, particularly from wind and solar, has created moments where the grid is overwhelmed with more electricity than it can handle, pushing prices into negative territory.

 

In the first eight months of this year, Europe saw a total of 7,841 hours of negative electricity prices in various countries, according to official data reported by Financial Times, the longest time so far for negative electricity prices.

Negative prices occur when excess electricity is generated. This means energy suppliers are paying to offload power they can’t store or use.

While this might sound like a good deal for consumers, the reality is more complex. Most households do not directly benefit from negative prices, as they pay fixed rates for electricity. Instead, it highlights the growing pains of a system trying to transition to renewable energy without the infrastructure in place to fully support it.

“Electricity generation and consumption must match at every point in time,” Dr Femke Nijsse, a lecturer in innovation, energy, and climate at the University of Exeter, told The Independent.

 

Related video: Europe's first lithium refinery opens in Germany (Dailymotion)

 

“With higher shares of variable renewables, it’s more challenging to get this match.”

On days when a strong wind or a bright sun produces excess renewable energy, prices can fall rapidly, especially if demand is low.

However, the grid isn’t always prepared to handle this surplus, and storage options remain limited.

"Some dispatchable generation like nuclear cannot turn on and off rapidly," Dr Nijsse said, meaning they may have to pay to keep generating electricity even when it’s not needed.

 

Flamanville nuclear power plant in northern France in November 2016 (Getty)

While negative prices reflect the success of Europe’s clean energy push, they are also an example of a complex economic challenge in the transition process. Renewable energy companies rely on profits from selling power, and persistent negative prices could reduce profitability.

 

"Over the long term, low or negative prices may reduce the profitability of renewables," Dr Iain Soutar, senior lecturer in energy policy at the university, said.

"We need to ensure that electricity markets support investment in renewables rather than fossil fuels," Dr Soutar said.

Despite these challenges, negative prices can push the energy market towards better solutions, experts say. The situation calls for more flexible technologies such as batteries that can store excess energy and release it when demand rises.

“Negative prices are not only a problem, they are also an opportunity," said Dr Nijsse.

Storage solutions, however, have lagged the rapid growth of renewable energy. Europe’s grid wasn’t designed to handle such large amounts of variable energy, and this mismatch has made it harder to balance the system.

"Storage solutions, apart from lithium-ion and pumped hydro, are still relatively new, and countries haven’t always put in place successful support mechanisms,” Dr Nijsse said.

 

Negative electricity prices have been seen in the United States as well. In the UK, the first half of 2024 saw 3.5 times more instances of negative prices compared to last year, with negative prices now averaging close to one hour per day.

Moving forward, the focus must be on building a more flexible grid – one that can manage the ups and downs of renewable energy production without forcing prices into negative territory.

This includes building more interconnectors between countries, improving energy storage capacity, and encouraging innovation in demand-side management, such as shifting electricity use to times when supply is high.

 

Workers install solar pannels on the roof of a house in Rivas Vaciamadrid, Spain, on 15 September 2022. (AP)

Dr Soutar noted that "investment in storage and flexibility will help" balance the grid. Solutions like electric vehicle batteries, heat pumps, and smart appliances could help consumers use electricity when it’s cheapest, potentially absorbing some of the surplus energy that currently pushes prices into the negative.

 

More countries are moving away from the volatile fossil fuel market towards a green electricity infrastructure. The UK will close down its last coal power plant in October as part of its commitment to net-zero emissions.

Renewables also form a rapidly increasing share of electricity supply in countries like India and China.

Experts say government policies need to focus on expanding storage infrastructure to avoid negative pricing.

“The market underinvests in innovation," Dr Nijsse said, calling for policies to replicate the success of wind and solar in making storage technologies more affordable.

This is not something that can be rapidly fixed, though. As renewable energy production continues to rise, experts agree that negative prices are likely to stick around for a while. But in the long run, the right investments in grid infrastructure and innovation could turn these moments from a challenge into an opportunity to optimise the energy system.

 

“Low or negative prices are a feature of low-carbon electricity markets,” said Dr Soutar, adding that investment in storage and grid flexibility will be key for the long-term viability of renewables.

[PaulD]

The Americans are getting a bit worried about China getting ahead in the race to create limitless clean energy. Nuclear Fusion.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/climate/nuclear-fusion-clean-energy-china-us/index.html

[boestar]

The US has become Lazy over the last couple of decades relying on others to further their research.  They would rather spend on making war machines.

[Malcolm]

Ontario's first new nuclear reactor in a generation heads to public hearing - Richmond News (richmond-news.com)

Ontario's first new nuclear reactor in a generation heads to public hearing

The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, in Pickering, Ont., is seen on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn© The Canadian Press

BANFF, Alta. — A public hearing slated for next week is the next milestone for what could be Canada's first grid-scale small modular nuclear reactor (SMR).

On Oct. 2, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is set to hold the first part of a two-part public hearing on Ontario Power Generation's proposed plan to build a 300-megawatt SMR at its Darlington nuclear site.

 

If approved, the unit would be the first new nuclear reactor built in Ontario in a generation and would produce enough nuclear energy to power 300,000 homes.

OPG ultimately hopes to build a fleet of four SMRs at Darlington, with the goal of delivering 1,200 megawatts of nuclear-generated electricity — enough to power 1.2 million homes.

Small modular reactors are a type of nuclear technology that is far smaller, cheaper and faster to build than a traditional nuclear reactor. They are fully scalable — usually in the range of 10 to a few hundred megawatts — and can be built to suit a wide variety of applications.

Many experts believe that expanding the generating capacity of nuclear power is one of this country's best options to meet growing demand for reliable, emissions-free electricity.

In Canada, four provinces — New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta — have agreed to collaborate on the advancement of SMRs as a clean energy option, and Canadian researchers are working on new materials and designs that could make SMRs practical in a large range of new uses.

 

Related video: Portable nuclear reactors for your home (Fox Business)

Joining us now at a Fox Business exclusive is Nano

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But OPG, whose existing Darlington nuclear station generates 20 per cent of Ontario's electricity supply, is the first commercial mover on SMR technology. The Canada Infrastructure Bank, a federal Crown corporation, is putting $970 million towards the project.

Kim Lauritsen, OPG's senior vice-president of enterprise strategy and energy markets, spoke at the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta., on Friday. She told the crowd that the company is willing to take the "first-mover risk" because it believes SMRs are key to a low-carbon, reliable future electricity supply.

"Somebody needs, really, just to start building these things," Lauritsen said.

"Because they take too long and the industry needs to see that these things can be built successfully, to give investors the confidence and really get the ball rolling for other jurisdictions.”

Pending regulatory approval, OPG has said nuclear construction work on its first SMR unit could begin in early 2025, with the unit becoming operational by 2029. The rest of the units in the proposed fleet would come online by the mid-2030s.

 

At Climate Week in New York earlier this week, 14 global financial institutions joined the 25 countries that have declared their ambition to triple nuclear generating capacity worldwide by 2050 as part of the fight against climate change.

Both Canada and the U.S. have endorsed the joint declaration.

In the U.S., ground has already been broken for the construction of that country's first small modular reactor, which will be built in Wyoming near a retiring coal-fired power plant and is the only coal-to-nuclear project under development in the world.

The project, to be built by Bill Gates-founded TerraPower, received a US$2-billion matching grant from the U.S. Department of Energy which TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque said has allowed the company to move ahead "aggressively" with its plans.

"Structuring these first-of-a-kind projects is really more complicated than the technology," said Levesque, who also spoke at the Banff conference Friday.

 

"There's a real game of 'someone else should move first on this' going on ... But we feel like our private investors will get their dividend when we sell hundreds of these plants (in years to come). The U.S. government will get a dividend when we renew our leadership in nuclear and share that with our close allies like Canada, the U.K., Japan and Korea."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press