Despite a notable reduction in coal prices and lower summer demand, longer-term power prices remained stable in June as a result of rising gas prices. The annual October 2013 gas price increased 0.4% to a monthly average of 67.8p/th. This followed the announcement that the Troll gas field in Norway would be operating at a reduced output this winter, which led to concerns that the UK could see gas supplies tighten.
Power prices were pushed up by the rising gas price, but remained at a monthly average of £51.7/MWh. This came despite a significant fall in the value of coal, which dropped to a three-year low of $85.3/t on 25 June as a result of market oversupply.
On average oil prices were flat. The monthly average price of Brent crude oil was $103.2/bl, 0.1% higher than May, as concerns about economic growth in China and the US were offset by the continuing conflict in Syria.
Monthly average carbon prices rose 23% to €4.31/t in June on the back of news that the European environment committee had voted to send an updated back-loading proposal to the European Parliament for a vote.
via Catalyst Business Energy Market Brief July 2013.
Catalyst Business #Energy Market Brief July 2013 - Wholesale Energy Price Graphs
Energy firm E.ON has been ordered to pay a £3m financial settlement – including a fine of £500,000 – for failing accurately to report how many free energy-saving lightbulbs it had distributed under a flagship government energy scheme.
Shale gas is reshaping America’s economy, environment and politics in still surprising ways. It was an unpredicted phenomenon, but shale gas, now more than a decade old, accounts for 40% of the natural gas in the US. The success of shale production, that has reached large areas of America where no gas development previously existed, birthed the largest environmental movement since the anti-nuclear power protests of the Three Mile Island era. The “fracking wars” have come to America and the world, with the recently fired French energy and environment minister saying shale gas supporters wanted her scalp.The massive supply of shale gas crashed the price of gas from $13 for a thousand cubic feet in July 2008 to below $4, delivering heating and electricity savings of $1,000 per year to many US consumers and helping to fend off further recession in 2011 and 2012. These large price reductions in heat and power – necessities of life – are especially vital for those living in poverty, and a welcome turn of luck for median-income households.As a result of shale gas, fortune has smiled as well on millions of Americans who have lease their land to the drilling industry. They receive payments and royalty checks that total tens of billions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands more get a paycheck from jobs created directly or indirectly by the shale gas boom and chemical manufacturing associated with it.
Owners of energy-efficient homes should pay less for their council tax and stamp duty to drive take-up of the government’s flagship energy-efficiency scheme, according to campaigners.
WITH the recent suggestion by the electricity network that factories and businesses could be asked to ration power use to prevent blackouts, the announcement of UK shale gas reserves that – if recoverable – would be the largest in the world comes in the nick of time. We must take on the unholy alliance of vested interests, from Vladimir Putin to Friends of the Earth, who want to stop Britain grasping this energy lifeline.
The world is getting pretty good at producing renewable power, as solar and wind continue to become more efficient, less expensive and more widely adopted. Renewable fuel, however – beyond problematic biofuels – is more of a challenge, but there are signs of progress, in Germany in particular.The latest advance comes in Falkenhagen, a little town about 45 miles east of Berlin. There, E.On is closing in on putting to work a system that uses power from a nearby wind farm to turn water into hydrogen, which is then shot straight into the area’s natural gas system. Though hardly a behemoth at 2 megawatts, the company responsible for building the hydrogen production facility for E.On, Hydrogenics of Ontario, Canada, called it the “largest power to gas facility in the world.”