On February 24, 2023, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) in the Federal Register that includes three proposed lease areas in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore wind development. One lease area is in the Lake Charles Wind Energy Area (WEA), offshore of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two are in the Galveston WEA, offshore of Galveston, Texas.
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For the first time, the Department of the Interior (DOI) is announcing a proposed offshore wind lease sale for three areas in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Texas and Louisiana. These areas have the potential to generate enough clean energy to power almost 1.3 million homes. The proposed auction includes provisions that would incentivize new investments in workforce training and a domestic supply chain, to expand economic opportunities across offshore wind manufacturing, port operations, and more.
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The level of ambition of the Federal government for the Energiewende has dramatically increased with the new coalition elected in 2021, the share of renewables to be reached in the power mix by 2030 being set at 80 per cent. The German wind industry has however been affected by a slowdown of the expansion of capacities, several rounds of onshore wind and solar auctions being in 2022 undersubscribed. The added value of the Energiewende in terms of job creation has been ambivalent so far.
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The Commission has proposed detailed rules to define what constitutes renewable hydrogen in the EU, with the adoption of two Delegated Acts required under the Renewable Energy Directive. These Acts are part of a broad EU regulatory framework for hydrogen which includes energy infrastructure investments and state aid rules, and legislative targets for renewable hydrogen for the industry and transport sectors.
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The Biden-Harris administration published The Long-Term Strategy (LTS) of the US in November 2021. It is a visionary climate strategy that outlines a plan to tackle the growing climate crisis by decarbonizing the national economy. In January 2023, “The U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization: A joint strategy to transform transportation” was released. REGlobal provides a brief extract of the report.
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The Commission has presented a Green Deal Industrial Plan to enhance the competitiveness of Europe’s net-zero industry and support the fast transition to climate neutrality. The Plan aims to provide a more supportive environment for the scaling up of the EU’s manufacturing capacity for the net-zero technologies and products required to meet Europe’s ambitious climate targets. The Plan builds on previous initiatives and relies on the strengths of the EU Single Market, complementing ongoing efforts under the European Green Deal and REPowerEU.
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The Biden Administration has been working on advancing transmission buildout to deliver 100 per cent clean electricity by 2035 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 50-52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. To support these goals, huge dedicated federal funding allocations have been made for grid modernisation under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in November 2021.
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In a major milestone for the UK’s energy security and net zero commitments, The Crown Estate announced that it has signed Agreements for Lease for six offshore wind projects which could begin to generate green electricity by the end of the decade and have the potential to generate c.8GW of renewable electricity, enough for more than seven million homes. Signing these agreements represents a significant moment in the UK’s response to climate change and energy security, and further bolsters the country’s thriving offshore wind industry, reinforcing its position as the second largest offshore wind energy generator in the world.
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On January 12, 2023, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management within the US Department of Interior released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for its Renewable Energy Modernization Rule. The Modernization Rule updates the first set of BOEM regulations governing offshore wind on the Outer Continental Shelf promulgated in 2009.
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The Union Cabinet of the Indian government has approved National Green Hydrogen Mission on January 4, 2023. The mission has an initial budget outlay for Rs.197,440 million. This comprises of an outlay of Rs.174,990 million for the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT) programme, Rs.14,660 million for pilot projects, Rs.400 million for R&D, and Rs. 388 million towards other components.
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With an aim to support the country’s decarbonisation plans, Chile has enacted a new Law 21505 to promote electrical energy storage and electromobility. It is based on the Proyecto de Ley Sobre Promoción del Almacenamiento y La Electromovilidad or the Electricity Storage and Electromobility Promotion Bill, which received approval from the Senate in October 2022 and has recently been enacted into law.
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The EEG 2023 support scheme, with an overall budget of €28 billion, aims at achieving a share of 80% of electricity produced from renewable energy sources by 2030, with a view to achieving climate neutrality by 2045. Under the scheme, the aid will generally take the form of a market premium paid by the network operator to the producer on top of the market price for the electricity. However, in the case of very small installations, the aid will take the form of feed-in tariffs. Germany also notified an increase of expansion targets for installed capacity of offshore wind energy installations.
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Vietnam has just become the latest country to put in place a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with the International Partners Group (IPG). Under the terms of the Vietnam JETP, IPG members – including the EU, UK, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, Norway and Denmark – will provide an initial US$15.5 billion of public and private financing over the next three to five years to support Vietnam’s goal to achieve a number of new energy transition targets.
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The new law brings forward both the circular economy and zero pollution ambitions of the EU by making batteries sustainable throughout their entire lifecycle – from the sourcing of materials to their collection, recycling and repurposing. In the current energy context, the new rules establish an essential framework to foster further development of a competitive sustainable battery industry, which will support Europe’s clean energy transition and independence from fuel imports.
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The Indonesian JETP raises the country’s ambition for power sector decarbonisation and closely aligns to a pathway that delivers Indonesia’s target of net zero by 2060. At the G20 summit in Bali – and on the same day as COP27’s Energy Day – Indonesia announced its ‘Just Energy Transition Partnership’ (or JETP). The groundbreaking deal secures $20bn funding from the US, Japan and others to help Indonesia accelerate the transition from coal to clean electricity.
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The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the single largest action ever taken to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the United States. The federal government is deploying hundreds of billions of dollars to marshal economic and industrial policies in support of clean energy and to accelerate economy-wide decarbonization. But President Biden signing this bill into law is only the beginning.
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The State of Washington’s 2021 State Energy Strategy (SES) provides a roadmap for Washington to meet its critical and ambitious energy and climate goals: transitioning to 100 percent clean electricity by 2045 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with climate science. The SES was notable for the State Energy Office’s efforts to combine extensive stakeholder and technical input with detailed modeling, and to identify actions in every major sector of the state’s economy.
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The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today issued a proposal to modernize the Net Energy Metering (NEM) solar tariff to promote solar and battery storage, grid reliability, and control electricity costs for all Californians. The update launches the solar industry into the future so that it can support the modern grid by incentivizing solar paired with battery storage and the adoption of electric vehicles, heat pump water heaters, and other electrification appliances while making rates more affordable for Californians.
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In June 2022, the Government of Paraguay sanctioned the bill “Incentives and promotion of electric transport in Paraguay” with the aim of establishing a regulatory framework to promote and incentivise the use of electric transport in the public sector. Currently, there are 1,400 diesel buses in operation, of which 50 per cent are conventional buses. The government plans to acquire an average of 200 electric buses each year over the next five years, that is approximately 1,000 buses, to replace the existing fleet.
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The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, three additional measures to support electricity production from renewable energy sources in Germany. The additional measures supplement the German Renewable Energy Act (“Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz” – ‘EEG 2021′), and will further contribute to achieving Germany’s environmental targets and the EU’s strategic objectives relating to the EU Green Deal.
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