China to Increase Nuclear Power 652% by 2060

Yang Changli, chairman of China General Nuclear Power Group, emphasized the importance of nuclear energy in the development of a new energy system at the China Nuclear Energy Sustainable Development Forum. Changli laid out China’s eye-popping ambitions for more nuclear.

“Looking forward to 2035, my country's nuclear power generation is expected to account for about 10%, reaching the current global average level, and correspondingly reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 920 million tons,” said CGN Chairman Changli. “By 2060, in order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, my country's nuclear power installed capacity will reach about 400 million kilowatts, accounting for about 18% of power generation, which is close to the current average level of developed countries in the world.” (translated with Google Translate)

He noted that nuclear energy is a reliable and low-carbon source of energy that is essential to reducing carbon emissions, improving energy security, and achieving carbon neutrality goals.

This shift would be enormous for China. Currently, nuclear only counts for about 5% of the coal-dependent country’s power mix.

Dutch Wind Turbines Slow to Save Birds

The Netherlands’s heavy reliance on wind turbines for clean energy has come at the expense of thousands of migratory birds that get chopped up by the fast-spinning turbine blades.

To solve this problem, the Dutch government plans to slow the blades of some wind parks in the North Sea twice a year during bird migration periods to provide safe passage for millions of birds. The pilot project will start during the fall. Researchers can accurately predict bird migration up to two days in advance, giving wind farms time to adjust their speed.

“The turbine blades will slow to just two rotations per minute for 12 to 48 hours, enabling birds to avoid being hit, according to the government’s plans. About 50,000 birds die in the Netherlands every year due to windmills, according to Amsterdam Wind, an initiative of four energy companies,” reports Bloomberg. “It’s not clear how much the plan will cost wind park operators, who will have to bear the financial consequences of producing less energy. If successful, the pilot project could be rolled out to all wind parks and apply to all windmills built in the future.”

The Dutch government wants to scale up offshore wind capacity from its current 4 gigawatts to 21 gigawatts by 2030.

Germany Pushes Hard for More LNG

Germany aims to double its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity in case a key pipeline from Norway gets sabotaged.

“Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees the possibility of another attack on underwater infrastructure — similar to the mysterious explosions that rendered the Nord Stream links inoperable last year — as real, according to people familiar with the matter,” reports Bloomberg.

Norway is Germany's largest gas supplier. At the end of 2022, Norway accounted for a third of German energy imports. Any damage to the pipeline could threaten German security. Germany wants to have at least one floating LNG terminal at Rügen's Mukran port operational by early 2024, with two more under consideration.

“We have to expect things to happen again,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. Thus the German government plans to have “a strategic reserve, should a pipeline system somewhere fail again, or should gas supply be stopped again.”

Six more LNG import terminals, including land-based ones, are expected to come online in the next few years, with the goal of attaining enough capacity to fully replace Russian pipeline gas imports by 2030.

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Conversation Starters

1. Floating nuclear could be coming to waters near you. “Floating nuclear power plants are moving a step closer. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technologies have announced a consortium to develop floating nuclear power plants with Danish Seaborg Technologies’ molten salt reactor technology. The power plants will be installed on barges with a modular design able to deliver from 200MWe to 800MWe, with the consortium’s first project expected to be a 200MWe power barge,” reports Splash247. “The consortium aims to enable timely commercialisation and a scalable export of factory-produced CMSR-based floating nuclear power plants worldwide.”

2. Colombia deep sixes fracking. “Exxon Mobil Corp is in talks with Colombia's government in hopes of recovering its investment in a fracking pilot project as the U.S. oil major prepares to ditch upstream operations in the Andean country where the government is pushing through a fracking ban,” reports Reuters. “Exxon has held eight exploration and production contracts in Colombia, including the fracking pilot. All either have been or are being ended, suspended or liquidated, Colombia's National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH) told Reuters. The company had planned to develop the Platero pilot project for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, eyeing an investment of $53 million, under a contract awarded two years ago.”

3. American natural gas and LNG production is expected to increase through 2050, says the Energy Information Administration. “[W]e project U.S. natural gas production to increase 15% and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to increase 152% between 2022 and 2050. We expect natural gas production to rise to 42.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) by 2050. Production growth is largely driven by U.S. LNG exports, which we expect to rise to 10 Tcf by 2050,” reports the EIA. “Natural gas production growth on the Gulf Coast and in the Southwest reflects increased activity in the Haynesville Formation and Permian Basin, which are close to infrastructure connecting natural gas supply to growing LNG export facilities.”

Crom’s Blessing