Welcome to Grid Brief! Here’s what we’re looking at today: Texas wants to become a hotbed for advanced nuclear, Europe splits on power market reforms, Aramco has LNG ambitions.

Texas Fishes for Fission

The Texas Public Utility Commission has embarked on a process that will bring small modular nuclear reactors to the state.

In an August letter, Governor Greg Abbott instructed the PUCT to get to work on making the Lone Star state “the national leader in using advanced nuclear energy.”

Last Thursday, the PUCT formed a working group to pursue this goal. The working group will address various issues such as workforce and supply chain enhancement, state and federal incentives for SMR construction, and the competitive positioning of SMRs in the state’s power market.

“The view that I’m going to take in this process is that while nuclear reactors in the state are great for the power business, they’re also good or better for the industrial business, for the supply chain, for the long-term economic growth of this state,” PUCT Commissioner Jimmy Glotfelty said. “Everything we do will have an economic development view, and a safety and security view.”

“The working group is planning to deliver a report on the topic to Gov. Greg Abbott, R, by the end of next year,” reports Utility Dive.

Europe’s Fight Over Its Power Market

European power market reforms have become tense as countries jockey for better positions.

The EU wants to reform its power market so that it can avoid a repeat of last year’s power crunch.

“At issue is whether governments will be able to offer state-backed, fixed-price power contracts to existing power plants - then collect excess revenues generated by these contracts and spend it on subsidising industries,” reports Reuters. “France is keen to apply these subsidies to its nuclear power fleet, and the proposed rules have backing from central and eastern countries. But Germany and others are firmly against - warning this could give French industries an advantage over their own.”

An insider told Reuters that both sides have grown farther apart since they met in June.

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Aramco Scouts More LNG Deals

Saudi Aramco wants in on the LNG boom.

“We see indications that the LNG market is positioned for structural, long-term growth,” Aramco’s Upstream President Nasir Al-Naimi told Bloomberg. “Aramco’s intention is to become a leading global LNG player.”

Last week, Aramco announced its acquisition of a $500 million stake in MidOcean energy. MidOcean is owned and operated by the American firm EIG.

Aramco “aims to expand its gas production by at least 50% until 2030 compared to 2021 levels,” reports Bloomberg. “Its Jafurah field is expected to start production in 2025, with a plan to gradually increase natural gas deliveries to 2 billion standard cubic feet a day by 2030.”

Conversation Starters

• China is spending big on its grid. “China's investments in its power sector may exceed 100 trillion yuan ($13.7 trillion) from 2020 to 2060, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, citing utility behemoth State Grid Corp. of China,” reports Reuters. “The timeframe of the investment is in line with President Xi Jinping's pledge for China to attain net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2060.”

• Bulgarian workers are fighting the country’s energy transition. “Protesters in Bulgaria blocked roads in three districts for a third day on October 1 in protest of government plans to shut down coal-burning power plants as part of a transition away from fossil fuels and toward green energy sources,” reports Oilprice.com. “Bulgarian miners and other energy-sector workers who are taking part in the protest declined an invitation from Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov to meet on October 1 with the Council of Ministers in Sofia, union leader Dimitar Manolov said.”

• South Africa will permit TotalEnergies to drill offshore. “South Africa's environment ministry has given the go-ahead for TotalEnergies to drill offshore for gas and oil, after rejecting an appeal from more than a dozen individuals and lobby groups who intend challenging the decision,” reports Reuters. “TotalEnergies, which discovered two massive gas fields off South Africa in 2019 and 2020, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its area of interest in the block covers some 10,000 square km and is located roughly between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas, some 60 km from the coast at its closest point and 170 km at its furthest, in water depths between 700 metres and 3,200 metres.”

Crom’s Blessing

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