UAE To Send Germany More LNG // EU Prepares for Mobile Network Blackouts // US To End Reliance on Russian Uranium

 UAE To Send Germany More LNG

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has just signed on the dotted line to send six LNG shipments next year to energy starved Germany.

"The extra cargoes will be in addition to the first delivery to be made as soon as December for the commissioning of RWE AG’s floating import terminal in Brunsbuettel near Hamburg," Bloomberg reports.

Germany's in a mad dash to secure as much energy as it can to keep the energy crisis from forcing it into deindustrialization and recession. The recent deal with ADNOC will help Germany to replace some of the Russian gas flows upon which it has become so dependent. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been touring the Middle East trying to secure more cargo.

As Germany inks these deals and bails out its major utilities for hundreds of billions, it still seems committed to shutting down its last remaining nuclear reactors.

EU Prepares for Mobile Network Blackouts

The energy crisis in Europe has gotten so bad that telecom giants are worried their mobile phone networks won't survive the winter unscathed.

"Telecoms industry officials say they fear a severe winter will put Europe's telecoms infrastructure to the test, forcing companies and governments to try to mitigate the impact," reports Reuters. "Currently there are not enough back-up systems in many European countries to handle widespread power cuts, four telecoms executives said, raising the prospect of mobile phone outages."

Europe worries that blackouts will last so long that they deplete the batteries in place to back up cell network antennae. The continent has about half a million telecom towers, most of them with batteries that can back them up for 30 minutes tops.

"Telecom gear makers Nokia and Ericsson are working with mobile operators to mitigate the impact of a power shortage," Reuters reports.

Additionally, some industry executives believe that networks need to be reviewed to reduce excess power usage and modernize their equipment to be more energy efficient.

Telecom companies are already stepping up by "using software to optimise traffic flow, make towers 'sleep' when not in use and switch off different spectrum bands." The industry is also working with governments to make sure contingency plans to provide essential services exist before the winter comes.

US To End Reliance on Russian Uranium

Right now America relies on Russia for the uranium enrichment it needs to run its nuclear fleet. The Biden administration wants to fix that.

"Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the White House is prioritizing development of domestic uranium-enrichment capacity and predicted key legislators will fall in line, so that a fuel-manufacturing plan can be in train by 2025," reports Bloomberg.

“We are going to get Congressional support in a bipartisan way for us to make our own fuel cycle supply chain independent, certainly of Russia,” Granholm recently said in an interview. “We’ve got to make this happen for our own independence and national security.”

Granholm's plan is not for the government to move into the enrichment business, but to support demand, which will give manufacturers the incentive to produce.

Currently, America has one enrichment facility left in New Mexico. It's owned by Urenco.

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Conversation Starters

• Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has committed to develop a new nuclear reactor model. "MHI said the SRZ-1200 has additional safety features when compared with conventional pressurised light water reactors. It has been designed based on enhanced Japanese regulatory safety standards which incorporate lessons learned from the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant," reports World Nuclear News.

• Diesel and gas stations have been running low on fuel due to strikes at French refineries. The strikes have taken half the nation's refinery capacity offline. "The strike, which among others, took Total’s 240,000 bpd Gonfreville refinery offline as well as a couple of Exxon’s, was expected to conclude on Thursday," reports Oilprice.com.

• America's largest auto union has started collaborating with a seabed mining company as the country's auto industry shifts towards electric vehicles. "The United Auto Workers union has entered into a labor neutrality agreement with a company that plans to scoop potato-sized rocks off the ocean floor containing nearly every mineral needed to build an electric vehicle battery," reports the Detroit News. "The Metals Company is a Canada-based firm that has secured exclusive access to portions of the Pacific Ocean seabed more than 1,000 miles southwest of San Diego, which they hope to begin mining by the end of 2024."

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