In focus: Renewables making headway as Shell ruling sounds alarm on energy transition urgency

A historic ruling has shaken the energy market this week after a Dutch court ordered oil major Shell to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 compared with 2019 levels.

The decision was delivered in connection with a climate change case filed against Shell in 2019 by Dutch environmental organization Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie), other NGOs, and a group of private individuals.

Even though Shell plans to appeal the ruling, NGOs see it as a turning point in history that could have major consequences on big polluters. Specifically, the ‘landmark victory’ is likely to result in a wave of litigation of other fossil energy companies pushing them to abandon extraction and burning of fossil fuels and accelerate their energy transition plans.

As the decision sends shock-waves across the Fossil Fuels market, the renewable sector is making headway helping stabilize energy prices.

Namely, on Thursday, TenneT, Statnett and KfW commissioned the 1,400 MW NordLink interconnector between Norway and Germany. The so-called ‘Green Cable’ is expected to facilitate the exchange of Norwegian hydropower and German wind energy.

The cable is 23 kilometers long and runs between Tonstad in Sirdal municipality in Norway and Wilster in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. The system became fully operational last month following a trial operation.

As explained by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first direct electricity bridge between the two countries is a milestone for sustainable energy supply and climate protection in Europe, focusing on exchanging renewable energy.

In the UK, Environment Agency has pledged to default to low-carbon concrete when constructing flood defences and other critical infrastructure projects, provided they meet performance requirements, as it sets out its roadmap to hit net zero as an organisation by 2030. The roadmap demonstrates how the organisation will cut its carbon footprint by at least 45% by 2030 and offset the rest.

With emissions from the supply chain accounting for a significant proportion of the Environment Agency’s current carbon footprint, contractors and suppliers will also be pushed to take action, with large contracts including commitments to reduce carbon footprint year-on-year.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the U.S. government has decided to advance areas northwest of Morro Bay and off Humboldt County, California, for offshore wind development.

With these two initial areas, the U.S. is opening up the Pacific Coast for commercial scale offshore wind projects. The two areas could accommodate up to 4.6 GW of installed offshore wind capacity, 3 GW of which could be installed in the Morro Bay area.

On the marine energy front, ORPC has submitted a preliminary permit application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a tidal energy project at East Foreland in Alaska.

The marine energy company intends to develop a 5MW pilot project near East Foreland to verify the technical performance and environmental compatibility of its proposed marine energy devices. Project results are expected to support planning of a phased build-out of up to a 100MW commercial-scale project, according to ORPC.

In the Middle East, plans are ramping up on the development of a $1 billion green ammonia production facility. Namely, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, plans to build the facility with financial support from Helios Industry.

The Helios facility located in KIZAD is to produce 200,000 tonnes of green ammonia from 40,000 tonnes of green hydrogen. The plant will use solar power to electrolyse water and split molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. According to Helios Industry, this facility will be the first production plant within Abu Dhabi to produce green ammonia from hydrogen using renewable energy.

Renewable energy is also set to be incorporated on board ships. Namely, Japan-based Eco Marine Power has secured an Approval in Principle (AiP) from ClassNK for its Renewable Energy System for Ships.

Aquarius Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) is an advanced integrated system of rigid sails, marine-grade solar panels, energy storage modules, charging system and marine computers that enables ships to tap into renewable energy by harnessing the power provided by the wind and sun.

The sails are automatically positioned by a computer system to best suit the prevailing weather conditions and can be lowered and stored when not in use or during bad weather.