Gas peaking past its sell-by, hacking risks and the disappearance of US glaciers
In this issue:
Gas peaking past its sell by date
That’s the conclusion of a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie which found, across all 43 countries modelled, 4-hour battery storage carried a lower levelised cost to cover peaking needs than open-cycle gas turbines. Grid scale deployments of solar and wind have been cheaper than new gas generation for some time but for peaking capacity, gas has still held a place – economically at least. That advantage has now waned with the increasing cost of gas and shrinking cost of battery storage.
The changing face of greenwashing
Greenwashing is up 28% compared with last year according to a report by RepRisk. It seems oil and gas firms are cleaning up their act with cases in those sectors falling from 17% to 12% between 2022 and 2026. However, other sectors are seeing increases in greenwashing with energy, metals, mining and computer services up from 18% to 29% over the same period. Despite a dip in 2024, over the five year period greenwashing risks are reported as increasing 112%.
Hacking risks widespread
In the week the news has shown us the reach and scale of damage and losses resulting from a supermarket refrigerator hack in France, it’s a fair question to ask how at risk is our electricity infrastructure. A clue might be provided by a report last week from Modat that looked at exposure to internet interfaces of critical renewable generation admin interfaces and control panels. The report covered wind and solar farms in 40 countries across Europe and found 35 countries were at risk. In total 8,547 internet facing systems were found. With renewables generating around half of the EU’s electricity, a widespread, coordinated attack could be devastating. Perhaps some lessons for NZ as well.
IPCC in conference
IPCC-65 is currently underway in Addis Ababa and, unusually, it has encountered quite a bit of discord, mainly over the publication dates of its next major round of reports. 2028 has long been proffered as the key date for publication as it coincides with critical progress markers against the Paris agreement and its 2030 deadline. However, there is mounting pressure to defer at least some of the reports to 2029, giving little time for action.
Quality credits price premium
While a price premium for superior quality carbon credits is to be expected, new analysis from BeZero puts a figure on the premium for a series of analysed credits. Notwithstanding its definition of superior quality is based on its own classifications, It finds the premiums range from 16% to 147%. Forestry management projects in North America showed a 16% premium for BBB+ projects and a 17% premium for A+ projects. Avoided deforestation projects in Latin America showed an 81% premium for BBB+ and 147% for A+. African cookstove projects showed a 51% premium for BBB+ and 47% for A+. All premia were quoted relative to the price of unrated projects.
SMEs weak on emissions reduction
A CDP survey of 11,000 SMEs reveals a mixed story on environmental sustainability. While 95% indicate they are making some kind of progress environmentally, less than a third have implemented emissions reduction measures and only 20% have an emissions reduction target. It seems Spain, France and Sweden are leading the pack on environmental improvements with Singapore and the US lagging at the rear.
Did you know ……
Western USA has lost 300 glaciers in the last 70 years?