Energy

Large parts of Brussels are without power tonight after the City Grid ceased to function at about 10.45pm local time.

But buildings with solar panels on rooftops were not able to maintain their own power supply because the panels are all feeding into to the grid. Even solar panels with battery backup were unable to maintain a supply because EU regulations require a cutoff of the battery supply in the event of a grid outage.

Brussels is home to the HQ of the European Commission – the Berlaymont Building – which has its own petrol powered generators in the basement, so it is still functioning on skeleton power at time of writing.

The health and safety rules were introduced 10 years ago, even though a simple cutoff switch between the grid and the panels or batteries in individual buildings, would solve the problem by removing the threat to power workers as they tried to restore the supply. Lobbyists from the large power companies and grid management companies are responsible for the restrictive regulations.

It is believed the northern part of the EU capital has been affected the worst with the cause still to be identified.Residents have been forced to use candles and have posted pictures of their efforts to restore light on social media.

An earlier power cut is understood to have hit a smaller part of the city earlier in the evening but was ‘resolved by 8.30pm’.

Power firm Sibelga, which handles gas and electricity services in the city, and power network operator Elia have confirmed there is a fault in the grid, with repair teams on site.
Sirens have been heard across the city, which was the victim of a terrorist attack last March.…

The cost of solar equipment is declining at ever-steeper rates, threatening a meltdown in Utility companies share prices and catalysing new projects and driving growth in developing countries.

That’s among the key findings from this year’s Climatescope, an analysis of 58 emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.  Conducted by the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, it reports investment in utility-scale solar in the Climatescope nations spiked 43 per cent to $71.8bn in 2015.  The countries covered include China, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

The report stresses that the 58 countries “are not waiting to get started on adding renewable capacity – between them, they added 69.8 GW of new wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable power generating capacity in 2015 – the same as total installed capacity in Australia today”.

China accounted for the majority of activity in Climatescope countries, but smaller nations also played important roles. By comparison, wealthier OECD countries built 59.2 GW last year. Climatescope also found that cheap solar, innovative business models and a new breed of entrepreneurs are revolutionizing how energy access issues are addressed in least developed nations.

“New players focused on off-grid or mini-grid solutions are challenging the assumption that only an expanded hub-and-spoke power grid can meet the needs of the world’s 1.2bn with inadequate access to power. A slew of these start-ups are privately-funded and between them had raised over $450m cumulatively through year-2015.”

And the report highlights how private investors, lenders, and development finance institutions in OECD countries accounted for nearly half of all capital to the Climatescope countries, with the exception of China, where virtually all capital was provided locally.

This is up from the roughly one third of capital provided in 2012. But the report also notes that some Climatescope countries with the highest rates of clean energy penetration are beginning to encounter integration challenges. “Some have seen projects completed before sufficient transmission could be built. Others have not prioritized clean electrons from wind or solar projects in their grids over those from coal-fired plants.”

But the writing is on the wall for fossil fuel companies (and share prices) – with the report noting that “tenders held for power-delivery contracts have highlighted that photovoltaics can now compete against and beat fossil-fuelled projects on price in some nations”.…