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Equinor + partners to combine UK offshore wind projects: Norway’s Equinor and its partners have agreed to combine two of their planned offshore wind projects in the UK as a single venture to reduce costs and environmental impact, according to a press release. The two projects are extensions to the already operational Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms and would more than double the number of households benefiting from the projects to reach 1.5 mn. The extensions would add a direct gross value of EUR 370 mn to the UK economy.
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Masdar is involved: Masdar and Equinor have 35% stakes each in the Dudgeon Extension Project, whereas China Resources Power has 30%. The Sheringham Shoal Extension project is wholly owned by Equinor, but two funds — Equitix Offshore 3 Limited and another managed by Macquarie Asset Management — are exploring an acquisition of up to 60% of the final investment decision.
The European Commission has approved EUR 1.7 bn to support Denmark’s plan to support alternative fuel production under EU state aid rules, according to a press release. The scheme will fund the production of upgraded biogas and e-methane for power generation, targeting the addition of 7.9 petajoules (c. 2.7k GWh) to the grid. The push is part of the bloc’s EUR 20 bn REPowerEU plan to cut reliance on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition.
The details: The aid will be distributed through five competitive bidding rounds running through 2030 and will take the form of a price premium per gigajoule of gas, paid on top of natural gas market price, for a 20-year period. Bids winners will be required to be online on the grid within three years of securing their projects, and the produced biofuels and e-methanol will be required to meet the EU’s sustainability and emissions criteria.
The impact: The scheme is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 450k tons of CO2 annually starting 2033 and support Denmark’s target to slash emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to a 1990 baseline.
The US has approved a conditional loan of USD 755 mn to fund the Australian battery materials company Novonix’s graphite factory, the Financial Times reports. The factory — set to be North America’s largest synthetic graphite facility — will be able to produce enough graphite to supply 325k EVs annually by 2028. The new loan is part of the Biden administration’s last hurrah to funnel money from the Inflation Reduction Act into ventures that aim to combat China’s dominance on critical minerals.
Why graphite? Graphite is a key raw material used in car battery anodes and is the most difficult of the critical materials to source from anywhere outside of China, which dominates 95% of its global market. The component is preferred over other counterparts because it boasts faster charging and longer durability.
