GreenergyDaily
September 26, 2023
1. Ford Motor said on Monday it has paused work on a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, citing concerns about its ability to competitively operate the plant at a time when it remains locked in broader contract negotiations. Ford in February announced plans to build the plant in Michigan, betting that making the batteries in the US would help it and Chinese partner CATL attract U.S. customers to embrace a lower-cost technology pioneered in China.
2. On Sep. 26, in response to rumors that Ford had stopped building a factory in the US with China's battery giant CATL, a representative from CATL's securities department said: "It is false news, and our progress is going smoothly."
3. Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec held a conference for its gas station dealers in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. During the conference, the company officially announced the launch of oil supply services at gas stations in Sri Lanka. The company aims to support Sri Lanka's economic growth and energy supply by providing high-quality oil products to the country.
4. Guoneng Gongxiang, the world's first floating wind power+fish farm platform, started installation off the coast of Putian, SE China's Fujian, on Sep. 24. The project combines a 10,000-m3 fish cage with a 4-MW wind turbine that can generate up to 96,000 kWh of electricity per day.
5. On Monday, the spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce announced that China and the EU have agreed to establish a dialogue mechanism regarding export control. The aim of this agreement is to provide convenience for EU firms to invest in China while ensuring fair participation in green certificate transactions. The two sides also discussed the EU's recent subsidy rules, carbon border adjustment mechanism, and other trade policies. China hopes that the EU will use trade remedy measures prudently and encourage cooperation in the new energy industry, particularly in electric vehicles.
6. CNOOC reported today that the largest LNG reserve base in China, Green Energy Port located in S China's Yancheng City, has achieved a milestone of unloading over 3.5 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in its first year of operation. The port has exceeded an 80% load utilization rate, which is a record for China's LNG terminal in its first year of operation.
7. Ouyang Minggao, the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated during the recent 2023 Global Energy Interconnection Conference that the most effective method for storing hydrogen on a large scale is to store it in underground salt caverns. Currently, China's salt cavern hydrogen storage capacity is at 20 million tons. Other hydrogen storage methods include gaseous, liquid, and solid storage. However, the ultimate determining factor for the most viable hydrogen energy storage method relies on its cost-effectiveness.
8. On Sep. 25, Changbo hydropower station kicked off construction on the upper section of the Jinsha River in SW China. The 826,000-kW station is expected to generate 4.355 billion kWh of electricity a year upon completion, cutting 3.59 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
9. Xiamen Tungsten New Energy has announced its plans to establish a joint venture with Orano CAM in France on Sep. 26. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary in Europe will invest 10.2 million euros and hold 51% equity in the JV. Orano CAM will invest 9.8 million euros and hold 49% equity in the JV. Furthermore, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy in France will invest CNY 3.961 billion to construct a ternary cathode material production line with an annual output of 40,000 tons.
10. On Sep. 26, Three Gorges Renewables announced that according to the company's preliminary statistics, as of August 31, 2023, the company's cumulative power generation from Jan. to Aug. 2023 was 36.271 billion kWh, up 14.68% YoY. Among them, wind power generated 25.661 billion kWh, up 18.22% YoY; solar power generated 10.124 billion kWh, up 8.90% YoY; hydropower generated 452 million kWh, down 24.54% YoY; independent energy storage completed power generation of 34 million kWh, up 36% YoY.
