2 minute read
UK and Europe news
Regional update
It’s been a strange couple of months with the COVID-19 pandemic having a major impact on how we live and work. Our thoughts and best wishes are with everyone coping during this difficult time.
Jo Campbell
As with all challenging situations positives can appear and we have seen a number of wonderful opportunities emerge for us to assist our members and partners. Obviously keen to continue providing our members with the very latest energy sector news and updates we have transitioned to a virtual platform allowing EIC events to come direct to individual homes. EIC LIVE e-vents, a series of information webinars, has been launched!
Our first EIC LIVE e-vent was held on 2 April and was titled Focussing on Oil and Gas during COVID-19. An amazing 124 attendees logged in to hear the EIC’s market intelligence team give an overview of the current state of play in the global oil and gas market.
On 22 April we hosted a Norway market update EIC LIVE e-vent, looking at the latest sector news directly from key players working in this market. Again, we received an outstanding response of over 100 attendees on the webinar.
EIC teams globally have planned EIC LIVE e-vents with the full listing available on the EIC website. A few upcoming e-vents are listed below.
We are here to help so do let us know if there are any particular topics you would like to be updated on.
Stay home, stay safe, stay positive.
Jo Campbell, Regional Director (UK & Europe) jo.campbell@the-eic.com
LIVE e-ventsEIC
LIVE e-vents
1 May: Open Forum - Operations & Maintenance
5 May: Opportunities in the Nuclear Industry
19 May: Focus on Global Offshore Wind
26 May: Focus on Decommissioning
9 June: Opportunities to Export
Regional news
Finding hope in the UK amidst the worldwide pandemic
In March, it was the UK’s turn to experience the reverberation of the coronavirus pandemic. The UK’s energy landscape faced a tumultuous few weeks due to the unexpected spread and disruption of the calamity. At first, the renewables sector appeared to remain largely unaffected. Yet with projects – such as the Tees Renewable Energy Biomass Plant – starting to announce standstills, the impact on the supply chain and developers in the long run is now unclear.
However, amidst the turmoil, not only are discussions arising regarding the possible enhancement of energy transition activities in the long-term, but a number of governmental changes were announced that still bring some hope to the sector. The UK’s Budget 2020 confirmed funding of £800m for two or more new CCS clusters by 2030, more than doubling research and development investment in its energy innovation programme to £1bn and plans to support biomethane production through a green gas levy.
Solar and onshore wind were brought back into the CfD subsidy scheme after four years, while also proposing to allow energy from waste projects operating in CHP mode to bid for subsidies under the scheme. While these updates brought the ambition of reaching the targeted net-zero emissions by 2050 when announced, remembering such news post coronavirus will also provide optimism for the region.
