Germany to revive LNG infrastructure
The German government plans to rapidly expand the infrastructure for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) through an “LNG acceleration act”, a government statement said. An early draft of a corresponding bill has been provided for Germany’s governing parties, aiming to build land-based and floating LNG terminals and the necessary pipelines faster, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the statement. Construction of gas pipelines and infrastructure for LNG terminals in Germany could begin this summer, according to the statement. Last week, Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck signed contracts for the lease of a total of four floating LNG terminals, with 2.94 billion euros ($3.1 billion) available for this purpose. “This is part of the effort to put Germany’s energy supply on a broader basis,” the government said.
Green hydrogen to be a focus area: Actis PE
Global private equity investor Actis is actively considering investing in the green hydrogen segment in India, said Sanjiv Aggarwal, Sanjiv Aggarwal, Partner, Energy Infrastructure at Actis. “We are studying the sector very carefully. Its an area which we are very actively considering investing in not only in India, but also in other markets,” said Aggarwal. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolyzers. Over the past few months, several Indian companies including Reliance Industries, Renew Power, Indian Oil Corporation, Adani Group, and Greenko Grouphave announced plans in this segment. Actis which last month sold its renewable energy platform Sprng Energy to Shell Overseas Investment BV, for Rs 119 billion has also incorporated Blupine Energy Pvt Ltd, under which it is targeting $800 million to $1 billion of investments to develop renewable energy projects and store assets. Sprng was Actis Energy 4 fund investment.
Petrol to escape Rs 2 green tax from October on 10% ethanol blending
India has achieved nearly 10% ethanol blending of petrol months ahead of the target, a move that will spare consumers an additional Rs 2 per litre tax from October. The budget had proposed the additional tax on unblended petrol from October to speed up adoption of the cleaner fuel as part of the country’s energy transition and climate action plans But ethanol supply remains a concern, even though the government is pushing hard to expand capacity. The roadmap for blending prepared jointly by the oil ministry and government think-tank Niti Ayog for developing an ethanol economy in the country had set a target of 5% blending by the end of 2022 and 20% by 2025. The Centre has also targetted 5% blending of biodiesel with diesel by 2030. The roadmap reckons 20% blending of petrol with ethanol will result in an annual saving of $5 billion, or more than Rs 300 billion in India’s oil import bill. The Centre has also targetted 5 per cent blending of biodiesel with diesel by 2030.