Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union report has encouraged local authorities to take more environmental considerations into account in their public procurement programmes – especially for energy – claiming that if every EU public body switched to renewable sources, they would meet 18 per cent of Europe’s Kyoto Protocol obligations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it will spend Euro 69 million this year on a major overhaul of Serbia’s Nikola Tesla A5 and B1 thermal power plants, as well as funding training programmes and making management improvements in its energy sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LONG awaited European Union legislation promoting the co-generation of heat and power (CHP) has been attacked in the European Parliament, where MEP’s have accused it of “lacking ambition.” Indeed, the parliament’s industry committee has supported a critical report by German socialist MEP Norbert Glante which lamented the absence in the proposals of future targets for cogeneration and EU rules on financial support.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has drawn up plans to lend the Instituto Balear de Saneamiento Euro 75 million to improve waste water treatment facilities on Spain’s Balearic Islands. The aim is to reduce pollution in the Mediterranean, improving environment for local residents and tourists, by building new treatment plants and extending existing installations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation (ILO) has released a detailed report warning that the globalisation of the world’s utilities is leading to job losses in the energy and water sectors, with only the roll-out of new infrastructure and services in developing countries likely to generate employment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the go-ahead for the acquisition by Gaz de France (GDF) of the German oil and gas activities of Preussag Energie. Brussels has been examining the potential effect on competition in Germany’s upstream energy market and concluded that these were “only small.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AGREEMENT in principle over the proposed reforms to the European Union’s gas and electricity liberalisation directives has been secured at the European Parliament’s key industry committee, although it is also holding out for some important changes. MEP’s backed a report from Luxembourg member Claude Turmes which called for amendments insisting upon close cooperation between the European Commission and national regulators to ensure a level playing field regarding security of supply.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the Spanish government two months to provide full information about the environmental impact of its highly controversial National Hydroelectric Plan (NHP) or face a possible action in the European Court of Justice. The Commission says Spain has not responded to a request for information made last September on how it assessed a proposed hydro-electric project in the catchment area of the River Ulla in Galicia.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s competition directorate-general has decided to close its probe into the alleged refusal by Dutch gas company Gasunie to grant access to its pipeline network to the Norwegian subsidiary of US oil and gas producer Marathon in the 1990’s.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has drawn up plans to lend Germany’s E.ON Energie Euro 300 million to fund a 2-year investment programme aiming at promoting energy efficiency within its electricity production and distribution facilities. An EIB note said that the money would fund “state-of-the-art energy management in electricity production including renewables,” adding that the money would be focused on research and development.…