Chief Scientist & Professor of Exploration Geoscience, Heriot-Watt University
Assistant Professor, Durham University
Chair of Urban & Regional Planning and Director of Canberra Urban & Regional Futures, University of Canberra, Visiting Professor, University of Warwick
Associate Professor in Biophysics, University of Pretoria
Production
Akkuyu deepens Moscow’s grip on Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken sole control of the newly established Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK) since winning sweeping powers in last month’s presidential election. Last week Erdogan’s new cabinet published changes to Turkish institutions, including a reorganisation of the NDK. And as Erdogan faces fewer official checks over his nuclear policy, Russia’s grip […]
Transmission
Caspian electrical grid planned: Iran envoy
Iran says Moscow has called for the establishment of an electrical grid between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran as the Kremlin fills the void left by Donald Trump’s decision to contravene the Iran nuclear deal. “Russians asked for an electrical grid between Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia,” Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah […]
Storage
Equinor backs Dutch hydrogen project
Jacobs Engineering Group has won a feasibility study contract from Norway’s Equinor to examine the possibilities for developing hydrogen production, including carbon-dioxide capture, in the Netherlands. Hydrogen would fuel operational gas-powered stations that would be converted into hydrogen-fuelled installations designed to lower carbon emissions. Equinor, formally Statoil, and its partners Vattenfall and Gasunie, are evaluating […]
Consumption
Gazprom to fund pipeline despite US
Russia’s gas-export giant Gazprom will still be able to finance the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if US sanctions are imposed on its western European partners, a project chief has argued. “The project will definitely be financed. It is important for Gazprom and Russia currently has a high liquidity in euros,” Paul Corcoran, the Nord Stream […]
Policy
Summit to end Caspian legal limbo
A summit of the Caspian countries will discuss strengthening security amid a chaotic wider region, said a member of Russia’s State Duma Committee on International Affairs Sergey Zheleznyak. And the foreign minister of Kazakhstan, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, said the August 12 summit, attended by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan, would address the full legal status of the […]
Environment
German projects provide EU model
In Germany, the price paid for solar-generated electricity within communities is presenting a model for the rest of Europe to follow, it has been argued. Community energy cooperatives, like UrStrom, which owns and operates photovoltaic panels installed on the businesses’ roofs, means 31 per cent of renewable energy production is owned by German citizens. Energiewende, […]
Industry
Greece eyes energy reform: minister
Greece is attempting to move away from its heavy dependence on coal as George Stathakis, the minister of environment and energy, said he planned to increase its share of renewables and sell off its national power companies while increasing exploration. Stathakis aims to increase its share of renewables to 50 per cent by 2030, while […]
Opinion
The China-EU Slow Dance in Energy
The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday stole all the headlines this week. It was dramatic and exciting, the mutual swoon of two young lovers or the emotional manipulation of a controlling ego, depending on your viewpoint. It was also the meeting of the global titans of oil. […]
Turkey Needs Tight Control Mechanisms to Grow its Wind Energy
In June 2018, Turkey nationalized its first wind farm, Alaçatı Wind Energy Plant (ARES), transferring to the state-owned Electricity Generation Company (EÜAŞ). The move comes after 20 years of operation through an agreement between the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey (MENR) and Güçbirliği Holding. ARES was the first build-operate-transfer (BOT) wind plant […]