Latest news with #JohnDeane
Mint
23-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Spain's Power Utilities Lay Blackout Blame on Grid Operator
(Bloomberg) -- Spanish power companies laid the blame for April's crippling blackout squarely with the country's grid operator, saying it hadn't lined up enough backup plants to safeguard supplies. Red Electrica didn't ensure a sufficient number of plants were available on standby, industry group AELEC said in a report on Monday. The April 28 blackout, which cut power to more than 50 million people on the Iberian Peninsula for several hours, has triggered a fierce blame game between political parties and energy companies. Earlier this month, the government faulted Red Electrica for failing to ensure enough backup generation, as well as power-plant operators for not fulfilling their commitments on the day. The grid operator has accused the power companies of failing to help keep voltage steady, a charge not addressed by AELEC in Monday's report. The group said only that its members, which include Iberdrola SA and Endesa SA, 'acted in accordance with the requirements' set out in current regulation, 'fully complying at all times with the orders issued by the system operator.' A Red Electrica spokesperson wasn't immediately available to comment on Monday. The grid operator on June 18 said it managed the network properly on the day of the incident. The new study follows the publication last week of two more reports on the blackout, and adds one more chapter to the recriminations between power companies, the grid operator and the cabinet. Monday's report said that only 11 thermal stations were operating on the day of the blackout, the lowest number this year, and that only one was operating in southern Spain when over-voltage was recorded. Still, AELEC didn't respond specifically to accusations that almost all of those plants didn't perform properly by helping the grid operator manage voltage with what's known as reactive power, as the government and Red Electrica had previously found. Data on whether plants performed properly are confidential and are currently being analyzed by Spanish competition watchdog CNMC, said AELEC's Head of Regulation Marta Castro. AELEC's document claims that steps taken by Red Electrica ahead of the blackout worsened the electricity system's voltage control issues. The decision to connect various transport lines from noon — about half an hour before the blackout — ended up 'weakening the system' and 'worsened the over-voltage existing minutes before the blackout.' The report also said that the interconnection with France may have been mismanaged, and questions why Red Electrica decided not to rely on five available hydropower plants to stabilize voltage in an effort to avert the outage. --With assistance from John Deane. (Updates with more details from report starting in seventh paragraph.) More stories like this are available on
Mint
17-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Oil Freight Rates Jump in Mideast as Iran Conflict Fans Risk
(Bloomberg) -- Oil-shipping rates for Middle Eastern routes have spiked after some tanker owners and managers paused offering vessels as they assess risks from Israel's conflict with Iran, fueling concerns over flows from the region. Key rates for supertankers voyaging from the Middle East to East Asia rose almost 60% in less than a week, according to shipbrokers and charterers, as exporters who had been trying to book ships were met with few offers. They asked not to be identified as they're not authorized to speak publicly. Meanwhile, some owners with tankers that had been provisionally chartered as of Friday, pending confirmation of the booking, chose not to extend the agreements into the weekend, one of them said. The global oil market has been transfixed by the conflict in the Middle East, with Israeli strikes on Iranian energy and nuclear infrastructure roiling prices. While the likelihood of significant supply disruptions may be remote at this stage, the stability of shipping in and around the Middle East will be closely watched. The region is home to about a third of the world's production, and major exporters such as Saudi Arabia have limited scope to divert exports if needed. As hostilities have intensified, tanker owners are monitoring conditions for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Though ship diversions haven't yet been spotted, owners are holding back on fixing new voyages in the Gulf, setting the stage for higher freight rates and the possibility of disruptions. The benchmark rate for a supertanker capable of hauling 2 million barrels of crude from the Middle East to China — the TD3C route — jumped to 70 to 71 Worldscale points on Monday, up from about 44 last Thursday, before Israel struck Iran, according to shipbrokers. Worldscale points are a percentage of an underlying flat rate, which is set for each major route at the start of the year. On a per-day basis, chartering costs were near $46,000 on Monday, according to data from the Baltic Exchange. That's up by more than $12,000 from the prior session, the biggest gain since February last year. Forward-freight agreements — a derivative that allows buyers to lock in future rates — have increased as an indication of caution across the sector. FFAs for the TD3C route rose to around $14.50 a ton at one point on Monday, compared with about $11 before Israel's attacks on Iran. --With assistance from Alex Longley and John Deane. (Updates throughout with latest rates.) More stories like this are available on
