European natural gas futures prices rise to highest level since 2023

Shandong has recently moved to adjust its spot-market price floors, industrial and commercial time-of-use tariffs, and operating rules for energy storage co-located with renewable energy stations. Although the three policies target differently, they all address the same challenge.The policies do not mark a return to mandatory storage requirements, but they do increase the downside price exposure of non-mechanism PV volumes and strengthen the need to shift electricity across time.

Recently, the 2MW Floatgen floating wind turbine developed by BW Ideol has been operating for eight years at the SEM-REV offshore wind test site near Le Croisic, France, with cumulative power generation exceeding 40 GWh (approximately 40 million kWh). The turbine is installed on BW Ideol's proprietary concrete Damping Pool floating foundation and was commissioned in 2018. According to the company, its average technical availability has exceeded 92% since commissioning. In December 2023, the turbine's monthly capacity factor (the ratio of monthly generation hours to total monthly hours) reached an impressive 61.96%. Floatgen has continued operating at the test site after the originally planned five-year demonstration period ended. In 2024, after evaluating the condition of the turbine's floating foundation and wind turbine, BW Ideol announced a five-year operating extension, determining that the turbine could continue operating without major maintenance.