Energy News Beat

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Fox EXCLUSIVE: Two former U.S. ambassadors are sounding the alarm on the increasing number of green energy projects nationwide being developed with the involvement of Chinese companies.

Former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella said Chinese companies, which are subject to strict Chinese laws, have made a concerted effort to take advantage of U.S. green energy goals. The companies, they said, are exploiting American tax incentives to build facilities and projects in the U.S., bolstering Chinese industry and ensuring continued U.S. reliance on technology from China.

“It’d be very ironic if we moved towards electric vehicles to the numbers that the Biden administration is talking about and the key component comes from China,” Hoekstra, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 until 2021, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “That is a terrible, terrible place to be.”

Hoekstra added that China’s dominance throughout the green energy supply chain, from developing critical mineral mines in Africa to building battery components, exhibits intentionality that is “very perilous not only for our national security, but our economic security and prosperity as well.”

Earlier this year, Hoekstra, who also previously chaired the House Intelligence Committee, established the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, a watchdog group devoted to reviewing Chinese economic investments across the country with a particular focus on Michigan. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer boasted last month that her administration has recently attracted $16.6 billion worth of electric vehicle (EV) and battery projects to the state.

Cella — who served as the U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, and Tonga from 2019 until 2021 — joined Hoekstra’s group as a director.

Together, Hoekstra and Cella have specifically called attention to two EV battery plant projects proposed for Michigan. The first, slated for Big Rapids, Michigan, involves the Hefei, China-based Gotion High-Tech while the second, proposed for Marshall, Michigan, involves the Ningde, China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).

The former ambassadors said, altogether, the Whitmer administration has promised about $4 billion in tax incentives and infrastructure improvements to facilitate the construction of the Gotion factory and the second facility, a Ford Motor factory which CATL has promised to provide key technology for.

“The details of the business relationship between CATL and Gotion are different,” Hoekstra said. “But the bottom line is we are enriching the Chinese battery industry at the expense of providing the opportunity for American or companies in our allied countries to expand and grow their business.”

In October, Whitmer announced that Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to construct two 550,000 square-foot production plants along with other supporting facilities spanning 260 acres in northern Michigan. She applauded the proposal, saying it would shore up Michigan’s status as the” global hub of mobility and electrification.”

However, Republican lawmakers and local leaders have increased scrutiny on Gotion’s proposal, pointing to its Chinese ownership and ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The corporate bylaws of Gotion High-Tech, whose California-based subsidiary Gotion proposed the Michigan plant, requires the company to “carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”

Amid massive uproar from locals who have expressed concern about a CCP-affiliated company building a factory nearby, Gotion put its plans on hold in February. On Wednesday, Gotion leaders and local officials held a virtual public roundtable in an attempt to assuage the concerns.

“There is no communist plot within Gotion to make Big Rapids a center to spread communism,” Chuck Thelen, Gotion’s vice president of North American operations, said during the event, MLive reported.

Ahead of the event, though, Hoekstra and Cella penned a letter to Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen and the Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit. They asked Olsen and the FARA unit to investigate individuals in Michigan who are advocating on behalf of foreign interests.

“The speed and secrecy which officials in the State of Michigan have operated with State and local leaders imperils our national security and must be given the strictest of scrutiny through both a [Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)] Review and an investigation to ascertain FARA has been violated,” they said.

Similarly, national security experts and lawmakers have raised the alarm on Ford’s agreement with CATL to build an EV battery plant of its own in Michigan. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, requested a CFIUS review of that plan.

Hoekstra and Cella argued that the Biden administration has largely been absent from key conversations regarding the Gotion and CATL facilities in addition to other projects across the country with Chinese involvement. CATL is reportedly in talks to provide technology for a Tesla plant in the U.S. and announced in March it would help develop a battery storage plant in Texas.

In late March, the Biden administration proposed a series of rules on how it would implement EV tax credit provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Under the provisions, consumers will only be able to receive tax credits for EVs that are manufactured with a certain amount of critical minerals and components from the U.S. or nations the U.S. is in a free trade agreement with.

However, the administration refused to weigh in on whether the Ford-CATL or Gotion proposals, as domestic projects with Chinese involvement, would be eligible for tax incentives.

“States cannot be sovereign entities when it comes to national security,” Cella said. “I think that speaks to the importance of the review group’s mission. We’ll be scaling this and fighting this elsewhere, not only for projects that are underway, but looking at things that are currently there and averting things that may be underway.”

Biden set a goal shortly after taking office for half of all cars sold in the U.S. to be zero emissions by 2030 as part of his aggressive climate agenda and has repeatedly visited EV manufacturing facilities, including some in Michigan.

China currently boasts 78% of the world’s cell manufacturing capacity for EV batteries, according to a Brookings Institution analysis released in July. The nation also controls a large share of the world’s mining and mineral refining capacity.

source: Fox

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Energy News Beat

Don’t kid your selves, there is no cleaner source for low-cost, low carbon, electricity than Nuclear. In our interview not only was it a fun talk about hope, it was about abundant energy and jobs for the next generation!

We covered everything from nuclear fusion, fission, renewable, and a positive look for a balanced energy grid going forward. Grace’s journey is an excellent role model for everyone, and I even recommended her for Secretary of Energy! I would like to have a discussion with Grace and Meredith Angwin, author of “Shorting The Grid” to cover more grid-related topics. Grace and Meredith have the same passion for low-cost, clean energy and it shows.

Grace is a current student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering. And is the current Miss America 2023, traveling the nation to promote her social impact initiative “Clean Energy, Cleaner Future” and discuss the misconceptions surrounding nuclear energy. As a former co-op in Constellations’s Nuclear Fuels department, she gained work experience within core design and fuel enrichment.

Thank you Grace for stopping by the podcast, it was a blast! Stu

00:03 – Intro

01:05 – How do we get the next generation of engineers? How do we get the next generation in there?

03:01 – So what’s it like being the representative for Miss America?

04:45 – Now encouraging the next generation of engineers. What are you hearing from students out there?

06:54 – It was Colorado where a nuclear reactor is starting up, where you just saw that one. How was that experience?

08:32 – Grace Stanke appreciates the energy secretary position consideration but stresses the need for practical engineering experience before pursuing politics. She emphasizes the importance of politicians having relevant qualifications and field experience.

12:32 – Baseload power, comprising 70% of the grid, is vital for daily functions. Ensuring reliable power is crucial, as seen in the Texas freeze, where power outages had life-threatening consequences.

16:02 – Where do you see yourself going after the Miss America job that you have?

21:33 – Can you imagine having your own nuclear reactor? Having a basement.

23:08 – Her potential attendance at COP 28 in Dubai, expressing her interest in conversing with attendees, and highlighting the changing dynamics where big oil companies are shifting towards green initiatives,

27:09 – Are you interested in all forms of nuclear, whether it’s uranium, normal fission, thorium, do you care? What is your passion there?

29:08 – What was the toughest question you had in the Miss America competition when they were the judges were asking you questions?

32:34 – What are your last thoughts as we’re coming around the close here? Give us the world according to Grace.

34:35 – Outro

Connect and Follow Grace on her LinkedIn HERE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-stanke-48700519b/

The post ENB #155 Grace Stanke, Nuclear Engineer and Miss America – Our future is bright and powered with nuclear. appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

Yahoo Finance

BERLIN/LONDON – BP is seeking partners for offshore wind projects in Japan and may invest in hydrogen technology companies to tackle inflation and equipment bottlenecks that have battered the renewables sector.

The oil major plans to expand in low carbon energy in the coming decades as it seeks a long-term business model that can survive the global transition from fossil fuels. Some investors have criticised the strategy for taking BP’s focus from higher returns on oil and gas businesses.

But Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, who leads BP’s renewables business, told Reuters it was “time to deliver” and seeking partners in Japan, one of the markets identified for growth, was part of the solution.

Earlier this month, she said the U.S. offshore wind industry was “fundamentally broken” after BP wrote down $540 million on its wind power projects offshore New York, blaming inflation and red tape that meant projects ran over budget and over time.

Globally, the renewables sector has been undermined by slow permitting, technological challenges, rising raw material costs and higher costs of capital.

BP’s renewable partner Norway’s Equinor, also took a related $300 million impairment, while Denmark’s Orsted, the world’s No.1 offshore wind project company, scrapped two local projects and suffered billions of euros of writedowns.

As BP seeks to guarantee it can meet its internal returns target of 6% to 8% on renewables projects, Dotzenrath said BP was working out how to reduce costs globally.

“Of course, inflation is not just an issue for projects in the U.S.A.,” she said. “We are also trying to reduce costs in other regions using various levers, for example through optimised purchasing strategies, which may also lead us to invest directly in the supply chain.”

PARTNERSHIPS IN WIND AND BEYOND

In the global offshore market, BP group is targeting three- to-five clusters of four-to-eight gigawatts each, Dotzenrath said, singling out Japan, where BP is likely to team up with local utilities.

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Energy News Beat

CNBC

Oil prices rose on Friday, a day after sinking 5% to a four month-low on growing worries about burgeoning non-OPEC supply and cooling demand. The West Texas Intermediate contract for December rose $2.21, or 3.03%, to $75.11 per barrel, while the Brent contract for January rose 3.2%, or $2.49, to $79.91 a barrel.

“Oil prices are down slightly this year despite demand exceeding our optimistic expectations,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

“Non-core OPEC supply has been much stronger than expected, partly offset by OPEC cuts.”

Prompt monthly spreads for both contracts have flipped to contango, a structure that indicates nearby prices are lower than those in future months reflecting healthy supply. .

Oil’s decline this week was mainly triggered by a steep rise in U.S. crude inventories and production sustaining at record levels, while signs of thawing demand in China also triggered concerns.

Another factor contributing to negative sentiment on Thursday was the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increasing, and a slight contraction in industrial production figures.

“Poor numbers maybe, but not disastrous, however it was enough to tip the balance and carnage ensued with sell stops cascading with triggers,” said John Evans of oil broker PVM.

With Brent below $80 a barrel, a barrage of analysts now expect OPEC+, principally Saudi Arabia and Russia, to extend their voluntary cuts into 2024.

“It has become clearer that the oil balance for the remainder of this year is not as tight as initially expected,” ING analysts said in a note.

“As things stand, the market is still expected to return to surplus in 1Q24.”

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Energy News Beat

Moscow is selling crude above the $60-a-barrel price cap, according to data

The post Western sanctions on Russian oil not working – Bloomberg appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

The South Asian nation’s decision to continue trade with Moscow helped manage global inflation, its foreign minister said

The post India should be thanked for Russian oil purchases – New Delhi appeared first on Energy News Beat.