Platts - Tuesday, May 03, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ IEA ministers focus on energy security, efficiency measures London (Platts)--3May2005 The international community can achieve a secure and sustainable energy supply through energy efficiency measures, reducing reliance on imports and turning from fossil fuels to alternative sources of energy, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. In a communique to ministers on its governing board at a meeting in Paris, IEA said persistently high energy prices were a significant threat to security of oil, gas and electricity supplies. High prices were a "drag" on economic activity and growth, and penalize the poor, it said. In the oil sector, the IEA said it was less concerned about speculation than the need for "timely investment and sufficient stocks to absorb unpredictable yet inevitable surprises." And it said it is also opposed to price subsidies and barriers to investment, which it said distort markets and impose capacity restraints. Producers and consumers continue to face the challenge of securing investment. The IEA estimates that the energy sector will need $16-trillion by 2030, but it said there was underinvestment in power generation and transmission, and in the up and down stream oil and gas sectors. Still, the IEA said it was convinced market forces would provide the right signals for investment in open markets. The IEA also presented its "Alternative scenario" on climate change, which said that by implementing policies its members are now reviewing, IEA consumption of fossil fuels could be cut by 10% and CO2 emissions by 16% by 2030 below the Kyoto reference scenario. "End use efficiency would contribute 60% of this," it said. "The rest would be realized by better power generation using clean coal technologies, more gas and renewables and nuclear power in those countries having chosen nuclear power as an option." The IEA called on its members to commit to reinforcing their efforts on energy efficiency. And it asked them to commit to mobilizing strong financial and policy support for alternative zero-carbon fuels. This story was originally published in Platts European Power Alert http://www.europeanpoweralert.platts.com ------------ Areva agrees to help build DUF6 plant in Siberia for Tenex Washington (Platts)--2May2005 Areva said it has signed an agreement with Russia's Tenex to construct a plant in Siberia to deconvert depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) to the more stable form U3O8. Areva currently operates the only such plant in the world at its Pierrelatte site in France. Areva said the technology transfer agreement with Techsnabexport (Tenex) was worth 50-million euros (U.S.$64.32-million). The plant will allow Tenex to concurrently produce hydrofluoric acid, which can be sold to the chemical industry. ------------ OPG focus to be on developing hydro, refurbishing nukes: Duncan Philadelphia (Platts)--2May2005 Ontario Power Generation's focus is to be on the development of hydro-electric generation capacity and on refurbishing its remaining idled nuclear plants, the province's Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said Monday. Duncan, describing for the first time the future role of OPG in the province's electric industry, said the government has "asked OPG to concentrate on maximizing Ontario's large hydroelectric opportunities, by upgrading its existing facilities and exploring new sites, especially in the northern reaches of the province, which hold thousands of megawatts of untapped hydroelectric potential." Duncan said OPG's mandate will "not include exploring wind power or other forms of non-hydro renewable energy." Coal-fired plant "is something that our government has been very clear is not part of OPG's future mandate," he said, adding that OPG has shut down its 1,140-MW Lakeview coal station within the past week and that "very soon" the government "will be announcing our plan to replace the remaining four coal-fired stations" with cleaner energy sources. This story was originally published in Platts Electricity Alert http://www.electricityalert.platts.com ------------