Daily Shorts: Vattenfall abandons UK offshore wind project, Air Canada eyes greener fuels and more

Sweden's Vattenfall said it would cease development of a 1.4 gigawatt GW wind farm off the coast of Britain, taking a hit of $537 million on earnings. The Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project was estimated to supply power to 1.5 million homes, but developers say inflation and rising project costs have made government-guaranteed minimum prices too low for projects to be viable, and the industry is struggling. Britain is eyeing 50 GW of offshore wind capacity, up from 14 GW now.

The US government proposed a 15-fold increase in bonding rates levied to cover the cost of plugging abandoned oil and gas wells to $150,000 from $10,000 at present. The minimum levy for a state-wide bond, covering all leases across one state, would increase to $500,000 from $25,000. The government said the proposals would prioritize leasing in areas with existing infrastructure. The old rates are more than 60 years old.

Asian governments are building gas infrastructure to maintain buffer stocks after last year's price spike threatened their energy security. China plans to more than double gas and LNG storage capacity to 55-60 bcm — 13% of the country's total gas consumption — by 2025. Taiwan will increase gas stocks from 11 days of consumption to at least 14 days, while South Korea is setting up the country's sixth LNG storage facility. Earlier this week, Japan indicated plans for a strategic gas reserve along the lines of its strategic petroleum reserve. Read more

Air Canada, the country's largest airline, signed a deal with New-York based Air Company to explore the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Canada. Air Company makes SAF by taking power from renewable sources to produce green hydrogen, which is then combined with captured CO2. It has partnered with airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue and Boom Supersonic, who have together ordered more than 1 billion gallons. Aviation, among the hardest sectors to decarbonize, has committed to Net Zero by 2050.