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E.ON May Invest in 10 Carbon Projects Annually for Credits
2010-08-25 09:52:41.765 GMT
By Dinakar Sethuraman
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- E.ON AG, Germany's biggest utility,
may invest in as many as 10 projects a year that generate
electricity and carbon credits in the developing world even as a
delay in approving projects ruffles investors, an official said.
The Duesseldorf-based utility is working on 10 carbon and
energy projects including biogas ventures, adding to its
portfolio of 30 million metric tons of carbon equivalent, Julie
Anne McLaughlin, regional director for south east Asia, said
today in an interview ahead of the Carbon Forum Asia conference.
"There's a lot of uncertainty in Clean Development
Mechanism projects," McLaughlin said in Singapore, referring to
the investigations by regulators into hydrofluorocarbons-
mitigating ventures, which amount to more than half of certified
emission reduction credits issued so far.
Regulators of the United Nations Clean Development
Mechanism, the second-biggest emissions market, said on Aug. 18
they won't immediately issue tradable emissions credits to the
developer of a Chinese hydrofluorocarbon-23 project as they seek
more information. UN officials are ramping up scrutiny after
allegations that some developers are seeking excessive credits
related to HFC-23, an industrial gas whose warming potential is
11,700 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The HFC-reduction projects benefited from issuance of CERs,
McLaughlin said. E.ON is in favor of a sector approach to CDM
credit issuance because the existing mechanism looks closely at
details of each project, delaying the issuance of credits.
"There are many good projects we could not take up because
of risks of registration," she said.
Singapore Move
E.ON is investing about 8 billion euros ($10.2 billion) in
renewable energy from 2007-2011 and will decrease its own carbon
dioxide emissions by 50 percent until 2030, she said in a
presentation. The utility started investing in carbon-sourcing
projects since 2008 and moved its regional office to Singapore
from Malaysia this year, she said.
Prices of carbon credits generated by developing countries
may rise over 2010 as regulators review industrial gases
projects and Chinese wind energy facilities, fueling speculation
that supplies will slow, Henry Derwent, chief executive officer
and president of the Geneva-based International Emissions
Trading Association, said in Singapore today.
UN Certified Emission Reductions for December rose 0.83
percent to 13.36 euros a metric ton today. The offsets have
risen about 15.5 percent the past month after regulators said
they are reviewing projects that reduce hydrofluorocarbons.
CERs, awarded to projects that lower emissions in
developing nations, can be used to comply with the EU emissions
trading system, the world's largest cap-and-trade program.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
Northeast U.S. trading: RGGI <GO>
--Editors: Clyde Russell, Ryan Woo.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Dinakar Sethuraman in Singapore at +65-6212-1590 or
dinakar@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or crussell7@bloomberg.net.
