Companies in the United States accounted for more than 60% of the clean energy deals signed by corporations worldwide last year, according to BloombergNEF. A proposed renewable portfolio standard for Chinese business, though, could turn the picture upside down in a year’s time.

Analysts at Bloomberg NEF announced today global businesses last year smashed the record for the amount of clean energy purchased through power purchase agreements.

With corporates having bought 6.1 GW of clean energy through PPAs in 2017, Bloomberg researchers said that figure more than doubled to 13.4 GW last year, with the U.S. leading the way.

And it was not just the usual suspects that dominated, with the authors of today’s 1H 2019 Corporate Energy Market Outlook report finding 34 new businesses signed their first clean energy PPA last year, to account for around 31% of the 8.5 GW purchased in the U.S. In many cases, new converts joined forces with bigger concerns who acted as ‘anchor tenants’ on green energy supply deals.

With the amount of U.S. corporate clean energy secured through PPAs almost trebling year on year, Facebook-led the way with more than 2.6 GW – mostly in the form of green tariffs agreed with utilities – and bought more than three times the clean energy of its nearest peer AT&T.

ExxonMobil became the first oil major to sign a clean energy PPA in the country as it signed up for 575 MW of wind and solar power in Texas.

China RPS holds the key

The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market may have been the world’s second biggest, with a total 2.3 GW in 2018, but the authors of today’s report highlighted the potential of the “imminent passing of a renewable portfolio standard [RPS]” in China to transform the nascent, 2 GW Asia Pacific corporate PPA market.

The 2 GW seen in 2018 in the Asia-Pacific region was more than that bought by businesses in the previous two years and was led by India, with 1.3 GW of corporate clean energy PPAs, and Australia, with 700 MW.

With off-site PPAs now available to business in nine provinces of China – according to BloombergNEF – the renewable requirement linked to the green certificate trading schemerecently mentioned by the Chinese authorities could, say the authors of today’s report, see around 30,000 large commercial and industrial concerns in China aiming to achieve renewable energy targets. With a rise in renewable energy target activity seen in Japan last year, the Asia-Pac region could be the one to watch this year.

A first for Poland

The EMEA market for corporate PPAs also more than doubled, from 1.1 GW in 2017, with wind power in the Nordic nations of Europe again prominent and aluminum manufacturers Norsk Hydro and Alcoa Corp leading the way. Big tech companies Facebook, Amazon and Google, however, also contributed in 2018.

And with the French and German markets showing promise for this year, the U.K. saw a return of activity following a lull caused by the end of its FIT subsidy program, Denmark and Finland saw their second corporate clean energy PPAs signed, and Polish companies made their debut.

BloombergNEF, in a statement announcing publication of the report added, the RE100 campaign to persuade signatory businesses to commit to 100% renewable energy could see 102 GW of new solar and wind capacity installed worldwide by 2030 in order for member companies to hit their targets.

HONG KONG, Jan. 28: Hong Kong saw the value of total exports of goods rose by 7.3 percent in 2018 over 2017, statistics showed on Monday.

The value of imports of goods increased by 8.4 percent in 2018, according to the Census and Statistics Department of the government of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

This resulted in a trade deficit of 563.3 billion HK dollars (72.22 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, equivalent to 11.9 percent of the value of imports of goods.

A government spokesman said thanks to the strong performance in the earlier part of the year, the value of merchandise exports and imports both rose notably in 2018 as a whole.

But in December 2018, the values of Hong Kong’s total exports and imports of goods both recorded year-on-year decreases, at 5.8 percent and 7 percent respectively.

A visible trade deficit of 51.2 billion HK dollars, equivalent to 13.1 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in December 2018.

Comparing the fourth quarter of 2018 with the preceding quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 3.2 percent, and the value of imports of goods decreased by 5.1 percent.

(Xinhua/RSS)

New Delhi: Jet Airways is offering up to 50% off on domestic and international flights under its Republic Day sale. Under the offer, up to 50% discount is applicable on base fare in Première and Economy from India to select destinations in Europe on flights operated by Jet Airways and their codeshare partners Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

The offer is valid on tickets booked between January 24 and January 30, 2019. The offer is applicable on one way and return journey and will not be available for travel to Muscat and Sharjah. To avail the discount, travel from India to international destinations must commence on or after January 24, 2019.  According to Jet Airways website, for travel in Première, the tickets must be purchased a minimum of eight days prior to departure for travel on or after February 1, 2019. For travel in Economy, tickets must be purchased a minimum of 15 days prior to departure for travel on or after February 8, 2019. Tickets can be booked online through the Jet Airways website.

The discount offer is applicable on select booking classes only. Child/infant discount, date change, flight change, refund charges, weekend surcharge, blackout period, travel restriction and/or flight restriction will be applicable as mentioned in carrier’s fare rule. Worth mentioning here is that Jet Airways reserves the right at any time, without prior notice to add, alter, modify, change or vary all or any of these terms and conditions or to replace wholly or in part, the offer by another offer, whether similar to above offer or not, or to withdraw it altogether.

INARUWA:  Property worth around Rs 14 million turned into ashes when a fire engulfed a store of paddy and jute at Koshi rural municipality-1, Laukahi on Sunday. The fire that broke out at the store of Trilochan Bhatta, a local, gutted 450 quintals paddy and 200,000 kg jute and caused partial damages to the store house, shared Rajan Adhikari, Superintendant of Police at Sunsari District Police Office.
The inferno was taken under control with the help of fire engines from Duhabi, Inruwa municipality and Itahari sub-metropolis. Reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained and investigation into the fire incident is underway, police said. –

KATHMANDU: Nepal has secured its voting rights by deciding to purchase an additional 309 unit of shares in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the World Bank Group.

The meeting on January 17 of the Council of Ministers decided to purchase additional shares to take the total number of shares to 1,714 in the Bank, according to information shared at the weekly press meet held to inform the media about the government decisions.

This secures the voting rights of Nepal in the Bank, according to Minister for Information and Communications Gokul Prasad Banskota.

Likewise, the government decided to accept a technical grant worth 1.996 million euro from the EU delegation in Nepal. The support would be utilized to enhance the capacity of 15 municipalities in the country.

Reconstruction support from Saudi Fund A decision was taken to constitute talks team led by the Joint Secretary at the International Financial Aid Coordination Division under the Ministry of Finance for loan assistance from the Saudi fund for Reconstruction and give authority for the same.

The Fund is to provide 20 million US dollars in loan for 25 years in a concessional interest rate of one per cent.

The cabinet agreed in principle to formulate the bill designed to amend and integrate laws relating to impeachment.

The government also decided to form talks team led by Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Rabi Shanker Sainju for the second meeting on review of the Nepal-India Treaty of Trade and Commerce 2009.

The cabinet meeting also decided to appoint Gyaneswar Karki of Thaiba, Lalitpur as the General Manager of Herbs Production and Processing Company Limited, permit to fell trees to clear way for installation of undergoing petroleum pipeline and endorse the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to move ahead with the formulation of a federal law on determination of basic principle and standards relating to formation, operation, management, terms and condition of service of local service.

Another appointment made by the meeting was of Usha Hamal (Surkhet) as member of the Language Commission.

The government also decided to bear the cost of treatment worth Rs. one million including for medicines, travel and accommodation for 44 armed conflict survivors including among others Nardevi Damai of Dailekh, Saman Darji of Kalikot and Bir Bahadur Pariyar of Jumla.

Kathmandu : ‘Nepal Entrepreneurship Conference’ is to be held in the central capital Kathmandu on coming February 14. The conference aims to promote an industrial atmosphere in all seven provinces. The Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Bishal Media Group and the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) are jointly organising the conference to be attended by over 400 representatives who include business community, government representatives, experts, students and the province ministers from each province.
Information about this was shared at a press meet here today.
On the occasion, CNI President Haribhakta Sharma said the objective of the conference is to support build an industrial atmosphere in the country. The national-level event will be followed by a provincial conference (in every province). Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada; Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav; National Planning Commission former vice-president Dr Govinda Pokhrel; former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey; the province ministers; business community and experts will exchange their views on the issues.

LUSAKA:  The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has selected Zambia as one of the 60 pilot countries for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Accelerator Labs, an initiative aimed at boosting the achievement of the SDGs, a UN official said Monday.
Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP director for the regional bureau for Africa, said this move was expected to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, according to a statement released Sunday.
She made the remarks when she met Zambia’s Minister of National Development Planning Alexander Chiteme on the sidelines of the Third International Conference on the Emergency of Africa in Dakar, Senegal, saying Zambia was among the first countries to promote local content strategies for private sector development.
Eziakonwa further called for the need to grow local entrepreneurs into national champions, including creating an enabling environment for youth participation in private sector development.
She also assured Chiteme of her organization’s continued support towards the country’s development agenda.
Chiteme, on his part, called for continued collaboration between Zambia and the UNDP, adding that the country had mainstreamed about 86 percent of the SDGs in its national development plan. According to him, Zambia needs strengthened capacity in the implementation of its national development plan and the SDGs, as well as in monitoring and reporting systems.
Chiteme further asked the UNDP to help Zambia in the formulation of an SDG Baseline Report, which will provide preparation for the Zambia National Voluntary Review, planned for presentation at the 2020 High-Level Political Forum at the United Nations.

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled her Brexit Plan B on Monday – and it looks a lot like Plan A.
May launched a mission to resuscitate her rejected European Union divorce deal, setting out plans to get it approved by Parliament after securing changes from the EU to a contentious Irish border measure. May’s opponents expressed incredulity: British lawmakers last week dealt the deal a resounding defeat, and EU leaders insist they won’t renegotiate it.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party accused May of being in “deep denial” about her doomed deal.
“This really does feel a bit like ‘Groundhog Day,’” he said, referring to the 1993 film starring Bill Murray, in which a weatherman is fated to live out the same day over and over again.
Outlining what she plans to do after her EU divorce deal was rejected by Parliament last week, May said that she had heeded lawmakers’ concerns over an insurance policy known as the “backstop” that is intended to guarantee there are no customs checks along the border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.’s Northern Ireland after Brexit.
May told the House of Commons that she would be “talking further this week to colleagues … to consider how we might meet our obligations to the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland in a way that can command the greatest possible support in the House.
“And I will then take the conclusions of those discussions back to the EU.” The bloc insists that it won’t renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. “She is wasting time calling for a revision or clarification over the backstop,” said German politician Udo Bullmann, head of the socialist group in the European Parliament.
While May stuck doggedly to her deal, she also acknowledged that control over Brexit wasn’t entirely in her hands. She noted that lawmakers will be able to amend her plan when it comes to a vote in the House of Commons on Jan. 29, exactly two months before Britain is due to leave the EU.
Groups of “soft Brexit”-backing lawmakers – who want to keep close economic ties to the bloc – are planning to use amendments to try to rule out a “no-deal” Brexit and make May ease her insistence that leaving the EU means quitting its single market and customs union.
Britain and the EU sealed a divorce deal in November after months of tense negotiations. But the agreement has been rejected by both sides of Britain’s divide over Europe. Brexit-backing lawmakers say it will leave the U.K. tethered to the bloc’s rules and unable to forge an independent trade policy. Pro-Europeans argue it is inferior to the frictionless economic relationship Britain currently enjoys as an EU member.
After her deal was thrown out last week by a crushing 432-202 vote in Parliament, May said she would consult with lawmakers from all parties to find a new way forward.
But Corbyn called the cross-party meetings a “stunt,” and other opposition leaders said the prime minister didn’t seem to be listening. On Monday, May rejected calls from pro-EU lawmakers to delay Britain’s departure from the bloc or to hold a second referendum on whether to leave.
In a nod to opposition parties’ concerns, she promised to consult lawmakers, trade unionists, business groups and civil society organizations “to try to find the broadest possible consensus” on future ties between Britain and the EU, and said the government wouldn’t water down protections for the environment and workers’ rights after Brexit.
May also said the government had decided to waive a 65 pound ($84) fee for EU citizens in Britain who want to stay permanently after Brexit.
Guy Verhofstadt, the head of the EU Parliament Brexit steering group, welcomed news that the fee was being dropped for 3 million EU nationals, saying it had been a “key demand” for the EU legislature. May’s immediate goal is to win over pro-Brexit Conservatives and her party’s Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party. Both groups say they won’t back the deal unless the border backstop is removed.
The backstop proposes to keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU in order to avoid checks on the Irish border. It is meant as a temporary measure that would last until a permanent solution is found. But pro-Brexit U.K. lawmakers fear Britain could become trapped in it, indefinitely bound by EU trade rules. Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz broke ranks with EU colleagues Monday by suggesting the problem could be solved by setting a five-year time limit on the backstop.
The idea got a cool reception. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that “putting a time-limit on an insurance mechanism, which is what the backstop is, effectively means that it’s not a backstop at all.” Britain’s political impasse over Brexit is fueling concerns that the country may crash out of the EU on March 29 with no agreement in place to cushion the shock. That could see tariffs imposed on goods moving between Britain and the EU, sparking logjams at ports and shortages of essential supplies.
Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said Monday was “another bleak day for business.” “Parliament remains in deadlock while the slope to a cliff edge steepens,” she said. Several groups of lawmakers are trying to use parliamentary rules and amendments to May’s plan to block the possibility of Britain leaving the EU without a deal.
One of those legislators, Labour’s Yvette Cooper, said May was shirking her responsibility to the country by refusing to take “no deal” off the table. “I think she knows that she should rule out ‘no deal’ in the national interest because it would be so damaging,” Cooper told the BBC. “She’s refusing to do so, and I think she’s hoping that Parliament will do this for her. That is not leadership.” AP