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By Andy Home, Senior Metals Columnist

Hello Power Up readers! I’m Andy Home, metals columnist at Reuters, so no surprise today’s edition comes with a light metallic dusting.

The world is not going to run out of oil and gas before demand peaks in the 2030s, according to Wood Mackenzie. Current investment rates of $500 billion a year will be sufficient, according to the energy research and consultancy. Its findings debunk a widespread belief of under-investment in the sector.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of lithium, a metal that sits at the core of the green energy transition. Or copper. Or cobalt. Or neodymium. All of which are needed in massive amounts to meet demand from renewable power sectors such as wind and solar. Annual capital investment in energy transition metals has averaged $45 billion over the last two decades, well below the $70 billion needed to meet net zero emissions by 2050, according to The Energy Transitions Commission.

Maybe Italy’s Energy Dome has the answer with its new lithium-free energy storage technology.

Today’s top headlines:

• Investment in upstream enough to meet peak oil demand: Wood Mackenzie

• Energy transition faces metals gap unless investment rises, report finds

• Oman fund invests in Italian lithium-free energy storage

General view of the Energy Dome’s pilot plant near Ottana, Italy, May 12, 2023. REUTERS/Federico Maccioni/File Photo

Italian company Energy Dome has attracted Oman’s sovereign wealth fund and Dutch multinational Vopak as new investors, joining the likes of Barclays and energy group ENI. What’s attracting all the interest? The company is running a pilot plant on sun-scorched land in the middle of Sardinia which uses carbon dioxide to store energy from intermittent power and solar generation.

It doesn’t need lithium, copper or any other scarce resource, according to this report by Federico Maccioni. The project is likely to appeal to European policy-makers who are desperately trying to secure raw mineral supplies to meet their energy build-out goals. The innovative battery storage technology is “like charging your mobile at home”, according to co-founder and Chief Product Officer Francesco Oppici.

An offshore wind farm stands in the water near the windswept Danish island of Samso May 19, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong

Swedish utility Vattenfall said it would stop development of its British Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project due to rising costs, reports Benjamin Mallet. The company warned that Britain could struggle to meet its wind targets without improved incentives.

The 1.4 gigawatt (GW) project, which was scheduled to begin producing electricity in the late 2020s, could have provided power for around 1.5 million homes. Costs for the project have soared by 40%, making it economically unviable, Vattenfall President and CEO Anna Borg said in a statement. It’s worth bearing in mind that wind farms need a lot of metals, making cost inflation in the minerals sector a major headache for renewable energy projects. 

Luc Remont, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EDF, poses for a picture on the sidelines of the French state-owned utility EDF 2022 annual results presentation in Paris, France, February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

French energy company EDF will need to invest around 25 billion euros ($28 billion) each year to keep its nuclear fleet and network in shape and build new reactors required for France’s energy transition, according to chief executive Luc Remont. He called for a new national consensus around power pricing, as the hard-working Benjamin Mallet also reports. “Never before in history has the EDF Group had to invest so much in several areas at the same time”, Remont said.

India’s drive to ramp up coal production, a policy dubbed “Unleashing Coal” is faltering due to banks’ reluctance to lend to the sector. Just about all of the mines auctioned to private investors over the last three years are still awaiting financing, according to a fascinating in-depth analysis of India’s coal dilemma by Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Roli Srivastava. Banks are wary of the global investment shift away from fossil fuels and may be more interested in India’s simultaneous drive to build more renewable energy generation.  

“One day it seems like the world economy is falling apart, next day it’s fine. I don’t know what the hell is going on. We’re in, I would call it, turbulent times.” 

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on the company’s quarterly conference call

As countries around the world battle heatwaves and power systems have to adjust to extreme weather, scientists explain how an El Nino system is combining with global warming to break the temperature records. Here’s a great Reuters explainer on everything you need to know about how El Nino works and what it means.  

And if it all just gets too much, why not try a “facekini”, the hottest new fashion item in China, which is also experiencing an extreme heatwave. Here’s the rundown on the latest way to protect yourself in the sun.

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