Germany’s RWE has global plans for renewable energy business
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享S&P Global Market Intelligence ($):The newly formed RWE AG will mainly invest the billions it plans to spend annually on renewables outside of its home market of Germany after its asset swap with rival E.ON SE and subsidiary Innogy SE is completed later this year, the company’s chief executive said.“You look where you earn the most money. At the moment, that is certainly not Germany,” Rolf Martin Schmitz, who has led the company since 2016, told an audience at the E-world power industry conference in Essen, Germany, on Feb. 4. “We will continue to invest globally.”Under a €40 billion asset swap announced last year, RWE is set to become the third-largest renewable energy generator in Europe and second-largest player in the offshore wind sector by taking over all the renewables assets of E.ON and Innogy. In its new incarnation, the company plans to spend €1.5 billion per year to grow its portfolio by between 2 GW and 3 GW of new wind and solar photovoltaic capacity.But Germany, where RWE operates the largest fleet of coal-fired power plants, won’t receive a majority of the planned investments, according to Schmitz. “There is just no space or market for it,” he said.Although solar PV additions totaled approximately 3 GW in Germany last year, the onshore wind sector has collapsed around the introduction of competitive auctions and a slowdown in approvals. The most recent tender in October 2018 saw prices tick up as interest from developers waned, although the government has also introduced special auctions for 8 GW of extra renewables capacity to be tendered between 2019 and 2021.More ($): RWE renewables focus will lie outside Germany after asset swap, CEO says Germany’s RWE has global plans for renewable energy business
New Batesville Councilmen Jim Fritsch was sworn in Tuesday.A newly elected Batesville City Council member is being sworn in Tuesday. Jim Fritsch was elected through a four member caucus Monday at the Sherman House.Fritsch will hold the District 3 seat previously occupied by Bob Narwold. The position was vacant after Narwold accepted a position with the Batesville Buildings Department in March.Originally contested by Tony Schantz, Fritsch was the lone candidate Monday during the caucus. Schantz withdrew his candidacy prior to the special election.Fritsch is being sworn in at the Ripley County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. He will attend his first city council meeting as a member on Monday, Apr. 7.
Russell Wilson is 83-for-111 this season for a 74.8 completion percentage. Wilson has thrown for 1,391 yards and has picked up a net total of 172 on the ground this season.[/media-credit]Following an electrifying win against new Big Ten foe Nebraska and coming off a bye week, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema had only one worry – the focus on the upcoming Indiana game.Bielema said he was “a little bit” worried about the praise that was streaming into Madison, but reiterated he was confident his players would be focused. The coaching staff had a meeting with the players Sunday to discuss this incoming attention from the national media.“One thing that’s kind of kept coming up was either by opposing coaches or just people saying things to me and watching us practice – even with NFL scouts – that they say our players are playing with an edge, a certain type of just a little image that’s out there, and I’m encouraging our guys to keep the faith,” Bielema said.However, the bye week gave new attention to the Badgers because of some position battles that are arising for starting spots. Senior linebacker Kevin Claxton and sophomore linebacker Ethan Armstrong are fighting in what Bielema deemed “an open competition.”Claxton missed two games earlier this season while recovering from a broken wrist he fractured on the opening kickoff of the season, while Armstrong has been dealing with a troublesome shoulder. This has prevented them from having the competition for the spot before, though Bielema has been complimentary of both.“Whoever practices close, practices best during the week if it’s close, you’d obviously go with the senior just because he’s earned that right,” Bielema said. “But if there’s a big difference, then we’ll go Ethan; I think he is very explosive. He can make a lot of plays.”Rushing attack provides steady consistencyDespite the ambiguity facing some positions, UW’s running back group continues to be a source of strength for Wisconsin. Highlighted by junior Montee Ball and complemented by sophomore James White, the tandem has rushed for 840 yards and 16 touchdowns.Monday, Bielema credited Ball for his transformation into a lead back. After playing at approximately 235 pounds, Ball dropped 25 in the offseason and now plays at around 210 pounds.“Obviously, there’s a physical transformation [that he went through] last January, February,” Bielema said. “But to me, there’s been a mental, again, like a little bit of an edge.”Though the rushing numbers have been somewhat lower than expected, quarterback Russell Wilson’s numbers have stayed strong and consistent. Bielema continues to rave about the senior, crediting him with the team’s surge in successful third down percentage compared to 2010 and his ability to make plays with his feet.“Russell can improvise, and that’s the part that, to me that would be the biggest challenge in defending us is the ability for Russell to make something out of nothing,” Bielema said. “The first time it really happened was we were in an empty set down at Northern Illinois, and they ran a full-out blitz. You have a guy free to the quarterback, another [player come] free, and he makes them miss. Another guy’s coming back in, and he makes him miss, and that’s when I began to really see the effects of what his feet can do.”“Russell Mania” in full swingIn light of Wilson’s success for his team, the athletic department has even set up a Twitter account for Wilson to help him win the Heisman Trophy under the handle “RussellManiaXVI.”“When we began to see Russell start to play well in front of our eyes and began to hear the hype, then I had a meeting with [Director of Athletic Communications] Brian (Lucas), I guess, and said, `Hey, what do we have to do to move forward? The kid’s earned an honest, legitimate shot of being in the Heisman talk. What can we do to help it?’” Bielema said.Bielema said Lucas had already set the wheels in motion, and he also spoke with Athletic Director Barry Alvarez to gauge his opinions of the campaign. Alvarez, the UW head coach from 1990 to 2005, coached running back Ron Dayne, who won the Heisman in 1999. Then, there were some posts and signs up campaigning for Dayne – though obviously not on the scale provided by Twitter and other social media outlets.“I think the world has changed a lot over the last, maybe, 10 years,” Bielema said. “All of the major awards are won on the field. I don’t think there’s a campaign. I don’t think you can put a poster up in the middle of New York City or anything like that. I think it’s about what you do on the field. I believe that Russell buys into it.”Wilson himself was present at Monday’s press conference, seemingly a first, as usually coaches are the only people made available to the media.“It’s a blessing to be in that type of company with some other players that are being mentioned for the Heisman Trophy,” Wilson said. “It’s definitely an honor, it’s definitely some that, in terms of as a college football player – in my opinion, I always try to be the best that I can be. I’m trying to be the best quarterback in college football.”Welch returnsIn another interesting series of events, senior kicker Philip Welch has returned from a leg injury and is currently practicing with the team. Welch suffered the injury in fall camp and returned for the Badgers’ most recent game against Nebraska. He did not attempt a field goal, though he connected on six of his seven extra point attempts (his second one was blocked).“From what I witnessed, his leg is very strong and accurate,” Bielema said. “I don’t think he has missed a field goal [in practice] … He has been 100% on hits.”It is unclear how Bielema will handle the kicking situation, but he did state that Welch will not be taking kickoffs, which Alec Lerner has primarily been responsible for this season.“Phil continues to be good in the field goal area,” Bielema said. “What I wouldn’t want to do is make Phil do something that might take away from that area.”Freshman kicker Kyle French is also a factor in the competition, providing Bielema with three options on special teams. Bielema said French will get “in there a little bit, as well,” on kickoffs, though Lerner will mostly retain his roles.
After suffering a heart-wrenching 2-0 defeat to Ohio State Sunday, the UW men’s soccer team had its conference title dreams dashed after losing their second straight Big Ten game in a row, giving them a 3-2 conference record (8-7-2 overall).Just a few weeks back, the Badgers appeared to have a real shot at the Big Ten title, as they were sitting at 3-0 in the Big Ten, and the majority of the close games seemed to be falling their way.As of late, the offense has struggled to find the goals that seemed to come at the most opportune times earlier in the season, and the defense, which up until now had been nearly flawless, has begun to show the growing pains one would expect from such a young team.In a game that should have been filled with intensity from the beginning, Wisconsin came out slow and, after giving a penalty kick and a subsequent goal early in the first half, found themselves down 1-0 with the majority of the game left to play.“It happened in the 15th, 20th or 30th minute or something like that, there was an eternity left in the soccer game,” head coach John Trask said. “To make an analogy to baseball with this World Series, if you get up by a couple runs and once in a blue moon you can’t get back into it … you’re never going to get a piece of the trophy.”The Badgers have struggled all season with playing for a full 90 minutes, and as a result, have given up many early leads. Most recently on Oct. 19 against in-state rival Green Bay, it took the Phoenix just eight minutes to gain the lead and stay there for the remainder of the game as the Badgers were shut out 2-0.“We have not had one game where we have come back from being down a goal through the whole season. We’ve had leads and given them up, and we’ve fought our way back to a tie,” Trask said. “Somewhere within good teams, if you look at this NCAA Tournament, every one of them has played one or two games where they were down and found a way to get the ball in the back of the net … at home you have got to find it in you.”Still, despite losing, the team has continued to make improvements that can only point to a bright future for this young Badger team.On the season, UW has been outshot 230-180 by their opponents. During their most recent three-game road trip, the Badgers were outshot in all three games, with the worst being a dismal three shot performance at Northwestern. Against OSU Sunday, UW appeared content to follow the same pattern, and at halftime it had been outshot 8-5. But, as a sign that the team has begun to mature, the Badgers dominated the second half and finished the game outshooting their counterparts 20-13.“Going down two goals, everyone rallied together, and when you are down by two goals desperation sets in and so we just pushed forward and that is usually what happens in games,” said sophomore forward Chris Prince. “When you go down that much you are forced to push forward the rest of the game. … We [needed] to get back in the game and you need a goal to do that.”Unfortunately, shots don’t automatically translate into wins, and until the Badgers are able to convert their chances, it will be difficult for them to compete in a conference as competitive and evenly matched as the Big Ten.“Our whole attitude is about that win and we didn’t get it today,” senior forward Josh Thiermann said. “Yeah it’s good we created chances, that is wonderful, but if they don’t go in, if they don’t cross that line … at the end of the day we didn’t get that win and that’s all that matters.”
“This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter in my career,” Virk said in a press release. “The vision DAZN has for ChangeUp and its future programming goals made this an easy decision and I look forward to working with all of the talented people involved to develop a can’t-miss show for baseball fans.“I have covered nearly every sport imaginable but my time hosting Baseball Tonight remains the fondest of all those amazing experiences. Combining America’s pastime with the new frontier of sports streaming presents an excellent opportunity to create something fresh and unique.”• Meet DAZN, the first dedicated live sports streaming service• What sports are live-streamed on DAZN?• How much does DAZN’s live sports streaming service cost?ChangeUp is a seven-day-a-week MLB series that will deliver every big play, every single day. The show will whip around live MLB games to showcase the most crucial plays, with instant analysis and a fresh perspective. The series will premiere with a special afternoon edition at 1 p.m. on March 28 as the first games of the 2019 MLB season begin around the league. The weeknight edition of ChangeUp, hosted by Virk, will debut each evening at 7 p.m. ET and conclude after the final pitch of the evening.In November 2018, Major League Baseball and DAZN agreed to a three-year live digital rights partnership in the United States, marking the streaming network’s first offering among the four major American sports leagues. “Bringing Adnan on board is a huge win for DAZN and sports fans alike,” said Logan Swaim, ChangeUp executive producer. “He loves baseball and effortlessly weaves intelligent commentary with pop culture. We’re lucky to have him and can’t wait to get started.”DAZN is a sports streaming service that launched in 2016 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan before debuting in the U.S. in September 2018. DAZN is the home of Canelo Alvarez and his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, which agreed to a five-year exclusive partnership to stream Alvarez’s next 11 fights, beginning last December.DAZN also features fights from Matchroom Boxing, the promoter of unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, plus former unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, Bellator MMA, the World Boxing Super Series and Combate Americas. DAZN has hired Adnan Virk to host its new nightly baseball show, ChangeUp, a live whip-around program that will debut March 28, opening day of the 2019 MLB season.Virk, who will host the weeknight edition of the show, most recently was with ESPN as a studio host for programs such as “Baseball Tonight,” “SportsCenter” and “Outside the Lines.” The Canadian-born broadcaster began his career at TSN in 1998 as a producer before eventually spending seven years with The Score in Canada. DAZN’s programming is accessible on most connected devices including smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and game consoles. Outside the U.S., DAZN subscribers can watch games and original programming from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, EPL and UEFA Champions League, among others, depending on the locale. The sports streaming service offers MLB Network on the platform in Canada. DAZN is part of DAZN Group, parent company of Sporting News.
With debate surrounding dual citizenship in Liberia and the level of impact it might have in the ensuing 2017 general and presidential elections, one of the most formidable and potential presidential aspirants, Alexander Cummings, has made his case clear, declaring that he is, indeed, a Liberian citizen. Cummings is the political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC).The Liberian constitution does not allow dual citizenship and those who find themselves in this situation are not permitted to contest or hold any elected position in the country.Many have argued that the citizenship law is being enforced with a degree of flexibility, pointing fingers at President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) political leader, George Weah, along with others, as politicians allegedly holding foreign passports.In an exclusive interview at the offices of the Daily Observer on Wednesday, Cummings said he went to school and worked in corporate America for decades, “I tell people I’m a Liberian – always have been, always will be. I need to start carrying my Liberian passport with me now when I go around so that people can actually see it.“I’m a Liberian. The question of dual citizenship, I can’t make a decision on it on my own because it is something that the Liberian people need to decide, though it is a good thing for Liberians to do.”He said, “If you look around the world today, including in Africa, especially in our West African region, almost every country allows dual citizenship. They let their citizens come from around the world,” mentioning Ghana, Nigeria Kenya as countries who are reaping the dividends in that respect, “but again I think Liberians need to decide that for themselves.”The ANC political leader also noted that there are those huge cynicisms and skepticisms around the dual citizenship issue because the country’s economy is static and shrinking, therefore people are afraid to lose the little opportunities that they have. The other side of the argument, he said, could be “if the economic pie was growing where there is enough for all of us to benefit from, I think the argument would be a little easier to make. “If the economy is growing, people have jobs and things are booming it would be much easier than when the pie is static and shrinking.”He said Liberians are apprehensive about the dual citizenship because of events in the past where “people can come and do bad things and run to the other country of the eligibility. That is a legitimate concern. So I fully understand why this cynicism and skepticism surround this very debatable issue.”The bigger picture, however, he said is that dual citizenship is actually helpful because such people have expertise and want to come home but feel there is a threat and they think they have a lot that they can do for the country.“I also say this to Liberians in the United States that being a dual citizen should not be the reason why they shouldn’t come back. That should not be an excuse if they are serious about coming back home to help. So let’s not use that as an excuse,” he said.Cummings also noted that he does not know yet how to combat these huge cynicisms and skepticisms. “I have not actually thought about how to combat these cynicisms, but I should start thinking about that.” He believes that “We just have to make the case about how it could be helpful to have all Liberians, regardless of their passports, participate in the development of their country. And I think those who support the idea have to make the case so that people understand the benefits that come with it.”Meanwhile, Cummings noted that he will support whoever wins the upcoming elections. “We will support the choice of the Liberian people, but we will make our own impact in the Liberian society from a different angle—from the private sector and from the philanthropic angle.”Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Basically every gamer is somewhat excited to see what Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be like next year when it launches in April. Even though gamers definitely want the game, what if there was a movie in the works based on the game? In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Cyberpunk franchise creator Mike Pondsmith discussed the possibility of a movie being released about Cyberpunk 2077. Here is what he had to say, “I can’t really say anything on [the movie rights]. But with Keanu Reeves being tied up in things, it’s become much more of a possibility.” He continues and says that at this moment in time we are “Teaching people about this new kind of cyberpunk. My favorite film is Blade Runner, but I recognize inherently that it’s a cerebral film and 2049 was even more cerebral. We found a sweet spot with Cyberpunk which is, we make you think, but we don’t bog you down and give you an education.” Video Games Chronicle also said that when Pondsmith was asked if Reeves was the last major actor to be involved in Cyberpunk 2077, Pondsmith replied with a solid “no comment”. It seems that Reeves isn’t the only major actor to be playing a part in the Cyberpunk 2077, I wonder who else we will see leading up to the games release on April 16th, 2020.
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