Britain sells 2.7 million aviation CO2 allowances for 5.20 euros each

Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday sold 2.71 million spot EU aviation emission allowances (EUAAs) for 5.20 euros (3.18 pound) per tonne, London-based energy exchange ICE said. The auction, hosted by ICE, attracted 13 participants who bid for 11 million units, and raised 14 million euros in revenues. EUAAs were valued at a 50-cent discount to the equivalent EU Allowance (EUA) contract as of Tuesday's close. With spot EUAs valued 5.72 euros/tonne at 0900 GMT (10 a.m. BST), the time the auction's bidding window closed, the EUAA sale cleared 2 cents below the market price. Wednesday's sale was Britain's only EUAA auction scheduled for this year. A group of 25 EU member states will host three more EUAA sales this year on Oct. 1, Oct. 29 and Nov. 26. The allowances are sourced from EU member states' 2012 quotas. The units went unsold after the bloc in Nov. 2012 suspended its aviation emissions trading programme amid heavy protest from its main trading partners, including the United States and China. The EU’s aviation scheme, part of the 28-nation bloc’s Emissions Trading System, was subsequently altered to include only airlines operating flights within Europe. The programme is aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from the civil aviation sector, which experts estimate account for up to five percent of the world’s annual output. Airlines regulated by the EU scheme from next April will be required to surrender allowances covering emissions from both 2013 and 2014. The EU’s executive commission said it expects to publish the 2015 EUAA auction calendar this month. (Reporting by Michael Szabo; editing by Jason Neely)