Power companies: why mayors and ministers should launch state-backed energy firms. If there was ever a British consumer market in need of new thinking, it’s the energy market. Pretty much everyone agrees it’s not working for the people in it, and especially for people on low incomes. Those people can end up paying almost £400 more to heat and light their homes than people who have more money. This poverty premium has many components. Poor customers are more likely to have pre-payment meters: suppliers charge more for them. They’re more likely to receive not electronic but paper bills: suppliers charge more for them, too. And they’re less likely to switch deals and suppliers, using competition to drive down their price. That inertia can cost more than £300 a year in higher bills. At the Social Market Foundation, we’ve been talking to the people who suffer that poverty premium to see what would actually work for them. One message that comes out of that research -supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation – is that there is real scope for a third way, an approach that offers a new role for the public sector within a competitive market. This approach is for the public sector to become a player in that competitive market, with publicly-owned, non-profit energy suppliers. Britain already has one in the form of Robin Hood energy, set up by Nottingham City Council in 2015. The Scottish government is also considering creating its own supplier. London is a striking example: almost one in five households in the capital has a pre-payment meter, exposing them to higher prices. Sadiq Khan has already shown interest in this area: his City Hall is now an energy supplier to Transport for London. Our research suggests Mr Khan and his fellow mayors should be thinking hard about going into the energy business properly to make the market work better for their low-income voters. And ministers who want to put power in the hands of local communities and get a better deal for consumers should be looking at how to help.

Times 24th April 2018 read more »

Leonie Greene: Good news; if they’re clever, local authorities can make most applications of solar work today, without central government support. That’s a message we want to get out wide and far as we publish ‘Leading Lights’, and look to work with local and regional leaders to reboot the UK solar revolution. And our leading light authorities are also using energy storage and even master planning smart neighbourhoods today. Our new Leading Lights Local Authority Network will ensure best practice is shared, and their efforts will be strongly supported by our members. A decentralised energy future is irresistible; it is not just the economics of technology change stipulating a smarter, more localised system with blossoming consumer controls and choice, many local people want a solid stake in clean energy and in climate action too. Their locally elected leaders increasingly reflect this. We’ve been delighted by the UK100 initiative which brings together councils with ambitions to deliver 100% clean energy by 2050. We’ve been heartened by the Mayor of London’s Solar Action Plan and encouraged by the new Metro Mayors’ ambitions for clean air and clean energy. And, with a wave of new local councillors after the local elections next month, we hope to see solar ambitions refreshed across councils of all political persuasions. Action can’t wait; analysis by C40 Cities shows to deliver on the Paris Agreement goals, every city across the UK should be powered by at least 90% renewable energy, making investment a necessity today. The good news is the special circumstances of local authorities – namely access to land and roof space, low or zero cost borrowing, secure off-takers for power and long project horizons – mean they can make projects work economically today, where the commercial industry may struggle. The STA will be holding a series of regional workshops with MPs and local leaders to help spread best practice. All of our members will be able use our Leading Lights presentation to take to their own council to make the case for effective policies. It’s been a very tough few years in solar. But our spring will come sooner if we work closely with the passionate leaders in local and regional government who understand how well solar and storage technologies can help them to meet their objectives.

Solar Power Portal 23rd April 2018 read more »

UK councils light up with subsidy-free and ‘smart’ solar. The top 10 local authorities have invested around £80 million in solar projects. Councils across the UK are leading the way on developing solar farms that do not rely on government subsidies. That’s according to new research, which suggests they are also planning “smart” neighbourhoods, with electric vehicle (EV) charging points and solar to save money on energy bills and generate revenue. A total of 85% of local authorities own solar panels and 29% have incorporated the technology within their environmental strategies. The report adds the top 10 local authorities have invested around £80 million in solar projects, with Forest Heath District Council in Suffolk topping the list, followed by Cornwall Council and Wrexham County Borough Council.

Energy Live News 23rd April 2018 read more »

Following on from strategies outlined by other UK nations, the Northern Ireland Renewables Industry Group (NIRIG) today published its Energy Strategy, setting out plans to decarbonise the energy sector by 2050. NIRIG said the new Energy Strategy will hope to promote economic development and bring forward lower cost renewable energy for consumers. The growing onshore wind marketplace within Northern Ireland means that each wind turbine represents a £2.7million investment in the local economy with NIRIG predicting even further growth in the coming years. According to the new Energy Strategy, new targets will include “setting a target for the decarbonisation of Northern Ireland’s energy sector by 2050” and setting commissioning research into how to reach a 70% renewable electricity target by 2030. The NIRIG also say an impact assessment of Brexit on energy policy is “needed urgently”, along with a “renewed focus on the skills and innovation that will build the systems of the future”.

Energy Voice 24th April 2018 read more »

IT’S not news, but Scotland uses six times more energy for heating in winter than in summer. While the first priority should be to reduce seasonal fluctuations by improving energy efficiency and building insulation, we also need a form of energy storage that is charged during summer and discharged during winter. Interestingly, the most obvious of these is thousands of years old. Biomass – burning organic material like wood for warmth – provides a way of storing sunlight and releasing it later as heat. Another option is to use hydrogen generated from low-carbon electricity. The electricity is used to separate hydrogen from water, with the resulting gas then either injected into the mains gas grid to be burnt as normal, or pressurised and transported, as in Aberdeen, which recently deployed Europe’s largest fleet of hydrogen buses. The third option is seasonal thermal energy storage. Typically thi s would involve using the sun’s energy, converted with solar thermal panels, to heat water stored in large pits or underground. Seasonal thermal energy storage integrated with district heating systems – where a number of buildings are linked to one heat source by a network of pipes – is an effective way of shifting heat energy from summer to winter. The drawback is that around half of the energy is lost between charging and discharging. While this seems a lot, the alternative would be to pay for heat generation equipment to satisfy the demand in winter which would then lie idle in summer. Continental Europe leads the way on low-carbon heat, and we should look to countries like Denmark for best practice examples – but also be aware that directly adopting their solutions might not be appropriate. A recent study showed that the cost of solar district heating with seasonal storage for Scotland is significantly higher than for Denmark and Canada, simply bec ause Scotland doesn’t get as much sunlight. Scotland’s solution, then, must be a different one. Rather than using solar thermal panels – as in continental Europe – Scotland could use heat pumps (devices which use electricity to draw and upgrade warmth from the ground, water or air) to charge these enormous heat batteries during summer. This would mean using clean electricity, which would otherwise have been wasted, to warm homes and businesses months later when that heat is needed.

Herald 23rd April 2018 read more »

A recent study commissioned by Agora Verkehrswende and Agora Energiewende investigates the costs and potential uses of fuels synthesized from renewable electricity. As Germany’s climate change regulations become stricter – and the coalition agreement by the Social Democrats and the Christian conservatives makes sure they will – the country will need to phase out petroleum and natural gas and replace them in part with power-based synthetic fuels. A key step in achieving this is to decrease the costs of such fuels, which today are far more expensive than their fossil-based equivalents. Agora Energiewende and Agora Verkehrswende, two of Germany’s leading think tanks for clean-energy policy, believe that the challenge lies in the construction of new fuel production facilities with an installed capacity totalling 100 gigawatts globally. To this end, a “political consensus on the future of oil and gas” is necessary. Fuels generated from renewable electricity have two crucial long-term applications in climate-friendly energy systems. First, they can be reconverted into electricity on calm, cloudy days, when feed-in from wind and solar power is low. Second, they can be used as a supplement in areas of the transport, heating, and industrial sectors where direct electricity is impractical. Indeed, from standpoint of today’s technology, renewable synthetic fuels will play an indispensable role in the deep decarbonisation of these sectors.

Agora Energiewende 17th April 2018 read more »

The Humber has become “the envy of the world” for offshore wind power, according to the head of business development for Siemens Gamesa. Ray Thompson will tell the Offshore Wind Connections conference that the Humber has become the global benchmark for successful development of offshore wind, forming a powerful industrial cluster and a focus for the industry’s Sector Deal proposals to the UK government to support further growth. The event, organised by Team Humber Marine Alliance, is set to take place in Hull for the first time on 25 and 26 April 2018. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is the headline Diamond Sponsor.

Insider Media 23rd April 2018 read more »

The Danish government is promising a new 800MW offshore wind farm for delivery between 2024 and 2027 as part of its updated energy plan. Ministers will present the blueprint later this week including a project to be built after the 600MW Kriegers Flak, which is currently being driven forward by Vattenfall. The project will help to meet Danish ambitions to be free of fossil fuels by 2050.

Renews 23rd April 2018 read more »

Dave Elliott: Prof. Mark Jacobson and his team at Stanford University got some flack for their 100% global renewable energy study last year. It said 139 countries around the world could obtain 100% of their energy from wind, water and solar (WWS) sources by 2050. It had been based on their 2015 study that examined the ability of 48 US states to meet all their energy needs stably from these renewables. Some said their approach was flawed, and, for example, relied too heavily on energy storage solutions and on adding turbines to existing hydroelectric dams to get extra power. In response, Jacobson and colleagues at Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley and Aalborg University in Denmark have now produced a new study, focusing on 20 global regions encompassing the 139 countries, with supply and demand matching modelled for a range of storage/backup options over the period 2050-54. The team is adamant that there would be no major problems with balancing. They note that many previous studies had examined matching time-dependent demand with supply for up to 100% renewable electricity and some has looked at all-energy matching. All had found that ‘time-dependent supply can match demand at high penetrations of renewable energy without nuclear power, natural gas, or fossil fuels with carbon capture’. So had they. But they claim to have added more certainty: in their new scenarios they say ‘100% of all end-use energy, rather than 100% of just electricity (which is ~20% of total end use energy), is decarbonized’ with balancing solutions found ‘by considering many storage options, namely heat storage in rocks and water; cold storage in water and ice; electricity storage in CSP-storage, pumped hydropower, existing hydropower reservoirs, and batteries; and hydrogen storage; and by considering demand response and, in one scenario, heat pumps’.

Environmental Research Web 21st April 2018 read more »

Councils are developing “subsidy-free” solar farms and schemes putting panels on homes and businesses to generate funds and cut bills, a report said. The solar industry, which has been hit by changes to national policies and subsidy regimes, is calling on local authorities to boost renewables on new homes and existing buildings including schools, business parks and offices. Many councils across the UK are already rolling out schemes from “smart” neighbourhoods with solar and electric vehicle charging to council homes with solar panels, a report by industry body the Solar Trade Association (STA) said. And local authorities are now able to deliver solar farms which do not rely on subsidies, with West Sussex County Council building a subsidy-free project on a closed landfill site and others following suit, the industry report said. Analysis has also revealed that the top 10 local authorities have invested more than £80 million in solar projects, with Forest Heath District Council in Suffolk topping the list, though there is significant variation in take-up of solar. Peterborough tops the league for the highest proportion of homes with solar panels, around 11%, while only 0.1% in Kensington have the renewable energy technology, it showed. Measures that can make solar work include using planning powers to demand higher standards on new developments, making use of interest-free finance from Government-funded Salix Finance, large-scale schemes and putting solar and storage alongside electric vehicle infrastructure, the STA said. STA chief executive Chris Hewett said: “Leadership on solar in the UK today comes from local councils, and increasingly from regional government. Some of the local authority projects highlighted in the report are: Barratt Homes has delivered 220 homes under Milton Keynes’ local plan which requires carbon neutrality, including a 10% carbon reduction from onsite renewables; Cambridge City Council is building its first council homes in 20 years, which include solar power to reduce energy bills; Hounslow Council is planning two subsidy-free solar farms, with possible battery storage, with the potential for power from both sites to be fed back to council buildings and schools; City of Cardiff Council included a solar thermal system as part of its £5.5 million regeneration of a leisure centre, featuring a 25-metre swimming pool, cutting energy bills by 30%; West Sussex Council has secured £3 million of capital funding to finance solar across 50 schools following a successful pilot on eight schools. Perth Food and Drink Park is being developed for business units with clean power sold by Perth and Kinross Council to business tenants from ground-mounted and roof-mounted solar.

Energy Voice 20th April 2018 read more »

Council solar farms & most council rooftop schemes no longer need to depend on national support; Councils urged to boost renewables on new homes & offices; Top 10 solar investor authorities combined investment tops £80 million; Councils developing ‘subsidy-free’ solar farms today A new report published by the STA today shows how local councils are leading the way on solar by building modern solar homes, developing ‘subsidy-free’ solar farms, master planning ‘smart’ neighbourhoods and using solar to save money and provide stable sources of revenue to fund services. Highlights from the collection of 26 pioneering and proven case studies, which detail financing.

Solar Trade Association 20th April 2018 read more »

Solar Trade Association 20th April 2018 read more »

Local authorities now ‘leading the way’ in UK solar, STA says. Ongoing frustration with national solar policy has allowed local authorities and regional government to take the lead in UK solar deployment, the Solar Trade Association (STA) has said in a new report. The report, dubbed ‘Leading Lights: How local authorities are making solar and energy storage work today’, compiles more than 20 examples where local authorities (LAs) have deployed solar and/or battery storage to provide a range of benefits to local residents. This, the STA said, is evidence of how local councils are now “leading the way” on solar in order to save money and provide stable sources of revenue, which are in turn are used to fund services.

Solar Power Portal 20th April 2018 read more »