Official: UK low carbon sectors growing at almost treble the rate of the wider economy. Bulletin from the Office of National Statistics confirms UK low carbon and renewable energy economy grew five per cent in 2016, outpacing the 1.8 per cent growth of the wider economy.

Business Green 31st Jan 2018 read more »

There are good reasons to think the UK green economy will continue to prosper, despite the headwinds from the sluggish underlying performance of the wider economy. More encouraging still, the government appears to have finally signed up fully to this narrative, with Number 10, BEIS, and Defra all singing off the same hymn sheet in praise of green industries as an engine for both economic growth and environmental protection. The sad truth is that set against the gargantuan scale of the climate crisis and the immense economic opportunity offered by decarbonisation a five per cent growth rate is a pretty paltry return. Digging into the data, the picture for the UK gets even more worrying. Sales for the solar sector plummeted from £3.1bn in 2015 to £2bn in 2016. Revenues and employment across the renewable heat, hydropower, low carbon financial and advisory sources, and carbon capture and storage sectors are all miniscule. The sector’s trade imbalance worsened, with LCRE imports soaring 38.6 per cent in 2016 to more than £6bn, while exports rose just 1.4 per cent to £3.7bn. There was extremely impressive growth recorded in Scotland and Wales, where LCRE revenues rose 7.7 per cent and 37.4 per cent respectively. But the contrast with the 2.8 per cent growth recorded in England only serves to highlight how supportive policy environments have a huge role to play in scaling up low carbon investment.

Business Green 31st Jan 2018 read more »

WIND turbines helped generate more than £5.5 billion turnover for Scotland’s renewables industry, the latest UK Government figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals turnover from renewable energy activity reached £5.45m in 2016, the latest year for which statistics are available. Jobs in offshore wind were up 300 per cent to 2000 against a major drop in headcount in solar projects. The 75 per cent reduction takes headcount in that area to just 500 in the wake of Westminster subsidy cuts announced one year earlier. Meanwhile, around 8000 people are employed in onshore wind. Calling for comprehensive support from Westminster, which controls energy policy, Jenny Hogan, deputy chief executive at industry body Scottish Renewables, warned: “The rise in employment in the offshore wind and renewab le heat sectors illustrates the huge boost to jobs and investment that is possible when technologies are given the right backing by government. For these benefits to continue and grow, the whole industry needs to see that level of political commitment. The decline in employment in the solar industry shows clearly the impact of cuts to UK Government support for the sector. We would expect that future editions of this ONS survey will show declines in other areas caused by similar decisions made at Westminster.”

The National 1st Feb 2018 read more »

Energy for Londoners: Mayor powers up £34m solar and energy efficiency plan. Mayor Sadiq Khan officially launched the latest phase of the Energy for Londoners initiative yesterday, detailing plans to invest £34m in a range of new services and programmes designed to boost energy efficiency and improve access to clean power across the capital. Khan announced that a new £2.5m package would help address fuel poverty across the capital, offering households up to £4,000 in Warmer Home grants to fund improvements such as new boilers, heating controls and insulation.

Business Green 1st Feb 2018 read more »

Lewis Wind Power has opened a new office in Stornoway so that people can drop in and talk to employees about its two proposed wind farms. The opening follows the appointment of champion mountain biker Kerry MacPhee to look after community liaison for the projects. She will join stakeholder relations manager David Morrison at the office on Cromwell Street Quay. It will be open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Lewis Wind Power is a joint venture between Edinburgh-based EDF Energy Renewables and Wood from Aberdeen. It is developing the Uisenis and Stornoway wind projects which are the two largest developments in the Western Isles. The size of the proposed projects is critical in making the financial case for a much needed interconnector cable from the Western Isles to the Scottish mainland. Substantial development of wind farms on the island can only happen if the electricity can be easily exported to the National Grid. The development will unlock significant community benefits in payments, ownership and jobs.

EDF Energy 31st Jan 2018 read more »

Lewis Wind Power is preparing to take part in the remote islands segment of Contracts for Difference auctions due to be held in spring 2019. The joint venture of EDF and Wood opened a new office Stornoway today to spearhead community liaison for the 160MW Uisenis and 180MW Stornway projects in the Outer Hebrides off Scotland. Aberdeen outfit Wood takes over the 50% share in LWP previously held by Amec, a company it acquired last year.

RENews 31st Jan 2018 read more »

Tim Rotheray, the ADE : The UK government has identified heat networks as a key technology to decarbonise heat and has allocated £320m of funding out to 2021 to grow the heat networks market. This funding is expected to draw in significant amounts of additional capital investment and support the construction of many more heat networks across England and Wales. Scotland is seeking to connect 40,000 homes to heat networks by 2020, representing 1.5TWh of Scotland’s heat demand. The Scottish government’s District Heating Loan Fund, established in 2011, and Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme have supported significant heat network investment in Scotland. The Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) Market Report: heat networks in the UK today reveals there are already around 17,000 heat networks in the UK supplying c. 12,000 GWh to about half a million customers every year. The energy savings from these schemes are significant: the ADE estimates heat networks cut UK gas imports by the equivalent gas use of 216,000 homes (over 3,000 GWh per year). Heat networks present real opportunities to use energy that would otherwise be wasted, and deliver it to homes and businesses. They allow waste heat, solar heat, and power station heat to be connected to the end customers. This means the best heat sources in any given location can be used. Further, heat networks can enable a truly smart energy system. If they were to meet 17 per cent of heat demand, as modelled in the government’s 2017 Clean Growth Strategy, we could store enough to keep a million homes in heating and hot water for four hours. This ability to store energy is key to enabling more renewable power generation and a cost effective decarbonised energy system. So, why are heat networks not attracting the investment they need to grow into a subsidy-free market? Uncertainty over how heat networks, as very long-term investments, will develop has meant that investors have seen them as more risky. To understand this risk, industry and stakeholders have collaborated to consider what the future of heat networks in the UK should look like, to attract investment and ensure customer protection. The work revealed a clear overarching need for a regulatory framework to de-risk investment and to create binding customer protection.

Business Green 31st January 2018 read more »

The UK heat network industry is today urging the government to draw up new regulations for the sector to help drive down costs and protect consumers. In a new report from an industry task force led by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE), heat network developers call for a regulatory framework for the sector that would see heat network developers subject to binding minimum standards for pricing and customer services.

Business Green 31st Jan 2018 read more »