Scottish Power, one of Britain’s biggest energy companies, has said it will invest in solar power for the first time as part of its move away from fossil fuels. The big six firm sold off its last gas-fired power stations to Drax Group this week to focus exclusively on renewables, which today consists of onshore and offshore windfarms. But Keith Anderson, the company’s chief executive, told the Guardian he had decided to move into solar, too. “The solar market has had difficulties over the last wee while. But you look at where the technology cost is getting to, and the possibilities of integrating it with wind … how it balances from season to season wind and solar output, and we see a good opportunity there for further investment. We need to invest in the cheapest forms of energy – that’s onshore wind, offshore wind, it’s going to be solar – and that will help drive down the cost of energy,” he said. Scottish Power would be competing in an auction next summer for a slice of £557m in government subsidies for offshore windfarms, Anderson confirmed. The firm hopes to secure a contract for its planned 1,200MW East Anglia Three project, which would be capable of powering nearly 900,000 homes and dwarf the world’s current biggest, a 659MW scheme off the Cumbrian coast. Anderson also expressed confidence that ministers were nearing a rethink on their block on subsidies for onshore windfarms, which the Conservatives barred when they came to power in 2015. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been before,” he said.
Guardian 19th Oct 2018 read more »
With 1.9 GW coming online, China is expected to overtake the United States to have the second-largest CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) installed capacity by 2023, as global deployment nearly doubles over the next five years from today’s 5 GW. CSP is expected to grow 87% (4.3 GW) over the forecast period, 32% more than in 2012‑17. China leads at 1.9 GW, followed by 1 GW from projects receiving multilateral development bank support in Morocco and South Africa, 1 GW in the Middle East, and 300 MW each in Australia and Chile. Spain and the United States, the two countries with the most installed capacity, at 2.3 GW and 1.3 GW respectively, have no projects in the commissioning pipeline over the forecast period.
Solar Paces 18th Oct 2018 read more »
A majority of the respondents in a new YouGov poll would support the UK matching incoming European Union regulations that guarantee payments for solar homes exporting into the grid; including those that voted to leave in the Brexit referendum. The poll, commissioned by 10:10 Climate Action, found that 71% of the 1,612 respondents want the UK government to reflect a proposed new EU law. This will require all member countries to guarantee citizens receive compensation, which reflects the market value, for any surplus renewable electricity they produce that they give to their national grid for use by others.
Solar Power Portal 19th Oct 2018 read more »