Fall in renewable energy investment threatens climate goals. Slowdown in spending on ‘green’ power generation in 2017 expected to continue this year.

FT 17th July 2018 read more »

Investment in renewable power in India topped fossil fuels for the first time in 2017, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). This is one of the most striking insights contained within the IEA’s annual update of global energy investment, which was published today. It gives an overview of the global, regional and sectoral shifts in financing. For example, it shows that global energy investment fell by 2% in 2017, including a “worrying” decline for renewables. Carbon Brief breaks down some of the key findings for 2017 from this year’s report.

Carbon Brief 17th July 2018 read more »

Companies from across the UK’s green energy sector have today called on the government to better incentivise flexibility services on the power grid if it wants to “have any chance of a renewable future”. In an open letter to Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry, the group of green energy, battery, and grid flexibility providers outline what they describe as a ‘flexibility first’ approach to grid management in order to aid decarbonisation of power, heat and transport. As more intermittent renewables, energy storage and electric vehicles come online in the UK, services and technologies which can improve the grid’s ability to respond to peaks and troughs in power demand are seen as an increasingly important part of the energy transition.

Business Green 17th July 2018 read more »

More than two thirds of British people, including 61 per cent of Conservative voters, want see new onshore wind farms developed in the UK where they have local backing, according to a new YouGov poll for trade body RenewableUK. The survey of more than 3,600 adults carried out last month found clear majority backing for a change in current government policy to allow onshore wind developers to compete in Contracts for Difference (CfD) price support auctions.

Business Green 16th July 2018 read more »

Two-thirds of British people think the government should ditch the policies that have all but killed off the UK’s onshore wind industry, according to a new poll. Since new rules governing the construction of onshore turbines were introduced following the election in 2015, planning applications for new wind farms have plummeted by 94 per cent. As the government struggles to meet strict greenhouse gas emissions targets, experts have criticised the effective ban on technology that is widely considered the UK’s cheapest new power source. Aside from the environmental and industry arguments for promoting onshore wind, the technology has considerable support from the British public, as the government’s own data on public attitudes to renewable energy have shown. Now, a new opinion poll by YouGov has revealed 66 per cent of voters would support a change in policy that allowed onshore wind farms to be built in places where they have local backing. Current policies were initially introduced following a Conservative promise to “halt the spread of onshore wind farms” which “often fail to gain public support”.

Independent 16th July 2018 read more »

A solar plane which can stay aloft for weeks at a time is to be manufactured by Airbus in the UK. The unmanned craft flies high in the atmosphere to avoid commercial air traffic and adverse weather. Known as the Zephyr, its remote-sensing potential has already seen the UK MoD invest, but Airbus also hope to develop the craft as a communications platform. The Zephyr will now begin industrial production in Farnborough, after several years of testing.

BBC 16th July 2018 read more »

Doncaster Rovers to save £1 million from subsidy-free PPA install. One of the first high profile subsidy-free commercial installs has been completed at the Keepmoat Stadium, home to Doncaster Rovers Football Club, with low technology costs and public sector backing showing that solar has a strong future post-feed-in tariff (FiT). Offering 100% self-consumption, the new array is predicated on a power purchase agreement with the football club, which will now pay a unit price of £0.085 compared to the almost £0.11 it was paying previously. Speaking to Solar Power Portal last week, Burrows went on to say that despite FiTs coming to an end in March 2019, the Keepmoat Stadium install is ‘proof of concept’ that subsidy-free projects are already possible. However, they will likely require public sector backing in order to be successful.

Solar Power Portal 16th July 2018 read more »

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has set out to produce comprehensive, reliable data sets on renewable energy capacity and use worldwide. The Renewable Energy Statistics 2018 yearbook shows data sets on renewable power-generation capacity for 2008-2017, renewable power generation for 2008-2016 and renewable energy balances for about 120 countries and areas for 2015 and 2016. Further, it features statistics on investments in renewable energy compiled from the OECD-DAC database and 20 major multi-lateral, bilateral and national development financial institutions, presented for the period 2009-2016.

IRENA (accessed) 15th July 2018 read more »

A clear majority of the British public, including Conservative voters, back the development of more onshore wind turbines, polling for the trade body suggests. A survey of 3,600 adults by Yougov found that 69 per cent of respondents said that they supported building onshore wind farms, including 60 per cent of respondents who identified as Conservative voters, according to the research commissioned by RenewableUK, the wind industry group. Only 11 per cent of Tory voters strongly opposed the development of more onshore wind.

Times 16th July 2018 read more »

New analysis suggests that Danish offshore windfarms entering production in 2020 will do so at a cost of just €46 per megawatt-hour. The Danish Energy Agency said an open source levelized cost of energy (LCoE) calculator it has developed indicated that offshore wind is gaining in competitiveness with conventional generation and that offshore wind’s LCoE has already fallen further than earlier estimates suggested. “The improved calculator shows that cost reduction in some core renewable energy options is greater than expected,” said the agency. This is especially true of offshore wind energy, as a result of a combination of lower capex and declining opex and technology improvements that allow new offshore wind projects to ‘harvest’ more energy at lower cost. “This means that the LCoE for a Danish offshore wind project is expected to fall to €46/MWhr, excluding grid and system costs, for production starting in 2020,” the agency said.

Offshore Wind Journal 16th July 2018 read more »

Britain’s largest wind farm developer is hoping to avert conflict with the Ministry of Defence by striking a new deal to develop turbine-friendly radar systems. Scottish Power will sign a major agreement with Cambridge-based ­radar developer Aveillant in a race to save future offshore wind projects worth tens of billions of pounds from an MoD-imposed ban. Military chiefs have warned the wind industry they will ­oppose projects if their spinning blades interfere with military radar used for surveillance. The looming threat has been under discussion behind closed doors for years but the need for action has accelerated due to the rapid development of offshore wind technology which has resulted in larger blades with each project. The next generation of turbine is likely to be double the size of turbines used a decade ago as developers build larger blades in a bid to reduce costs.

Telegraph 15th July 2018 read more »

A council-owned energy company may be scrapped with a loss of £1 million before it begins operating after concerns were raised about the current leadership. Last year Portsmouth City Council approved the establishment of Victoty Energy with a view to the company generating two million a year for the council. Questions have been asked about the number of new customers the business plan says need to be acquired each year to break even.

Utility Week 13th July 2018 read more »

Apple today announced a new $300m clean energy investment fund to help boost the use of renewables across its Chinese supply chain, initially targeting the development of more than 1GW of clean energy capacity. The “first of its kind” China Clean Energy Fund is aimed at connecting Apple suppliers with renewable energy sources in support of the tech giant’s “commitment to address climate change and increase the use of renewable energy within its supply chain”.

Business Green 13th July 2018 read more »

Growing environmental concerns and depleting fossil fuel reserves have led many countries to accelerate their shift to renewable energy over the past decade. While coal still continues to be a major source of electric generation, solar, wind and other renewable energy sources have emerged as major alternatives to produce power in recent years. Technological advancements have helped many countries to see a multifold increase in their renewable energy generation. Introduction of wind turbines for low wind conditions and high efficiency solar panels have contributed to initiation of renewable energy projects in challenging climatic conditions. Overall, the world’s renewable energy capacity increased from 1,057.9GW in 2008 to 2,179GW in 2017, according to a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Here is the list of countries leading the way in renewable energy shift: China, US, Germany, India, Japan, Brazil, UK, Italy.

Compelo 13th July 2018 read more »