Hinkley
EDF’S workers’ committee is expected to demand today that a nuclear power plant at Hinkley, Somerset, is delayed. The energy firm has yet to make a decision on how to raise £18bn of funds needed for the power station, and has put off deciding until September to allow time to consult the unions. The unions are obliged to deliver their opinion today on whether Hinkley should go ahead. But three of them issued a statement last week to say that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union added new elements of uncertainty. It follows a legal action launched earlier this month in French courts by EDF’s Works Council, who asked for the project to be put off. It is feared that if the unions do not support the project it could further delay Hinkley, which was due to be completed in 2017 but is currently expected to be finished by 2025.
Daily Mail 3rd July 2016 read more »
The leaders of four British trade unions have called on EDF to confirm its commitment to proceeding with the proposed new UK nuclear power station at Hinkley Point-C. The GMB said the UK is already at growing risk of power shortages from over-reliance on unpredictable renewables and energy needs have not changed since last week’s referendum vote in favour of British Independence from the EU-bloc. This is the message behind a letter from four trade unions – GMB, Unite, Ucatt, and Prospect – to the chief executive of EDF Energy, Vincent de Rivaz, as the French energy giant is poised to make the ‘final investment decision’ (FID) for the Somerset plant.
Scottish Energy News 4th July 2016 read more »
Energy Policy
The UK cannot rely on the power sector to meet its emissions reduction targets, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said. The warning came as the government confirmed the fifth carbon budget for 2028 to 2032 accepting the CCC’s recommendation that emissions be reduced by an average of 57 per cent on 1990 levels over the period. In an annual progress report to parliament the CCC said: “Whilst emissions have fallen by an average of 4.5 per cent a year since 2012, this has been almost entirely due to progress in the power sector, particularly reduced use of coal as government policies have driven an expansion of renewable generation.” It said the complete replacement of coal would get Britain less than half way towards the 2 to 3 per cent annual reduction in emissions needed by 2030. By comparison there has been “almost no progress in the rest of the economy”. Emissions outside of the power sector have fallen by just 1 per cent a year since 2012.
Utility Week 1st July 2016 read more »
Climate sceptics are taking advantage of the confusion caused by the EU referendum to attack the UK’s low carbon policy. The Global Warming Policy Forum, a think tank founded by Leave backer Lord Lawson, is hosting an event in the House of Lords on Monday evening. Legal professor David Campbell is set to argue the government should scrap the carbon budget for 2028-32 it approved last Thursday. Noting that the impact assessment was based on the assumption Britain would be in the EU in 2030, the GWPF calls for a review. None of the Conservative leadership candidates have indicated plans to do so, director Benny Peiser told Climate Home. But he added: “If they think the targets are a burden to the economy and undermining British competitiveness, then all of the candidates will be open to revising the targets.”
Climate Home 3rd July 2016 read more »
Energy Policy – Wales
UKIP AM Mark Reckless, whose appointment as Chair of the National Assembly committee investigating climate change has led to thousands of people signing a hostile petition, is cutting short a family holiday in France to attend its first meeting. Around 7,000 signatures are on the petition, calling on the Assembly to rescind Mr Reckless’ appointment. Organised by the Wales Green Party, it says: “Ukip AMs don’t believe that climate change is being caused by humans and have pledged to axe the £73m budget ring-fenced to fight climate change in Wales. “It is unacceptable that this be allowed to happen and that this vital issue be placed so low on the priorities of Welsh Government that they are allowing a party that denies its existence to preside over it.”
Wales Online 1st July 2016 read more »
Brexit
The financial uncertainty triggered by the UK’s vote to leave the EU has sent shudders through virtually every industry, but Europe’s renewable energy sector faces even greater insecurity. The successful Leave campaign was led by several political figures opposed to tackling climate change by replacing fossil fuel power stations with wind farms and other sources of renewable energy. The campaign’s strategy committee included Lord [Nigel] Lawson, founder of the Global Warming Policy Foundation think-tank which says the science of climate change is “not yet settled”. Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, once questioned global warming during a snowy winter and likened wind farms to a “hideous Venusian invasion” that is “crucifying our landscape “. None of the contenders to replace David Cameron as prime minister are vigorous renewable energy advocates and one, Michael Gove, was once accused of trying to downgrade climate change in the national schools curriculum. With the UK political landscape in a historic state of disarray, it is unclear how the future government will behave. But the Leave victory raises questions about whether years of cross-party consensus on the need to combat global warming may fray.
FT 3rd July 2016 read more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is warning that funding for UK renewables may be cut as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU which put the bank in an ‘unprecedented’ situation. The latest warning – which suggests the status of the EIB will be a key issue in Brexit talks – comes as engineering giant Siemens brought new wind investments in the UK to a sudden halt. Investments have been hit by rising uncertainty and the falling value of the pound which drives up the cost of imports. There is potential for “many more” such investments to follow, according to Seb Dance, Labour’s MEP on the European environment committee. “It [Siemens’ decision] is symptomatic of the levels of uncertainty. There is potential for more of that kind of thing happening…. The truth of matter is we are in a situation where we have a complete vacuum of ideas and leadership… There is absolutely nothing telling business or investors that if they put money into a particular project they are going to get anything back.”
Energydesk 4th July 2016 read more »
Billions of pounds of European funding for UK clean energy projects including offshore wind farms as well as universities and other big infrastructure schemes have been jeopardised by Britain’s vote to quit the EU. Britain is a 16 per cent shareholder in the European Investment Bank (EIB), which in the past decade has lent more than £42 billion at super-cheap rates to wind farms, hospitals, railways, social housing and a string of other projects.
Times 4th July 2016 read more »
Utilities
Revolutions often begin with small prosaic steps. Three weeks ago, a company filed for permission from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to sell electricity to individual consumers. Hardly an exceptional event – except that the company’s name is Apple and the move marks the beginning of a restructuring in the energy market that will reshape the sector across the world over the next decade. Two years ago I wrote a column headlined Google Energy, Amazon Power about the possibility of new players disrupting the settled landscape of the energy business. The piece provoked some interest and much scepticism. Why would companies that knew nothing about energy want to venture into a specialist market where they would have to compete against powerful vested interests? The answer, of course, is that disruption is the key to many of the most successful modern companies. Google has transformed the communications business, Amazon continues to undermine the old high street model of retailing and now Apple is positioning itself to dismantle the supposed barriers to entry in energy. The company has said very little about its intentions but the direction is clear, as reported in online magazine 9to5mac which follows the company’s every move.
FT 4th July 2016 read more »
Reprocessing
A computer model has helped scientists find a new material that could help nuclear fuel recycling by capturing gases released during reprocessing. Researchers based in Berkeley, California and Richland, Washington discovered the material, a metal-organic framework (MOF) called SBMOF-1, can remove radioactive krypton and xenon at ambient temperatures. This discovery is the result of collaboration between material scientists and computer modellers.
Laboratory News 4th July 2016 read more »
Proliferation
The NSG is a body to control the global nuclear industry. Significant members include the USA, Russia, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, South Korea and China. These are all states which have nuclear weapons or have a significant history with nuclear weapons as well as Cold War tensions associated with them. Ultimately the NSG is another potential body, along with the UN, NATO and the European Union, which can help to maintain peace and solve international disputes. India’s joining the NSG is significant because of the its past history with nuclear weapons and the consequential tensions with its neighbour and rival Pakistan. India’s first successful nuclear weapons test in 1974 was met with alarm in the international community. The NSG’s formation soon afterward reflected this alarm.
Global Risk Insights 3rd July 2016 read more »
France
French environment and energy minister Segolene Royal greenlights raft of new tenders for solar energy, including a three-fold increase in installed PV capacity, eyeing 20 GW by 2023. The French environment and energy minister Segolene Royal announced this week the introduction of a number of new solar tenders in France for the development of various PV applications. Chiefly, France is aiming to triple its solar PV capacity to 20 GW by 2023, with the tenders expected to hit incremental goals of 10.2 GW by 2018, and between 18.2 to 20.2 GW by 2023.
Renew Economy 4th July 2016 read more »
Renewables – solar
Solar power has hit new record highs in the UK, providing almost a quarter of the country’s electricity at one point last month, analysis shows. The solar industry estimates the country now has almost 12 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels, on homes, offices, warehouses, schools and other buildings and in solar farms – enough to power the equivalent of 3.8 million homes. New analysis by MyGridGB for the Solar Trade Association (STA) shows that solar power hit a new peak of meeting 23.9% of demand in the early afternoon on June 5.
Daily Mail 4th July 2016 read more »
Solar has trickled across the 40 GW threshold in Germany, while the UK now has 10 GW, according to data just published in each country. But both markets are slowing down. Germany’s Network Agency has announced that just over 100 MW of new arrays added in May, bringing the total up to 40.09 GW. Nonetheless, growth is slow. In the first five months of 2016, Germany only added 394 MW, compared to 518 MW in the same timeframe from the previous year – which itself fell roughly 40% below the target of 2.5 GW.
Renew Economy 4th July 2016 read more »
The UK’s largest community-owned urban solar farm has started to generate electricity from its location at a special school in Edinburgh. The Oaklands school is the second building in the city to get solar panels as part of the UK’s largest community-owned urban solar farm – and is the first to be producing continuous power to the grid.
Scottish Energy News 4th July 2016 read more »
Renewables – pumped storage
Nestled in a deep valley in Argyll, the glistening hydroelectric dam at Ben Cruachan is not only a beautiful piece of engineering. For 51 years it has served as a key piece of Britain’s infrastructure, churning out electricity to meet peaks in UK demand. These days it is being used more than ever, says Hugh Finlay, generation director at ScottishPower, its owner, who is leading an expansion plan costing as much as £600 million. With Britain increasingly reliant on intermittent wind and solar power, the UK’s ageing pumped storage plants are enjoying a revival. Cruachan’s turbine hall, located within a granite cavern 400 metres below the mountainside, hums with activity 24 hours a day. “It’s never been used as much as now,” Mr Finlay, behind a bank of screens, says. “The more wind and solar that is built in the UK, the more we need it.” Cruachan and a similar scheme at Dinorwig in Snowdonia play an increasingly important role helping to balance the UK grid. During the first three months of this year, 25.1 per cent of Britain’s electricity came from renewables such as wind. That is up from 22.8 per cent a year ago and less than 5 per cent in 2005. Since supplies of renewable power are volatile, there is a growing need for ways to store that energy for when it is wanted. “In a world of intermittent generation you really need storage,” Neil Clitheroe, global retail director for Iberdrola, ScottishPower’s Spanish parent, says. That’s why, if it can win government support, ScottishPower wants to expand Cruachan’s capacity from 440 megawatts to 1,040 megawatts. It will submit a planning application this autumn. The UK’s total pumped storage capacity is 2,800MW, with Scottish plants at Cruachan and Foyers, and Welsh schemes at Ffestiniog and Dinorwig. At least double that level is needed to provide enough storage to cope with the amount of wind being developed. Other projects are also being considered that could boost the UK’s overall pumped storage capacity to 4,400MW. SSE plans to build an £800 million plant at Coire Glas in the Great Glen that could generate 600MW, while the Duke of Buccleuch is planning to build another in a disused quarry in Dumfriesshire.
Times 4th July 2016 read more »
Renewables – offshore wind
The Holyrood government ditched plans for a porpoise conservation area in the Moray Firth after months of lobbying by wind energy companies. Documents released under freedom of information rules show that Perth-based SSE and EDP Renewables, the Spanish company, warned ministers that a zone would jeopardise plans for wind farms off the northeast coast, arguing that environmental restrictions could cause investors to pull out. The Scottish government ruled out siting a special conservation area (SAC) in the Moray Firth last December and instead proposed a large area off the west coast for porpoise protection.
Times 4th July 2016 read more »
The UK offshore wind industry – already badly bruised by British govt. subsidy changes – is facing further uncertainty after the referendum vote in favour of British Independence from the EU-bloc, with investors worried about future government incentives, exchange rates and export duties. Portugal’s Energias de Portugal-EDP said it could delay its Moray Firth offshore wind energy project in Scotland, while German engineering giant Siemens said it was reconsidering plans for an expansion of its planned manufacturing plant in the port of Hull in north east England. Richard Slark, director at energy consultancy Poyry, told Reuters:”I believe we are looking at a two to three-year hiatus in those large-scale energy projects where financing would be international.”
Scottish Energy News 4th July 2016 read more »
Renewables – onshore wind
An Ireland-based company has launched a new “two in one” wind turbine which uses a multi-bladed augmenter that ‘turbo-charges’ the power output from the machine by accelerating the airflow across the rotors. During operation the multi-blade rotor augments the air flow on to the rotor system allowing it to cut into operation and generate electricity at considerably lower wind speeds compared to conventional two-blade wind turbines. In wind tests on a 5 m/s site, the 5-kW Total Energy Solutions turbine – designed and developed by Dublin-based Airsynergy – increases power production performance by up to 100% over similarly rated turbines.
Scottish Energy News 4th July 2016 read more »
District Heating
Scotland’s leading housing heat network set to grow with £11 million investment plan. Aberdeen councillors have unanimously backed plans to expand the country’s leading heat network into the south of the city – offering hundreds of homes savings on their energy bills. The combined heat and power scheme is expected to deliver low cost, low carbon energy to at least 350 homes in Torry as well as a primary school, swimming pool, community centre and various commercial properties in the East Tullos Industrial estate. The existing combined heat and power system has reduced the city’s carbon emissions and saved the average electrically heated home up to £18 a week on energy bills – therefore helping thousands of residents climb out of fuel poverty. Aberdeen Heat and Power (AHP) has grown substantially since the initiative began in 2002 and currently provides for 2,361 flats in 33 multi-story blocks and two sheltered housing blocks in Seaton, Tillydrone, Hazlehead and Stockethill and 13 public buildings.
Scottish Energy News 4th July 2016 read more »
