The £1.1 billion underwater energy link between Scotland, England and Wales will be out of action for at least a fortnight, with no date set for its repair. The Western Link interconnector, which ministers once called the “perfect symbol” of Britain’s single electricity market, failed last week leaving consumers to pay up to £2.4 million in compensation, known as constraint payments, to wind farm companies. The link is a main element in the Scottish government’s green energy strategy, routing electricity southwards and enabling imports when generation in Scotland is low. Its operators, National Grid and Scottish Power, yesterday said that they aimed “to share likely timescales early [next] week” but offered no indication of when it would be working again. Critics have called for an inquiry. Stretching from Hunterston in Ayrshire to Connah’s Quay in Deeside, Flintshire, the interconnector became fully operational in October, three years behind schedule. It has yet to be handed over to its operators by a construction consortium of Siemens and Prysmian.
Times 1st March 2019 read more »
A pan-European electricity system powered by decentralised renewable energy supply and connected across a high-volume super grid has been described as the least-cost option to provide an optimal pathway to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement while at the same time solving key obstacles towards developing a functional European Energy Union. Researchers from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland have for several years now been developing 100 per cent renewable energy super grid models for global regions, and in 2016 even developed a first-of-its-kind planetary renewable energy model. Further, in November 2017, on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn, Germany, LUT researchers showcased how a 100% global renewable energy grid is not only a viable option but the most cost-effective option.
Renew Economy 1st March 2019 read more »
