week ending 6 January 2012
Newcastle Solar
China-based ET Solar has supplied 600kW of photovoltaic (PV) modules for various rooftop solar energy systems in Newcastle, UK. The solar systems were installed on 30 commercial rooftops of Your Homes Newcastle, an entity that manages properties on behalf of Newcastle City Council. The power project was designed and installed by UK-based commercial project developer OPUS Green.
Energy Business Review 6th Jan 2011 more >>
Cameron Challenge
At a recent live Q&A event held in Maidenhead, Erica Robb, founder and managing director of Reading-based solar company Spirit Solar, challenged prime minister, David Cameron, over the government’s handling of the Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs), which resulted in Robb having to make 30 people redundant in the week before Christmas. “This government is doing its best to bring a successful industry to its knees. The way it has handled the FiTs review is appalling. The government’s latest appeal against the High Court’s December ruling that the cuts were illegal has left us in a situation where DECC is now unable to tell anyone what the current level of FiTs is. On top of that, we now face a state of uncertainty for several weeks while we wait for the appeal to be heard,” said Robb.
Connecting Industry 6th Jan 2011 more >>
Business Green 5th Jan 2011 more >>
Solar Battle
The long-running battle over the future of the UK’s solar feed-in tariff incentives could finally be resolved on Friday 13 January. Lawyers acting for Friends of the Earth, one of the organisations leading legal action against the coalition’s handling of proposed cuts to solar incentives, have been told the government’s appeal hearing against a High Court ruling declaring its proposed changes to the scheme as unlawful has been scheduled for the ominous date.
Business Green 6th Jan 2012 more >>
UK Energy Minister Greg Barker has announced via Twitter that the Government will try to appeal a ruling that its solar feed-in tariff cuts are illegal.
Renewable Energy Focus 6th Jan 2011 more >>
RHI
Umbrella supplier Booth Brothers in Sheffield entered the history books today by becoming one of the first places in the UK to get the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive. The £860m Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was launched last year to make it more financially attractive for industry and businesses to install low carbon heating systems like heat pumps, biomass boilers or solar thermal panels. The RHI is expected to increase the number of installations in industry, the commercial and public sector by seven times to around 126,000 and support the thousands of existing jobs in the heating sector.
DECC 6th Jan 2012 more >>
Business Green 6th Jan 2012 more >>
Small Turbines
The Ecobuild 2012 event taking place at ExCel London on 20th-22nd March, will see Evance showcase its Evance R9000 small wind turbine on its stand - S3451. Visitors will also be able to submit their postcode to learn their property’s average wind speed and estimate the potential benefits of running a small wind turbine. The Evance R9000 small wind turbine will generate over 13,000kWh of energy annually in a wind site that averages wind speeds of six metres per second.
Connecting Industry 6th Jan 2011 more >>
Mid-range Turbine
UK-BASED renewable energy company Arventis has launched a mid-ranged vertical axis wind turbine for the emerging electricity micro-generation market. Called the Arventis 60, it is designed to cope with low wind speeds and gusty and variable wind conditions associated with the UK, says development team leader Marcus Stefani. It will be available this year rated from 15kW to 100kW.
Farmers Guardian 6th Jan 2012 more >>
Efficiency Loans
With the Bank of England predicting tight credit conditions are set to continue in 2012, a new report has warned many firms could struggle to access finance for energy efficiency investments despite the fact resulting cost savings could help cover repayments. Research published yesterday by the Carbon Trust and Siemens examined the credit profiles of 780,000 employers and found that 38 per cent of firms in England would find it difficult to access bank loans to fund investment in energy saving measures, such as low energy lighting or biomass heating, largely as a result of poor credit ratings.
Business Green 6th Jan 2011 more >>
Energy Co-operatives
A new report by Co-operatives UK and The Co-operative Group examines those investing time and money in installing solar panels, wind turbines or hydro-electric power for their local communities Late last year we - Co-operatives UK and The Co-operative Group - published a new report which reveals the growing number of people who are choosing to start renewable energy co-operatives in their communities, against all the odds. What is exciting about the report is that it is the first and most comprehensive guide to what amounts to a new movement of communities who are taking action for greener energy into their own hands.
Ecologist 5th Jan 2012 more >>
Co-operative renewable energy in the UK: A guide to this growing sector.
Co-operatives UK 5th Jan 2012 more >>
Defending solar chaos
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker has defended the government’s decision to appeal a High Court ruling that declared the coalition’s plan to cut incentives for solar installations unlawful, warning the feed-in tariff scheme has already exceeded its budget for the current financial year. The Appeal Court reconvenes next week and while the court will decide when the case will be heard the Department of Energy and Climate Change is hopeful it can be scheduled for mid-January. Barker admitted he had to be “circumspect” over what he could say about the appeal case and refused to be drawn on the government’s contingency planning should it lose the appeal. However, he reiterated that the continuation of the current 43 pence per kWh feed-in tariff rate for small scale solar installations would have “catastrophic consequences” for the scheme.
Business Green 5th Jan 2012 more >>
Homesun
A press ad and marketing information from a leading solar company has been cleared after an investigation by the advertising watchdog.
Edie 5th Jan 2011 more >>
Solar Electrification
One of the major opportunities lies in providing energy access for the more than 1.2 billion people who don’t have electricity, most of whom, in business-as-usual scenarios, still won’t have it in 2030. These are the poorest people on the planet. Ironically, the world’s poorest can best afford the most sophisticated lighting off-grid combinations of solar panels, power electronics, and LED lights. And this creates an opportunity for which the economics are compelling, the moral urgency profound, the development benefits enormous, and the potential leverage game changing.
Guardian 5th Jan 2011 more >>
Solar Milton Keynes
THOUSANDS of jobs could be at risk in the wake of the government’s decision to cut the financial support available to homes installing solar panels, local Labour politicans have warned.
Business MK 5th Jan 2011 more >>
Warburtons
Bakers Warburtons has announced plans to potentially install renewables on its properties around the UK. The business, founded in Bolton in 1876, reveals in its first Corporate Responsibility Review that it currently sources no power at all from renewables. However, according to the report that is all set to change with plans for solar, wind and Anaerobic Digestion (AD) all mooted.
Edie 5th Jan 2012 more >>
Renewable Boom
My week starts with a complete review of the solar photovoltaic (PV) installations carried out by the Fair Energy team over the past six weeks. Recently enquiries have been flooding in, following the Government’s announcement that it planned to cut Feed in Tariff (FiT) payments, from 43.3p per kWh to 21p, as people rushed to install systems before the cut-off date.
Exeter Express & Echo 5th Jan 2012 more >>
Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust will today launch an online service designed to boost employee engagement with the green agenda, arguing that embracing environmental best practices could potentially save large UK businesses and public sector bodies £500m a year through energy and waste reductions alone.
Business Green 5th Jan 2012 more >>
Appeal Lodged
The government has this afternoon filed a request to appeal against a High Court ruling that branded its plans to rush through cuts to solar feed-in tariffs as unlawful, despite concerns the continuation of legal proceedings will prolong investor uncertainty.
Business Green 4th Jan 2012 more >>
Click Green 4th Jan 2012 more >>
Energy Efficiency News 5th Jan 2012 more >>
BBC 4th Jan 2012 more >>
Edie 4th Jan 2012 more >>
City Wire 4th Jan 2012 more >>
Today’s appeal threatens yet more confusion - it is time for the government to admit its mistakes and deliver the clarity the industry craves.
Business Green 4th Jan 2012 more >>
The government lodged an appeal on Wednesday against a judge’s ruling that its cuts to solar power subsidies were illegal, arguing that the cuts were essential to encourage as many homeowners as possible to install renewable energy. The government will also argue that the judge’s ruling was premature, as the final decision to slash the solar subsidies had not been taken at the time.
Guardian 4th Jan 2012 more >>
Environmental Taliban
Is your business part of the “environmental Taliban” criticised this week by climate change minister Greg Barker?
Business Green 4th Jan 2012 more >>
Solar Appeal
The government is preparing to appeal a High Court decision that branded its plans to rush through cuts to solar tariff payments as “legally flawed”, leaving the industry in the dark over the current level of incentives for new solar installations.
Business Green 3rd Jan 2012 more >>
Free Electricity at Dobbies
An energy scheme piloted in Peterborough will help reduce harmful emissions when it is rolled out across the country this year. Dobbies Garden World, in Hampton, Peterborough is currently the only one of 31 Dobbies stores with electric car charging points, but following the success of the solar powered ports, the technology is to be introduced in Dobbies stores across Great Britain. The car port can generate enough electricity to power a three-bedroom house for a year and includes two electric vehicle charging posts to help customers recharge their car for free when visiting the centre. It is equipped with photovoltaic solar panels on the roof that convert sunlight into electricity and generate around 6,000 kilo-watt hours of electricity a year which also supplements the energy usage of the centre.
Peterborough Evening Telegraph 3rd Jan 2012 more >>
Solar Cuts Illegal
The government has been told by the High Court that its proposed cuts to the tax-free income, which it had hitherto guaranteed to householders who installed solar energy systems, were illegal.
Taxation Web 3rd Jan 2012 more >>
Energy Company Obligation
A new energy efficiency programme will raise bills for the poorest families and push more people into fuel poverty, a leading campaign group has warned. From 2013, energy companies will be forced to spend up to £3.1 billion a year on installing loft insulation and other measures to cut domestic electricity and gas consumption. The costs will be passed on to consumers through higher bills, working out at up to £125 per household annually. According to the fuel poverty charity National Energy Action, the new programme will help mainly middle-class families. Because all households will fund the programme, regardless of whether they benefit, more low-income consumers will be pushed into fuel poverty as a result, it argues. Luciana Berger, the Shadow Climate Change Minster, said: “This is yet further evidence that the Government is failing to support people who struggle to heat their homes. Rather than directing help to the fuel-poor, three times as much government subsidy will be available to households who are already able to pay for improvements.”
Times 2nd Jan 2011 more >>
East Anglian Solar
MORE than 1,600 solar panels could be set up on the site of a food firm. Bosses at Vion Food Group Ltd are seeking permission to install 1,062 solar photovoltaic panels on the roofs of buildings at the Stanton hatchery. They also want to set up a further 600 panels on land next to the site. The installation is likely to generate 8.5 per cent of the site’s electricity demand. A planning application has been lodged with St Edmundsbury Borough Council.
Bury Free Press 2nd Jan 2011 more >>
Good Energy
and it now supplies more than 28,000 customers. Good Energy, originally called Unite, was founded in Chippenham, Wiltshire, in 1999 with backing from Monkton, an investment group specialising in green energy. It gave consumers the option of a 100% renewable electricity supply sourced from wind, solar and small hydroelectric schemes. Interest grew only slowly, not least because green power was more expensive. Even today, it is generally 5% to 10% costlier than conventional energy sources. “We have now managed to get to the stage where our prices do compete with some conventional electricity suppliers,” Davenport said. “As the price of energy rises, people become more aware of why they are having to pay more and want to learn about what we are doing.” Interest in green electricity has increased with the help of government initiatives. In April 2010, the feed-in tariff was introduced to encourage renewable energy generation. Once registered for the subsidy, individual homes and businesses are entitled to a sum of money for every unit of electricity they produce. Of the 85,000 generators registered since the tariff’s launch, 12,000 supply Good Energy.
Sunday Times 1st Jan 2012 more >>
Buckingham Solar
COUNCIL chiefs hope to expand on a solar panel scheme which they predict will generate an income of £150,000 over 25 years. Just before Christmas Bucks County Council announced it was in line for the windfall after installing 116 solar panels on authority owned buildings in the south of the county. Steven Adams, BCC’s member of the environment said solar panels had been installed on the flat roof of the BCC office in Aylesbury, Black Park Country Park, and Aston Clinton household waste recycling centre.
Bicester Advertiser 1st Jan 2012 more >>
FiT Deadine?
The UK Government appears to have reinstated the April 1 deadline for a cut in the solar PV Feed-in Tariff rate in a new renewable energy report submitted to the European Commission this week. The Government’s apparent u-turn was buried deep within the “First Progress Report on the Promotion and Use of Energy from Renewable Sources for the United Kingdom”, which was published yesterday.
Click Green 30th Dec 2011 more >>