week ending 11 January 2013
Devon Community Turbine
South Brent Community Energy Society (SBCES) is now offering anyone who is interested in supporting a genuinely 100% locally owned venture that has reached a critical stage after six years of careful work to bring it to this point. The proposal is to install a 225kW wind turbine on a site at the eastern edge of the parish at Marley Thatch. This is already a relatively developed area and located in the main communication corridor between Plymouth and Exeter with the main rail and road links close at hand and the turbine is at the same scale as existing telephone and National Grid infrastructure. Planning consent was secured without controversy in 2010 by Sustainable South Brent, which has also successfully set up the largest community composting scheme in the South Hams and which is already generating revenue for local projects.
Western Morning News 11th Jan 2013 more >>
Scottish Government green energy framework
Fort William-based biomass heating specialist HWEnergy is set to reap a potential £7m after being ranked at No1 in a new Scottish Government green energy framework. The Biomass Energy Supply Framework has been developed for the supply of renewable heat, using Biomass wood fuel in public sector buildings. HWEnergy was placed in pole position following a rigorous procurement process. The contract is expected to save taxpayers up to £8.5m and spare more than 198,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being spewed into the atmosphere over the next four years.
RE News (accessed) 11th Jan 2013 more >>
Cambridge Solar
A solar system proposed for the roof of the historic Trinity College has been given the go-ahead by Cambridge city planners. The world-renowned college had included details of the proposed installation as part of plans for an ambitious renovation of accommodation and offices at the 200-year-old, Grade I listed New Court site.
Business Green 11th Jan 2013 more >>
Green Deal for Business
The government is predicting growing numbers of Green Deal providers will offer services to business as well as domestic customers when the scheme launches later this month.
Business Green 11th Jan 2013 more >>
Green Deal Going Live
The government is poised to release details of the £125 million cash back scheme that it hopes will kick-start interest in its flagship Green Deal energy efficiency programme. Although final details will not be announced until next week, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said he hoped the measure would be the first step towards instituting the “sea change” he wants the Green Deal to engender in the UK’s energy efficiency standards. The Green Deal is due to go live on 28 January, at which point homeowners and businesses will be able to sign the first contracts under the scheme.
Solar Power Portal 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Small Wind
Evance Wind Turbines has announced that its 5kW R9000 turbine has achieved full certification from the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC), the US independent body that certifies small turbines that meet or exceed its performance and safety requirements. The UK designed and manufactured Evance R9000 successfully passed rigorous safety, function, performance and durability testing, in accordance with the AWEA Standard, to become one of four turbines to achieve full certification from the SWCC.
Energy Management 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Manufacturer 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Kent Solar
Irish PV project developer BNRG Renewables has obtained a 25-year planning permission from Shepway District Council’s Development Control Committee for its proposed 18MW solar array in New Romney in Kent. The utility-scale project will be constructed on approximately 49 hectares of land at Sycamore Farm and will be equipped with around 73,000 solar panels, which each have a capacity of 245 watts.
Solar Portal 10th Jan 2013 more >>
This is Kent 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Solid Wall Insulation
The government has today relaxed planning rules to make it easier for households and offices to install solid wall insulation, ahead of the launch of the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme later this month.
Business Green 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Peterborough
Peterborough City Council was seeking public reaction to its proposed solar and wind farms, which are planned to be built near Thorney and Newborough triggered an angry outburst at the first public consultation event on Wednesday (9 January).
Evening Telegraph 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Community Solar
Plans have been drawn up to bring a “community-owned” solar power plant to a Somerset village. Wedmore Community Power Company wants to develop two micro-generation sites on 1.7-hectare and 0.75-hectare of farmland to the north of the village. A statement said the solar panels would generate enough “clean electricity” to support more than 300 local homes.
BBC 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Bioenergy Funding
Seven pioneering British bioenergy projects have been awarded a total of £292,000 of government funding, as part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) £2m wetlands biomass to bioenergy initiative.
Business Green 10th Jan 2013 more >>
Smart Homes
Plans to create homes in which smart meters, intelligent appliances, electric cars, and solar panels can all link up to slash domestic energy use and carbon emissions have taken a major step forward with the lauch this week of flagship cross-industry partnership. Automotive giant Ford annouced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week that it is spearheading a collaborative project with power management company Eaton, solar panel firm SunPower, and white goods manufacturer Whirlpool, to demonstrate the extent to which low carbon technologies could transform households.
Business Green 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Dundee District Heating
HUNDREDS OF council tenants can look forward to having their heating bills slashed. An £8 million scheme is being planned for the Kirk Street area of Lochee, including the Adamsons and Elders Court multis and nearby low-rise flats. It will see the flats get new kitchens and bathrooms, the buildings coated in new insulation and a gas-powered district heating system installed. Housing convener Jimmy Black said: “With this scheme, tenants could be looking at a reduction in their heating bills of between 30% and 40%.
Dundee Courier 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Anglesey Solar
Isle of Anglesey Council has approved plans for what is said to be Wales’ largest PV installation, a 15MW solar park at Tai Moelion Farm on the Bodorgan Estate in Anglesey. However, before it releases a 25-year planning permit, the authority said the developer New Forest Energy would need to continue to work with the Gwynedd Archeological Planning Service to undertake further archaeological work on the site. The proposed solar park will be built on 30 hectares of pasture land and will represent Wales’ largest PV installation when complete, the developer said.
Solar Portal 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Bristol Wind
The UK’s first local authority-run wind farm moved a step closer this when Bristol City Council signed the contract for two wind turbines at Avonmouth.
Build 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Milford Haven Solar
Milford Haven Port Authority has obtained planning permission on a 25 year term for its proposed 5MW PV system after Pembrokeshire County Council unanimously approved the project yesterday.
Solar Portal 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Triodos Wind
Haulage company the Humphrey Group has become the latest firm to take advantage of onsite renewables, as part of a new wind turbine project with Triodos Renewables. The green energy development arm of Triodos Bank today started work on the installation of two wind turbines at the firm’s industrial estate at Eye in Suffolk, which when completed will provide enough power for up to 2,830 homes.
Business Green 9th Jan 2013 more >>
East Anglian Daily Times 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Welsh Solar
Latest figures from the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change show that over 23,000 Welsh homes now have solar panels which generate electricity for their own use and feed surplus power back to the grid. The panels are proving more popular in Wales than the rest of Britain, with 177 per 10,000 Welsh homes now having photovoltaic (PV) solar panels installed – well above the British average of 118. But some parts of the country have embraced them more quickly than others. Wrexham is the number one solar hotspot in Wales with 509 installations per 10,000 households – the second highest concentration of the panels in the whole of Britain. The area now has about 3,000 homes benefiting from this technology.
Wales Online 9th Jan 2013 more >>
Suffolk Solar
A £25m scheme to build a solar power park on a 95 acre site in Suffolk, which could provide power for 6,000 homes, has been unveiled. Hive Energy has put forward the plans to erect solar panels on land between Tattingstone to Holbrook close to the Alton Reservoir. Giles Redpath, of Hive Energy, said the site would produce 20 MW.
BBC 7th Jan 2013 more >>
Business Green 7th Jan 2013 more >>
Solar Portal 7th Jan 2013 more >>
UK Solar Capacity
Solar PV capacity in the UK continued to grow steadily through the first three quarters of 2012, driven by the high uptake of the feed-in tariff, according to government figures. Statistics released at the end of last year by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that total PV capacity in the UK at the end of Q3 2012 stood at almost 1.6GW. This represented 11% of all renewable electricity generation capacity in the UK, and was an increase of 169MW on the previous quarter’s total. And compared to the same quarter last year, the level of PV capacity in the UK has more than tripled from 489MW.
Solar Portal 7th Jan 2013 more >>
Cotswold Solar Plan
OPPOSITION is growing to plans for a 16,000-panel solar energy farm on land just outside a Cotswold village. MS Power Projects has submitted plans to Cotswold District Council for the installation of two-and-a-halfmetre- high photovoltaic panels on land at Norton Hall, just off Broad Marston Road, Mickleton. Residents are up in arms about the plans which include control buildings, cabling, two-metre-high fencing and a CCTV system.
Cotswold Journal 7th Jan 2013 more >>
Green Deal
Upfront charges of up to £150 are likely to put householders off the government’s flagship plan to improve the energy efficiency of 14 million homes, MPs and consumer groups have warned.
Business Green 7th Jan 2013 more >>
Storage Trial
Plans to allow renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels and heat pumps, to integrate seamlessly into the grid are to take a step forward today with the trial of a new electricity storage system. Three electricity storage units, manufactured by S&C Electric, have been installed as part of a “zero carbon homes” project in Slough. The 10 zero carbon homes, developed by energy giant SSE and funded by Ofgem’s multi- million pound Low Carbon Network’s Fund, already contain a range of green technologies, including solar photovoltaic panels, water recycling systems, and enhanced insulation. However, until now electricity produced by the solar panels could only be used when the sun is shining, leaving the homes reliant on power from the grid. The new lithium batteries aim to ensure the power generated by the solar panels can flow as and when needed, with the technology integrating with the grid via S&C’s Pure Wave Community Energy Storage System.
Business Green 7th Jan 2013 more >>
Christchurch Solar Plans
ONE of the UK’s biggest solar energy farms could be built on the outskirts of Christchurch if planners give the green light. Solar Power Generation Ltd has applied for permission to build a 118 acre farm on land owned by Eco Sustainable Solutions at Parley.
Stour & Avon Magazine 5th Jan 2013 more >>
Solar Policy
In many ways the UK solar industry will be happy to see the back of 2012. Continuing with the trend that developed in 2011, 2012 was dominated by political uncertainty over support for solar in the UK. Fast-track reviews, legal challenges, reference dates, consultations and RO banding reviews all loomed large over industry. The policy uncertainty perpetuated the boom and bust cycles in the market and undoubtedly damaged consumer confidence in the technology. But then a funny thing started to happen. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) began to reach out and start a meaningful dialogue with industry. Government rhetoric about supporting the solar industry started to materialise as solid policy.
Solar Portal 4th Jan 2013 more >>