week ending 5 July 2013
Morrisons goes solar
Supermarket chain Morrison’s has signed a deal with solar installations firm GMI Energy to build rooftop PV systems on its new stores as well as existing distribution centres. The firm is already underway with projects across England, from Littlehampton to Blyth, as well as at Morrison’s distribution centre in Bridgwater, Somerset. And the chain said that GMI would work on further installations over coming months with a 2MW site at Sittingbourne due for completion by the end of July.
Solar Portal 5th July 2013 more >>
Solar Schools
Nearly 1,000 children across England will be skating, skipping or staying silent today to get their schools solar panels. The children are from three primary schools who are pushing for a final surge in sponsorship to make their schools greener as part of Solar Schools.
Solar Portal 5th July 2013 more >>
AD Deal
Tamar Energy’s plans to install 100MW of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants over the next five years have taken a major step forward after it signed a deal to build five new projects in the North of England. The company yesterday announced it had signed a head of terms agreement with Peel Environmental, which will provide five sites for Tamar to develop AD plants. The first will be located at Fletcher Bank Quarry in Ramsbottom.
Business Green 5th July 2013 more >>
Solar Investments
A “rent-a-roof solar” investment firm has begun selling leases on its installations to small-scale investors. Opus Solar, based in London, is offering leases on 1,000 solar panel installations which it owns, fitted to homes in the UK. The firm is promising returns of up to 8% to those who invest their cash, by taking advantage of feed-in-tariff paid on excess electricity generated by the units.
Solar Portal 4th July 2013 more >>
Solar Bees
Ground-mounted solar farms are to become a safe haven for the declining British bumblebee under a new initiative from PV project developer Solarcentury.
Solar Portal 4th July 2013 more >>
Community Energy
Community Energy Scotland has helped 1,400 projects get off the ground in eight years.
Herald 4th July 2013 more >>
Large Community Schemes
Community energy schemes with up to 10GW of capacity could be eligible for support under a revised feed-in tariff subsidy regime, under new government proposals. Large solar PV arrays on office or school roofs, community-owned wind turbines, and hydro power schemes could all benefit under new draft rules.
Business Green 4th July 2013 more >>
Solar Portal 3rd July 2013 more >>
Bristol Solar Company
Founded by Bristol businessman Stephen Barrett in 1994, Solarsense has evolved into a multi-million pound business, with 6,000 solar panel installations clocked-up across the South West. “The recession has not affected us too badly,” Kerry says. “If anything, it has almost helped – people are willing to make an investment in order to guard against future energy bill increases.
Bristol Evening Post 3rd July 2013 more >>
Scale of Decentralised Energy
UK homes and businesses installed nearly 380,000 green power projects such as solar panels and wind turbines in the first three years of the government’s feed-in tariff subsidy scheme, according to new figures revealing the scale of the UK’s decentralised energy market.
Business Green 3rd July 2013 more >>
South West Renewables
Renewable energy capacity in South West England has grown by almost 50% in the last year. The region now generates 7.3% of its electricity from renewable sources - more than 1 GW annually - but this growth is not enough to meet the Government’s target of 15% by 2020.
Click Green 2nd July 2013 more >>
Solar Portal 2nd July 2013 more >>
Solar Mix
Depending on who you ask, energy minister Greg Barker’s ambition of 20GW by 2020 is either pie-in-the-sky rhetoric or a critical underestimation of what solar can achieve in the UK. Regardless of where you stand, 17.5GW over the next seven years will require the UK solar sector to install significant capacity across the market. Right now the growth is being driven almost entirely by large-scale solar developments, a.k.a. solar farms. The first quarter of this year saw an incredible 0.5GW of solar farms installed and the scale of installations is showing no signs of slowing down at all. Yet herein lies the problem – how much large-scale solar should industry install? Solar is popular. In fact, solar is extremely popular; 82% of the British public want to see more of it installed. However, the avalanche of solar farm applications is threatening to damage the public’s goodwill.
Solar Portal 2nd July 2013 more >>
Abundance
Abundance Generation: earn 7.35% a year from solar panels.
Love Money 2nd July 2013 more >>
Business Green 2nd July 2013 more >>
Seaweed Biofuels
Producing biofuels in the sea removes at a stroke many of the serious problems with conventional biofuels.
Guardian 1st July 2013 more >>
Farming Energy
Some 40% of farmers in the UK are now using renewable energy compared with only 5% identified in a Defra survey in 2010, according to a report. The Farm as Power Station project involving Nottingham Trent University, Forum for the Future and Farmers Weekly found 30% of those had opted for wind installations. Of the farmers who are not generating renewable energy on their land 61% said they are likely to invest in the technology within the next five years, with wind the preferred option. This suggests the nation could soon see up to 75% of farmers using renewable energy.
renews 1st July 2013 more >>
Uptake on the rise, but renewable energy potential still not being met, say farmers.
Farming Monthly 29th June 2013 more >>
Rural Fund
The government has unveiled a £15m fund designed to encourage hundreds of communities across England to invest in small-scale renewable energy projects, such as wind turbines or heat pumps.
Business Green 1st June 2013 more >>
Balerno Hydro
SCOTLAND’S first community-run hydro-electric energy plant is set to be made a reality after its backers managed to raise the entire funding using an innovative new crowd-funding scheme. Harlaw Hydro intends to build the device on the outskirts of Edinburgh, following in the footsteps of 19th century industrialists who harnessed the power of the Water of Leith to power their mills. Local residents of Balerno have been working on the bid for two years and believe they can deliver the entire project for just over £300,000. Construction will begin within months and is estimated for completion in March 2014.
Scotsman 30th June 2013 more >>
Ministerial Q&A
In our live Q&A, readers quizzed the energy and climate change minister on local energy schemes.
Guardian 29th June 2013 more >>
Green Deal
However laudable its aims, it’s hard not to conclude that the government’s flagship energy efficiency programme – the green deal – has become something of a shambles. Construction companies, led by the Green Building Council, recently wrote to ministers asking for a cross-party consensus to salvage and improve the green deal. They have suggested offering stamp duty or council tax discounts for households taking up green deal offers. That might work, but I’d do something simpler. By offering green deal loans interest-free, you’d kick-start the scheme overnight.
Guardian 29th June 2013 more >>
Reducing value added tax (VAT) to 5% on energy efficiency improvement work would help more households than Green Deal finance can, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Construction Index 28th June 2013 more >>