Community Wind
Point and Sandwick Community Wind Farm is taking shape at Beinn Ghrideag this week. Two of the three turbines have now been successfully erected.
Stornoway Gazette 24th April 2015 read more »
Plans have been put forward for a large community-owned wind farm which could be an alternative if the Lewis Windpower project fails to go ahead. A new company, the Point and Sandwick Community Consortium, has been set up by six crofting townships in the Point and Sandwick area and membership is open to all townships with rights to the Stornoway General grazings. The Consortium has now submitted a planning application for eight 3.6MW wind turbines on the Melbost and Branahuie common grazings to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. The site is also an area on which Lewis Windpower – a joint venture between Amec and EDF Energy in partnership with Stornoway Trust) – wish to site turbines.
Stornoway Gazette 23rd April 2015 read more »
FiT Cuts
Government accused of undermining its own community energy strategy with massive subsidy cuts. Industry insiders issue warning as DECC confirms feed in tariff for ground mounted solar will fall 28 per cent in July. Philip Wolfe, chairman of Community Energy England and vice-chair of DECC’s Shared Ownership Taskforce, told BusinessGreen the vast majority of community energy projects will become unviable when the tariff drops from 6.16p per kWh to 4.44p/kWh in July. He accuses the government of ignoring industry advice to loosen the restrictions on how many projects can be built out before a cut to the feed in tariff is automatically imposed under the so-called degression mechanism.
Business Green 24th April 2015 read more »
The latest feed-in tariff statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) suggest that the FiT rate for standalone solar PV installs will degress on 1 July 2015. The government statistics show that 98.18MW of standalone capacity has been installed in 2015 under the feed-in tariff already, enough to trigger a 28% degression on April’s 6.16p/kWh FiT rate. The resulting degression would see the feed-in tariff rate for standalone projects plunge to 4.43p/kWh from 1 July 2015.
Solar Portal 24th April 2015 read more »
Solar Costs Continue to Fall
Prices would continue to fall in the UK solar industry even if all subsidies were removed, a representative of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) told an audience at Sustainability Live this week. “Nothing will stop solar now – even if a new Government came in and said we are going to stop all subsidies tomorrow, the solar industry would continue on,” said the REA’s senior advisor for solar Ray Noble. “It’s a world industry and nothing will stop the prices coming down and therefore people will be using it.” “But the Government won’t be doing that, they only need to do another three or four years of support and then they will get all the credit for what will be the cheapest form of energy generation.”
Edie 23rd April 2015 read more »
Solar Farming in Nottinghamshire
A business park in Nottinghamshire has installed a 540kW solar farm which can provide enough electricity to power 70% of the park’s energy demand. Ransom Wood Business Park, located in Mansfield on a 28-hectare former TB hospital site, officially launched the solar farm on 22 April. Park owners Ransom Wood Estates has invested £660,000 in the project, which has 2,088 panels over 1.4 hectares, with the aim to eventually make the park 100% self-sustainable in energy use.
Solar Portal 23rd April 2015 read more »
Solar Futures
Renewable energy giant SunEdison is “exploring all options” in the UK following the expiry of the Renewable Obligation Certificate deadline earlier this month, the company’s general manager for Europe Alessandro Ceschiat has said. Speaking to Solar Power Portal, Ceschiat said that the developer remained “fully committed” to the UK solar market despite the expiry of ROC support for projects above 5MW, adding that CfDs and the nascent commercial and community split project regulation are of interest to the firm.
Solar Portal 23rd April 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
The joint venture between environmental charity Changeworks, the Energy Saving Trust and Everwarm, funded by the Scottish government, will begin in September, and is part of a contract worth £224 million over a seven-year term. Energy Saving Trust director of government services Mike Thornton emphasised that the scheme will give people living in fuel poverty “really practical support”. He said: “The initiative provides a more integrated step-by-step service to customers, from the initial referral through to the installation and beyond. “Each customer will receive their own personal adviser and be supported through any complex issue or challenge they may face. This project will continue to help improve the lives of people in Scotland by making their homes warmer and more comfortable.”
Utility Week 22nd April 2015 read more »
Business Green 23rd April 2015 read more »
National 23rd April 2015 read more »
Scottish Government 22nd April 2015 read more »
Scottish Solar Farming
Building work on Scotland’s largest solar park is to begin at the end of year, when it is hoped to become the first commercial solar park operating in Scotland.
Scottish Energy News 23rd April 2015 read more »
BBC 21st April 2015 read more »
Scotsman 21st April 2015 read more »
A number of leading members of the Solar Trade Association (STA), which speaks on behalf of the UK solar-energy industry, have launched a new branch in Scotland. It is aiming to become the leading voice for solar there, by advising and developing policy with the Scottish Government and raising awareness of the benefits of solar energy. Scotland’s Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, has backed the new trade association
Machinery Market 23rd April 2015 read more »
Warrington goes Green
While some government-backed schemes have helped to support an investment in green energy for households, such as solar panels, far greater potential lies perhaps in a stronger adoption of the technology on an industrial scale. Warrington Borough Council has once again shown it is entrepreneurial in proposing a sales and lease-back arrangement involving solar (photovoltaic) panels at the Omega site. The proposal is to rent the roof space from the firms and sell them the energy produced.
Warrington Guardian 23rd April 2015 read more »
City-scale Heat Pumps
Dave Pearson, former Director of Innovation of Glasgow-based Star Refrigeration – the UK’s largest industrial refrigeration contractor who now leads the specialist subsidiary Star Renewable Energy – will tell the remarkable story of the Drammen heat-pump renewable energy scheme before an international energy conference today (22 April). In 2009, Glasgow based Star Renewable Energy was the first company in the world to offer a city-sized heat pump at 90C using a natural working fluid, ammonia. Heat pumps cool one fluid and transfer this heat to another fluid but at higher temperature using only a fraction of the primary energy. In the case of Drammen, in Norway, the Glasgow team harvest heat from the fjord and cool it by 4 degrees. In doing so they deliver enough heat for 6,000 houses to a district heating network. Norway town generates 85% of its heat for 1/7th cost of gas – without emissions – thanks to Glasgow’s Star Renewable Energy.
Scottish Energy News 22nd April 2015 read more »
Green Deal
A third of all green deal plans taken out with the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) have been used to fund solar PV installs it emerged after a record week for the company. According to the GDFC, UK homeowners applied for £2.5 million worth of support for energy improvement measures under the Green Deal for the week ending 19 April, pushing the total value of Green Deal plans both pending and live up to £45.6 million. The renewed growth in Green Deal plans has been driven by solar PV which now accounts for around a third of measures installed under Green Deal finance, with boilers and solid wall insulation the next most popular measures.
Solar Portal 22nd April 2015 read more »
Business Green 22nd April 2015 read more »
Solar Ambition
The next UK government should step up its solar ambitions to help businesses and homeowners lower their bills, according to Adrian Williams, managing director of Solar Technology International. Williams believes that the latest deployment statistics released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) which show that over 650,000 PV installations have been completed under the feed-in tariff scheme are just the beginning. He explains: “Although this means there are now enough solar panels to supply the equivalent of 1.5 million homes in the UK, there are over 23.4 million homes in England and Wales alone according to the ONS. So there is a long way to go as this represents only 6.4% of the total housing stock.”
Solar Portal 22nd April 2015 read more »
Transparent PV
Cambridge-based solar company Polysolar will pilot its solar glazing technology at Canary Wharf, following victory in the Canary Wharf Group’s Smart Cities accelerator competition. The thin-film PV company was selected as the winner of the sustainable buildings stream of the 12-week accelerator programme and, as such, wins £50,000 in prize money and the opportunity to pilot its transparent PV glazing in the Canary Wharf district.
Solar Portal 22nd April 2015 read more »
Solar Opinion
As many as 60% of UK consumers would consider installing solar panels for the first time in the next five years. A new survey, released today by market research firm Mintel, revealed a widespread optimism about the uptake of domestic rooftop solar, with just 40% saying they would not even consider them.
Edie 22nd April 2015 read more »
Business Green 22nd April 2015 read more »
Daily Mail 22nd April 2015 read more »
Green Gas
The answer to UK energy security could literally be under our noses. Green energy company Ecotricity says it has found a way to produce gas from grass,l offering a viable alternative to fracking. After several years of research and development Ecotricity has this week announced that it has come up with a concept that uses anaerobic digestion to turn grass sourced from marginal land on farms into biogas, which is then purified into biomethane and fed straight into the national grid. The process is said to also result in the production of a fertiliser that will go back onto the farmers’ fields and help to improve soil quality.
Business Green 21st April 2015 read more »
Guardian 20th April 2015 read more »
Solar Policy
Until solar can globally drive down its costs to compete with *cough* ‘unsubsidised’ fossil fuels, it will remain at the mercy of the ruling government and what level of policy support is passed and upheld. In the grand scheme of things the UK solar market appears quite steady when compared to other global solar markets. My guess would be that if you ask any UK solar business if they felt they benefited from policy stability you’d be met with a unanimous ‘no’. Since the feed-in tariff was introduced in 2010, the solar sector has lurched from one policy debacle to another. The latest? Government scrapping all renewable obligation support for solar farms over 5MW, effectively kneecapping Europe’s largest utility-scale solar market. The cut in RO support has been explained away by government as a necessity in order to preserve the budget. As Jonathon Porritt so astutely pointed out at the time, ministers were making policy based on “a short-term, expedient fear of UKIP rather than the interests of the UK over the long-term”.
Solar Portal 21st April 2015 read more »
Bristol Solar Tree
A 15ft (4.5m) metal tree with multi-directional solar panels for leaves is due to be switched on in Bristol later. The Energy Tree, designed by artist John Packer and Bristol-based Demand Energy Equality, will provide free mobile phone charging points and Wi-Fi.
BBC 21st April 2015 read more »
Renewable Heat
Scotland must kick its addiction to conventional gas-fired boilers and embrace renewable heat if it is to achieve challenging 2020 targets. Progress in the sector so far has been slow, with just 3% of heat coming from renewable sources against a target of 11% – which must be achieved in just over 2,000 days. A spokesman for Scottish Renewables said: “More than half of the energy consumed in Scotland is in the form of heat. As a society, we take warm homes and workplaces and constant hot water for granted, but the time is now right for us to re-think our relationship with heat and the way it is generated, transported and used.
Scottish Energy News 20th April 2015 read more »
Scotland risks missing its renewable heat target of 11 per cent by 2020 unless a “major change of mindset” is adopted, according to Scottish Renewables. The trade body says the country will need to “kick its addiction” to gas-fired boilers if it is to meet the ambitious target from its current renewable heat use of just 3 per cent. The benefits of decarbonising heat use are not only related to the environment, but could save consumers money and boost the local economy, said the group’s policy manager Stephanie Clark. “Most of our homes, businesses and public buildings are warmed by conventional gas boilers, and we must kick that addiction. District heating, for example, is a great way for hundreds of homes to share one heat source, but we have yet to see a consensus on its importance in Scotland,” Clark added. The group said it will lobby for a “re-think” on Scotland’s approach to heat at its Low Carbon Heat conference to be held at the end of the month.
Utility Week 16th April 2015 read more »
Labour’s Green Plan
The Labour Party has pledged to work with the solar industry and provide a stable policy environment in its new ‘Green Plan’ document, launched this morning. The Green Plan elaborates on a number of policy pledges the party made during its manifesto launch last week and details how the party intends to decarbonise the UK’s energy supply by 2030. The document has been signed off by Labour leader Ed Miliband, shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, Caroline Flint and the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, Maria Eagle. Most notably the document outlines plans to establish a “clear long-term policy framework” to unlock investment in renewable energy, claiming that the current coalition government had made renewables “less attractive” to invest in. And the Green Plan also states that Labour intends to “work with the solar industry to provide the stable environment it needs in order to thrive”.
Solar Portal 20th April 2015 read more »
Round the zero carbon Wrekin
Costa Coffee has opened the UK’s “first zero energy coffee shop building” in a bid to explore how it can make its outlets more environmentally sustainable. The test-bed “Eco-Pod” at the Wrekin Retail Park near Telford boasts an array of low carbon and energy efficient technologies that could be incorporated into future stores or retrofitted at current branches should they prove a success.
Business Green 20th April 2015 read more »
Micro-CHP
Intermittent generation is challenging for the existing power systems, which have difficulties in following varying electricity production. To help the generation and demand be in balance, demand response (DR) provides one promising approach. Among many DR applications, residential micro-CHP systems can be advantageous, as these systems typically comprise storage in addition to a controllable cogeneration unit. Current state-of-the-art control strategies for residential micro-CHP systems utilize time-varying electricity price to optimally operate the system. Thus, such systems have the ability to export or import electricity when either one is beneficial.
Applied Energy (accessed) 19th April 2015 read more »
Small Hydro
STARK warnings have been raised over the health of Scotland’s small-scale hydro power industry following “drastic” cutbacks in renewable power subsidies. Trade organisation Scottish Renewables said the future of the hydro sector, which employs about 500 people, now hinges on a delayed review of feed-in tariffs (FiTs), which pay a guaranteed price for each unit of green power generated.
Scotland on Sunday 19th April 2015 read more »
WITH THE reduction in feed-in tariffs for new renewable energy projects as the number of installations increase, there is a view that if you are not already on board you have missed the boat. This may be the case for more marginal sites, but good sites can still provide an attractive return when compared with other investments on the farm. With all the pressures on farm incomes from CAP reform etc, the option of having an additional income stream from a renewables project where the income can be predicted for 20 years is an attractive one to many.
Scottish Farmer 6th April 2015 read more »
Community Energy
For the last year the Youth Community Energy Catalysts programme has been supporting 20 young people to start their own community energy projects. After months of training and peer mentoring these projects are beginning to get off the ground – and if there is one thing they have in common, it’s innovation. They push the boundaries of community participation and self-management, fiercely refuse to leave anyone marginalised and even recognise a role for art in the energy system.
UK Youth Climate Coalition 17th April 2015 read more »
Solar Output
Record temperatures on Wednesday saw UK solar capacity generate enough electricity to power two million households for a day, according to estimates made by energy supplier Good Energy. The company estimates that solar panels across the UK generated 21,831MWh of energy on 15 April 2015. Speaking to Solar Power Portal, Will Heinzelmann, research and product analyst for Good Energy explained how he came up with the company’s solar generation output tool.
Solar Portal 17th April 2015 read more »