People Power
A new joint campaign is being launched today by RenewableUK and the Solar Trade Association opposing the Government’s plans to cut financial support to small-scale renewables, including wind turbines and solar panels. The campaign, entitled People Power, is calling for members of the public, as well as the thousands of renewable energy employees, to petition the Government to provide more stable support to these maturing sectors by writing to their local MP and harnessing the power of social media.
Renewable UK 25th Sept 2015 read more »
Community Turbine
The community wind turbine on the northern outskirts of Berwick is beginning to show its economic and environmental benefits. An interim payment of £65,000 – split 80/20 between Berwick Community Trust and Berwick Core – has been delivered for its first full six months of operation. And another tranche of funding is due within weeks which will give a better indication of its worth over a full year.
Berwick Advertiser 25th Sept 2015 read more »
Efficient Lighting
A major new global campaign calling on cities worldwide to switch all their street lights to LEDs by 2025 has been launched this week by The Climate Group. Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group, said there is no longer any reason to delay the deployment of LED street lighting, describing it as a “no-brainer” for city authorities looking to cut emissions and save money.
Business Green 25th Sept 2015 read more »
Peterborough Solar
Votes are needed to deliver a £10,000 solar power system which would allow the Green Backyard in Peterborough to run its own café and stay open for much longer.
Peterborough Telegraph 24th Sept 2015 read more »
FiT Cuts
Subsidy cut sparks solar stampede. Huge cuts in solar electricity subsidies for business have sparked a stampede to have them fitted before the axe falls. The Government is set to cut the Feed In Tariff – a payment per unit of electricity generated – by 70 per cent. Crucially, to get the higher rate firms must have a system installed – and switched on – before the end of the year.
Sheffield Telegraph 24th Sept 2015 read more »
Solar Glasshouse
A South Tyneside energy specialist has scooped a top award for its part in the transformation of a derelict glasshouse in Northumberland. The building – on a Georgian country estate in Northumberland – has been revamped into a modern solar powerhouse, with the help of Advanced Renewable Power (ARPower).
Shields Gazette 24th Sept 2015 read more »
Good Energy
Renewable energy utility Good Energy has warned that it will miss its 2015 expectations as it looks to invest in the business’ future strategy, which it provided more detail on today. The company issued its interim results this morning and while H1 EBITDA more than doubled year-on-year to £3.6 million, it confirmed that costs associated with its development business are now unlikely to be covered by site sales, resulting in a £1.5 million hit to its full year bottom line. Four additional solar farms were added to its portfolio in H1, and its total solar capacity is forecast to reach 40MW by the end of the year with two additional 5MW solar farms expected to be completed before then. Good Energy also expects to incur additional costs of £600,000 as it pursues a new growth strategy, aiming to increase its customer base fivefold to 900,000 by the end of 2020. The company first teased its new strategy earlier this year and has provided more details in its results.
Solar Portal 24th Sept 2015 read more »
Scotland supports solar
The Scottish Government has announced it will retain a grandfathering guarantee for key policies supporting investment in solar farms, despite Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) proposals to end the protection in England and Wales. The move, which is designed to boost solar investor confidence in Scotland, could create an imbalance across the UK if DECC proposals to reform the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme go ahead in England and Wales, with developers able to take advantage of a more supportive policy regime in Scotland. The Scottish Government also said this week it will not hold a ‘banding review’ of the RO prior to the closure of the scheme, creating another point of difference with Westminster proposals to reform the scheme.
Business Green 23rd Sept 2015 read more »
Solar Portal 23rd Sept 2015 read more »
Scottish Energy News 23rd Sept 2015 read more »
A senior manager at a firm which has developed two renewable energy projects in South Lanarkshire has condemned as ‘perverse’ the cuts in offshore wind-energy subsidies announced by the UK-govt. Speaking at an event in the Scottish Parliament Colin Anderson, Development Director, Banks Renewables – which is based in Durham – said that the future of the renewable energy industry “is highly uncertain at the present time due to the negative policies towards onshore wind being implemented by the current UK Government.
Scottish Energy News 24th Sept 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd should replicate the government’s successful Help to Buy scheme with a new policy to drive uptake of home energy efficiency measures such as insulation, a new report claims today. Research by think tank Respublica suggests a new “Help to Improve” scheme among a range of measures it believes the government should implement to replace the Green Deal loan scheme, which was shelved earlier this year. Through the proposed scheme, banks and building societies would offer loans to homeowners that would then be guaranteed by the government. Writing for BusinessGreen, Richard Sagar, senior policy and projects officer for ResPublica, said a similar scheme had been running successfully in Germany for the past 15 years. The research shows that a national scheme to make homes more energy efficient would provide net benefits of £8.7bn to the UK, which is comparable to the benefits of High Speed Rail phase one or Crossrail. More than 50 businesses and individuals including Kingfisher, Co-operative Energy, and Willmott Dixon have backed the research, and have today written to the Chancellor calling for him to create a new energy efficiency national infrastructure programme.
Business Green 23rd Sept 2015 read more »
Small wind
Gaia-Wind – the Scottish based small-wind turbine manufacturer – has established its own local subsidiary company in Japan. Initially focused on sales and marketing of the world class GW133 turbine, the company has now achieved the Japanese Class NK certification for its turbines, and is already looking to develop more partnerships in Japan.
Scottish Energy News 23rd Sept 2015 read more »
Herald 22nd Sept 2015 read more »
Biomass
UK-grown biomass could cut the cost of meeting the UK’s 2050 carbon targets by over one per cent of GDP, according to a new report. The report by the industry-backed Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) sets out the case for a “pro-active policy” to develop UK capacity for growing biomass, arguing it could complement imported biomass and provide a domestic source of secure and low carbon energy.
Business Green 23rd Sept 2015 read more »
Solar Park
GreenWood Forest Park in North Wales is set to save over £1m on its energy bills thanks to a newly installed ground-mounted solar array system. The theme park has invested £150,000 on a 576-panel 150kW system which will reduce the its carbon expenditure by 1,700 tonnes over a 25-year period, powering 80% of the park on a daily basis.
Edie 21st Sept 2015 read more »
Wales Online 21st Sept 2015 read more »
CHP
Almost £300m is being invested in two new combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Northumberland and Durham. The Green Investment Bank (GIB) and property developer John Laing Group have committed £48m to a new £138m CHP plant in Cramlington; while a separate investment, also announced today, will see £160m put towards a waste-wood-fired power station in Stockton-on-Tees.
Edie 21st Sept 2015 read more »
Community Energy
A new programme to help communities and social enterprises to generate income by investing in commercially owned renewable energy developments in the Highlands has been launched as part of UK Community Energy Fortnight. The local enterprise agency has introduced the programme to deliver one to one support, tailored development workshops and specialist support to raise awareness of, and accelerate, the completion of investment opportunities. The programme, entitled HI-SHARES, dovetails with the Scottish Government’s CARES programme which exists to support communities with renewable energy developments and work closely with sector stakeholders.
Scottish Energy News 21st Sept 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
The number of Britons with asthma could almost double by 2050 because the air inside homes is becoming more polluted as they become more energy-efficient, a new report warns.
Observer 20th Sept 2015 read more »
Solar Gardens
ONE of the area’s best loved gardens is going greener – thanks to solar power. Solar panels are being installed on a largely concealed hillside in the overflow car park at Bodnant Gardens.
North Wales Pioneer 19th Sept 2015 read more »
Heat Pumps
Environmental groups have welcomed £2.3m in Government funding to encourage development of heat pumps. Heat pumps extract energy from water to supply low carbon heat efficiently. The new challenge fund – part of the part of the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme – will provide £375,000 to boost development of water pump business proposals, with a further £2m set aside for those with a fully developed investment grade business proposal but who cannot identify private investment. Speaking yesterday, energy minister Fergus Ewing said: “Heat is estimated to account for over half of Scotland’s total energy use and responsible for nearly half of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions, so the imperative to take action is very clear. “We have already made significant progress and will continue to work toge ther with energy experts, businesses and communities to move towards our target of having have 40,000 homes connected to district heating by 2020.” Responding to Ewing, WWF Scotland Head of Policy, Dr Sam Gardner, said: “The need for heating makes up more than half of Scotland’s energy requirements. Therefore, we were pleased to hear the Minister commit to further development of an overall energy strategy for Scotland, which includes electricity, heating and demand reduction.
Holyrood 18th Sept 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Patrick Harvie, Scottish Green MSP for Glasgow and a member of Holyrood’s economy and energy committee, today expressed concern after ministers announced that a planned consultation on minimum energy efficiency standards in private homes has been deferred until after the 2016 election. The move was confirmed in a letter to the committee, with ministers blaming uncertainty caused by UK Government policies. Mr Harvie said: “It’s quite correct that the UK Government has taken a wrecking ball to many policies on energy efficiency and renewables over recent months. However energy efficiency remains a responsibility of the Scottish Government, which recently agreed to Green demands to make this a National Infrastructure Priority. “Ministers must urgently produce detail on how those good intentions will be turned into reality, to save energy, save money, and create jobs in Scotland’s economy.”
Scottish Green MSPs 18th Sept 2015 read more »
FiTs
Community energy projects could be more difficult to develop as a result of the government’s changes to the Feed-in Tariff (FiT), the energy secretary has admitted. During Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) questions in the House of Commons on Thursday morning, Amber Rudd stated that the removal of pre-accreditation “could make it more difficult for community energy projects to deploy”. Rudd defended the move and said FiT pre-accreditation “had to be removed as a matter of urgency in order to safeguard spends under the scheme”.
Utility Week 17th Sept 2015 read more »