Nearly Zero Carbon Buildings
A group of Europe’s leading firms have today announced the launch of a major new initiative to deliver ‘nearly zero energy buildings’ (nZEB) across the continent from 2020. The launch, which was unveiled as the Paris Climate Summit hosted a day dedicated to green buildings, commits the signatories to the group to supporting the delivery of nZEB new build properties by 2020 and nZEB refurbished buildings by 2030.
Business Green 3rd Dec 2015 read more »
Public Power Solutions
Public Power Solutions (PPS), a wholly-owned company of Swindon Borough Council, has been shortlisted for a prestigious Local Government Chronicle Award in the Environment category, for its innovative approach to solar development. 2016 is the 20th anniversary of the LGC awards, and the environment category marks excellence in any aspect of councils’ work in environmental services. PPS is shortlisted for its Solar Development Services alongside eight other local authorities or projects. PPS has developed several local ground-mount and rooftop solar projects which are generating enough renewable electricity for 16,500 typical homes and saving 28,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
FLIC Wiltshire 3rd Dec 2015 read more »
Solar Food
Co Armagh food firm Linwoods has invested in 200 rooftop solar panels as part of a £2m development. Linwoods, which produces breads, dairy products and health foods, has appointed Kingspan Energy to install the new solar panels.
Belfast Telegraph 3rd Dec 2015 read more »
Floating Solar
A Suffolk-based renewable energy company has completed its first installation of floating solar panels, only the second of its kind in the UK.
East Anglian Daily Times 3rd Dec 2015 read more »
Welsh Insulation
Work has begun to improve the energy efficiency of a number of homes on a housing estate in north Powys following an investment of £2 million from the Welsh government. Properties on the Maesydail estate and part of the Trehafren estate in Newtown will see work carried out under the Arbed scheme, which aims to tackle fuel poverty across Wales. The majority of the improvements to the homes will include external wall insulation.
Next Energy 3rd Dec 2015 read more »
Solar Jobs
An anonymous survey of solar sector workers has found that a further 576 jobs have been lost in the industry and 1,600 face the prospect of unemployment next year as a result of government plans to curb financial support for renewable energy. The survey, published yesterday by the Solar Trade Association (STA) in collaboration with RenewableUK, reveals 576 people have been made redundant from solar jobs since the general election in May, which marked the beginning of a period of severe policy turbulence for the UK’s renewable energy sector.
Business Green 1st Dec 2015 read more »
More than 20,000 more jobs in the solar industry could be lost as a result of proposed cuts to government subsidies, according to the Solar Trade Association. A sample of 204 solar companies surveyed by industry body have already been forced to make 576 staff redundant, with another 1,600 on notice if the planned 87 per cent cut to feed-in tariffs goes ahead.
Construction News 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Solar Portal 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Solar Housing for Flintshire
Hundreds of council homes across Flintshire are to be fitted with solar PV panels as part of the Welsh Assembly’s efforts to improve housing stock and meet national quality standards by 2020. As part of an overall £111 million investment programme to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS), 400 council-owned properties will be fitted with panels. The work will be carried out alongside the installation of other measures including higher levels of insulation and bringing gas to communities that have previously relied on more expensive forms of heating.
Solar Portal 1st Dec 2015 read more »
Solar DIY
Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, is to put solar panels on its distribution centres and some stores as part of a £50m investment to cut its reliance on the National Grid. The investment comes after Kingfisher installed solar panels at the Screwfix head office in Yeovil in the summer. They now generate a third of the site’s power. Richard Gillies, the group’s sustainability director, said he hoped Kingfisher’s commitment would demonstrate to world leaders meeting in Paris for climate change talks this week that businesses wanted to invest in sustainability.
Guardian 1st Dec 2015 read more »
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher has announced plans to invest £50 million in renewable energy across its network of locations in an effort to reduce energy consumption from the national grid by 10% in the next two years.
Solar Portal 2nd Dec 2015 read more »
Mongoose Energy
Community energy group Mongoose Energy is preparing for the launch of a supply business late next year following the rush of community projects it is helping to get developed. The company has been active in recent weeks, bringing forward five fundraising programmes for community energy schemes in the wake of the Treasury’s decision to make such projects exempt from receiving EIS and SEIS tax relief. Speaking to Solar Power Portal, Mongoose Energy chief executive Jan Willem Bode said that this had caused the company to “step up a notch or two”. It ended up raising £4.9 million in three weeks, which will help several projects move forward. Despite the significant amount raised, Bode said that the company still had “a lot of work to do fundraising in the next few months” owing to a “massive increase” in the number of projects Mongoose is looking at or working on.
Solar Portal 1st Dec 2015 read more »
Community Energy Tax Relief Cuts
Community Energy England (CEE) has criticised HM Treasury for failing to respond to its letter before action prior to the removal of EIS and SEIS tax relief, which occurred yesterday. Last week CEE tabled a letter before action with the Treasury regarding the controversial cuts. The letter served as the first step towards a judicial review. Upon receipt of the letter, the Treasury had 14 days to respond however at the time CEE chairman Philip Wolfe said he hoped for a response prior to 30 November – the last day in which investments in community energy were eligible for relief under the schemes. But in a statement today, CEE confirmed that while HMT’s legal team had been in touch with its lawyers BWB, it noted that the Treasury had “yet to respond”.
Solar Portal 1st Dec 2015 read more »
Bristol Energy Co-op and Anesco
Anesco has added to its community energy portfolio after announcing plans to work with Bristol Energy Cooperative (BEC) to boost community renewable energy in the region. BEC is seeking to raise just over £5 million from members of the public to contribute towards a wider portfolio worth £10.5 million. The money will be used to help finance two community ground-mount solar farms and rooftop installations on around 20 community buildings in the Bristol. This marks the eighth community energy initiative that Anesco has been involved with and makes it one of the first owner/operators in the UK to be involved in the development of such schemes.
Solar Portal 1st Dec 2015 read more »
Exeter Community Energy
Plans to generate more green energy in and around Exeter are being put into action after more than £390,000 was raised from local investors. The Exeter Community Energy Share Offer closed a day early having hit its target in less than three weeks. It means the funds are now in place to install solar panels on nine community and commercial buildings across Exeter and East Devon. “We’ve all been taken aback by the level of support for our share offer,” said Gill Wyatt, director of Exeter Community Energy. “It was beyond our wildest dreams.”None of us expected any thing like this level of take-up at our first attempt in such a short period and were set to go again in January to raise the remainder of funds then. This won’t be necessary now.”
Exeter Express & Echo 1st Dec 2015 read more »
Isle of Wight Solar
A solar firm in the Isle of Wight could receive £1.7m from its council, according to reports. The company, Wight Community Energy (WCE), currently owns seven solar farms. It plans to build an 8.5MW development in Ningwood, which is due to be connected to the national grid next month and almost 4.2MW has been designated as community energy. It has asked the council for £1.7million to subsidise it in the form of a two-year fixed term loan from its capital receipts. The loan will not be made until the solar farm is fully operational. The council’s report states: “Overall, because of the guaranteed income streams, the risk associated with investment in solar farms is low. “This is the Island’s first renewable energy project which allows investment from local individuals who can expect to receive an attractive return on their investment.”
Energy Live News 1st Dec 2015 read more »
County Press 29th Nov 2015 read more »
Oxfordshire Solar
A ‘community-benefit’ collaboration between 23 local schools, award-winning social enterprise Low Carbon Hub, and installation partner Joju Solar has resulted in the largest solar installation on a primary school in Oxfordshire, and one of the largest in the UK. Twenty three Oxfordshire schools are now ‘live’ in the Low Carbon Hub’s Solar Energy for Schools scheme. With 384 panels on its roof, Orchard Fields Community School became host to the biggest solar PV installation on a primary school in the county when it ‘went live’ this month.
Renewable Energy Focus 1st Dec 2015 read more »
District Heating
District heating networks will be a “big development” of the second half of this decade, according to former energy minister Lord Barker. Barker was discussing renewable energy at the REA’s ‘Renewable Futures’ event last week and broached the subject of heat, an area which the UK is notably behind in. Emails from secretary of state Amber Rudd and leaked to The Ecologist last month revealed that the UK is set to miss 2030 renewables targets because of poor uptake in heat and transport unless urgent action is taken. There has subsequently been much discussion about what the government can do to stimulate greater uptake of heat, however Barker said that developments would be “much more exciting in the private sector than in the policy world” when it comes to renewable heat. Barker added that he expected district heating networks to take off between now and 2020, particularly with the level of smarter construction that is taking place. Barker acts as chair of the London Sustainable Development Commission, which is currently working towards increasing smart networks inside London’s boroughs.
Next Energy 1st Dec 2015 read more »
There is a pipeline of 283 heat network projects, which are at varying stages of development across the UK, offering a significant investment and supply chain opportunity. A recent DECC publication suggest this represents up to £2bn of capital investment and £3.2-6.4bn operation and maintenance contract opportunities over the next 10 years. DECC’s eat Network Delivery Unit HNDU funding can be used to bring potential heat network projects from initial heat mapping, right though to business case stage. The challenge then will be ensuring these projects are delivered. We see the need for the development of innovative structuring and funding models over the coming years to enable this market to expand. Particularly with public sector led projects, there will be the question of the extent to which the private sector will be involved. The optimum business model will be one which is financially efficient, draws upon private sector skills (where required), whilst retaining enough control over the delivery body to ensure promotion of the driving social, economic and environmental aspirations. For example, delivery bodies could be either fully public owned, fully private owned or a joint venture between the two. This will depend on the availability of public sector funding and its risk appetite. Recent DECC statistics show that the emerging projects are showing pre-tax internal rates of return (IRR) typically between five and nine per cent over 25 to 40 year periods. This is a modest return over a long period, which may not appeal to commercial invertors in the primary market. In this way, upfront seed funding from the public sector could be key to getting a project over the construction hurdle (which is commonly understood to be the highest risk phase of the project). Operational assets could then be refinanced in a developing secondary market, releasing public sector funds to be invested elsewhere, or even recycled back into the network for the next phase of construction.
Business Green 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Community Energy
Local communities have raised a record £12.8m for 28 new renewable energy projects thanks to a rush of investment driven by shock government plans to end tax relief for community renewable energy projects from tomorrow. According to data compiled by Ethex and crowdsourcing platform Mongoose Energy, £12.8m has been raised by community renewable energy projects since the Treasury announced in October they would no longer be eligible for Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) tax relief after 30 November.
Business Green 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Solar Portal 30th Nov 2015 read more »
A table summarising recent community share offers is available here:
No2NuclearPower 3rd Dec 2015 read more »
Energy Revolution
“We need a global revolution where millions of people say, don’t play with our lives, change direction!” Just now, in Paris, 147 heads of state negotiate about which actions shall be taken to save our climate. But everyone can be part of the discussion! We want a world without fossil fuels and nuclear power! We are happy to present the community trailer to our feature-length documentary POWER TO CHANGE – The EnergyRebellion, which will be released in theaters on March 17th, 2016.
Power to Change 30th Nov 2015 read more »
European Green Capital
The UK’s first and current European Green Capital, Bristol, is encouraging other cities across the continent to ‘go green’ as it shares an online toolkit at the Cities and Regions Pavilion within the COP21 climate conference. Bristol, which is co-hosting the Pavilion during the Paris talks, is offering COP21 delegates a free online toolkit called ‘The Bristol Method’, which highlights and documents what Bristol has learnt from its time as Europe’s Green Capital. Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson said: “The people of Bristol have worked incredibly hard over the last decade – and particularly during 2015 – to make this city more sustainable. As part of our year as the European Green Capital we pledged to make it easy for other cities to emulate our successes and learn from our challenges. The Bristol Method covers a range of subjects including energy, resources, transport, food and nature, highlighting how other cities can use these topics as a way to kick-start greater resource and energy efficiency. Currently, there are 24 documents available on the toolkit, with more to be added every week. Bristol wants to ensure that it leaves a valuable and beneficial legacy as its time as the European Green Capital comes to an end.
Edie 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Local Energy
With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas – responsible for up to 70% of greenhouse gas emissions – it’s vital that cities and their leaders commit to environmental policies. Ahead of COP 21 in Paris, a new report from C40 Cities shows that mayors of some of the world’s greenest cities are already making them more resilient and are even achieving economic growth by investing in sustainable development. As for the mayors themselves, tackling climate change is not just part of the job; from turning vegan to boycotting baths, city leaders are taking the fight home.
Guardian 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Zero Carbon Homes
A group of business leaders and trade association heads have called on the chair of the Energy and Climate Change (ECC) Select Committee to investigate the government’s decision to abandon its commitment to a zero-carbon building standard. The zero carbon homes policy, which required new homes built from 2016 onwards to mitigate all carbon emissions produced on-site as a result of regulated energy use, was scrapped in July as part of chancellor George Osborne’s productivity plan. A letter to Angus MacNeil signed by a range of individuals from across the low carbon building sector has called on the committee chair to review the decision as part of the select committee’s current inquiries. It claims the decision, which was made in an effort to increase house-building levels, will hinder the UK’s ability to meet carbon budgets cost-effectively as well as guarantee higher running costs for future buildings.
Next Energy 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Energy Policy
The Department of Energy and Climate Change needs to put forward the “new narrative” behind its energy policy overhaul in order to allay industry concerns, former energy secretary Lord Barker has said. Speaking at the Renewable Energy Association’s ‘Renewable Futures’ event last week, Barker claimed that secretary of state Amber Rudd has had to “sit the discussion out” over the last few months while the government’s critical spending review and feed-in tariff consultation have been up for discussion. However once that consultation response is published – DECC has repeatedly claimed a response will be forthcoming before the end of the year – Barker said that DECC must then come forward with its views on the future of energy policy. “Then people will understand… the certainty is to know where the journey is headed,” Barker said.
Solar Portal 30th Nov 2015 read more »
Solar Houses
More than 750,000 UK homeowners have followed Sue Roaf’s lead and fitted solar panels. She tells Home why the government may be jeopardising the industry’s future. Sue Roaf is, understandably, feeling rather triumphant. “They told me it would never work,” says the professor of architectural engineering at Heriot-Watt University. “They told me I couldn’t connect to the grid. They said the panels would wear out within a few years. They said solar electricity would never catch on.” Roaf is showing me around her suburban home in north Oxford. She designed it herself in the early 1990s, installing the first domestic solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in Britain. One day, her house may become a landmark like Cragside, in Northumberland, a Victorian gothic confection that was the first home in the country to be lit by hydroelectricity, and is now run by the National Trust.
Sunday Times 29th Nov 2015 read more »
Fuel Poverty
England’s 2.3 million poorest and coldest households are receiving improved insulation at a rate of only 1 per cent a year – meaning they won’t all be properly heated for nearly 100 years. Last year, the coalition vowed that “as many fuel-poor homes as reasonably practicable” would be improved to reach a middling Band C energy efficiency level. Energy bills for homes in this band are often more than £1,000 a year lower than for those with the poorest F and G ratings. Households in fuel poverty are judged to be those on low incomes but with high energy bills. However, the shadow energy minister Clive Lewis and campaigners have pointed to official figures that suggest the Government will struggle to get anywhere near its 2030 target. In 2013 only 110,000 homes – about one in 20 of England’s 2.3 million fuel-poor households – had been insulated to Band C level, up from 40,000 in 2010. At the current rate of progress – about 1 per cent a year – barely a fifth of fuel-poor households will have reached Band C by 2030.
Inependent 28th Nov 2015 read more »
Fetlar Wind
A community renewable energy project will be developed in Fetlar after its target of £223,000 was secured in time to meet last night’s deadline. In just 35 days Fetlar Wind has managed to attract enough businesses and individuals to invest in the project which will see two turbines erected. The two turbines will power the Fetlar Green Energy scheme, providing renewable heat and power to the local primary school and other connected buildings. Any surplus generated by Fetlar Wind will be donated to a local charity for use in supporting other community projects.
Shetland Times 27th Nov 2015 read more »