Bristol Heat Network
Bristol’s newly elected mayor, Marvin Rees, has approved the city’s first major step towards becoming carbon neutral by 2050, giving the go-ahead for £5m in capital funding to build a low-carbon district heating network to serve the city. The first phase of the heat network, which was approved earlier this week, will supply low-carbon heat to buildings throughout Bristol via a network of underground pipes connected to a number of energy centres, including biomass boilers and gas combined heat and power plants. Over time the city plans to phase out the use of natural gas in favour of renewable alternatives. Meanwhile, work began last year on the first stage, with biomass-fuelled heat centres currently being built to supply businesses and social housing tenants in the Redcliffe area of the city. Under current planning laws, all new building developments in Bristol within a designated “heat priority area” are required to connect to a heat network or be “district heating ready” unless technically unviable. Therefore, the new network scheme is also expected to significantly improve the green credentials of new developments in the city.
Business Green 9th June 2016 read more »
Basketball goes Solar
Solar developer EvoEnergy has helped a basketball club save thousands of pounds on its energy bills each year – enabling the team to put more money into grassroots sport. Realising it could make more use of the roof space at its home arena, Nottingham Wildcats contacted the Attenborough firm to install 486 solar panels. The array on top of the Nottingham Wildcats Arena, in Greenwood Road, Bakersfield, is expected to generate 109,192 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per annum. It will save the club about a third – up to £3,000 per year – of its energy costs.
Nottingham Post 9th June 2016 read more »
Energy Storage
Scottish Power has set up a residential energy-storage pilot project with Moixa Technology using a ‘smart-battery’ system to help consumers to save money and use more of the energy they generate. Smart batteries are home storage units that enable customers to save money through accessing smart tariffs, store excess solar energy for use during peak hours or share batteries with the grid for a range of network saving benefits. The project could also demonstrate how storage technology could address the challenges facing the National Grid overcome the problem of intermittent electricity generation from solar and wind power. In pilots with major energy industry partners such as British Gas, SSE, Good Energy, the government (DECC) and direct customer sales, Moixa has deployed 1-MWh of its British-manufactured Maslow smart battery system, deployed across 500 sites, combined with solar panels. These smart batteries can be aggregated to provide a range of services and income, using the patented GridShare battery software platform. Bill Rumble, director at installers BillSaveUK said: “The British renewables industry has weathered some stormy times of late, but as this pilot with Moixa and Scottish Power is demonstrating, the successful installation of smart batteries presents a viable route forward and potentially the start of a new era for domestic power generation.”
Scottish Energy News 9th June 2016 read more »
Solar Portal 6th June 2016 read more »
Energy companies are pouring unprecedented sums of money into batteries and other power storage systems long deemed a green pipe dream, in a move experts said would transform the face of the UK’s electricity industry. “It’s potentially very disruptive,” said Hugh McNeal, the new chief executive of the wind industry’s main trade body, RenewableUK, adding that 55 of the group’s 420 members were now investing “millions of pounds” in energy storage. If wind farms can store electricity it will help solve their “key challenge” of not working on windless days, Mr McNeal told the FT. “It might mean we need less of other things”, such as gas and nuclear power, he added. Power storage has long been a holy grail for renewable energy advocates and climate change campaigners because it would help wind and solar farms match conventional, but more polluting gas and coal-fired power stations that can pump out electricity at will. The relatively high cost of batteries has put this goal beyond reach but with prices more than halving in the past six years, growing numbers of companies are starting to sell storage systems, notably in the US and Germany. The UK lags behind those countries but the past 12 months has seen a surge in companies testing the market.
FT 8th June 2016 read more »
Solar beats Coal
Solar power in the UK produced more electricity than coal across the whole of May, the first ever month to pass the milestone, according to research by analysts at Carbon Brief. Solar panels generated 50% more electricity than the fossil fuel across the month, as days lengthened and coal use fell. Solar generated an estimated 1,336 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity in May, compared to 893GWh output from coal. Coal was once the mainstay of the nation’s power system but the rapid rise of solar panels and of climate change concerns has seen its use plummet, leading to a series of milestones in recent weeks. Solar surpassed coal over a whole day for the first time on 9 April, while the electricity produced by coal fell to zero several times in early May, thought to be the first time this had happened since the late 19th century. Coal power stations are running less often due to age and restrictions on the pollution they produce and a series have closed down in recent months, including Ferrybridge and Eggborough in Yorkshire, Fiddlers Ferry plant in Cheshire and Longannet in Scotland.
Guardian 7th June 2016 read more »
Carbon Brief 7th June 2016 read more »
Solar Portal 8th June 2016 read more »
As the world hits ever-increasing records for heat and CO2 concentrations, sometimes it’s good to look at the bright side. In May, for the first time ever, solar produced more electricity than coal in the United Kingdom. During last month, coal generation fell to zero on several days — possibly the first time that has happened since the country introduced widespread electrification in the late 1800s, according to analysis from Carbon Brief, a U.K.-based energy tracker.
Climate Progress 8th June 2016 read more »
LEDs could lop 8GW off peak demand
LED light bulbs are cheap and energy efficient, writes Chris Goodall. A crash programme to replace all the lights in the UK with LEDs would cut electricity bills, reduce carbon emissions and other pollution from coal and diesel generation, and reduce the risk of blackouts. At the peak at about 5.30 on a December evening lighting uses about 15GW (gigawatts / billion watts) out of total UK demand of approximately 52GW. This is an almost unbelievable 29% of our need for electricity, met at the precise moment that future blackouts are most likely. And there’s a simple way to cut that peak electricity demand – making our lighting more efficient by a mass switch to high efficiency LED lightbulbs. If all lights across the country were switched to LEDs my calculations (carried out under a project for Greenpeace UK) suggest that the need for electricity to provide improved lighting would fall by about 8GW, a saving of about 15% of all power consumption. As part of my work for Greenpeace, I located 100 case histories of switches from other types of lights to LEDs in industry, commerce and public sector. On average, replacing less efficient bulbs saved two thirds of the electricity bill. These studies were usually written up by companies with an interest in selling more LED bulbs, but show a very consistent pattern across factories, shops, schools, sports clubs and offices. In most places, lighting quality was improved substantially. In some locations electricity costs were reduced because LEDs produce less waste heat and therefore cut the need for air conditioning in places such as hotels and large office buildings. Even a much more restricted national campaign that just focused on domestic houses would have a dramatic impact. If we switched the lights in the parts of the house that are in use in early evening – essentially the kitchen and living areas – we would reduce home demand by more than 50%. Importantly, these rooms are the places where we now often use halogen downlighter bulbs, the most inefficient lights currently on the market. A standard halogen GU10 bulb uses 50W of power. The LED equivalent does the same job with just 5W.
Ecologist 8th June 2016 http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2987760/the_urgent_case_for_an_mass_switch_to_led_lighting.html
(See also Business Green 2nd June 2016 http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2460300/philips-lighting-plans-to-sell-two-billion-led-lightbulbs-by-2020 )
Solar Scotland
Scottish homes equipped with solar panels received enough energy from the sun in May to meet all of their electricity needs, a study suggests. The analysis, produced by WWF Scotland and taken from data compiled by WeatherEnergy, is based on Met Office figures which show Scotland enjoyed an average of 211 hours of sunshine last month, more than a quarter more than May averages and regarded as an “anomaly” from long-term trends. To study suggests to date, more than 40,000 homes and 850 business premises currently have solar PV arrays fitted. The study estimates homes fitted with solar panels in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness would have generated more than 100 per cent of their electricity or hot water needs in May, based on average annual consumption rates of 4,435 kWh.
Daily Record 8th June 2016 read more »
Energy Voice 8th June 2016 read more »
SCOTTISH homes fitted with solar panels would have seen enough sunshine last month to meet their entire electricity consumption, according to environmentalists. WWF Scotland said wind turbines also produced enough energy to meet the electrical requirements of around three-quarters (76 per cent) of homes and over a third (36 per cent) of Scotland’s entire energy consumption in May. The charity has published the analysis to urge the Scottish Government to make greater use of renewables in its forthcoming energy strategy. WeatherEnergy compiled the WWF analysis, and said the solar energy data “clearly shows that there’s plenty of sunshine to meet a significant proportion of an average family’s electricity and hot water needs during some months of the year”.
The National 8th June 2016 read more »
Storage Skill Shortage
Developers of commercial solar PV hoping to add batteries to their offerings could find the expertise required a significant barrier to entry, the head of a solar installation and power engineering company has said. “At commercial level, every customer is different, every building is different, every load profile is different – where historically you might just try and fit as much PV to the roof as possible, that’s not the way to do it now,” Chris Roberts of Poweri Systems told sister titles Energy-Storage. News and PV Tech in a video interview. “We’re trying to match more to the consumption profile.” Roberts said he is receiving “more and more” enquiries about installing systems on a “trial basis” from companies seeking to reduce their electricity costs. There have been growing expectations around the role of energy storage in the UK, with German storage provider Sonnen earlier this week highlighting the country as a “key territory” in its expansion plans following investment by US engineering giant GE.
Solar Portal 8th June 2016 read more »
Community Solar
People are being invited to invest in a new community solar farm. It is being built at Ferry Farm, between Selsey and Sidlesham, and people or organisations can invest between £250 and £100,000. The project will be run as a community enterprise and any profits will be distributed to local community organisations and projects through Ferry Farm Community Solar Project, a locally-governed Community Benefit Society.
Chichester Observer 8th June 2016 read more »
Solar Car Ports
HEREFORDSHIRE Council has applied to put solar panel car ports at its offices in Plough Lane in Hereford. The council want to install a 250kWp ground-mounted solar PV system, which will provide a solar car port over the existing car parking space to the north of the main office building. Solar car ports work as a standard car port with the exception of the roof which replaces traditional roofing materials with solar PV panels. It is expected that the majority of electricity produced will be used by the offices, with any excess being exported to the grid.
Kidderminster Shuttle 8th June 2016 read more »
Commercial Rooftop Solar
The UK solar market must “unlock” deployment on commercial buildings if the technology is to continue its cost-reduction path to a subsidy-free future, the Renewable Energy Association (REA) has claimed. This morning the REA published its annual Renewable Energy View report, compiled in conjunction with Big Four consultancy firm KPMG and Innovas, which provides an overview of the domestic renewable energy sector and the risks posed by changes in policy. Hailing solar PV’s record for exceeding expectations as “second to none”, the report discusses the uncertain future the technology faces in the UK given the government’s subsidy reset which has seen the Renewables Obligation and feed-in tariff closed and cut respectively. With solar all but excluded from future Contracts for Difference rounds, the REA has stressed that for solar to continue to reduce its installation costs it must branch out into previously lacklustre markets. “In order for solar PV to become attractive without subsidies there is a need to unlock deployment on buildings in the commercial sector,” the report reads.
Solar Portal 7th June 2016 read more »
Perthshire Solar Farm
Scotland’s largest solar-power parc officially opens today in Perthshire. Located on the Errol Estate near Perth, the new solar farm has been developed by Bristol-based Elgin Energy and will deploy solar PV panels supplied by global provider Canadian Solar. The 13MW scheme has been constructed on 70 acres of land and will ultimately provide power for more than 3,500 homes. Paul Wheelhouse, Scottish Energy Minister, will formally ‘cut the ribbon’ to declare the new solar farm open for generation. And ‘more solar’ is also one of the key points raised by Scotland’s Renewable Future forum in its ‘manifesto’ for the new Scot-Govt. Scottish Energy Policy.This project is proof that large scale solar PV systems work well on the east coast of Scotland and the firm is continuing to source solar sites across Scotland, with a view to developing schemes that are financially viable without subsidy support.
Scottish Energy News 7th June 2016 read more »
Scotland’s largest solar farm, which will provide power for more than 3,500 homes, is due to be officially opened. The 13MW scheme, which was constructed on 70 acres of land at Errol Estate in Perthshire and includes 55,000 solar panels, went live in May. Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish government’s minister for business, innovation and energy, will formally launch the solar farm. Its construction began in January. It generates energy all year round. Errol Estate was one of the first locations in Scotland to be identified as a potential solar farm site, with the land being promoted for development by Thomas Macmillan of Savills in 2011.
BBC 7th June 2016 read more »
The National 8th June 2016 read more »
Scotsman 7th June 2016 read more »
Local Energy
Over 200 cities have set greenhouse gas reduction goals or targets. Action in these cities, which represent a combined population of 439 million people, could propel countries to meet their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)—the national greenhouse gas reduction pledges embodied in the Paris Agreement. According to Can a City Be Sustainable?, the latest edition of the annual State of the World series from the Worldwatch Institute, cities and their inhabitants are playing a lead role in achieving global climate action goals.
Worldwatch 7th June 2016 read more »
Scottish Energy Policy
The new Scottish Energy Minister has already accepted one the ‘big wishes’ from Scotland’s Renewable Future forum – to embed a ‘systems-wide’ approach de-carbonising the heat and transport sectors. In a speech at a renewable energy conference today in Perth, Paul Wheelhouse is likely to flag up a clear direction of ‘system wide’ travel for the Scot-Govt’s new Scottish Energy Strategy. He is expected to say: “Our approach to heat in particular offers many exciting opportunities – not only helping us to deliver on our climate change ambitions, but also contributing to our efforts to promote growth and tackle inequalities – particularly fuel poverty. The Scotland’s Renewable Future forum ‘manifesto’ for the government’s new Scottish Energy Strategy has also been sent to the SNP MP Pete Wishart, Chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, ahead of its evidence-session in Edinburgh this week with prominent figures in the Scottish energy industry. The House of Commons committee will also take evidence from Paul Wheelhouse, the new Scottish Energy Minister to find out how the Scottish Government supports Scotland’s renewable energy sector and the move to a low carbon economy.
Scottish Energy News 7th June 2016 read more »
Scotland’s Renewable Future conference – which featured a galaxy of star speakers – has generated a ‘first draft’ of the new Scottish Energy Strategy for the Scottish Government. While the newly-appointed Scottish energy minister and trade and industry secretary take time to come up to speed with their new portfolios, leading figures in the Scottish renewables sector have been able to save them some time. Notwithstanding the greater UK-constitutional realities under which the Scottish Government does not have full control of all the economic levers, the industry wants to see clear and positive leadership – as well as much more, and much faster, progress to. Draft new Scottish Energy Strategy: De-carbonise heating and transport, with specific and measureable milestones and with pre-set annual percentages for the public sector (health, education, local government, emergency services, etc); Develop and implement the following specific policies to create new employment in Scottish renewables sector: Greater support – including specific policy goals and measurable milestones – for solar power – ‘even in Scotland!’ Greater support – including specific policy goals and measurable milestones – for using one of Scotland’s biggest natural resources (cold water) for heatpumps in housing; Clear policy, practice and delivery, on energy storage – notably battery storage for solar PV systems; Clear policy objectives for ‘smarter grids’ and active network management – ie policy-led practice rather than ‘simple’ technology-led ‘silo-working’ – ie a ‘system-wide’ approach. A supportive policy framework to give both on- and off-shore wind time to become subsidy-free; A focussed and targeted unit aimed at supporting the development of a Scottish wind turbine and blade manufacturing sector (in the same way, for instance, that Scot-Govt stepped into create Wave Energy Scotland following high-profile corporate collapses in the sector); Clear and specific policy goals and measurable milestones for carbon-capture and storage (rather than political grand-standing and party point-scoring); Clear and specific policy goals and measurable milestones for hydro-power; Clear and specific policy goals and measurable milestones for marine/ocean energy.
Scottish Energy News 6th June 2016 read more »
Good Energy
Clean energy utility and renewables developer Good Energy has today launched a customer-focused share offer to help power its new strategy. Just under 1.5 million new ordinary shares are to be made available at 208 pence per share, with Good Energy seeking to raise £3.1 million. The utility has said the proceeds – expected to be around £2.7 million – would be used to achieve its aim of increasing its customer numbers five-fold by 2020. Investments will be made in its operational customer platform, the development of new generation assets and to improve the company’s long-term financial position. Addressing would-be investors in the company prospectus, Good Energy chief Juliet Davenport OBE said the company was “embarking on the next stage of our growth journey”.
Solar Portal 7th June 2016 read more »
Kingspan Solar
Having gone through a period of retrenchment Courtney is now focused on ensuring Kingspan Energy plays a key role in any UK solar market recovery, and again he hopes being part of a larger group will prove beneficial. “We’re focused on the PV side, but we can integrate LED lighting as part of a zero energy lighting solution and we also look at a building holistically, so if there are any barriers to PV adoption like the condition of the roof we can deliver a roof refurbishment,” he explains. “We have the suite of products within Kingspan to deliver a full solution…The Kingspan name has opened a lot of doors for us.” Courtney is now optimistic that name can continue to open doors, even if the financial returns from solar rooftop deployments have fallen. “What we are now seeing is relative optimism in terms of what is coming through in our pipeline,” he reflects. “The benefit of commercial and industrial rooftop installations have is you are competing with retail electricity, you are not competing with wholesale electricity prices.
Business Green 6th June 2016 read more »
Energise Barnsley Re-energised
British Gas Solar, the solar-focused arm of Centrica’s distributed generation business, is to continue work on the Energise Barnsley solar PV scheme after a new bond offer launched to finance the project. The bond offer aims to raise around £1.2 million to finance the deployment of 2MW of rooftop solar to be fitted across council-owned buildings and housing, offering returns of around 5% for would-be investors. Local housing, sheltered accommodation, schools and other community buildings in Barnsley will receive solar PV systems, which will be designed and installed by British Gas Solar. British Gas Solar runs the scheme jointly alongside Energise Barnsley and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, and the project has already installed solar on more than 320 council homes. The council was forced to suspend deployment under the programme in February this year after the feed-in tariff cuts rendered future installations uneconomical, however the bond offer would help deployment to resume. Energise Barnsley is also set to launch a battery storage trial to test the technology’s impact on solar economics.
Solar Portal 6th June 2016 read more »
Business Green 7th June 2016 read more »
Energise Barnsley is launching a new five-year solar retail bond paying 5% in conjunction with British Gas Solar and Barnsley Council.
Love Money 7th June 2016 read more »
Doncaster Solar
One of Doncaster’s biggest solar power generation sites has been given the green light to operate near Robin Hood Airport. The scheme, for a piece of land west of South View, Austerfield, was approved by Doncaster Council planning committee after officials at Robin Hood Airport raised no concerns over the proposal by applicant Aidan Woodrow. The scheme is a 50 kilowatt, solar photovoltaic farm covering an area of 0.1 hectares. The development proposes to use solar power to create electricity to be distributed to the local grid.
The Star 7th June 2016 read more »
Heat Recovery
British housing developers Redrow has inked a new partnership which will see it add systems from waste water heat recovery firm Power-Pipe to its list of approved suppliers. The housing firm announced last week it has added Power-Pipe’s systems to its national trade specification. The company told BusinessGreen the deal means it will now use the technology “where required”. The system is now expected to be typically deployed in off-gas locations where liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or oil boilers are currently specified.
Business Green 7th June 2016 read more »
Existing Homes Alliance
A coalition of environmental, health and anti-poverty campaigners has called for major infrastructure investment to boost energy efficiency in Scotland’s homes. The Existing Homes Alliance is calling for significant investment in a National Infrastructure Priority for energy efficiency, with the overall aim of making all housing warm and healthy by 2025. With 35 per cent of households in Scotland classified as living in fuel poverty, the Alliance is campaigning for all homes to be upgraded to the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C. Campaigners argue it would save the NHS money and create new jobs. Meanwhile the Head of the British Lung Foundation in Scotland, Irene Johnstone, warned that cold and damp homes cause illnesses such as lung disease, placing additional strain on our hea lth and social services.
Holyrood 6th June 2016 read more »
Scottish Construction Now 6th June 2016 read more »
Third Force News 3rd June 2016 read more »
Son of Eco?
The government must work with local community groups or authorities on the next energy efficiency measures after the closure of the current scheme in March 2017, Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA) chief executive Mike Foster has urged. The Energy Companies Obligation (Eco), which requires suppliers to install energy efficiency measures in domestic households, is due to enter a transitional year in March 2017 before a new scheme is announced. In January this year, energy minister Lord Bourne told MPs that the recast Eco would focus on fuel poverty. Speaking to Utility Week, Foster said: “Connection to the gas grid is something that for me is a win-win for consumers but other areas Eco should examine as it moves forward and looks to change… would be looking at working closer with local community groups or local authorities.”
Utility Week 6th May 2016 read more »
Energy Storage
Sonnen, a German battery start-up that has become Europe’s largest maker of rechargeable energy storage units, has secured an investment from General Electric as it expands its presence in the US and UK. The private German company was founded in 2010 and competes with the likes of Tesla and Samsung to provide homeowners with lithium-ion battery packs powered by solar energy. To date it has sold 11,000 units, including 2,600 units worldwide in the first quarter – just enough to outpace sales of Tesla’s wall-mounted Powerwall units. GE Ventures, an arm of GE, paid a “mid double-digit million-euro” amount for a stake in the company. Sonnen and GE would not disclose the exact amount, or say what it implied about Sonnen’s valuation. Jonathan Pulitzer, managing director at GE Ventures, said that Sonnen was “helping to reshape the energy industry” with “clean and affordable energy”. The cost of a “sonnenbatterie” starts at 3,500 euro, but the average system is between 7,000 and 8,000 euro. Once installed customers can move “off the grid” and save up to 80 per cent off their utility bill.
FT 6th June 2016 read more »
Renew Economy 7th June 2016 read more »
Anaerobic Digestion
Farmers are leading a backlash against the Government’s latest cut to green energy subsidies, warning it will deprive the struggling agricultural sector of a valuable source of income. In a consultation quietly published late last month, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) proposed slashing subsidies for anaerobic digestion (AD) plants. Anaerobic digesters take organic materials, such as crops or agricultural waste, and break them down using bacteria to produce “biogas” and fertiliser. The gas can then be burnt to produce electricity, or processed and sold into the mains gas grid. DECC plans to remove subsidies for big new AD plants and cut support for smaller new plants. Farmers’ union the NFU has warned the changes could sound the “death knell” for new biogas on farms. It estimates that farmers own about 200 AD plants, about two-thirds of all such plants in the UK, while up to 1,000 farms may have an interest in AD, for example by supplying them with crops. Dr Jonathan Scurlock, NFU chief adviser on renewable energy said: “We are very worried now. This is bad news for the rural economy, and bad for agricultural efforts to tackle climate change.” He said there was a pipeline of up to 500 further AD plants in the early stages of development but that farmers would struggle to get financing for projects under the proposed cuts.
Telegraph 5th June 2016 read more »
Solar-Powered Beer
ON THE face of it, this humble pint of John Smith’s appears to be nothing out of the ordinary – but behind its frothy top and golden hue, it tells a story of traditional business marking out a new legacy of sustainability. For this is the 30 millionth pint of beer to be “brewed by the sun” in Yorkshire, at Heineken’s solar powered brewery in Tadcaster – the biggest in the UK. In 2014, the company invested £1m in 4,000 solar panels that were placed on the rooftops of the brewery and bottling plant, which has been in the North Yorkshire town since 1178.
Yorkshire Post 3rd June 2016 read more »
100% Renewables
A raft of new companies including Tetra Pak, Interface and Equinix have pledged to source 100% renewable energy as part of a RE100 initiative that will be galvanised by a government-led push to promote the renewables revolution to 1,000 businesses. Unveiled on Thursday (2 June), at the Seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) in San Francisco, a new ‘Corporate Sourcing of Renewables’ campaign – led by the German and Danish Governments – will aim to add to the six new RE100 pledges – from Equinix, Tetra Pak, TD Bank Group, Interface, Dentsu Aegis Network and Workday – to drive the commitment across 23 countries and the European Commission.
Edie 3rd June 2016 read more »
Local Energy
Energy companies are cheaper and cleaner when run by the council. Sadiq Khan’s pledge to establish a municipal energy company, Energy for Londoners, is one of his most striking mayoral election commitments. London will not be the first authority to set up such a not-for-profit company – Nottingham and Bristol got there first – but it will be the largest, and potentially the most ambitious. The energy market is notoriously uncompetitive, dominated by the big six utility companies, whose pricing practices have led them to be investigated and criticised by the competition watchdog. Most consumers have little trust in these companies, but are reluctant to switch suppliers for a better deal. At the IPPR, we’ve argued for local authorities, and London in particular, to set up municipally-owned energy companies that can supply electricity and gas at competitive prices and don’t have to distribute profits to private shareholders. By targeting those on low incomes, they can help tackle the problem of fuel poverty. With the big energy companies so widely distrusted, we believe the local authority “brand” can encourage otherwise reluctant low-income households to switch suppliers and save money. Since Robin Hood Energy was launched by Nottingham city council in September 2015, it has become one of the cheapest suppliers in the East Midlands. By actively contacting customers and helping them move to the cheapest tariffs based on their energy use, Robin Hood confounds the logic of traditional suppliers with business models that rest on the inertia of their customers. This has not only benefited its own growing customer base, but has forced other companies to cut their prices to compete. Bristol Energy has even wider goals. Fully open since earlier this year, the company aims not just to supply energy at competitive prices – it reckons its tariffs can save customers an average of £250 a year – but to invest in community-based renewable generation and ultimately in renewable heat supply as well.
Guardian 3rd June 2016 read more »
Nissan
The sun is now providing enough energy for more than 6 out of every 100 Nissans built at its Sunderland plant, following the switch-on of the company’s massive solar farm there. The 19,000 photovoltaic panels generating 4.75MW of electricity work with 10 wind turbines to supply seven percent of the plant’s overall electricity supply. With 476,589 cars built last year, including the popular Qashqai and the electric Leaf, solar energy is producing the equivalent of 6.5% of the factory’s total output.
Birmingham Mail 3rd June 2016 read more »