Renewables Category
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Government plans to increase clean energy investment
The Government says it will spend £730 million of annual funding on renewable electricity projects over this parliament, and has set out further details for the next Contracts for Difference auction, where companies will compete for the first £290 million worth of contracts for renewable electricity projects. The second Contracts for Difference auction should result in enough renewable electricity to power around one million homes and reduce carbon emissions by around 2.5 million ...
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Diesel generator subsidies threaten decarbonisation
A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claims that the proliferation of diesel generators within the UK energy system and the returns that investors have been able to secure are having a negative impact on decarbonisation and energy security. Last year the Government introduced a new energy policy which has awarded £109 million in subsidies, paid out of consumers’ energy bills, to new diesel generators, which are the dirtiest form of energy ...
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Renewables bring down wholesale cost of energy
A new report claims that renewables are cutting the wholesale price of energy and lessening the impact of subsidies on bill payers. The study, published by Good Energy and backed by the University of Sheffield, claims that wind and solar brought down the wholesale cost of electricity by £1.55 billion in 2014 – meaning that an overall net cost for supporting the two renewable sources last year was £1.1 billion, 58% less ...
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Onshore wind “fully cost competitive”
This year has seen a significant shift in the generating cost comparison between renewable energy and fossil fuels, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The research company’s Levelised Cost of Electricity Update for the second half of 2015 shows that onshore wind and crystalline silicon photovoltaics – the two most widespread renewable technologies – have both reduced costs in 2015, while costs have gone up for gas-fired and coal-fired generation. Among the country-level findings of the study ...
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Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon gets green light
The application for the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay proposal has had the go ahead from the Planning Inspectorate. Once built, turbines in the proposed six-mile horseshoe shaped sea wall around Swansea Bay in Wales could generate around 500GWh per year of low carbon electricity. However, separately from the planning consent, the project is subject to Contract for Difference (CfD) negotiations to establish whether a tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay is affordable and value for money for consumers. ...
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CofE rejects fossil fuel investments
The Church Commissioners and The Church of England Pensions Board have announced they will divest £12 million of investments from the thermal coal and tar sands sectors and will not, in future, make any direct investments in any company where more than 10% of its revenues are derived from the extraction of thermal coal or the production of oil from tar sands. The move follows the adoption of a new climate change policy recommended by the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group that sets out how its investing bodies will support the transition to a low carbon economy. The ...
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March solar eclipse to test Europe’s electricity system
European transmission system operators (TSOs) say they have been preparing for the 20th March solar eclipse for several months because of concerns over the impact of the eclipse on solar electricity generation. Under a clear morning sky on 20th March 2015, some 35,000 MW of solar energy might gradually fade from Europe's electrical system before being gradually re-injected: all in the space of two hours while Europeans and their offices begin a normal working day. TSOs are warning ...
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Go ahead for Yorkshire and Humberside wind farm
An offshore wind project has been given the go ahead by the Government and is expected to support up to 900 jobs in Yorkshire and Humberside, plus millions of pounds’ worth of investment. Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A and B wind project will include up to 400 wind turbines, around 130km off the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire. With a maximum capacity of 2400MW it will generate enough electricity to power almost two million ...
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UK industry guaranteed central role in Swansea tidal project
Tidal Lagoon Power, the developer of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, has announced that British industrial components and expertise will be at the heart of turbine production, following the appointment of General Electric and Andritz Hydro as preferred bidders to the £1 billion project. The two companies, bidding together for the contract to supply sixteen bidirectional turbines to the world's first tidal lagoon power plant, have committed to a majority of British large turbine components, to ...
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Environmental Audit Committee calls for halt to fracking
Shale fracking should be put on hold in the UK because it is incompatible with our climate change targets and could pose significant localised environmental risks to public health. That is the conclusion of MPs on the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee who will attempt to amend the Government’s Infrastructure Bill in Parliament today. In a new report, the committee warns that only a very small fraction of our shale reserves can be safely burned if we are ...