Flywheel technology that will give an EV driver 100 miles range with a 5 minute charge, and be deployed in rural areas, has won a £545,000 grant from the UK Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, in partnership with Innovate UK.…
Author Archive for New Power
OPINION: Digitalisation and energy – finding the sweet spot
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Simon Skillings, senior associate at E3G, Third Generation Environmentalism, argues that we need to take the fastest way of using digitalisation to support the energy transition. That means making it part of a coherent overall policy package that helps improve…
Bluefield Solar plans £150M share offering to acquire and repower wind portfolio
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Bluefield Solar has agreed to acquire 109 small UK onshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 12.59MW for £60 million (including working capital) from Arena Capital Partners Limited. Bluefield plans to invest a further £35 million in re-powering 17…
High breakdown rate at conventional plants drove last winter’s alerts over electricity margins, says NGESO in review
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Low availability of coal and gas generation was the main driver when the margin between electricity supply and demand was low last winter, according to National Grid ESO. Although wind generation was generally lower than anticipated last winter, it was…
Conrad Energy acquires battery, prepares to seek development consent for solar farm
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Conrad Energy has acquired a 24MW battery project in Blackpool from Power Initiatives. It has a grid connection and planning consent secured, and Conrad Energy expects the site to commence construction in the autumn. Meanwhile it expects to seek development…
Largest-ever home energy flexibility trial will include EVs and heat pumps in 25k households
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Over 25,000 households are set to take part in the UK’s largest ever home energy flexibility study. CrowdFlex, funded as a Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) project via National Grid ESO and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) will include Octopus…
Gas winter review: increasing variability puts pressure on compressor fleet
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National Grid Gas (NGG) saw a different winter in 2020/21 than it had forecast, according to its Gas Winter Review and Consultation The gas grid operator expected the trends of recent years to continue, forecasting that use of LNG would…
CCC calls for economy-wide Net Zero test; power sector needs action on gas generation and energy from waste
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Two parts of the electricity generation sector were in the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC’s) firing line when it published its annual report to parliament. Among ‘specific key gaps that need to be addressed by government policy’ the CCC called for…
CCC report to parliament: the industry responds
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Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP,: “The Climate Change Committee’s progress report offers a frank assessment of the Government’s environmental progress to date. The UK has made much headway in creating a cleaner electricity system over the…
BEIS under scrutiny as Select Committee opens inquiry into Net Zero governance
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The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has launched an inquiry on net zero governance, to examine what leadership and co-ordination will be needed by government to reach net zero by 2050. The Committee will consider the Department for…