I am worried about losing the climate change function when the Department of Energy and Climate Change disappears. But at the same time I wonder whether we should consider it an important opportunity. Over Decc’s short life renewable energy has…
Author Archive for New Power
Further delay to Moorside nuclear plant licence
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The target date for licensing the design for the Moorside new nuclear plant has been delayed a second time, to March 2017, and the schedule “remains challenging”, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said in a regular licensing update. The…
Ecotricity bills £5 to ‘fast charge’ electric vehicles from today
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Ecotricity is set to begin charging customers using its ‘Electric Highway’ car charging network. A rapid charge of up to twenty minutes will cost £5 for users who are not Ecotricity domestic energy customers. All Electric Highway members will have…
Economy 7 customers face losing the service; the system loses flexibility. Should it be maintained?
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The Energy Networks Association is consulting over whether the teleswitching service should be switched off next year. The service allows energy suppliers to switch payment rates for customers on tariffs such as Economy 7, and remotely switch on and off…
Offshore wind companies invest to acclerate cost reductions
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Nine European offshore wind developers – Dong Energy, EnBW, E.On, Iberdrola, RWE, SSE, Statkraft, Statoil and Vattenfall – have signed up to to collectively invest at least £6.4 million to bring the cost of offshore wind below £100 per MWh…
Carlton Power wins stay of execution for Trafford CCGT termination
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Secretary of State Amber Rudd has agreed a three-month extension to the termination date for Carlton Power’s Capacity Market contract in respect of a planned CCGT at Trafford in Manchester. The date has been extended from 26 September to 19…
GB is failing on renewable energy targets, says National Grid
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The UK will miss its target for 15% of energy use to come from renewable energy sources by 2020 in all the “Future Energy Scenarios” published by National Grid today. The target is not achieved until 2022 in the “Gone…
As hydro pumped storage hits a regulatory impasse, are batteries heading for a ‘bubble’
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Regulatory uncertainty is holding back a new generation of pumped hydro storage projects across the UK’s mountainous Celtic fringes, despite the growing need to balance variable output from renewable sources. A handful of large new-build projects are clamouring for greater…
Energy efficiency: how the NHS loses out – and what networks could do
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Joanne Wade, chief executive of the Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE), says the NHS’s local management structure is raising its energy costs. In New Power‘s July issue, Wade talks about energy efficiency programmes that can be easily replicated:…
Government accepts fifth Carbon Budget as Rudd seeks to reassure industry
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The government has accepted the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendation on that the UK should set a target to reduce carbon emissions 57% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2030. Professor Jim Watson, UKERC director, called the announcement: “very good news…