The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to determine whether France broke State Aid rules when it brokered a €4 billion bailout for Areva, the company due to supply the reactor for EDF’s Hinkley Point C project. Areva is…
Author Archive for New Power
Consents quashed for 2.3GW of Scottish offshore wind after RSPB challenge
by New Power • • Comments Off
Wind farms off the Scottish shore totalling 2.3GW have had their planning consents quashed by the Edinburgh Court of Session. RSPB Scotland took the consents to judicial review, arguing that the effects of the wind farms on bird life had…
Is climate change too important to keep in a silo?
by New Power • • 1 Comment
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…
Further delay to Moorside nuclear plant licence
by New Power • • Comments Off
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
by New Power • • Comments Off
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?
by New Power • • Comments Off
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
by New Power • • Comments Off
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
by New Power • • Comments Off
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
by New Power • • Comments Off
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’
by New Power • • Comments Off
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…