UK Energy

The UK’s largest electricity producer has warned that the government is in danger of failing to secure enough new offshore wind projects this year due to flawed internal modelling around the technology. 

RWE told the Financial Times that ministers risk overestimating the costs of offshore power to bill payers leading it to potentially award fewer of the government support contracts needed to get projects off the ground. 

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Offshore wind is set to play a crucial part in the UK’s efforts to cut its carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. The government wants to have 50 gigawatts installed by 2030, up from roughly 14GW today. 

The upcoming auction round for government contracts this year is vital for the industry’s prospects after the 2023 round flopped. No offshore wind developers bid after repeatedly warning the level of government support on offer was too low to offset rising costs. 

In response, the government has raised the maximum price that new wind farms could be paid for each megawatt-hour they eventually produce under its subsidy scheme.

The scheme is designed so that consumers fund top-ups to developers if the wholesale price of power falls below a certain level.  

However, ministers have not yet released forecasts for wholesale power prices and wind farms’ performance, which will help determine the cost to bill-payers and, therefore, the number of wind farms it can back in its budget. 

RWE warned that the forecasts used in the previous auction round for these subsidy contracts did not match market assumptions, with wholesale prices too low and performance too high, and that this could be damaging if repeated.  

1. Instant heat
2. Simple to install
3. Affordable heat
4. Radiant heat is healthy and safe
5. Our homegrown future

Infrared fabric is a UK invention and it’s UK-manufactured. All we need now is for it to be UK accredited. That’s a long and expensive process, but the all important SAP Appendix Q certification is due in 2025 if not before. It already has BSEN (British Standard) approval as a large area low temperature emitter and it’s class A fire rated.

The Welsh government already funds its use in retrofit programmes following extensive trials across 270 homes. Further research is now needed to evidence the health, safety and carbon benefits that will strengthen the case even more for this form of heating.

So if you’re retrofitting an existing property as a home owner, private landlord, housing association or local authority, infrared fabric could be a low-risk, low-cost, low-carbon solution worth considering.

The UK’s 40-year-old fusion reactor achieved a world record for energy output in its final runs before being shut down for good, scientists have announced.

The Joint European Torus (JET) in Oxfordshire began operating in 1983. When running, it was temporarily the hottest point in the solar system, reaching 150 million°C.

The reactor’s previous record was a reaction lasting for 5 seconds in 2021, producing 59 megajoules of heat energy. But in its final tests in late 2023, it surpassed this by sustaining a reaction for 5.2 seconds while also reaching 69 megajoules of output, using just 0.2 milligrams of fuel.

This equates to a power output of 12.5 megawatts – enough to power 12,000 homes, said Mikhail Maslov of the UK Atomic Energy Authority at a press conference on 8 February.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/14727556

The UK is among many Western countries to ban the import of all oil and oil products that originate in Russia in a bid to hit the amount of cash Moscow can generate from fossil fuels.

But two separate reports, shared exclusively with the BBC, suggest the rules on refining enable products made from Russian crude oil to arrive on UK soil.

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said this "refining loophole" meant countries such as India and China, who have not sanctioned the Kremlin, are able to legally import Russian crude and refine it into oil products such as jet fuel and diesel.

They then export those products to the likes of the UK and the EU.

"The issue with this loophole is that it increases the demand for Russian crude and enables higher sales in terms of volume and pushing up their price as well, which increases the funds sent to the Kremlin's war chest," said Isaac Levi, head of CREA's Europe-Russia policy and energy analysis.

Amazon has signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) for a total of 473 MW of Moray West offshore wind farm’s generation capacity to help power its operations when the project becomes operational later this year.

The technology giant signed the CPPA with ENGIE, which owns the Moray West project through Ocean Winds, the 50-50 joint venture between ENGIE and EDP Renewables.

The 473 MW Amazon secured through the agreement is enough to power the equivalent of more than 650,000 UK homes annually and is more than half of the total installed capacity of the 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm.

The project already has 100 MW of its generation capacity reserved since 2022, when Google entered into a twelve-year corporate power purchase agreement with ENGIE for Moray West.

Located in the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland, the offshore wind farm is currently under construction with foundation installation underway.

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Ocean Winds says it is following an accelerated development and construction plan, with capacity from the site supporting Amazon’s goal of powering all operations with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of the company’s original target.

According to a press release from the Moray West developer, Amazon’s investment in solar and wind projects has led the company to become Europe’s and the UK’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy.

Now, public officials are hoping disused mines that provided millions of tonnes of fossil fuels could be used as a potential source of renewable energy across the country.

It has already been a success in Gateshead, where the council-owned Gateshead Energy Company is using warm water from the extensive network of old mine workings 150 metres below the town to supply heat and hot water.

Other authorities are catching on to the potential with the metro mayor for the west of England, Dan Norris, betting £1.5m that some of the 100-plus mines in Somerset and South Gloucestershire will be able to provide a renewable source of heat in the region.

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The Gateshead Energy Company powers its centralised heat pump with a solar farm and estimates to be saving about 1,800 tonnes of CO2 a year

Household energy supplier Octopus is seeking to take on the National Grid by building its own electricity pylons, as frustration grows at the pace of the network’s expansion.

Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus, said the business has held talks with Ofgem, the industry regulator, about opening up the planning and building of the power grid to competition.

His company argues it can build sections of the high-voltage transmission network – the backbone of the electricity system – more quickly and efficiently than the National Grid, helping to speed up the rollout of clean energy.

The shakeup would end the National Grid’s 30-year monopoly on transmission infrastructure in England and Wales, amid complaints from wind and solar farm developers that the Grid’s slow expansion is leaving them to wait a decade to connect to the system.

Thousands of new pylons must be built across Britain as part of the switch to net zero. Giving up oil and gas will boost demand for electricity, requiring more infrastructure to carry the power to homes and businesses.

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Octopus has been inspired by Indian energy company Sterlite Power, which has used cutting-edge computer software in India and Brazil to design power grid projects in a way that saves time and money.

It does this by mapping projects to avoid areas where it will be complicated to secure planning permission or where there will be large numbers of potential objectors, which prevents schemes from becoming bogged down by delays and opposition.

SSE Renewables and Equinor, the developers of the Dogger Bank wind farm in the UK, awarded contracts for green hydrogen concept and engineering and optimization studies to Genesis, H2GO Power, and Fichtner.

If progressed for delivery, Dogger Bank D would be located in the North Sea around 210 kilometers off the northeast coast of England. Subject to the successful outcome of further technical studies, the project could be capable of generating up to around 2 GW of renewable power.

The project partners are looking to advance Dogger Bank D with both power and green hydrogen as potential end products. The green hydrogen facility, if developed, could become one of the UK’s largest green hydrogen projects and, subject to supportive Government policy and supply chain alignment, could contribute to the UK Government’s electrolytic hydrogen ambitions for 5 GW by 2030, the partners said.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/5053877

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority report, seen by the LDRS, outlines various plans for a potential tidal barrage project, which could be built across the Mersey, a long-term vision that is considered crucial to reducing carbon emissions across Merseyside. If it goes ahead, the multi-billion project is expected to power one million homes and create thousands of jobs.

The combined authority hopes to have the project delivered by 2040 to operate for 120 years alongside four new offshore wind developments expected to be up and running by 2030 – although this will require substantial government backing.

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The report published in October said the project would be “a first of a kind project in the UK, and involve constructing a barrage with turbines, sluices and marine navigation locks in the Mersey.

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The report adds, “A tidal project on the Mersey will create a major new piece of infrastructure – linking the left and right bank (Wirral and Liverpool) – with the potential to provide more clean energy, provide protection against inevitable sea level rise and can be deployed to help create and enhance natural habitats. This will require assessment and agreed mitigation plans.”

The report said the tidal range turbines proposed would have the capacity to generate 25 megawatts each with 28 turbines. The turbines will generate electricity by turning as the tide goes out and comes back in though sluice gates would also be used to let water quickly pass through the barrage if needed.

Households are set to learn that their energy bills will rise again from January as hopes for relief from the cost-of-living crisis are put on hold.

Ofgem will announce its latest price cap on Thursday, with energy consultancy Cornwall Insight predicting it will increase from the current £1,834 for a typical dual fuel household to £1,931 – a 5% jump to take effect from January to March.

The forecasts suggest that the typical bill will then fall to £1,853 from the start of April, but will not drop below today’s level until July next year.

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Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “An unstable wholesale energy market, coupled with the UK’s reliance on energy imports, makes it inevitable that energy bills will rise from current levels.

“This leaves households facing yet another winter with bills hundreds of pounds higher than pre-pandemic levels, and affordable fixed deals few and far between.”

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“While we continue to advocate for immediate targeted support for vulnerable consumers, it is evident that the only enduring solution lies in transitioning the UK away from the influence of global energy prices towards sustainable, domestically sourced energy.”

Other countries are using the UK as an excuse for pressing ahead with fossil fuel projects despite their climate commitments, according to Adair Turner, the first chair of the Committee on Climate Change and a former head of the CBI.

Lord Turner told the Guardian that he had “literally been involved in discussions” in China and India where UK decisions had been given as a reason for not moving faster on the climate.

“I can tell you that [the Cumbrian coalmine] was a disaster globally, and in China and India, where I was engaged in debates [on reducing greenhouse gas emissions], I have had people say ‘yeah, but you’re building a new coalmine in the UK’,” he said.

“So that was a disaster for our reputation, and it provides arguments for the people within government or within interest groups in China and India to say ‘oh look, the UK is supposedly committed to net zero, but it’s not serious, it’s building a new coalmine’. And the same occurs with new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.”

Turner is now chair of the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), a thinktank that on Thursday published a report that says the production of and demand for fossil fuels must be reduced rapidly, and that this is achievable. “Unabated” fossil fuel use must be phased out, and there is only limited scope for the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS), the report finds.

Automated floating factories that manufacture green versions of petrol or diesel could soon be in operation thanks to pioneering work at the University of Cambridge. The revolutionary system would produce a net-zero fuel that would burn without creating fossil-derived emissions of carbon dioxide, say researchers.

The Cambridge project is based on a floating artificial leaf which has been developed at the university and which can turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into synthetic fuel. The group believe these thin, flexible devices could one day be exploited on a industrial scale.

“Solar panels are excellent at generating electricity and are making a great contribution to the world reaching its net zero aspirations,” said Erwin Reisner, the professor of energy and sustainability at Cambridge University. “But using sunlight to make non-fossil fuels that could be burned by cars or ships takes things a stage further.”

Reisner and his colleagues envisage exploiting the technology to build carpets of artificial leaves that would float on lakes and river estuaries, and use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into the components of petrol and other fuels. “The crucial point is that we are not decarbonising the economy through techniques like these,” Reisner said. “Carbon is still a key component. What we are doing is to ‘defossilise’ the economy. We will no longer be burning ancient sources of carbon – coal, oil and gas – and adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, a process that is doing so much damage at present.”

cross-posted from: https://derp.foo/post/374476

Wind conclusions:

The authors give three reasons for their discrepancy with MacKay’s estimates.

• Improved fixed turbine technologies. MacKay described all waters deeper than 30 metres as “not economically feasible”. But fixed turbines could soon be commercially feasible to around 80 metres of depth.

• Floating offshore turbines. The advent of floating turbines means that these can extend into much deeper waters. Note that O’Callaghan et al. (2023) already account for many other competing uses such as fishing areas, military zones, shipping routes, and low-wind areas.

• Improved social and political support. O’Callaghan et al. (2023) assume there is less public resistance to offshore wind, which seems appropriate.

Solar conclusions:

What are the major differences to MacKay?

• Lower cost: the price of solar PV has fallen by 90% in the last decade. MacKay’s main concern was it was too expensive: this is not the case today.

• Improved cell efficiency: MacKay used a cell efficiency of 10%, and thought an efficiency of 30% would be “quite remarkable”. Last year, Fraunhofer ISE achieved 47.6%. Efficiencies greater than 30% have also been achieved using perovskite solar cells. O’Callaghan uses a cell efficiency of 25%. See the footnote for a chart showing the differences in efficiency over time.7

• Combined use with agriculture: MacKay assumed an inherent trade-off between agricultural land and solar. He thought the Brits would never give up farmland for solar panels. But this trade-off does not always exist: there are now a range of projects where solar and agriculture work in tandem (‘agrivoltaics’).

The well was drilled but never fracked - leaving the site owners, Third Energy, with a deep hole in the ground.

Tom Heap with Steve Mason and Russell Hoare at the once highly-contested proposed fracking site Its managing director, Russell Hoare, showed me the well and explained its second life. They are even re-using the two metre-high gas valve which caps the hole.

"This is the actual well that was drilled for fracking and it's about 3,000 metres deep, but the protesters were successful, and Steve was successful, in stopping that operation.

"But it's perfect for testing geothermal energy. There's hot water at the bottom. All we're doing is bringing it to the surface."

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Once commercially exploited, they reckon this well could supply 300 homes, so we would need a lot more deep drilling to keep Britain warm.

Gas to geothermal conversion company, CeraPhi, thinks there are 680 wells in the UK ripe for conversion together with millions around the world, and that new wells can be sunk cheaply enough to expand further.

Such potential provokes interest. While we are on the site, chief executive Karl Farrow is showing around a group of academics and industry players.

They've had more than 100 such visitors in the past month.

Karl told me: "Wells at the end of life can be repurposed and reused for energy.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/3446966

And you can have your say via public consultation starting today

An old coal mine has been providing an English town with green energy for the last six months.

The ground-breaking project in Gateshead is using the warm water that has filled the tunnels to heat hundreds of homes and businesses in the former coalfield community.

Hailed a success, the UK’s first large-scale network shows the huge potential to be found in the nation’s sprawling warren of old mining tunnels, which sit beneath roughly a quarter of homes.

The world's largest offshore wind farm has started producing electricity for the first time.

Power from the first turbine at the Dogger Bank project, which is construction in the North Sea, is now being sent to the UK's national grid.

In total 277 turbines will be powered-up at the location, situated between 81 and 124 miles (130-200km) off the Yorkshire coast.

The wind farm is due for completion in 2026.

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Each rotation of the 107m (351ft) long blades on Dogger Bank's first operational turbine can produce enough clean energy to power an average British home for two days, SSE Renewables said.

Once complete, Dogger Bank's offshore turbines are expected to generate 3.6GW of power - enough for six million UK homes.

Rishi Sunak plans to restrict the installation of solar panels on swathes of English farmland, which climate campaigners say will raise bills and put the UK’s energy security at risk.

Last year, then prime minister Liz Truss attempted to block solar from most of the country’s farmland. The plans were deeply controversial and unpopular, and were dropped when she left office.

However, solar panels in the countryside are disliked by many rural Conservative MPs, and the Observer can reveal that Sunak and environment secretary Thérèse Coffey have revived plans to put new restrictions on this form of cheap renewable energy.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at Mildenhall Industrial Park in West Suffolk have reported reductions in their energy bills, ranging from 20% to as much as 90%, thanks to a peer-to-peer energy trading initiative.

West Suffolk Council and Manchester-based deeptech company UrbanChain have partnered to establish a local green energy market.

Peer-to-peer energy trading enables individuals and businesses to directly buy and sell electricity.

West Suffolk Council has proactively invested in renewable energy infrastructure, with 272kW of solar PV installations on ten commercial buildings within Mildenhall Industrial Estate and ownership of a nearby 12MW solar farm.

By participating in UrbanChain’s peer-to-peer energy exchange, the council’s renewable generators have seen returns at least 35% higher than prevailing market rates.

The consumption of electricity in the UK has reached its lowest levels since the second quarter of 2020, a period marked by the initial Covid-19 lockdown, which significantly curtailed energy demand.

According to government analysis, this decline in electricity consumption is evident across all sectors, with the domestic sector experiencing the most significant reduction, down by 7.7% to 20.4TWh.

This continued trend of decreased consumption aligns with the backdrop of increasing household expenses, including rising energy costs.

In addition, there has been a substantial decrease in the demand for natural gas, with a 13% during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

The total final consumption of gas also witnessed a decline of 7.5%, reflecting reduced gas demand across all sectors.

Among these sectors, the domestic sector saw the most substantial decline, down by 9.3% compared to the same period in the previous year.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/5912949

EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy International LLC, Holtec Britain Limited, NuScale Power, Rolls Royce and Westinghouse Electric Company UK Limited have been chosen for the next stage of the process.

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition is part of the government’s plan for up to a quarter of all UK electricity to come from nuclear power by 2050.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/5913604

To date, the UK has installed more than 14 GW of onshore wind power and has a pipeline of planned projects totaling 23 GW.

Cool to see the UK doing cool shit even though they left the EU.