SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies has urged Brexit negotiators to clarify the UK-EU energy relationship to avoid scuppering decarbonisation efforts. Phillips-Davies said a genuine European market, of which Britain is a part, was “critical” to decarbonising electricity, and that a collaborative EU-UK relationship on energy was “imperative”. Without collaboration, he suggested, the potential to link the Read more…

The capacity market auction for guaranteed power in four year’s time has cleared at £8.40/kW. The result is significantly lower than the previous T-4 auctions, which ranged between £18 and £22.50/kW – and well below virtually all analyst forecasts. Procurement of around 50GW was targeted, with 74GW of derated capacity, most of the UK’s generation fleet, Read more…

Unabated back-up diesel generators will not be allowed to do Triad avoidance and remain excluded from Medium Combustion Plant Directive controls, government has confirmed. The new directive limits emissions, mainly nitrogen oxides (NOx), and is intended to reduce air pollution. Under the rules, thermal plant between 1MW and 50MW must meet much stricter emissions limits Read more…

Heat networks should be regulated under the remit of an existing or new regulator, an industry alliance has told government. A regulated approach could derisk investment in new heat networks and ensure consumer protections, according to the Heat Network Task Force. The report spells out the key challenges for heat networks: Investors do not commit Read more…

I observed part of the hearing yesterday in the judicial review of Ofgem’s decision to reduce triad benefits for distributed generation by changing the charging base for the triad charging element of transmission network use of system charges from net demand (the power drawn by distribution systems from the transmission system to serve a supplier’s Read more…

Firms challenging Ofgem’s decision to make deep cuts to Triad export rates have been refused a temporary injunction to stop the decision from coming into effect from 1 April. The companies sought the injunction ahead of the T-1 Capacity Market auction, which starts next week. Lower Triad export payments will affect small generators’ CM bidding Read more…

Government has confirmed plans to cap the level of subsidies that power stations converted to biomass and co-firing generators can receive under the Renewables Obligation. Drax, owner of the UK’s largest thermal plant, welcomed the news and said it would now convert another of its generators to burn biomass. The department for business, energy and Read more…

Energy regulator Ofgem is to streamline its structure into three divisions. Meanwhile, two stalwarts are heading for the exit. Andrew Wright, senior partner for Energy Systems, and Chris Poulton, managing director for E-Serve will leave within the next few months, said CEO Dermot Nolan in a brief statement. The three divisions: Consumers and Markets will look Read more…

Coal power stations that do not fit abatement technologies will have to close on 1 October 2025 – but the government will legislate to allow them to operate in emergencies. The department for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) has published its intentions for UK coal power generation following a consultation. Coal plants that fit Read more…

Ofwat has poached one of Ofgem’s senior leaders to be its new chief executive. Rachel Fletcher, a board member and senior partner for consumers and competition, will join on 8 January after more than a decade with the energy regulator. She replaces Cathryn Ross who is heading to BT.   Ofwat chairman Jonson Cox said Fletcher Read more…

Firms planning gigawatts of battery storage are weighing up new derating factors published by government that will make short duration assets less valuable in the capacity market. Batteries that can deliver for only half an hour will be rated at around a fifth of their maximum output while assets that can discharge for four hours Read more…

Roadnight Taylor CEO Hugh Taylor says unscrupulous behaviour by developers and ‘specious consultants’ is causing collateral damage within DNOs and creating outcomes where nobody wins. I rang to say goodbye and good luck to a brilliant system planner (an extra-high voltage network designer) who is leaving one of our favourite distribution network operators yesterday. It Read more…

There are now 8.6 million smart and advanced meters operating in the UK, according to latest government data. But Labour MP Steve McCabe has warned the programme is heading for “disaster” and believes he has secured a commitment from government to re-evaluate the rollout. Figures released by the department for business, energy and industrial strategy Read more…

More energy intensive firms could be exempted from energy policy costs, depending on the outcome of a consultation promised in the government’s Industrial Strategy, published today. Currently, a small number of the largest industrial companies are able to avoid paying for government policy costs such as the contract for difference scheme, which are added to Read more…

SGN (formerly Scotia Gas Networks) has told Ofgem that it will not be claiming £145m of allowances agreed under its price controls. The company, which is owned by SSE, pensions and infrastructure funds, said the move will ensure customers benefit and “help maintain the integrity” of Ofgem’s RIIO price control model. Both network companies and Read more…

Maintaining the carbon price at current levels, as indicated by the Budget, risks a substantial resurgence of coal generation in the early 2020s, according to analysis by Aurora. The consultancy says by then the current global glut of LNG will have been burned through, driving up gas prices, and recent restrictions on coal production in Read more…

The Public Accounts Committee has delivered a withering assessment of the way ministers have handled Hinkley Point C, the nuclear power station scheduled to be built in Somerset. Its report suggests government reassess the case for new nuclear before agreeing any more expensive deals and publish a report on the impact on bills, particularly on Read more…

Economist and consultant Franck Latrémolière thinks Ofgem will lose the legal challenge it now faces over cuts to embedded benefits. On 20 June 2017 Ofgem directed implementation of WACM4 of CMP264 and CMP265. This would change the Transmission Network Use of System charging methodology to phase out the major part of the benefit that most distributed Read more…

Ofgem is considering “fundamental” reform of the energy supply market model in which suppliers as the central agents, or middlemen, could eventually become “redundant”, according to CEO Dermot Nolan. The regulator wants ideas on how it might go about making new rules to enable other parties, such as technology companies, to deliver new services to Read more…