Ofgem aims to lighten the admin burden for power providers as part of its five-year review of the Capacity Market. It said the complexity of the current rules represent a barrier to entry and may lead to inefficient auction outcomes. The regulator plans to improve secondary trading of capacity agreements and make it easier for Read more…

Energy policy and regulation – what you need to know and how incoming change will shape your business strategy and bottom line The continued rate change to the energy industry looks set to continue in 2019. While the policy for decarbonising heat and transport continues to edge forwards the focus is still on the power Read more…

Ofgem has published its proposals to stop businesses with poor credentials and finances entering the energy retail market. The regulator is acting after a spate of suppliers went bust in 2018 and early 2019, many leaving debts that other suppliers – and their customers – will now pick up. From June, anyone that wants a Read more…

Government wants large industrials to outline the barriers to investing in energy efficiency. It also seeks information on what has worked when resources have been deployed to cut consumption and carbon. The informal consultation hopes to inform the design of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), which has a budget envelope of £315m to 2024. Read more…

Hoping that the UK’s heat sector will decarbonise itself is a high risk strategy, suggests Richard Lowes, of the University of Exeter Energy Policy Group. He believes heat policy requires an overhaul. Optimism versus realism As a natural optimist, I seriously hope that much of the UK’s heat decarbonisation problem can be solved by technological and Read more…

“Sanguine” about the challenge of decarbonising power and “relatively sanguine” about transport, Dermot Nolan is “far more nervous” about decarbonising heat – and its impact on bill payers. Speaking at Aurora’s spring forum, Ofgem’s chief executive said decarbonising transport would throw up “challenges of equity”, because some people will benefit from lower costs by using Read more…

National Grid has issued a robust assessment of Ofgem’s price control proposals, urging the regulator to rethink its plans or oversee “five years of missed opportunities for consumers”. The company wants 5.5 per cent returns. Ofgem proposes 4 per cent. Ofgem aims to deliver a tougher price control after setting a framework (RIIO1) that allowed Read more…

Drax has been granted developmental consent by secretary of state Greg Clark for a 299MW open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) at Rookery South, a former clay pit near Stewartby, Bedfordshire. The site is also earmarked for an energy from waste facility, the subject of long-running disputes and appeals. Drax plans to build the plant through Read more…

Energy suppliers may face another big Renewables Obligation (RO) bill after a spate of market exits. Cornwall Insight forecasts a potential shortfall in the RO Buyout Fund of up to £43.8m for 2018-19. Under the Renewables Obligation, energy suppliers are obliged to buy a certain amount of power from renewable sources. If they do not, Read more…

The department for business energy and industrial strategy is consulting further on changes to the Capacity Market that would enable wind and solar projects to be included, make changes in the way interconnectors participate, and prepare for a ‘T-3′ auction to be held in early 2020. The consultation assumes the European Commission will grant State Read more…

Energy suppliers will not be subject to mandatory payments to meet Capacity Market levies while the fate of the market is being determined, Beis has decided. But suppliers will be invoiced and have to pay in full within a few weeks of any ‘triggering event’ that reinstates the market. Beis will enable suppliers to make Read more…

A think tank has urged government and Ofgem to implement a low carbon gas obligation. Bright Blue’s report, supported by the Energy Networks Association, takes in a range of views – from gas networks and other hydrogen proponents, to those that believe that gas networks cannot exist in a decarbonised system. It outlines the options Read more…

Energy industry trade groups have called on energy secretary to prevent “misaligned” reforms to network charging from damaging the low carbon and flexible power sectors and undermining government ambition to create a smart, flexible energy system. Failure to take “urgent action” threatens to kill off the nascent battery storage market, they suggest. In a letter Read more…

Crises happen. Organisations might like to wish that they didn’t, but the reality is that the unexpected has an unhappy knack of occurring. Steve Macaulay, Cranfield School of Management, underlines the importance of becoming a ‘crisis-ready’ organisation in this sponsored post The consequences of crises aren’t pleasant—even when there is no loss of life. Financial penalties, Read more…

Government’s flagship heat network funding programme is now open for applications. It is hoped that £320m in capital funding from taxpayers will enable about £1bn to be leveraged to deliver heat networks in urban areas across the UK that should help reduce emissions from heat. The Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP) is open to applications Read more…

The European Commission looks set to appeal against the ruling by the European Court of Justice in favour of Tempus Energy that led to the suspension of the UK Capacity Market. No detail is available, other than the case being lodged. Tempus has responded. “While this appeal will not delay the necessary investigation, which is Read more…

Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks has urged distribution network operators to become more transparent about how they spend customers’ money, the tax they pay and the profit they make. SSEN has launched a consultation on transparency ahead of the next set of price controls being finalised by regulator Ofgem. Energy networks are accused of making billions Read more…

The government has urged public and private sector organisations in receipt of EU funding via the Horizon 2020 programme to register their details before Brexit. Current funding for UK projects under the Horizon 2020 programme stands at around €1bn and the UK has received more than €5bn in funding to date. The government has guaranteed Read more…

Our Power has ceased to trade. The Edinburgh-based supplier was set up in 2016 with backing from the Scottish Government. It was owned by local authorities and social housing providers and had hoped to turn a profit by 2020, though its model was not to distribute profits. The company raised £4.4m in bonds in late Read more…

Hitachi has shelved plans to build a new nuclear power plant in Anglesea, North Wales. The company said it would post an estimated 300 billion yen (£2.14bn) impairment loss as a result, plus 300 billion in other related losses. Hitachi said it hoped to continue discussing a nuclear power programme with the UK government, but Read more…