German utility RWE will make “massive” investments in wind and solar, before “placing its chips” on storage, biomass and gas to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 while enabling security of supply. The firm said the gas it burns to generate power will be “predominantly” green gas. It has committed to spend €1.5bn net per annum Read more…

Pöyry outlines how growth in solar PV is changing within-day power prices, how it impacts flexibility business cases, and touts a new PPA opportunity for businesses keen to secure clean power direct. The last decade has seen a boom in UK solar PV that is changing the shape of electricity prices across the day and Read more…

Engie will deliver energy and carbon reduction services to Milton Keynes council via an energy performance contract that guarantees savings. The first phase of the contract aims to improve local authority owned buildings including sheltered housing. Further phases will likely involve large scale renewable generation projects with investment potentially upward of £50m. The seven year Read more…

Government has awarded contracts for almost 5.5GW of offshore wind under the latest contracts for difference (CfD) auction. Prices taken by generators for the contracts stabilise their revenues between £39.65 and £41.61/MWh, a significant reduction on previous auctions. The government also awarded contracts at the same rates to developers of four onshore wind projects on Read more…

Global CPG giant Unilever says its factories, offices, R&D facilities, data centres, warehouses and distribution centres across five continents are now powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity. Some 38 per cent of its consumption is via power purchase agreements (PPAs), whereby firms contract directly with generators. For the remainder, Unilever said it had opted Read more…

Local authorities should buy clean power direct from producers, particularly community schemes, to speed decarbonisation, according to Matthew Clayton, MD at Thrive Renewables. “If local authorities put out tenders for delivering renewable power direct into the city estate, that would be the fastest way for them to meet Net Zero objectives and ensure genuine local Read more…

Bristol Airport has switched to a 100 per cent renewable electricity supply via Ørsted. The airport aims for its terminal and site operations to become carbon neutral by 2025. Electricity represents its largest contributor of on-site emissions. Under the three-year contract, Bristol Airport will take 17GWh per annum from Ørsted, which has amassed significant wind Read more…

Bristol City Council is seeking an institutional investor to fund the first tranche of its energy transformation as it bids to decarbonise the city. The City Leap Project plans to deliver a broad range of energy projects. It includes district heating, domestic and commercial energy efficiency and renewable generation. Bristol also hopes to create a Read more…

Simec Atlantis thinks its tidal arrays can power a data centre in Caithness, Scotland. If it can find a partner, the company believes a power purchase agreement could help fund its expansion plans. It currently has to compete for subsidy with more mature technologies. Simec said it is in talks “with world leading data centre Read more…

John Laing Environmental Assets has acquired another anaerobic digestion (AD) plant. The deal for the 5MWth Warren AD plant in Methwold, Norfolk, is valued at £14.8m subject to additional deferred payments up to £0.8m. That is lower than the £18.1m JLEN paid for the 5MWth Merlin plant last year and the £36m spent to acquire Read more…

Richard Sansom, head of business development at Swindon Borough Council-owned Public Power Solutions, says falling costs and rising demand for solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) makes large scale solar investment a good bet for local authorities. The last 12 months has seen some hugely significant environmental commitments made by central and local government in the Read more…

National Grid ESO outlines its plans to deliver a cleaner energy system in this sponsored post. National Grid ESO’s ambitions With climate change high on the Government’s agenda and National Grid ESO’s ambition to be able to operate a zero carbon system by 2025, it’s important we manage our network in a cleaner and more Read more…

Haven Power outlines how renewable electricity can help create a competitive advantage and act as a driver for business growth in this sponsored post. To help meet the government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, UK businesses can switch to renewable energy sources for an easy “quick-win”. What’s more, such a move can Read more…

‘Green’ hydrogen could be a significant pillar of a decarbonised economy. But there are significant challenges to overcome. Myles Mantle, project development and finance partner at law firm Haynes and Boone, provides the lowdown On 15th June 2019, at the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth in Japan, the Read more…

Ørsted posted higher first half profit as wind generation continues to deliver significant return on investment. Operating profit increased 2 per cent to DKK 8.8 (£1.1bn), return on capital deployed increased six percentage points to 29 per cent for the period. The company said it is on track to reach 15GW of offshore wind capacity Read more…

Simec Atlantis has launched a bond paying 8 per cent to fund its coal-to-waste plant at Uskmouth, tidal projects in France and to provide working capital. The Gupta-controlled company aims to raise £7m. It said it has finished front-end engineering and design work at Uskmouth. Atlantis aims to convert the power station into a 220MW Read more…

An innovation project between National Grid ESO and The Alan Turing Institute has harnessed machine learning to improve solar forecasting accuracy by 33 per cent. The ESO has historically used a relatively simple way of forecasting, based on installed solar capacity and solar irradiance across different regions to create a national forecast. On the innovation Read more…