SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT) has struck a deal with Tesco to deploy solar PV  projects across some of the retailer’s properties. The two have agreed a power purchase agreement for each individual site, with the PV to be installed in 1MW batches. SEEIT said the first phase is for around 5MW, with additional Read more…

Iona Capital has struck a deal with Wensleydale Creamery in the Yorkshire Dales to use whey by-product as feedstock for its Leeming biogas plant. It will produce 10,000 MWh of thermal power, enough to heat 800 homes per year. The fund manager has already established nine anaerobic digestion facilities across Yorkshire, investing £100 million. Mike Dunn, Read more…

Banks are unlikely to put debt finance into merchant wind farms, according to a major renewables infrastructure fund. “Our approach is completely unlevered,” Laurence Fumagalli, partner at Greencoat Capital, told Aurora’s Summer Renewables Conference. “You won’t find a bank lending you any significant amount on a merchant wind farm.” Even where a project secures a Read more…

The UK government should consider targeted support for small-scale battery storage if it wants households to participate in a smarter, lower carbon energy system, according to Brian Davis, vice president, Energy Solutions at Shell International. Shell New Energies acquired German battery storage firm Sonnen in February. The company has deployed hundreds of megawatts of storage Read more…

Bentley Motors has installed a 2.7MW solar carport at its Crew headquarters. Carport specialist FlexiSolar believes it is the largest of its kind in the UK. Bentley hopes it will reduce its carbon footprint by 3,300 tonnes a year, depending on light levels and output. Work started on the project in April 2018. It is Read more…

Glasgow City Council is aiming to be the first UK city to achieve net zero carbon emissions. The Scottish government has already set a 2045 net zero target, and Glasgow will work with Scottish Power to develop and deliver decarbonisation of power, transport and heat. Electric vehicles form a key part of the council’s plans. Read more…

Mark Meyrick, head of trading & smart grids at Ecotricity details why the company has launched a flexibility business and what sets it apart in the market in this sponsored post. Last year, Ecotricity partnered with experienced German smart grid, or virtual power plant (VPP), operator, Next Kraftwerke, to launch our own flexibility platform. The Read more…

Siemens is to spin off its power and gas division and bundle a majority stake of its renewables business to create a listed “pure play” energy business by September 2020. The company announced the plan alongside cost cutting measures. It will cut 10,000 jobs, but said it will add 20,000 jobs in growth areas, a Read more…

Ørsted plans to issue green bonds to finance wind farms, including the 1.4GW Hornsea 2 development, under construction in the North Sea. The Danish firm said bonds would likely be made available with eight year and 14-year fixed rates. It may also issue an index-linked 15-year bond. The final sizes and pricing of the green Read more…

Proton Power Systems has signed a deal with Dutch firm MTSA Technopower to build and sell large hydrogen fuel cell power systems – from 0.5MW to 10MW. The containerised systems integrate electrolyser and fuel cell stacks that can be used by industrial and commercial firms, for example, to reduce their draw on the power grid Read more…

Charging regime change being undertaken by Ofgem could reduce renewables generators’ revenues by up to £15/MWh according to Smartest Energy. Most of the hit comes from cuts to embedded benefits and the BSUoS benefit flipping to a charge. In a new report, the company outlines some of the approaches renewables generators could consider to partially Read more…

Limejump, soon to be acquired by Shell, is adding hydro to its virtual power plant (VPP) and will trade its power into wholesale and balancing markets. The firm has signed a deal with DHG Hydro for the 1.2MW Langwell hydro plant near Ullapool, Scotland. DHG has a lot more hydro assets, noted Limejump. Access to Read more…

Join the UK’s leading energy, sustainability and resource professionals at edie live 2019. Discover innovative energy solutions; be inspired by thought leadership and best practice case studies to accelerate the transition to low-carbon; overcome your business challenges with energy industry experts in free consultations; and pinpoint future strategy to prepare for the long term. At Read more…

Good Energy believes its growth will increasingly come from the business market, with energy services the future of its business model. Posting unaudited full year 2018 results, the company said overall business customer numbers grew by 4.6% to 122,210, though most of these – 115,773 – are Fits customers. However, SME business energy supply customer numbers Read more…

Eon chief executive Johannes Teyssen says the energy sector must change the narrative on climate change, minimise costs of decarbonisation and start working on today’s challenges instead of trying to design perfect long-term solutions. Much of the heavy lifting, he suggested, can be done by better use of existing power grid infrastructure. Speaking at Aurora’s Read more…