UK solar photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity has topped 12 gigawatts (GW), latest government figures confirm. There is also more than 3GW in planning, most of it consented. For the year to April 2017, PV capacity increased 7% (792MW) with the lion’s share (56%) via small scale installations (no larger than 4kW). To date, 47% or 5.7GW Read more…

United Utilities spent £45m on solar generation over the last two years and plans to invest at least £55m in the next three. The firm said adding more combined heat and power assets had driven efficiencies but solar represented its main plan to increase self-supply and reduce carbon emissions. It will invest £100m over the current Read more…

Severn Trent’s investment in renewable energy is paying off, with earnings at the water firm’s renewables business up 16% year on year, according to its full year results. The company said it was on track to generate half the energy it uses from renewable sources within three years, which is significant, given water companies are intensive energy Read more…

Stobart Group has set its sights on handling 60% of UK biomass. Energy is the logistics firm’s biggest revenue stream and the group expects further growth as new biomass plants are commissioned. It sees potential to manage and operate more of those plants in the future. Posting full year results to the end of February, the Read more…

Vattenfall’s 230MW Pen y Cymoedd wind farm in south Wales hit full power last night (Sunday 7 May), the Swedish utility reports. The state-owned firm has stated its UK renewable portfolio will top 1GW by 2018 and earlier this month announced plans to sell its green power to the UK business market. Vattenfall is also building a 22MW Read more…

Swedish utility Vattenfall has entered the UK business energy supply market. The state-owned firm will start supplying wind derived power from October this year and is now stepping up UK customer acquisition. Vattenfall currently operates over 500MW of offshore wind in UK waters, as well as around 110MW of onshore wind. It aims to have 1GW Read more…

Building materials giant Wienerberger will power all of its UK sites with renewable power from Danish supplier Dong Energy. The energy firm, which makes around half of its revenue from wind power, announced a deal last year via which it said UK customers would not pay a premium for renewable power. This followed UK carbon Read more…

The department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has confirmed support rates for low carbon and renewable electricity technologies within the next tender round. Bidding for the next Contracts for Difference scheme begins in April for projects to be delivered between 2021/22 and 2022/23. The budget is set at £290m/year. Advanced conversion technologies will receive £125/MWh stepping Read more…

Eon Climate & Renewables boss Michael Lewis will replace Tony Cocker at the helm of the energy company’s UK business from 10 April. Cocker, who took charge of Eon UK in 2011 following three years at the head of its energy trading arm in Dusseldorf, will leave the firm in July. He joined what was then Powergen Read more…

UK solar capacity stood at 11.1GW at the end of September 2016, up 30% on the previous year, according to latest government data. At the end of 2016 Q3, the UK’s renewable electricity capacity totalled 33.4 GW – meaning that solar PV makes up a third of the UK’s renewable power fleet. The rise in Read more…

Triodos Bank has provided some £3 million in project finance to Danish Better Energy for a 5MW ground-mounted solar farm in Creswell, Derbyshire on the site of a former coal mine. The bank and Danish firm have plans to build and finance up to 50MW of solar PV in the UK this year. The project was Read more…

Installed solar PV capacity increased 19% to 11.46GW in the year to December 2016, latest government data shows, with a further 3GW in the planning system. Roughly half of that increase (1.11GW) arrived in March as investors in large, ground-mounted schemes rushed to beat the closure of the renewables obligation (RO) subsidy scheme. To date, Read more…

Government has published changes to support rates for renewable and low carbon heat via the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) remains keen to incentivise larger biomass, which it believes is a more efficient use of available funds, and has merged existing tariffs into one rate. The tiered Read more…

Government has confirmed that the next contract for difference (CfD) auction to support renewable and low carbon generation will commence next April. It has set a budget of £290m, although left wriggle room to adjust that amount closer to the auction. The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said contracts will be allocated to Read more…

The department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) has opened the next phase of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, inviting proposals to share in £9m of grants. The fund aims to support the development and demonstration of innovative technologies and/or processes in the areas of energy efficiency, power generation, and heat and energy storage. A Read more…

UK onshore wind generation output fell by 19% year-on-year for the three months to end of June 2016, contributing to an overall reduction in renewable generation output, government data suggests. Overall, renewable power generated fell by 2.2% while renewables’ share of the generation mix dipped from 25.4% to 24.9% despite adding 3.9GW of renewable generating Read more…

Sponsored post: “Green can’t just be a badge. Green must be something which fits in with your overall business needs, so it has to be cheaper, better or both,” says Nick Boyle, CEO at Lightsource. He outlines how the firm will own, operate and finance a private solar farm and private-wire agreement for companies so that Read more…

Havering Borough Council is planning to build two solar parks with a combined capacity of 15.5MW. The proposed schemes would generate “significant” revenue, according to the council. The council has published proposals for a 9.5MW solar park at Dagnam Park and a 6MW scheme at Gerpins Lane. Dagnam Park, where up to 30 hectares has Read more…

The UK lost 11.4GW of coal and gas generation capacity in the three years to end of 2015, latest government data shows. Some 8.8GW of coal-fired plant came off the transmission system, alongside 2.6GW of gas. However, over the same period, around 3.5GW of renewable generation was connected to the transmission system (almost 1GW of Read more…

The Green Investment Bank has committed £80m to finance a new 43MW combined heat and power (CHP) energy from waste plant in Kent. Other investors include Barclays, Banks of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Natixis and Investec. The plant, near Sittingbourne, will supply heat to DS Smith’s Kemsley Paper Mill – reducing its reliance on gas-fired steam – Read more…