Germany’s largest utilities are set to move closer together after striking a deal for Eon to acquire RWE’s share in Innogy with RWE taking a significant stake in Eon in return. The agreement, subject to shareholder approval, would also see RWE pay Eon €1.5bn in cash Eon to make a buy offer to Innogy shareholders. Eon Read more…

Energy minister Claire Perry has thrown her support behind projects to turn old mines into source of renewable heat. The topic of geothermal heat came up in a wide ranging debate on energy efficiency and the and Clean Growth Strategy in Westminster yesterday (Thursday 8 March). It comes as local authorities look again at tapping Read more…

Stobart Group anticipates that it will hit its target of delivering 2 million tonnes a year of biomass to power stations around the country by the end of 2018. In a trading update, the firm said Stobart Energy was managing costs and that profit per tonne was ahead of target. While some power stations the Read more…

The firm aiming to develop deep geothermal power at Redruth in Cornwall has launched a tender for provision of a generating plant of up to 3.15MW. Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) aims to generate both renewable power and heat from natural heat sources deep underground. The company, which has significant geothermal expertise, believes it can deliver Read more…

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) believes offshore wind and battery storage may offer better value than solar acquisitions in current market conditions. Posting a 32% increase in pre-tax profits for the full year to £90.2 million, the company suggested its first investment in offshore wind, a 14.7% stake in Sheringham Shoal, could be followed by Read more…

John Laing Environmental Assets (JLEN) has acquired a 5MW anaerobic digestion plant for around £11m. The Icknield Farm AD plant, at Ipsden, South Oxfordshire, produces green gas for grid injection and also has a 400kW CHP that generates both RHI and FiT payments. The investment is JLEN’s second in AD, following a £15m deal for Vulcan Renewables Read more…

Ørsted, the Danish energy company formerly known as Dong, has outlined plans to push into energy storage, services and solar power. Posting strong profits for 2017, CEO and president Henrik Poulsen said Ørsted has “established a new unit focusing on energy storage and solar PV projects, and we also look into onshore wind”. Meanwhile, the Read more…

Holland’s largest gas producer has launched a competition to try and crack long-term energy storage. The €50,000 cash prize is small. But the winners get to scale up their technologies within NAM’s operations and infrastructure and will receive a contract to do so. NAM is a joint venture between Shell and Exxon Mobil. It operates Read more…

Mini nuclear power stations located closer to heat demand could help decarbonise energy, not just electricity, argues a new report from think tank Policy Exchange. The report suggests small modular reactors (SMRs) could be based upon proven third generation pressurised water reactor (PWR) designs at a smaller scale. SMRs are typically defined as up to Read more…

The world’s biggest companies are driving a boom in power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable generators. A new report from the RE100 group, which encompasses 122 large corporates committed to buying 100% renewable power, shows PPA deals increased four-fold across the group in 2016. Most of the PPA growth in Europe came from deals struck Read more…

Awarding contracts for difference at power market prices and facilitating better access to balancing products could enable offshore wind to hit 30GW, potentially within the next 15 years, according to consultancy Aurora. The firm’s report reflects that supply chain and technical innovation in offshore wind is driving down costs to the point that subsidy will Read more…

Shell has signed a deal to buy all of the power from England’s largest solar park, the 69.8MW Bradenstoke development, once RAF Lyneham, near Swindon. The deal follows Shell’s entrance into both business and domestic energy retail and represents another small but strategic step by big oil into clean energy. In December, BP bought a 43% share Read more…

Installed renewable capacity hit 38.9GW in the third quarter of 2017, latest government figures show, up 4.4GW year on year. Of that total, solar PV stood at 12.6GW; onshore wind almost 12.5GW; offshore wind 6.1GW; plant biomass 2.9GW; and large scale hydro around 1.5GW. Landfill gas and energy from waste collectively make up around 2.1GW, Read more…

Hazel Renewable Energy will halve the value of part of its small wind portfolio due to quality and technical issues with Chinese-made turbines. Posting full year results for both of its £31.4m venture capital trusts, the firm said its small wind portfolio accounts for around 10% of its total portfolio. Around a third of the Read more…

Some 1.49 terawatt hours (1.49 million megawatt hours) or 3% of wind power generated in 2017 was ‘wasted’ according to consultancy Enappsys. At average wholesale prices of £45/MWh, that equates to around £67m worth of lost power. The firm’s report, however, suggests the now operational Western Link interconnector will reduce the amount of wind generation Read more…

Subsidy-free solar can work in the UK under the right circumstances. But reducing risk and exposure may be critical, an insurer and a weather data specialist tell The Energyst. Post subsidies, solar developers have to double down on costs and seek other revenue streams to make project economics stack up. Some are now looking at Read more…

Solar PV is “absolutely still viable” despite subsidies starting to wind down, according to Wayne Bexton, head of energy projects at Nottingham City Council. The Autumn Budget confirmed feed-in tariffs (FiTs) will close in 2019. But falling costs mean PV will still make sense for both local authorities and commercial businesses, Bexton believes. The council Read more…

Next Energy Solar Fund (NESF) has acquired two more solar farms totalling 8.6MW. The 5MW Gilley’s Dam farm, sited at an industrial firm in Cornwall, has a power purchase agreement in place with the company until 2040. Connected to the grid in March 2016, it also qualifies for 1.3 Rocs per megawatt hour. The 3.6MW Read more…

Ofgem has published draft guidance around collocation of energy storage at renewable generation sites that qualify for subsidies under the Feed-in Tariff (Fit) and Renewables Obligation (RO) schemes. The regulator underlined that the guidance is in draft form and suggested generators seek technical and legal advice before progressing collocation projects to avoid jeopardising their subsidy Read more…

BP will pay $200m (£149m) for a 43% stake in UK-based solar developer Lightsource. The firm, which manages some 2GW of solar, will be rebadged as Lightsource BP. Nick Boyle, Group CEO and founder of Lightsource, said: “We founded Lightsource to lead the solar revolution and chose to partner with BP because, like us, their Read more…