Businesses have a day left to tell MPs which energy policies they should scrutinise over the course of the next parliament. The Energy & Climate Change Committee last month called for submissions into what its priorities should be over the next five years. Tomorrow (13 August) is the deadline for input. Submissions will help inform Read more…
EU signals bloc-wide renewable energy subsidies, wants demand response equality
The European Commission has signalled impending changes to EU energy legislation as it attempts to take greater control over national energy policies. The Commission gave further clues about its Energy Union ambitions, today publishing a summer package of proposals and issuing a consultation on major structural changes to the European energy system. While national governments Read more…
Energy Bill promises new regulator with businesses to pick up tab
The Queen’s speech suggests that the Conservative government will increasingly focus on domestic oil and gas production over the next parliament while devolving responsibility for onshore wind farms to local authorities. The Energy Bill outlined in the speech could be interpreted as leaning towards two corners of the so-called trilemma – energy security and affordability. Read more…
Drax to power Thames Water via £500m Haven Power deal
Haven Power will provide Thames Water with power for the next five years in a deal worth £500m. The Drax-owned energy supplier said the agreement would enable Thames Water to use only renewable power. The contract has the option for two further five year renewals. Thames Water energy manager Angus Berry said the deal “puts Read more…
Amber Rudd steps up to top energy job
Amber Rudd will fill the chair vacated by Edward Davey as secretary of state for energy and climate change, the government has confirmed. Rudd was formerly climate change minister. The MP for Hastings and Rye has her work cut out, given the suite of policies she has inherited and the fact that legally binding 2020 Read more…
Global gas glut pushes UK power prices to four year low
UK power prices fell to their lowest in four years during the first quarter of 2015 and averaged 10% lower than the previous quarter. Analysis by pricing firm ICIS underlines how global oversupply of gas is driving down UK prices. Latest data from the ICIS Power Index (IPI), which reflects wholesale power prices over a Read more…
Councils step up heat network plans
Fifty five local councils in England and Wales will share £3 million in government funding towards setting up heat networks. The Department of Energy & Climate Change allocated the additional money to 74 low-carbon heat projects. The amount each project will receive varies between £16,000 and £263,000. Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Read more…
National Grid urges major energy users to provide demand response for winter peak, may pay more
National Grid has launched a second call for UK firms to stop using power when required next winter in return for payment. It is also considering whether to pay more to firms that can respond between 4.30pm and 6.30pm. The system operator seeks up to a gigawatt of both demand-side response and generation to be Read more…
European Commission’s power play means easier funding for energy efficiency
The European Commission has unveiled hugely ambitious plans to create sweeping changes across the European energy market, launching its Energy Union manifesto with integration, interconnection and energy efficiency at its heart. The Commission is to pay special attention to increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and transport and help companies unlock financing to get projects Read more…
Competition watchdog puts wholesale energy market in the clear, but small business and consumer prices under the microscope
The Competition & Markets Authority has indicated that it is unlikely to recommend sweeping changes to the wholesale power and gas markets. Instead, the CMA appears set to focus on retail competition and whether large energy suppliers are abusing their market power and overcharging customers on standard variable tariffs. The CMA is also looking at Read more…
Decc tenders work to scope demand side response in future electricity capacity auctions
The Department of Energy & Climate Change (Decc) has issued a research tender to try and work out how big a role demand-side response (DSR) can play in the UK energy market. The department wants robust estimates of how much back-up power generation currently exists in the UK, DSR technology types, response times and costs. Read more…
UK firms with CHP generators could be paid to stop exporting power
Firms operating combined heat and power plants could be paid to keep their power off the local grids at times of network stress, in much the same way as wind farms are paid ‘constraint payments’ by National Grid. Some of the biggest names in engineering are collaborating to figure out how that might work, with Read more…
CFD top-up: Decc adds £25 million to low carbon auctions
The government has added an extra £25 million to the pot ahead of the first round of auctions for low carbon generation contracts. The auctions, which begin on Friday (29 January), are designed to incentivise low carbon power generation technologies such as wind, solar and biomass. Generators bid from a limited pots to receive 15 Read more…
CFD appeals may cost ineligible energy generators
Energy minister Matthew Hancock has warned that companies that do not qualify to bid in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction may face bigger hurdles should they try to appeal. He wants to avoid appeals being a “no cost option” to generators that miss out on government-backed contracts. Hancock was asked by the Energy & Read more…
Energy minister dismisses ‘big company bias’ claims from renewables groups in capacity and CFD auctions
Energy Minister Matthew Hancock has dismissed accusations from renewable lobby groups that auctions run as part of the government’s electricity market reform (EMR) favoured big companies over independent generators. He also rejected claims that the recent capacity auction simply rewarded plant that would have been available without bill-payer incentives. Facing Energy and Climate Change Committee Read more…
How directors rate energy suppliers, third party intermediaries and purchasing teams
How do business bosses rate their energy suppliers, as well as third party intermediaries/brokers, and how they rate their own purchasing teams? And how many of them are actually benchmarking energy purchasing effectiveness? Findings of the 2015 Directors’ Energy Report may surprise some. The report is based on the responses of 51 company directors surveyed Read more…
Decc urges small firms to bid for energy efficient tech funding
Nineteen UK firms developing energy efficiency solutions and entrepreneurs trying to commercialise low carbon technologies were today officially granted a share of £9 million via the government’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund. The winners were announced as Decc launched the next phase of the programme, urging companies developing low carbon energy projects in generation, efficiency and storage Read more…
What the Conservatives, Labour and Ukip aren’t telling us about UK energy
Dave Cockshott, chief commercial officer at Inenco, asks why energy took a back seat at this autumn’s political party conferences. Ahead of the general election, this autumn’s party conference season was a chance to hear where the priorities of each party lie, and policies we should expect to hear more about during their election campaigns. Read more…