Wind Energy Planning

UK Councils to sell Electricity to the Grid

From this week the public sector are allowed to sell electricity to the grid in the UK.

The move comes as Energy Secretary Chris Hulne tries to add momentum to the decentralisation of electricity production in the UK via the Feed in Tariff.

The Local Government Act of 1976 previously prevented local councils in England and Wales from selling electricity not produced alongside heat. The UK government now believes that local authorities should be leading the way when it comes to investing in small scale renewable energy.

Hulne said:

30 UK Organisations Campaign to Save Regional Planning

Kelvin MacDonald from the UK’s Royal Town Planning Institute spoke to Radio 4’s Today Programme this week about the void that has been created through the abolition of regional plans.

30 organisations including the World Wildlife Fund, the National Home Builders Federation, and the Council for the Protection of Rural England have come together to voice their concerns about the sudden withdrawal of planning policy ‘above the neighbourhood level’. They are worried that ministers will miss the bigger picture if environmental protection, housing and planning is left to localism – putting the national interest at risk.

MacDonald said that the organisations want to work with the government to deal with the problem and said that local authorities had already stopped planning for new housing.

Green Jobs Threatened By Government Cuts

Green jobs could be threatened by UK government spending cuts it has emerged this week.
Government departments are for the first time facing 25% budget reductions and this is expected to have significant consequences for the country.
One area of public spending at risk is ‘The Ports fund’. The fund was announced by the Labour government [...]

Duputy PM’s Wife Joins Spanish Renewable Energy Giant

The Times, The Telegraph and the Daily Mail have this week all reported on Miriam Gonzalez, the wife of the UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joining the board of renewable energy giant Acciona.

Spanish born lawyer Miriam Gonzalez has been invited to provide independent advice to the company’s board. According to cabinet sources, discussions progressed with Acciona prior to the general election.

Spanish infrastructure giant Acciona both manufactures wind turbines and constructs wind farms throughout the globe.

Lib Dem Reveals Nuclear Decommissioning Liability

The Coalition Secretary of State for Energy has spoken out this week about huge legacy nuclear decommissioning costs. According to the Guardian Chris Huhne disclosed a £4bn black hole in what he described as ‘unavoidable’ nuclear power station decommissioning and waste costs.

Huhne has brought the costs to the attention of the Cabinet and pointed out that the total budget for the energy and climate change department is limited to £3bn annually. Huhne described his department as “not so much the Departement of Energy and Climate Change, as the Department of nuclear legacy and bits of other things“….He went on to say that what we are effectively paying for here is “decades of cheap nuclear electricity for which we have suddenly got a massive postdated bill“.

Coalition Renewable Energy Problems Start to Emerge

Tory Planning Policies and Lib Dem Renewable Policies just don’t add up according to former energy and climate change minister Ed Miliband.

Speaking during a House of Commons debate, Mr Miliband criticised the coalition government saying that their renewables policy doesn’t yet add up because they have Lib Dem targets with Conservative planning policy. He also said their nuclear policy doesn’t add up because they have three positions.

New Planning and Low Carbon Energy Bills Announced in Queen’s Speech

The Queen announced in her parliamentary opening speech today a number of new bills, including a ‘Decentrilisation and Localism Bill’ and an ‘Energy and Green Economy Bill’.

The Energy and Green Economy Bill is expected to encourage improved energy efficiency and the introduction of smart meters throughout the country. The new bill will promote low carbon energy production in England and Wales with the possibility of some areas of the bill applying to Scotland too.

Legislation will be put in place to facilitate green home loans, however uncertainties surround the future of renewable energy incentives and control over power station emissions.

Solar Power To Increase Fivefold Across the UK

With the roll out of solar panels expected to increase fivefold since the introduction of the Government’s new feed in tariff, many developers are now looking to the sun aswell as the wind to generate electricity.

What Could the UK Election Results Mean for future Energy Policy?

In the face of the first UK hung parliament since 1974, the media has been dominated by talks of what happens next.

A potential Conservative/ Lib Dem coalition has to date been the most discussed. We know however that the Conservatives and the Lib Dems have major policy differences on electoral reform, the economy and immigration.

Overall the Lib Dems appear to have more in common with Labour – from the timing of public spending cuts to electoral reform and creating a green economy. With the major Lib-Lab differences limited to ID cards and immigration, the match looks much cleaner. Labour however did poorly in the election and even with Gordon Brown offering to resign it looks like a deal with the Conservatives is the more realistic option on the table.

So -if the Conservatives and the Lib Dems do manage somehow to overcome their differences – what would be the outcome for UK energy policy?

Google Denies Renewable Energy Trader Intentions

Google has denied rumours that it is set to become and energy trader at a GreenNet conference in San Francisco last week.

With hundreds of millions of customers, Google uses mammoth computer infrastructure to keep everything going. However Google’s carbon reduction intentions have been well publicised over the last year. From biofuel diesel shuttle buses to take staff to its HQ offices to ‘edible gardens’ where food for its onsite cafes is grown, Google is keen on green corporate social responsibility.

Labour & Lib Dems Put Spotlight on Conservative Climate Sceptics

Labour and Liberal Democrat energy representatives Ed Miliband and Simon Hughes joined forces to put Tory climate change sceptics in the spotlight this week.

The ‘green hustings’ event organised by the Guardian featured a debate on climate change and energy between the 3 biggest political parties. The debate can be heard online via the Guardian website.

UK Political Party Manifestos Commit to Renewable Energy

The key English political parties have now launched their manifestos in advance of the elections on May 6th.

All parties commit to a substantial proportion of the UK’s energy coming from renewable sources in the near future; however the details of measures to facilitate this move are not yet clear.

Labour’s ‘Future Fair for All‘ manifesto says the party would create 400,000 green collar jobs

Kevin McCloud Endorses Feed in Tariffs

Even celebrities are excited about the new renewable energy Feed in Tariff (FIT). Here is Kevin McCloud talking to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) about the benefits of FIT at Ecobuild 2010:

UK Feed In Tariff Launched

The Government introduced two new renewable energy incentive schemes yesterday in a bid to encourage greener homes and businesses. The two schemes are expected to improve energy efficiency and increase small-scale low-carbon electricity.

The Government say that their Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES) for businesses and Feed in tariffs (FITs) will help people save money on fuel bills, reduce carbon emissions and generate decentralised low-carbon electricity.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, said:

Tesco to Sell Feed in Tariff Solar Panels

Supermarket giant Tesco is to start selling solar panels in the UK according to the Timesonline today.

The UK Feed In Tariff is programmed to start on Thursday 1st April and expected to result in a substantial number of people starting to generate their own green electricity. Under the scheme

Conservative Energy Policy Goes Live

The Conservatives want to put in place an offshore wind energy grid and “take the poison out of onshore wind” according to their energy policy released this week.

Shadow Prime Minister David Cameron says the Conservative policy paper “Rebuilding Security” sets out the party’s would-be programme for a reform of British energy policy. They say their policy would facilitate action to combat the looming collapse in energy supply from 2013-2017 and 12 action points are outlined.

To encourage renewable energy, the Conservatives say:

Factory Wind Turbine Turned Down

Princes Soft Drinks proposal for a wind turbine at its factory in Bradford was rejected last week due to impact on inhabitants of neighbouring properties.

Planning Inspector Elizabeth Ord said that wind turbine noise levels experienced by nearby residents, both at night and during the day would be lower than the limits recommended in nationally recognised guidance (ETSU R 97 “The Rating and Assessment of Noise from Wind Turbines” ). Despite this she believed that the wind turbine could still lead to sleep disturbance.

Second Challenge to Essex Wind Farm Proposals

A second challenge has been made to an Essex wind farm proposal this week leading to questions about the effectiveness of UK planning and legal systems.

The Bradwell wind farm proposal submitted by wind energy company npower renewables has been subject to two public inquiries at which planning consent was granted on both occasions.

China Pilots Battery Storage Project

The Chinese State Grid company is to join the energy storage seekers this year according to state news agency Xinhua this week.

The State Grid is set to build a pilot integrated renewable energy power storage system this year utilising battery technology. The demonstration project is to be built in Zhangjiakou, Hebei and speculators predict the build costs will be circa 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion).

Offshore Wind Energy Credits Extended

It has been a good financial week for renewable energy with the European Union agreeing to fund 7.2 billion euros for tackling global warming at Copenhagen. Also this week, the UK Government announced further financial help for offshore wind. Thursday’s pre-budget report proposed an extension to the time limit on double credits for offshore wind energy projects.

Offshore wind energy projects operational before 2014 will recieve 2 renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) rather than the 1 ROC onshore wind energy recieves.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) welcomed Chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report commitment to maintain support for offshore wind energy at 2 ROCs per megawatt hour (MWh) to 2014. The UK is the world leader in offshore wind with more projects installed, in planning and in construction than any other country in the world. The BWEA anticipate that by 2020 at least 20,000MW of offshore wind will be installed and operating in UK waters.