Justin Wilkes from EWEA said that all 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans have been submitted to the European Commission and that EWEA has done an analysis of the plans.

Taking all 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans together, EU countries are expected by EWEA to meet 20.7% of their energy consumption from renewables.

This would mean that 34% of all electricity in the EU in 2020 would come from renewables – with 14% from wind energy alone. If countries deliver on their commitments, wind energy will become Europe’s leading renewable energy source.

Two EU countries – Italy and Luxembourg will however not be creating their own renewable energy but intend to meet their targets by importing renewables, using what are known as ‘cooperation mechanisms’.

The UK is set to generate 78.3 TWh of electricity from wind by 2020 – making it the second biggest generator of wind energy in Europe next to Germany.

“It is very encouraging that 25 of the 27 EU countries intend to either exceed or meet their target” said Wilkes. “This shows the vast majority of EU countries clearly understand the benefits of deploying renewable energy technologies, particularly wind power.”

Huhne says the reforms are necessary to deal with increased electricity demand, ageing power stations and the need for low carbon energy sources in order to meet climate change challenges. The changes are likely to mean new feed in tariffs for larger scale low carbon technologies.

The government believes that all low carbon electricity generation needs support to capture its benefits to our climate and to ensure security of supply. The department of energy and climate change want the true costs of unabated fossil fuels and the benefits of low carbon electricity to be captured in policy.

The reforms aim to provide investor confidence for nuclear and renewable energy which share the characteristics of large upfront costs and low ongoing running costs. These characteristics have historically been less attractive than the lower up front costs of gas. Long term contracts by way of feed in tariffs for low carbon generation are expected to further encourage green energy investment.

Energy secretary Huhne said:

“These reforms lay the foundations for a sustainable economy, bringing billions in investment in the UK through greater certainty, safeguarding jobs up and down the supply chain, and giving the UK real competitive advantage in advanced energy technologies.

“Crucially, our reforms will also make sure there is enough spare supply to keep the lights on reliably. They will protect the rules for existing investments. And, over the long term, they will achieve more, while resulting in bills lower than they would otherwise be.”

The reforms are at the consultation stage and the government says it is interested in views on whether the preferred package under the electricity reform is the right one. It is anticipated that reforms will be in place by 2013, but that renewables investors would be able to build under the renewables obligation until 2017.

The regulator says an even greater investment of £200 billion is required over the next ten years to secure sustainable energy supplies for consumers and move to a low carbon economy.

According to Ofgem new sources of electricity generation, whether large-scale wind energy, gas or nuclear plans or small scale renewables and home-based microgeneration, will require not only a step change in investement, but smarter networks to make sure Britain is rewired to meet future challenges.  Moves towards electrification of transport and heat will further increase the need for smart grids.

Ofgem says that many new energy generating stations are located in remote areas such as Scotland which need a radical expansion of the high voltage transmission network not only to connect the generation but to transport it via cables under the sea bed to towns and cities in England.

Our electricity network was largely built in the 1950’s and 60’s and with much of it now ageing and the pressing challenges of energy security and climate change, it is in urgent need of improvement work.

In a newly published report the Micropower Council claims Local Government Department Ministers have broken the law by failing to comply with an Act of Parliament requiring the implementation of Permitted Development rights for air source heat pumps and micro wind turbines. The organisation says that the Treasury is blocking the wishes of Energy and Climate Change Ministers Chris Huhne and Greg Barker to introduce a key policy that will encourage millions of people to install renewable heating or hot water.

Dave Sowden, CEO of the Micropower Council said: “The valiant attempts of Chris Huhne and Greg Barker at the Department of Energy and Climate Change to make progress on microgeneration policy are constantly being thwarted by the Treasury and by the machine taking over from Ministers in policy making at DEFRA and CLG…“.

Sowden claims 130 MPs have called on the Government to confirm the introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive for Microgeneration and for clarity on this key policy before according to the Micropower CEO the industry starts to fall apart.

“The Conservative Party was a staunch supporter of these two key policies when in opposition, and if they are not seen through without any further delay, the Greenest Government Ever will have ended its first Parliamentary term with a microgeneration industry in crisis” said Sowden.

Gunfleet Sands wind farm provides for the average annual needs of 125,000 homes and unlike the Minister offsetts the production of a significant amount of carbon dioxide.

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 and move towards a ‘zero waste’ Britain banning recyclable materials from landfill. They are committed to generating 15% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020 and say energy efficiency will be enhanced by a smart grid using new information technologies.

Labour are pushing for more wind energy, tidal, marine, solar and sustainable bio-energy and say they will make a decision early in the next Parliament on the feasibility of alternative options for the Severn Barrage. Labour criticise the Tories handling of environmental issues as being “all about image”. They believe that Conservative proposals will lead to a failure to deliver on renewable energy targets, putting Labour’s low-carbon revolution in jeopardy.

The Conservatives ‘Invitation to Join the Government of Britain‘ manifesto says that the low carbon economy provides exciting opportunities for British businesses. They say Britain has had no clear energy policy for thirteen years (I guess this ignores the Energy Policy then….). They want to create a Green Investment Bank which will “draw together money currently divided across existing government initiatives, leveraging private sector capital finance for new green technology start ups“.

The Tories want to reform the Climate Change Levy to provide a floor price for carbon and increase environmental taxes. They – like Labour also like the idea of nuclear, wind, clean coal, marine energy, CHP, biogas and Smart Grid. A new “Green Deal” is proposed to loan people money for energy efficiency improvements. They want to allow communities that host renewable energy projects like wind farms to keep the additional business rates they generate for six years.

The Lib Dems ‘Change that Works For You‘ manifesto outlines plans for replacing per- passenger air passenger duty with per-plane duty ensuring that air freight is taxed for the first time. The Lib Dems also like the idea of a Green Investment/ Infrastructure Bank to direct private finance to essential projects such as new rail services and green energy.

Lib Dems want to invest £400m in refurbishing shipyards in the North of England and Scotland so that they can manufacture offshore wind turbines and marine energy equipment. They are also offering an “Eco Cash-Back” scheme giving householders £400 if they install double glazing, replace an old boiler or install micro-gen. A loan scheme for insulation and other home energy improvements is proposed. They also want to put in place a higher feed in tariff for micro-generation. The Lib Dems want to encourage community -owned renewable energy schemes where local people benefit from the power produced.

Lib dems are going for a 40% clean electricity target by 2020 rising to 100 % by 2050! Three quarters should come from offshore renewable sources…. They are going to deliver the European Supergrid and reject a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The Green Party wants to remove carbon intensive activity all together, then reduce demand, then switch to renewables according to its manifesto ‘Fair is Worth Fighting For‘. They want a fuel duty escalator and carbon quotas.

The Green Party would introduce “a massive programme of direct Government investment in large scale wind and other renewable generation and investment in the grid, spending as much as £29bn over the Parliament and creating 80,000 jobs in installation and equipment manufacture“. Nuclear power, coal and large scale cultivation of biofuels – especially in poor countries are out under the Green’s proposals. Renewable heat, CHP and biogas are in.

The Greens are the only party to explicitly urge stronger planning policies in their manifesto for all renewable technologies – onshore wind, tidal, wave, solar and geothermal energy schemes. They would “enlarge and develop renewable energy feed-in tariffs paying premium rates for large and small producers of renewable energy. They also want to support cross continent grid infrastructure such as the European supergrid.

Despite climate change and renewable energy making it into all of the main parties manifestos, it is still not considered by the British public as important as other issues such as immigration. This was demonstrated by last night’s so called party political TV debate where Gordon Brown Nick Clegg, David Cameron presented their key proposals. Climate change was not an issue subject to discussion.

Minister for Energy Jim Mather MSP announced the Beauly-Denny Transmission Upgrade:

“The Beauly – Denny upgrade is the most significant grid infrastructure project in a generation. Scotland’s electricity network needs significant reinforcement to allow our vast renewables potential to be harnessed, transmitted and exported – currently we simply do not have the transmission capacity to carry the green energy which Scotland will generate over the coming years.”

“The Beauly-Denny upgrade will help unlock Scotland’s onshore and offshore energy potential and this consent recognises the wider context, benefits and challenges of a development of this scale and opportunity.”

The proposed power lines were subject to an extensive Public Inquiry in 2007.  Inquiry Reporters concluded that the line is necessary from a technical and economic perspective, and is consistent with both the Applicants’ duties under the Electricity Act and with national Planning and Energy policy.

The Reporters recommended that, apart from two short sections, the line should be consented.

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables said the upgrade is good news for the economy, employment and the environment.  “The upgrade is absolutely vital if we are to capture the full potential of Scotland’s unique wind, wave and tidal resources” said Stuart.

“After many years of uncertainty, the renewable energy industry can now plan for the future knowing that new projects will be connected to the grid.  This will bring billions of pounds of investement, thousands of new jobs and a huge cut in CO2 emmissions from the power sector”.

Stuart concluded “We now need to focus on building the line, capturing the tremendous opportunities that it opens up, and make Scotland the renewables powerhouse of Europe”.

The investment required for the overhead line proposal is estimated by Ofgem to be around £330 m (US $528m).  Between 250 to 300 people are expected to work on the development at any one time, rising to between 450 and 500 depending on need and at peak construction times.

Further details can be found on the Scottish Government website.

The tabloids a few weeks ago contained numerous articles about the cost of renewable energy. The media has this week started to realise the greater financial implications of nuclear energy.

In order to build nuclear reacters companies need to be confident enough to invest the tens of billions of pounds required. Some utilities are now saying that the economics do not stack up and the next generation of nuclear power stations will not be built unless the Government provides direct financial assistance.

French owned electricity company EDF is planning to build four new reactors in the UK but wants a guaranteed floor price for electricity generated by nuclear to make it financially viable. EDF say that a floor price would make nuclear more competitive with fossil fuel power stations such as gas and coal fired stations. However if a financial incentive for nuclear energy is introduced, householders are likely to pay for it and as a result see higher electricity bills.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is currently working on a new Energy Bill that will create a financial incentive structure to pay for new ‘clean coal’ technology. It is likely that companies like EDF will be lobbying for nuclear to be included too.

DECC insisted in a Telegraph article this week that there is no plan to set a floor price for carbon, saying that carbon prices will rise when the supply of permits is restricted next year.

A spokesman from DECC said: “The Government has been repeatedly clear that there will be no subsidy towards the building of new nuclear power stations and their clean up. It is for energy companies to fund, build and develop these, not the taxpayer. That remains the case.”

The article included a statement by independent nuclear energy consultant John Large who estimates that supporting new nuclear power stations will cost households “significantly more” that the £15 figure suggested as being needed to give renewables the financial boost it needs to stack up. Other energy consultants say there is no doubt that there is a substantial price tag attached to nuclear. Whether funded through a government levy or through increased electricity prices consumers will ultimately have to dig deep into their pockets.

A large sector of the UK population remain sceptical about nuclear energy, how to deal with the waste and who is to pay being as yet unanswered questions. On the other hand the UK population as a whole does not appear prepared to make sacrifices by way of serious energy demand reduction and alternative energy committment. Overall we seem happy to sacrifice other peoples’ standard of living i.e. those living in the areas near where waste will be disposed of or the standard of living of the next generation. The result is a highly likely continuation of our energy addiction fed by expensive nuclear energy.

The Figures on wind farm approvals released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that Conservative Councils approved 44.7 megawatts (MW) of onshore wind energy schemes whilst Labour Councils approved 68.3 MW. This is despite the Conservatives controlling the majority of rural Council areas where wind farms in England are usually proposed.

Conservative Councils refused nearly 160 MW of onshore wind energy schemes with Labour refusing 63MW.

John Sauven told the UK press that Conservative Councils need to be offered incentives to stop blocking wind energy developments.

He said “David Cameron could make a difference straight away by making a crystal-clear commitment that a Tory Britain would meet the target to generate 20% of our energy from renewables by 2020.”

Work was undertaken by the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University into the availability of wind energy in the UK in 2005. The report, commissioned by the then Department of Trade and Industry, analysed hourly wind speeds collected by the Met Office at 60 locations across the UK between 1970 and 2003.

The study used these extensive wind records to identify patterns of wind power availability across the UK. It found that:

• Wind power availability is greater during winter than at other times of the year, and is on average stronger during the day than overnight

• Wind power delivers around two and a half times as much electricity during periods of high electricity demand as during low demand periods

• the recorded capacity factor for onshore wind turbines in the UK is around 27% – this is higher than that recorded in Denmark or Germany, and emphasises the need to use UK data in wind power assessments

It also states that the most likely change in power output from a diversified wind power system from one hour to the next is less than +/- 2.5% of the total installed wind power capacity (this takes into account the power characteristics of wind turbines with changing wind speeds). Over the longer term, around 99.98% of all hourly changes in wind power output from a diversified system will be less than +/- 20%.

Wind turbines should be located in a range of locations, rather than being concentrated in one place to create a diversified system. The advantage of a diversified system over a highly concentrated system is that the wind turbines are exposed to a range of wind conditions in different parts of the UK. In effect, the impact of low wind speeds in any particular area can be smoothed by the generation in other parts of the UK.

Diversification does not imply that wind turbines have to be ‘everywhere’ – the purpose of developing a diversified wind portfolio is to ensure greater reliability and lower variability in the electricity being generated by the overall system by exposing wind turbines to different regional patterns of wind variability and availability. Significant wind developments in different regions of the UK would form part of a diversified wind power system. This illustrates the benefits of turbines being geographically widespread across the UK.