Guardian: “The government’s controversial electricity market reform (EMR) programme has been dealt a serious blow with the resignation of the top civil servant working on the scheme.” Read more
Solarcentury
The company I founded in 1998 to design and supply solar energy solutions for the built environment. Solarcentury
Solar Aid
The charity I founded in 2006, with a 5% contribution of Solarcentury profits, to help deliver solar lighting to Africa. Solar Aid
UK shale gas drillers confirm they will flare methane.
Guardian: “The two companies exploring for shale gas in the UK have confirmed that they intend to flare methane gas from their wells in a move that has been condemned by environmentalists.” Read more
EDF CEO ready to quit if he can’t get his way with Hinkley Point reactor..
May 6, 2013 Nuclear
Times: “The chief executive of EDF Energy will leave Britain if the French company’s £14 billion Hinkley Point reactor project collapses.” Read more
Top official working on EMR resigns as analyst warns HMG off gas reliance.
BGS told by Treasury to redo disappointing report on shale resources.
April 28, 2013 Gas
FT: “George Osborne had wanted to herald in the budget the dramatic findings of a British Geological Survey report – that the extent of shale gas reserves in the UK has been vastly underestimated – as part of a sweeping pro-shale announcement, according to Whitehall sources.” Read more
Caudrilla censured by ASA over fracking claims.
April 24, 2013 Gas
Guardian: “Cuadrilla, the only shale fracking company operating in the UK, has been slapped down by the advertising watchdog for claiming that it uses “proven, safe technologies”. Read more
UK government’s climate advisors say gas dash blocks renewables.
April 24, 2013 Clean Energy, Gas
Guardian: The Committee on Climate Change “sounded caution on the prospects for widespread development of shale in the UK. It said that relying heavily on gas would scupper the UK’s chances of meeting emissions targets in the longer term, and prevent needed investments in low-carbon technologies.” Read more
UK energy prices: most inflation is not due to green energy, but gas.
Guardian: “The simple answer is that green energy is not costing you nearly as much as you’ve been led to believe. Yes, energy bills have soared. A new government report analysing the cost of energy and climate-change policies on the cost of energy lays the blame squarely at the feet of global gas prices, followed by network costs.” Read more
Report urges use of gas to avoid UK energy crunch.
FT: Closing Britain’s coal-fired power stations should continue if the government is to meet carbon cutting targets, according to a cross-party report. It argued that gas power generation could providing enough capacity to avoid an energy crunch in the next decade.” Read more
EDF may let UK nuclear talks fail.
April 18, 2013 Nuclear
Bloomberg: “Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio said the French utility isn’t “in a hurry” to agree with the government the so-called strike price it will receive for power produced at the planned plant at Hinkley Point in southwest England. Read more
Support for new UK nuclear slips as indecision mounts.
April 12, 2013 Nuclear
Ipsos MORI: “The latest national face-to-face survey from Ipsos MORI shows that public support for building new nuclear power stations has fallen by eight percentage points in the last year to 42%.” Read more
Big 6 take average £95 profit per household on dual bills.
Guardian: “The big six energy suppliers have been accused of “cold-blooded profiteering” after official figures showed they had more than doubled their retail profit margins over the last 18 months and were now earning an average of £95 profit per household on dual-fuel bills.” Read more
One in five UK households now in debt to their energy supplier.
Guardian: “Soaring energy costs and an exceptionally cold winter have squeezed family finances to the extent that 20% of households are now in debt to their energy supplier, according to comparison website uSwitch.” Read more
London Array becomes world’s largest wind farm.
April 9, 2013 Clean Energy
Business Green: “The London Array project, jointly owned by Dong Energy, Masdar and EON, yesterday announced that the first 630MW phase of the project in the Thames estuary is now fully operational.” Read more
MPs and academics call for NAO to review UK nuclear negotiations.
April 6, 2013 Commentaries, Nuclear
Telegraph letter: “The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Treasury are negotiating with the French nuclear corporation EDF about the financing of possible new nuclear in the UK. Through these negotiations, the Government is aiming to guarantee a set price for nuclear energy – a ‘strike price’. This price will be well above the market price for electricity, meaning that UK taxpayer and energy consumer will be paying the difference. This contract will be locked in for very many decades – up to 40 years.” Read more
Enough Scottish renewable electricity in 2012 to power all homes.
March 28, 2013 Clean Energy
Guardian: “2012 was a record year for renewable energy in Scotland, which produced enough electricity to power all of its homes.” 
Read more
UK 2012 CO2 emissions up 4.5% due to coal increase.
Guardian: The UK’s emissions of climate-warming gases surged in 2012 as cheap coal replaced gas in power stations.” Read more
Centrica bosses splits £16m pay pot as bills soar.
March 27, 2013 Gas
Guardian: “Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw earned a basic salary of £950,000 in 2012, but bonuses pushed his take-home pay to almost £5m.” Read more
UK government claims climate policies lower energy bills.
March 27, 2013 Clean Energy, Climate
Leo Hickman in the Guardian: “It is welcome news that the government has recognised that it must be honest and “transparent” with the public about the impact of its policies on energy bills. Without this, the misinformation and scaremongering over green taxes, etc, will not just continue largely uncontested but magnify, too. But….” Read more
Renewable energy providers to pay back-up costs for UK nuclear.
March 27, 2013 Clean Energy, Nuclear
Guardian: “The row over subsidies for the UK’s new nuclear power stations has deepened after it emerged that the £160m-a-year cost of accommodating the giant reactors on the national electricity grid will be borne by all generators, including renewable energy providers.” Read more
UK government now has 2030 as target for new nuclear.
March 26, 2013 Nuclear
Telegraph: “In a Nuclear Industrial Strategy report it said it now hoped the new reactors at five sites around the country would be developed “by 2030”. The Government also gave the first official confirmation that the costs of the first proposed new plant, at Hinkley Point in Somerset, have risen to as much as £14bn.” Read more
Centrica deal: 1.8m UK homes to be heated by US shale gas within 5 years.
Guardian: “The US government has kept a tight rein on exports since the shale gas boom started more than five years ago. But the deal struck by energy company Centrica marks the start of a new era in gas use in the UK, because it opens up the market to cheap supplies from the US, as North Sea gas fields run out and pipelines to Europe remain expensive.” Read more
UK gas price soars as vital pipeline connection is lost.
March 22, 2013 Gas
Guardian: “British wholesale gas prices hit a record high on Friday after the failure of a vital import pipeline demonstrated the vulnerability of the nation’s energy supply to external shocks.” Read more
SSE warns of blackouts within 3 years as gas plants close.
March 21, 2013 Gas
Guardian: Ian Marchant, chief executive of SSE, said there was a “very real risk of the lights going out” within the next three years. SSE intends shutting down power plants, enough to have supplied 2m homes, as the stations are either uneconomic or coming to the end of their lives.” Read more