Guardian: “The French-owned company is in talks with ministers over “contracts for difference” funding, under which the government guarantees generators will be paid a minimum price for electricity from new nuclear plants: if the market price falls lower than this “strike price” then a surcharge will be added to customers’ bills; if it rises higher there would be a refund.” 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
RWE boss warns UK government against nuclear subsidies (for EDF).
February 20, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian:”RWE npower, one of the big six power suppliers, has warned ministers not to seal a long-term subsidy deal with the nuclear industry behind the backs of consumers and saddle them with “unnecessarily high bills” for the next 40 years.” Read more
EDF sues anti-gas campaigners for £5m, assisted by UK police.
Guardian: “EDF is seeking more than £5m in damages from a group of more than 20 activists who occupied one of its power stations for a week last year, in an action campaigners claim could stifle the right to protest across the country.” Read more
E.ON lobbied for long sentences for climate protestors, or else.
Guardian: “The UK chief executive of energy giant E.ON repeatedly lobbied the then-energy secretary Ed Miliband and others over the sentencing of activists disrupting the company’s power plants, warning that any failure to issue “dissuasive” sentences could “impact” upon investment decisions in the UK.” Read more
UK energy supplies heading downhill fast, warns Ofgem.
Guardian: “The energy regulator’s chief executive, Alistair Buchanan, issued the stark warning to consumers and businesses to prepare for higher prices as power plants close, foreign gas supplies shrink and increasing demand tightens the British energy market.” Read more
EDF confirms it is pressuring UK ministers for 40 year subsidies.
February 19, 2013 Nuclear
UK government offers nuclear subsidies for 40 years.
February 18, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: “The government is launching a last-ditch attempt to sign up energy companies to build new nuclear power stations by proposing to sign contracts guaranteeing subsidies for up to 40 years.” Read more
Solar PV installations in UK pass 2 GW.
February 14, 2013 Clean Energy
SolarIndustryMag: “Record-setting demand in 2011, followed by an even bigger solar deployment total of 965 MW in 2012, helped push the country to its 2 GW milestone, according to new data from NPD Solarbuzz.” Read more
Scotland’s 100% renewables target by 2020 unviable without UK: study.
February 11, 2013 Clean Energy
Guardian: “Alex Salmond could be forced to abandon his ambitious 100% green energy target if Scotland votes for independence, a team of academics has warned.” Read more
UK local authority pension fund agrees £12m loan for solar farm co-op.
IPE: “Lancashire County Pension Fund has invested £12m (€14m) in a community owned solar power plant in Oxfordshire, a commitment the scheme’s chair described as “worthwhile and sustainable”. The £4.6bn fund for the English county will provide £12m to refinance the project’s cost, with the Westmill Solar Cooperative repaying the loan by 2037.” Read more
EDF CEO: we’ll walk away from UK plan unless they guarantee profit.
February 5, 2013 Nuclear
Bloomberg: EDF CEO Henri Proglio says he’s willing to join Centrica unless the government ensures the project is profitable.“We won’t do it” if the price for their power isn’t high enough ….I have no reason to take the pressure off the people I’m talking to.”
Centrica pulls out of UK nuclear, writing off £200m.
February 4, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: The company blames rising costs and construction delays. “Centrica will forfeit its 20% option on four new nuclear plants planned by EDF in Somerset and Suffolk, writing down £200m in the process.” Read more
UK PM: “We can make Britain a global showcase for green innovation.”
February 4, 2013 Clean Energy
David Cameron, launching the Green Deal: “Make no mistake we are in a global race and the countries that succeed in that race, the economies in Europe that will prosper, are those that are the greenest and the most energy efficient.” Read more
Germany: UK risks being an “island of hedge funds” under Cameron.
February 3, 2013 Finance
Bloomberg: “Cameron’s determination to protect the financial-services powerhouse in London and tame what he sees as the bureaucratic leviathan known as the European Union risks turning his country into an island of hedge funds, in the German view.” Read more
UK study for DoT shows trains could run 600 miles on a single charge.
February 3, 2013 Clean Energy
Guardian: “The experts, working on behalf of the )Department of Transport) looked into two options, the first of which would see a relatively small battery – still weighing up to two tonnes – with a shorter range, which would be mechanically swapped at stations.” Read more
MPs accuse Big 4 accountants of “undermining society.”
January 31, 2013 Finance
FT: “Tax experts at the four biggest accounting firms were accused of undermining the fabric of society on Thursday, as MPs stepped up their scrutiny of corporate tax avoidance.” Read more
UK Green Deal gives no guarantee of saving participants money.
January 28, 2013 Clean Energy
Guardian: “The government’s flagship “green deal” home insulation programme provides no guarantee of saving money for cash-strapped households, and is unlikely to rescue many from fuel poverty, experts warned ahead of its formal launch on Monday.” Read more
Stern: I got it wrong. Climate change is “far, far, worse” than I said.
January 26, 2013 Climate
Guardian: “Looking back, I underestimated the risks. The planet and the atmosphere seem to be absorbing less carbon than we expected, and emissions are rising pretty strongly. Some of the effects are coming through more quickly than we thought then.” Read more
Solar companies sue UK government for feed-in tariff damages.
January 23, 2013 Clean Energy
Guardian: 17 solar companies are to sue DECC for damages as a result of the December 2011 “ambush” feed-in tariff cut, after which the market shrunk 90% and thousands lost their jobs. The sum sought is £140 million.
SSE CEO doubts UK energy bill will keep the lights on.
Ian Marchant in the Guardian: “Some key questions already loom large as we get ready to deliberate the finer details. Firstly, will the government be able to deliver on all of the responsibilities it is taking on itself? Read more
Extreme 2012 weather cost UK economy billions, and will be new norm.
January 4, 2013 Climate
Guardian: “Compounding the shock was the unprecedented lurch from the worst drought in a generation in early 2012 – there were widespread hosepipe bans in March – to regular downpours by the end of the year that made it the second wettest for the UK since records began more than a century ago.” Read more
Abramovich invests in UK gas-to-liquids.
January 4, 2013 Gas
FT: Roman Abramovich has invested £5m in a small UK technology company that specialises in turning natural gas into synthetic liquid fuels, Oxford Catalysts, which raised £30.6m. Read more
Many Big Energy staff still working in UK climate ministry.
Guardian: Almost two dozen employees from companies including British Gas, Shell and npower are working at the Department of Energy “and, in most cases, are being paid by the government to do so.” Read more
Ethical sales in UK rose in 2012 despite the recession.
December 29, 2012 Change for Good, Finance
Guardian: “Since the onset of the economic downturn five years ago, the value of ethical markets from Fairtrade products and green energy to free-range and sustainable food has grown from £35.5bn to £47.2bn, according to a report produced by the Co-operative Bank. The annual ethical consumer markets report shows that sales in the sector have grown from £13.5bn in 1999.”