Drax invests £226m in biomass power ahead of coal plant closure February 8, 2021 British power company Drax will buy major Canadian biomass fuel producer Pinnacle for £226m, as it prepares for the closure of its coal power stations next year. Once the biggest polluter in the UK, the firm will cease burning coal at its two North Yorkshire units in March this year and will eventually close the [...]
Octopus outfoxed: Challenger brand tops Which? energy survey January 25, 2021 A small provider has ended Octopus’ two year reign at the top of Which’s annual survey of energy companies. Outfox the Market, which was only founded in 2017, rose from 19th in the table last year to top the rankings in Which’s energy satisfaction survey. The small energy provider frequently offers some of the cheapest [...]
Shock to the system: Ofgem proposes new body to run electricity network January 25, 2021 Ofgem has this morning submitted proposals for the creation of an independent body to run the UK’s electricity network, in what would be a radical shake-up of the way the country’s power is managed. Such a body, the watchdog says, could save consumers up to £4.8bn by 2050, while leading the country’s charge towards net [...]
Corona Impact Series: How a Chiswick energy startup grew up fast during the pandemic January 6, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks at the financial and economic impact of the ongoing pandemic on a range of small and medium-sized businesses across London. This week: how a small West London-based supplier of green energy thrived during last year’s lockdowns. The pandemic story of So Energy in Chiswick certainly bucked the national trend last year. Only [...]
Households could be automatically switched to cheaper energy tariffs December 13, 2020 Households could find themselves automatically switched onto cheaper energy tariffs under new government plans set to be released this week. The proposal is an attempt to crack down on energy suppliers which move customers onto higher “default” deals after their initial contracts end. The BBC reported that the plan would be unveiled as part of [...]
EU confirms Brexit-adjusted carbon market permit removals for 2021 December 12, 2020 The European Commission confirmed late on Friday how many pollution permits will be removed from the European Union carbon market in 2021 due to the UK’s departure from the scheme at the end of this year. The carbon market is the EU’s flagship climate policy, forcing power plants, industry and airlines running intra-EU flights to [...]
UK must cut emissions 78 per cent by 2035 to hit 2050 net zero target December 9, 2020 The UK must cut emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 in order to hit its target of being net zero by 2050, a new report by the government’s climate advisers has found. Such a cut effectively brings forward the country’s former target of reaching an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 by [...]
Ofgem unveils £40bn spending package but cuts investor returns for next price control period December 8, 2020 The UK’s energy companies will be able to spend a combined £40bn in investment into the country’s energy networks over the next five years, but will see returns limited under stricter new rules from Ofgem. This morning the energy regulator laid out its plans for the next “price control” period, which runs from 2021 to [...]
Italy’s Eni joins North Sea wind power grab with Dogger deal December 4, 2020 By Nerijus Adomaitis and Stephen Jewkes OSLO/MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Eni is buying a 20% stake in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm project from Norway’s Equinor and Britain’s SSE as it seeks to gain expertise in the sector and cut its greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. The project off the northeast coast of England [...]
Cameron van der Burgh on ‘winning the swimming game’, his new life at a London hedge fund and his mental health struggles December 4, 2020 It was at the afterparty for the Rio 2016 Olympics that the seeds of Cameron van der Burgh’s move to a London hedge fund were sown. Days earlier, the South African had been beaten into second place in the men’s 100m breaststroke final by his great rival, Britain’s Adam Peaty. Van der Burgh was not [...]