Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project attacked by Citizens Advice charity over pricing February 22, 2015 Consumer charity Citizens Advice has slammed the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon as being “appalling value for money” and said the process of negotiations around the project’s contracts was “inherently opaque”. The group made the statements in its response to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) consultation on construction of the lagoon, which [...]
Infinis Energy blames flat third quarter results on oil market weakness February 16, 2015 Landfill gas business Infinis Energy reported revenue of £129.9m for the nine months ended 31 December 2014, compared with £125.7m in the same period of 2013, following a mixed performance which the firm partly attributed to weakness in the oil market. The company stated that its landfill gas operations had continued to perform ahead of [...]
M&G Investments injects £60m into UK solar power company Primrose January 7, 2015 Five solar farms across the UK have gained new funding, with M&G Investments agreeing to provide £60m to Primrose Solar. The inflation-linked financing, arranged by Novatio Capital, is repayable over 18.5 years and is provided by clients of Prudential-owned M&G seeking long-term secure cash flows. Tim Huband, the head of project and infrastructure finance at [...]
Macquarie Capital buys into Baltic Sea offshore wind farm January 7, 2015 Macquarie Capital yesterday bought a 49.9 per cent stake in the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm in Germany for approximately €720m (£477m), the firm announced. The investment, advisory and capital markets arm of Australian financial services conglomerate Macquarie Group has partnered with Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) – one of Europe’s largest energy supply companies – to [...]
2015 resolutions: Ten pledges to put Britain back on a sustainable footing January 4, 2015 It's that time of the year when, having over-indulged over the holiday period, we promise to do better over the next 12 months. Our political leaders have over-indulged for a good deal longer than just a few days, and we can see the cost in the state of the public finances and falling standards [...]
Balfour Beatty makes a statement with £164m deal for wind farm assets December 17, 2014 Construction giant Balfour Beatty will this morning push ahead with plans to expand its coveted investment unit by revealing a £164m acquisition of assets linked to a wind farm off the coast of Kent. The Thanet Offshore Transmission Project was previously operated by British energy firm Vattenfall. The assets include one offshore and one onshore [...]
Three of UK’s biggest energy firms slapped with £4.6m fine for not meeting environmental targets December 12, 2014 Ofgem has demanded that three of the UK's biggest energy firms pay hefty fines for missing government environmental targets. Under the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP), the energy regulator said the companies should produce lower carbon emissions and reduce household bills by the end of 2012, but many failed to meet expectations including Scottish [...]
The poorest will suffer if we force renewable energy on the developing world November 20, 2014 YESTERDAY, the UK announced a contribution of about £720m to the Green Climate Fund, a UN initiative designed to help poor countries cope with climate change. It is right for rich countries to assist the developing world in their efforts to adapt to climate impacts, but they should not burden them with costly decarbonisation schemes. [...]
Don’t underestimate the economic benefits of investing in energy efficiency October 30, 2014 EVEN if this year’s Indian summer delayed the onset of colder times, families all over the country are now starting to turn on their heating, while dreading the moment the bill lands. For many families in Britain, the onset of the colder months means a stark choice. Six million low income households in this country [...]
Wind farms: “Unreliable”, “expensive and deeply inefficient”, study claims October 27, 2014 Despite falling costs and improving technology, wind farms continue to be wildly inefficient and overly expensive, according to a new report released today. In the report for the Adam Smith Institute and the Scientific Alliance, author Dr Capell Aris analysed data on the wind speed and direction collected from a total of 22 sites across [...]