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 [...]
Huge Tunisian solar panel could provide cheap renewable energy to 2.5m UK homes by 2018 October 20, 2014 A huge solar panel in Tunisia could provide cheap energy to 2.5m homes in the UK by 2018. The plan has been put forward by the TuNur – a partnership between Tunisian investors led by TOP Group and Glory Clean Energy, and UK-based Nur Energie. They are currently seeking funding from the UK [...]
Solar fields are no longer cash cow for farmers as government scraps subsidies October 19, 2014 State subsidies for solar farms are to be cut, in a move the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs claims will save up to £2m of taxpayers’ money. The change, which will come into effect from January, will mean that farmers who choose to use fields for solar panels will not be eligible for [...]
World’s energy watchdog slashes renewables forecast August 28, 2014 The world's leading energy watchdog slashed its forecasts for renewable energy in a new report published today. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned the sector faced serious threats from policy uncertainty and grid integration risks. However, investment in renewable energy capacity is still expected to soar to $1.6 trillion by 2020. The IEA cut [...]
Britain’s fossil fuel subsidies: Soon it won’t just be renewables we’re propping up July 31, 2014 THERE is no doubt that fossil fuel subsidies – mostly found in the developing world – are a major and unwelcome feature of the global economy today. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global fossil fuel subsidies cost $544bn in 2012. Add to this lost tax revenues and the figure rises to around $2 [...]
The wrong renewables: Why relying on offshore wind will prove a costly error July 14, 2014 Politicians everywhere have to decide between satisfying long-term national needs and achieving short-term electoral rewards. It is hard to imagine a more worrying sign of this conflict – as a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) last month helped highlight – than the present policy confusion in the UK over renewable energy. On the [...]