First Update of November 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

Below is this week’s summary. It should be a one minute read relevant to UK energy with links to documents for those who wish to read more.

(Click a bullet point to open the relevant article)

Monday – 2nd November

• This article claims UK Government action over the next 6 months will decide if the UK is to be a leader in developing the hydrogen economy or not.

Tuesday – 3rd November

• UK capacity for electricity generation from onshore wind will double to 30 GW by 2030 according to this article.

Wednesday – 4th November

• Investment in solar power has dropped significantly in the UK following the end of subsidies.

Thursday – 5th November

• UK Government figures show that 5% of road fuel came from biomass and other renewable fuel in 2019, up from 4% in 2018.

Friday – 6th November

• A BBC article describes a project to store electricity when supply exceeds demand by converting it to liquid oxygen which can generate electricity via a turbine when demand exceeds supply. The UK Government is providing £10m funding. This report states that an advantage of this storage technology is it doesn’t have high demand for rare earth minerals unlike other batteries.

• This week UK National Grid issued an Electricity Margin Notice (EMN) to seek spare capacity due to calm weather reducing wind power output. The need for greater storage capacity is mentioned.

• A chart based on data from UK Government Department BEIS shows past, present and projected future for UK electricity generation.