Tag: solar power generation

Fifth Update of July 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

4th Aug 2020 • 0 Comments

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 – 27th July

National Grid, the operator of the electricity grid, has published scenarios for future power generation. Three of five scenarios show net zero emissions by 2050 and a scenario of net zero electricity generation by 2033 requiring growth in renewables; hydrogen from gas with carbon capture, heat pumps, electric vehicles and energy efficiency.

Energy provider, EDF, is going through the planning process towards opening a 39 hectare solar power generation station with capacity of 50 MW in eastern England.

Independent article quotes results of a study from Imperial College London, suggesting that, during their lifetime, new offshore wind power generators may pay government subsidies.

Tuesday – 28th July

Scottish Government has announced £300k investment in a ‘hydrogen accelerator’ at University of Saint Andrews in order to develop technologies for hydrogen as a transport fuel.

Thursday – 30th July

UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has released its annual summary of energy production and use for 2019. This press release summarises highlights: Transport continues to be highest demand for energy; oil and gas continue to dominate meeting a combined 75% of energy demand; coal continues to decline (33% down in 2019 compared to 2018); 35% of all energy is imported; renewable sources rose to 37% of electricity generation; overall emissions dropped about 4%.

Article proposes shift to hydrogen as fuel for public transport including trains focused on cleaner air as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Saturday – 1st August

The Arab world’s first nuclear power generation plant has opened in United Arab Emirates.

Third Update of June 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

1st Jul 2020 • 0 Comments

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 – 15th June

Bloomberg article claims UK is paying £1 billion each year in direct subsidies for electricity generation from burning wood pellets as well as £13 billion in tax breaks.

Wednesday – 17th June

Plans for UK’s biggest onshore wind farm are to go ahead on Shetland Isles north of mainland UK. 103 turbines will provide electricity generation capacity of 0.44 GW and cost £580 million to construct. Development is subject to permission being granted for an export cable connection to the mainland.

Recent sunny weather in the UK has caused records to be broken for solar power generation, reaching almost 10 GW on 20th April, approximately 30% of electricity demand at the time.

Thursday – 18th June

UK Government press release announces that construction has begun on the world’s largest liquid air battery in North West England. The plan is to use renewable energy during times of excess supply to liquefy air. Liquid air will transfer back to a gas, driving turbines to generate electricity, during periods of higher demand.

UK Government is funding research at Birmingham University into hydrogen as a fuel for trains.

Friday – 19th June

UK Energy Systems research body (“Catapult”) has made the case for increased levels of nuclear power in the energy mix in support of net zero emissions targets. The ‘Nuclear for Net Zero’ report includes support for small modular reactors (“SMR”) and hydrogen production.

Almost 2 GW of offshore wind power generation came online in 2019 bringing total capacity to almost 10GW.

Saturday – 20th June

In a BBC interview, the UK energy minister says shale gas industry is over ‘for now’.

Sunday – 21st June

A disused gas network in Teesside will be used as a pilot to test procedures for transporting hydrogen as a zero-carbon heating fuel.

Fifth Update of May 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

1st Jun 2020 • 0 Comments

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)

Tuesday – 26th May

Sweden has started a pilot project to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a hydrogen generation plant and then store them beneath the Norwegian seabed.

Netherlands advances plans to capture carbon dioxide emissions from Rotterdam Port industries and then store them beneath the Dutch seabed.

Wednesday – 27th May

EDF has submitted an application for construction of Sizewell C nuclear power plant on coast of SE England. Once operational, the plant would be capable of delivering 3.2 GW of electricity baseload, saving 9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year according to the company.

UK Government regulator The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has published studies showing greenhouse gas emissions from imported Liquid Natural Gas are more than double the emissions of domestic supplies of natural gas.

Thursday – 28th May

Power generation company Drax announced that at one point in the week, biomass at their plant supplied almost 14% of UK electricity.

Article provides an update on plans to build a Liquid Natural Gas import terminal in NW England.

Gas network companies have announced almost £1 billion of investment, subject to UK Government approval in order to prepare infrastructure to deliver hydrogen to the network. Plans include carbon capture and storage projects in support of UK net zero emissions targets.

Friday – 29th May

Plans for 900 acres of subsidy-free solar power generation, the largest in the UK, on the south coast of England, have received UK government approval.

Fourth Update of April 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

28th Apr 2020 • 0 Comments

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 – 20th April

A consortium of industrial power suppliers and end-users has been awarded funds from UK Government to support plans to make Humberside in eastern England the first industrial cluster to be ‘de-carbonised’ by 2040. The plans depend upon production of hydrogen and Carbon capture and storage.

Tuesday – 21st April

Industry body Oil and Gas UK has stated that UK offshore oil and gas met approximately two-thirds of UK oil and gas demand and almost half of total energy in 2019.

Article describes UK Government data showing biomass share of electricity generation has multiplied three-fold in the previous 10 years. Total power generation from all renewable sources, including biomass, has increased four-fold.

Wednesday – 22nd April

A project in NW England, aiming to become the UK’s first net-zero industrial cluster, using hydrogen and Carbon capture and storage, has received government funding in order to develop a plan.

Cargoes of liquid natural gas from the USA have been cancelled by Asian and European importers due to lower demand from the current business environment.

Thursday – 23rd April

Plans are being made to use heat from water in flooded former coal mines in northern England to heat homes.

Friday – 24th April

The fine spring weather across the UK meant that on Monday 20th April 2020 solar power generation broke a record. At peak generation solar power provided 30% of the electricity supply, generating 9.7 GW (for context UK electricity demand during the week varied between 20 and 30 GW).

Sunday 26th – April

EDF is preparing to submit an application for a large nuclear power station (Sizewell C) to be constructed on the English east coast.

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