Regulator aims to reduce backlog as some wind and solar schemes wait up to 15 years to get hooked up
The energy regulator is to introduce rules designed to kick out “zombie” wind and solar farms from the lengthy queue to connect to Great Britain’s electricity grid.
Ofgem hopes to speed up the process of hooking up new energy projects to the electricity network in the face of a backlog that is deterring investment and Britain’s attempts to switch to clean energy.
Continue reading...Fears grow that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment in renewable energy abroad
The government has received no new applications for onshore wind farms in England since cabinet ministers eased planning rules earlier this year – in a further sign that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment abroad.
So far this year, only one new project, with a single turbine, has become fully operational in England, with many more being built in the EU – and in Scotland and Wales, where planning rules are less burdensome. This is despite renewables being seen as the cleanest and safest form of power, and having wide public support.
Continue reading...NSW police have meanwhile appealed for public assistance as they investigate the cause of several bushfires along the state’s mid-north coast. Follow the day’s news live
Queenslanders in fire zones urged to pay attention to warnings
Turning to Queensland now, where the state’s Fire and Emergency Service chief, Tony Johnston, has spoken to ABC News Breakfast with an update on the bushfires across the state.
There’s been a number of structures that have been impacted but as you can appreciate, until the fire is actually contained, we won’t have a good picture of what’s actually been lost … When the crews can actually get in and ascertain the damage, we’ll have a full report.
Fires are spotting 200 metres in front of the fires themselves.
We’re asking residents to pay attention to the messaging. The messaging is important to enact your plan and what you’re going to do. Today is not a day to go sightseeing to see what’s happening in a fire area.
A lot of them are not easily contained. Some of those fires have been burning for quite some time. There’s a number of challenging fronts that we’ve got and obviously, worsening weather tomorrow that will cause a lot of problems with these fires and potentially new ones.
I know investigators are looking into a number of those fires and working with [police]. We have to wait for these fires to get under control before we can get in and assess the damage and carry out these investigations.
Continue reading...Campaigners use traditional Sámi tents to block roads in Norwegian capital in protest against turbines on reindeer pastures
Hundreds of Indigenous and environmental campaigners have blocked a main thoroughfare in Oslo to demand the demolition of two windfarms that have been described by the Norwegian government as a “violation of human rights”.
The Wednesday protest traces its roots to a landmark 2021 decision by Norway’s supreme court that found 151 wind turbines in the western region of Fosen had trampled on the rights of Sámi reindeer herders by encroaching on their pastures.
Continue reading...First of 277 turbines goes into operation at site that will produce enough energy for 6m homes a year
The first turbine to be completed in a project to build the world’s largest offshore windfarm, in the North Sea, has begun powering British homes and businesses.
Developers confirmed on Monday that Dogger Bank, which sits 70 nautical miles off the coast of Yorkshire, started producing power over the weekend as the first of 277 turbines was connected to the electricity grid.
Continue reading...The country must work harder to attract investment to keep up with the US and other competitors, Clean Energy Council says
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will need to increase Australia’s investment in the renewable energy sector to $10bn a year over the coming decade if it’s to stay in the global clean energy “arms race”, industry modelling shows.
Albanese has indicated he will look to accelerate the transition to low emissions after Saturday’s Indigenous voice referendum as countries around the world move more quickly than expected to combat the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Industry figures and the TUC warn of missed carbon reduction targets and lost jobs unless government boosts green investment
Fears are growing that existing offshore wind projects could be shelved, after industry insiders warned that “disastrous” handling by the government had created a big shortfall in future renewable energy.
Ministers revealed last week that no additional offshore windfarms will go ahead in the UK after the latest government auction. No bids were made in the auction, after the government ignored warnings that offshore schemes were no longer economically viable under the current system.
Continue reading...Energy industry experts say steep rise in costs could result in few projects submitting bids
Britain’s offshore wind industry is expecting to lose out on financial help for projects toward meeting the UK’s climate goals, because soaring inflation means developers are not able to compete for crucial government support.
Ministers are expected to announce the results of the latest auction for financial support contracts this Friday, but energy industry insiders suggest it could be a damp squib in a potential blow to the UK’s climate goals.
Continue reading...Almost £7bn wiped off value of world’s largest offshore wind company over possible £1.8bn write-down
Shares in the world’s largest offshore wind company have tumbled by nearly a quarter after it said it may have to write down the value of its US portfolio by nearly £2bn.
Ørsted said it had been hit by a flurry of setbacks in its American business, triggering a rapid sell-off in its shares, listed in Copenhagen.
Continue reading...Analysis finds Treasury rules on new windfarms likely to stifle energy generation and keep bills high
New offshore windfarms will be strangled by government red tape, costing UK billpayers £1.5bn a year, an analysis has found.
The latest government auction for new offshore windfarms, due to be completed in September, could result in few projects making it through Treasury rules, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit organisation.
Continue reading...Labour leader claims Conservatives’ onshore turbine ban costs families £180 each and makes UK reliant on gas imports
Keir Starmer has condemned the prime minister’s climate policies, declaring the failure to invest in renewables such as wind turbines a “gift to Putin”.
The Labour leader also described the Conservatives’ onshore wind ban as “ludicrous” and said it now means every family in the country is paying £180 more on their energy bills.
Continue reading...Wind output reached record levels in June in the national electricity market, the Australian Energy Regulator said
Eastern Australia’s wholesale power prices increased in the June quarter, although they remained well below the level reached during the energy crisis a year earlier, the Australian Energy Regulator has said.
New South Wales posted the highest spot pricing with an average of $148 a megawatt-hour, up from just over $100/MWh during the first three months of the year. During last winter’s energy squeeze, prices averaged about $320/MWh.
Continue reading...ScottishPower expects Hagshaw Hill to produce five times as much energy with half the turbines by early 2025
One of Britain’s oldest onshore windfarms will soon be “repowered” so it can generate five times as much green electricity as it did in 1995 – with almost half as many turbines.
The owner of the Hagshaw Hill windfarm, ScottishPower, began dismantling 26 turbines on its site in rural South Lanarkshire on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Beijing bolstering position as global renewables leader with solar capacity more than rest of world combined
China is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power and potentially outpacing its own ambitious energy targets, a report has found.
China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time, according to the report by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that tracks operating utility-scale wind and solar farms as well as future projects in the country.
Continue reading...Fees for accessing UK seabeds help boost profits to £443m while King Charles says some of surplus will go towards public good
The crown estate has generated record profits of almost half a billion pounds from Britain’s offshore windfarms, as talks continue over how much of the windfall should be shared with King Charles.
The royal property manager made £443m in profits in its last financial year, up by almost £130m from the year before, in large part thanks to payments made by renewable energy companies for the right to access the seabed.
Continue reading...Electricity generated on Shetland could be used to fuel the proposed Rosebank field, instead of homes
Electricity from a new onshore windfarm could be used to power the biggest undeveloped oilfield in the North Sea, campaigners are warning, ahead of an imminent decision over whether to approve the project.
The huge Rosebank oilfield is three times bigger than the controversial Cambo field that was put on hold more than a year ago. It has the potential to produce 500m barrels of oil and its final approval is expected to reach the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, in the next few weeks. It is expected to be approved after Rishi Sunak hinted last month that it would be “economically illiterate” not to invest in UK oil and gas because Britain will remain reliant on fossil fuels for “the next few decades”.
Continue reading...Thinktank says effective ban on planning permissions means country is way behind on much-needed renewable energy
It would take almost 4,700 years for England to build enough onshore windfarms to help meet the UK’s clean energy needs unless the government lifts an effective block on new turbines, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
Only 17 small-scale onshore windfarms have been approved in England since 2015 when the government changed planning laws to create a de facto ban on onshore windfarms, according to the thinktank.
Continue reading...Conservationists say plan to increase bearded vulture numbers in north-east would be ‘severely compromised’
Conservationists in Spain are calling for a “profound debate” on how best to balance the protection of wildlife with renewable energy demands after efforts to reintroduce endangered bearded vultures to an eastern area of the country had to be paused because of the threat posed by a huge new windfarm.
The bearded vulture – known in Spanish as the quebrantahuesos, or bone-breaker, because of the way it drops bones from a great height so they shatter and yield their marrow – was common across the country until the 20th century, when it was poisoned and hunted to the brink of extinction.
Continue reading...‘We are not going to allow the lights to go off,’ state energy minister Penny Sharpe vows
New South Wales’ two main renewable energy zones will be delayed for as long as two years and cost more to build with landholder opposition to new transmission lines partly to blame, the energy minister, Penny Sharpe, has said.
The Minns government briefed journalists about its network infrastructure strategy on Wednesday, revealing that the central-west Orana zone would not hit its “energisation date” until 2027-28, compared with an initial 2025 target. Similarly, the New England zone will now start in 2029 compared with an initial 2027 goal.
Continue reading...PM also says Japanese businesses have invested £18bn in UK as he visits country for G7 summit
Rishi Sunak has arrived in Tokyo to announce a new defence partnership with Japan and support £18bn of private business deals, ahead of the G7 summit aimed at addressing the threats of Russia and China.
Before the gathering of world leaders in Hiroshima on Friday, Sunak is meeting Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, to discuss more defence cooperation in the face of China’s increasing belligerence towards Taiwan.
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