UK budget costs renewables firm £18million
UK Chancellor George Osborne's budget move to cut back on green tax breaks has cost one renewable firm £18million over the next two years, it was claimed today.
Energy Transition
GE Oil & Gas invests in new riser connectors for the offshore market
GE Oil & Gas has invested in the development of new completion and workover riser connectors for the offshore market. The company said the move will help enable operators in a bid to save rig time during operations. GE Oil & Gas has awarded SRP (Subsea Riser Products) a contract to develop and qualify SRP’s Nimway 510 and Nimway 710 completion and workover riser connectors.
Campaigners attack Ewing over wind subsidy summit
The SNP Government is obsessed with lining the pockets of foreign windfarm developers, according to campaigners who have condemned a summit to be hosted by Energy Minister Fergus Ewing tomorrow. He will meet representatives of the renewable energy sector in Glasgow where they are expected to vent their anger over the UK Government’s decision to end subsidies to the industry. Mr Ewing’s opponents say the main beneficiaries of the turbines built across Scotland are overseas companies.
Summit debates end of wind subsidy
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing is to chair an emergency summit with the green energy sector today amid concerns about the impact of the UK Government’s decision to end a subsidy scheme for onshore wind farms.
Renewables chief slams UK Chancellor
RenewableUK, the trade association representing the wind, wave and tidal energy industries, has strongly criticised the Chancellor’s budget announcement that he is retrospectively changing the rules governing the Climate Change Levy.
125 jobs go at turbine factory
The Government has come under attack for its decision to curb onshore wind after a turbine factory announced plans for closure with the loss of 125 jobs. Steel manufacturer Mabey Bridge said it is proposing to close its renewables division in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, with the “uncertainty of market conditions for the UK onshore wind industry” in the longer term a contributing factor. The move follows a failure in exhaustive efforts to find a buyer for the business as a going concern, the company said. The news comes after the Government announced it was ending subsidies for new onshore wind farms a year early, to meet a pre-election pledge to halt the development of onshore wind. Juliette Stacey, chairman of Mabey Bridge, said: “The uncertainty of market conditions for the UK onshore wind industry in the longer term has been a contributing factor. A Welsh Government spokesman said: “This is bad news and clearly comes as a direct result of the UK Government’s recent announcement to end onshore wind subsidies. This has created uncertainty for the onshore wind industry and we warned of the possible consequences at the time.
New windfarm planned for Irish Sea
A new 870 megawatt offshore windfarm is planned for the north Irish Sea
This pond scum already in your smoothie may fuel your plane
The future of Japan’s biofuel industry may be pond scum. Or more specifically, green algae that’s swirling around in tanks on a tropical Okinawan island. That’s what Mitsuru Izumo and his company Euglena Co. are counting on anyway. After 10 years developing the algae as a nutritional supplement that feeds the company’s $37.8 million in annual revenue, Euglena has been teaming up with corporate giants including All Nippon Airways and a unit of Chevron Corp. for its next phase. Excited investors have driven up the shares more than 2,400 percent since its 2012 initial public offering, the best performance of any IPO that year or since.
Juwi strikes deal for Cornwall solar project
Renewable Energy Limited has struck a deal with Juwi Renewable Energies for its solar project in Cornwall. The engineering, procurement and construction contract means Juwi will assume responsibility for the supply, installation and commissioning of equipment at the Mendennick solar project. The deal is in addition to a further five year contract to provide long term operations and maintenance services.
Could north-east granite heat Scottish homes?
THE north-east could become a goldmine of cheap, environmentally-friendly heating - thanks to one of its most famous natural resources.
Emissions measures can boost growth
A raft of measures that boost economic growth can be used to bring down “dangerous” levels of greenhouse gas emissions, an international report has said.
Renewables firm lures top executive from SSE
A Scottish hydropower firm has lured away a top executive from SSE to run the business. Green Highland Renewables (GHR), which was recently acquired by a London infrastructure investment firm, has appointed Mark Mathieson as chief executive Officer. He will join the firm in August. Mr Mathieson has spent over 25 years in various engineering and leadership roles within SSE, most recently spending nine years as the Managing Director of SSE’s Networks business.
JDR lands North Sea wind farm contract
JDR has landed a deal with Siem Offshore Contractors for a North Sea wind farm.
Wind power output doubles in June
June was an “astonishing” month for wind power in Scotland as output more than doubled compared to the same period last year, according to environmentalists. Wind turbines north of the border provided enough electricity last month to supply power equivalent to the average electrical needs of 1.7 million homes, WWF Scotland said. In its analysis of wind and solar data provided by WeatherEnergy for June, the organisation said wind power generated the equivalent of 33% of Scotland’s entire electricity needs for the month.
History on side of renewable energy
The National Trust is to invest £30million in renewable energy schemes at dozens of its properties as part of efforts to cut carbon and fuel bills. More than 40 projects will be rolled out at some of the hundreds of castles, stately homes and countryside properties the Trust looks after, including a heating project using a lake, a hydro power scheme with historic links and biomass boilers to cut oil use. The move comes after a £3.5million pilot, launched with renewable energy company Good Energy in 2013, which saw five schemes installed, including a biomass boiler at the Italianate Ickworth estate in Suffolk that was formally switched on today.
Open day at Pitmedden Garden to showcase solar power
The benefits of solar power to business will be showcased today at Pitmedden Garden estate in Aberdeenshire while the UK swelters in the grip of heatwave. The event is part of the industry’s annual “solar independence day” scheme that opens a selection of UK solar-powered homes and enterprises to the public. The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has installed a 115 panel array on the roof of the estate’s gardeners storage shed, which is generating power for the site’s museum of farming life and other buildings.
Engineering giant aims to help save the world
Amec Foster Wheeler (AFW) has taken on perhaps its biggest challenge yet – saving the world from potential destruction.
UK’s Solar Independence Day sees solar make up 15% of energy mix
Solar power is set to supply 15% of the UK’s electricity needs early this afternoon, the industry said as its annual open day scheme begins. As the UK basks in a heatwave, solar-powered homes, commercial rooftop schemes and solar farms will be open to the public today and tomorrow as part of “solar independence day”. Locations ranging from a housing estate in Northumberland, a stately home in Aberdeenshire, a community-owned solar farm and a waste facility in Berkshire will be showing off their clean power installations. The solar industry, whose analysis predicts the technology will be supplying 15% of UK power demand at 2pm today, has set out how it believes the Government can double the amount of solar and make it as cheap as fossil fuel electricity by 2020.
Wind farm planning branded ‘whitewash’
A review of wind farm planning was branded "a whitewash" by campaigners last night. The two-year investigation by consultants commissioned by the Scottish Government found that guidelines were not consistently followed in the development of major turbine schemes. They focussed on 10 sites - three in the north and northeast - to consider visual impact, and the noise and "shadow flicker" of turbines.
Wind farm just like ‘Heathrow’ says neighbour
A woman whose home overlooks a wind farm in Aberdeenshire has claimed it was like living next to Heathrow Airport in London but with "none of the advantages". Rosemary Milne said her detached house was just 1,377ft away from the nearest turbine at West Knock near Stuartfield.
Call for SNP to admit people ‘fed-up’ with wind farms
he Scottish Conservatives have claimed the SNP must acknowledge that people are "fed-up" with wind farm developments. The party's energy spokesman Murdo Fraser said turbines "springing up all over the place" damaged the landscape for thousands of residents and tourists. "In pressing on with their wind farm obsession the Scottish Government are failing to recognise that the planning process for these developments is a complete mess," he added.
Wind farm impact ‘under-assessed’
Developers are sometimes under-assessing the impact of wind farm noise and appearance on residents living nearby, according to new research. The two-year study looked at how the visual, shadow flicker and noise impacts predicted by developers at the planning stage of ten wind farms across Scotland compared to the reality once operational. The test sites included wind farms at Dalswinton in Dumfries and Galloway, Achany in the Highlands, Drone Hill in the Borders, Hadyard Hill in South Ayrshire, Little Raith in Fife and West Knock Farm in Aberdeenshire.
Drought sees APR Energy agree 300MW Uruguay project
US power producer APR Energy has reached agreement with the Uruguayan state power company (UTE) for the continuation of its 300 megawatt power generation project until the end of 2015. APR Energy has been serving UTE since 2012, using its mobile gas turbine solution to provide bridging power, as the region deals with diminished hydroelectric power output resulting from a prolonged drought.
OAP vows to block path of Aberdeen Bay wind farm
A defiant pensioner has vowed to “sit in front of a bulldozer” to prevent a key piece of infrastructure for Aberdeen Bay windfarm from being built on a former landfill site.
Developments ‘devour countryside’
Thousands of acres of the countryside have been swallowed up by development in the past few years, new land use maps have revealed. Wetlands were among the areas of landscape which were lost between 2006 and 2012, prompting concerns from wildlife experts about the disappearance of important habitat and the natural services such as flood protection they provide. In total 225,200 hectares or almost 870 square miles of the UK, around 1% of the country, showed changes in land use over the period, according to land cover maps launched by the University of Leicester and consultancy Specto Natura. The main change was clear-felling of more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of coniferous forest, largely in Scotland and Wales where much of the plantation forest is found, while around half the area was regrowing or had been replanted. Around 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of mixed forest were also clear felled, according to the mapping which used satellite data from 2006 and 2012 and is based on 44 land cover and land use classes. The study also revealed that more than 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of forest was converted to “artificial surfaces” such as buildings, industrial sites and roads, while 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of agricultural land was lost to the spread of towns and cities. Wetlands were also lost to development, with more than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of such areas vanishing under artificial surfaces.