Aberdeen energy service firm Hydro Group has invested £300,000 in a fancy new piece of kit to help it make tougher underwater cables for the oil and gas industry.
The company said yesterday it had installed and commissioned an advanced armouring line at its Bridge of Don facility, becoming one of only a few UK businesses to have the technology.
Hydro Group, which designs and manufactures cables and connectors for subsea and onshore use, said its custom-designed single and multi-layered steel armoured cables were able to withstand higher stresses in subsea and defence operations.
Just Energy Group has struck a deal with Clean Power Finance (CPF) to sell residential solar electricity.
The agreement will provide CPF’s networks with a large solar sales pipeline as well as access to Just Energy’s 1.6million residential energy customers.
The companies plan to roll out the solar program beginning in the first calendar quarter of 2015 in New York and California, before expanding the offering into key target solar markets across North America.
The RSPB has called for a judicial review after the Scottish Government gave consent for four offshore windfarms in the east of Scotland.
The charity mounted a legal challenge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh over permission granted last October for four Scottish territorial and round three wind farms.
The projects, in the Outer Forth and Tay, include Mainstream's 450MW Neart na Gaoithe, Repsol and EDP's 784MW Inch Cape and SSE and Fluor's 525MW Seagreen Alpha and 525MW Seagreen Bravo.
Money and lots of it . . . public and private . . . is needed to initiate a credible wave and tidal energy power generation sector in the UK, which a new report claims could be worth up to £76billion to the economy.
However, the idea that the oil and gas supply chain can kick-start the market “is not easily realised” because it is “too expensive”, according to a new report by the Glasgow-based ORE Catapult initiative.
It claims that this is because the oil and gas supply chain designs and makes equipment to “operate at extreme depths, in benign tidal flows, and low oxygenated waters”.
Scotland’s electricity system could be powered almost entirely by renewable energy by 2030, according to a report by an environmental charity.
WWF Scotland’s report uses independent analysis by an engineering and energy consultancy to test the Scottish Government’s policy to decarbonise the country’s electricity supply over the next 15 years.
It found that an electricity system based on “proven renewables and increased energy efficiency” is a credible way of meeting the target.
Coal will remain an important contributor to the UK's energy mix into the mid-2020s at least, a Scottish supplier says.
Fergusson Group's forecast came as it reported increased sales in its most recent financial year in the face of "challenging market conditions across the energy sector".
Cape has been awarded a five year contract extension by EDF Energy for the supply of access, insulation and associated service in support of its eight nuclear power stations in the UK.
The contract will see the company provide its services until 2021 in support of the energy suppliers.
Around one fifth of the UK’s energy supply comes from EDF’s nuclear power stations, two coal fired power stations, combine gas cycle turbine power station and wind farms.
Scotland’s solar power capacity has increased by almost a third in the past year, according to new figures.
More than 35,000 homes and 600 business premises now have solar photo-voltaic (PV) systems, December figures from regulator Ofgem show.
The capacity of these systems has reached 140 megawatts, a rise of 32% from 106 megawatts last year and a huge increase on just 2 megawatts in 2010.
Figures have revealed windfarm companies have submitted almost 200 planning bids for major developments in the past 18 months.
The Freedom of Information statistics show the level of applications for windfarms of more than three turbines, with rural local authorities bearing the brunt of submissions.
The data compiled also revealed the Western Isles received the most applications for windfarms in that time period, followed by Dumfries and Galloway and Highland.
A green energy company has been paid £7.5million – to switch off its turbines and stop producing electricity.
This year alone Falck Renewables Wind Ltd received £2.8million not to generate power on 77 separate occasions.
The firm was under fire from politicians and campaigners last night as it emerged it wants to extend its Millennium development in the hills above Loch Ness.
Wave power company Pelamis has made its remaining staff redundant after no final offers were made for the business.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise has been selected as the preferred bidder to take over the company’s assets.
Administrators were called in last month after Pelamis failed to secure enough funding to develop its technology.
Construction of the largest planned tidal energy project in the world is expected to begin off the Scottish coast next month, developers have announced.
Atlantis, majority owner of the MeyGen project, said it has finalised all of the conditions required to initiate its first drawdown from financiers The Crown Estate and Scottish Enterprise.
The project has the potential to power nearly 175,000 homes through a network of 269 turbines on the seabed at Ness of Quoys in Caithness.
Cheniere and GE have entered a $1billion contract for the Sabine Pass LNG export terminal.
The 20-year deal will see GE provide spare parts and planned inspections, maintenance services and technical support for the gas turbines and refrigerant compressors on the first four LNG trains currently under construction.
The surge in European carbon permit prices may just be beginning.
The price of emission rights will rise 62% by June 30, according to the median of 16 trader and analyst estimates compiled.
UBS Group AG says costs may more than double in 2015. Carbon already jumped 44% this year, while the 22-member Bloomberg Commodities Index (BCOM) slid 14%.
Electricity generated from renewables in Scotland has matched that produced from fossil fuels for the first time.
Both sources accounted for 32% of total electricity generated in 2013, according to figures released by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Scotland continues to be a net exporter of electricity, exporting 28% of generation compared to 26% in 2012.
Drilling service provider Mermaid has landed a $50million contract in the Gulf of Thailand.
The two-year deal will see the firm's dive support vessel provide subsea constrcution support for a major oil and gas operator in the area.
The DECC (Department for Energy and Climate Change) has made £2.5million cash pot available to encourage the development of CO2 storage in the North Sea.
The money will help companies to identify the next phase of sites under the sea to store C02 emissions from coal and gas power stations as well as heavy industry such as steel and cement factories.
The DECC will provide the cash from its Innovation Fund, and it will be delivered by the ETI (Energy Technologies Institute).
EDF Energy Renewables has sold a majority stake in three of its UK onshore wind farms to CGN (China General Nuclear Power Corporation).
The company said the money from the sale will be used to make further investments in renewable projects in the UK.
It will continue to own a 20% share in the three wind farms and also continue to run, maintain and operate the sites and provide asset management services for the new owners.
A new plan to boost the economy by exploiting the energy, food and recreational resources of the sea while protecting the environment has been launched by the Scottish Government.
The first national marine plan sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for the sustainable development and use of the marine environment.
The plan aims to ensure sustainable economic growth of a range of marine industries and protect and enhance the marine environment.
Triodos Renewables has extended its crowd funding share issue until the end of January after receiving only £2million of the £5million that it aimed to raise to fund wind farms.
The Dutch bank had been due to close its share issue on 30 November but extended the deadline after only 600 investors chose to pump cash into the offer.
The lender’s renewable energy arm already owns and operates 11 projects in the UK, which together produce 53MW of power.
Almost 12 million tonnes of carbon emissions were displaced by green energy in Scotland last year.
The reduction - an average of about a million tonnes each month - is the highest-ever recorded in the country.
UK Government statistics show that Scotland’s renewable electricity industry displaced 11.9 million tonnes of CO2 in 2013, an increase of over 14% on the 10.4 million tonnes of CO2 displaced in Scotland by the sector in 2012.
The UK government has granted permission for an offshore wind project which is expected to create up to 2,500 jobs.
Hornsea Project One in North Lincolnshire will be made up of three offshore wind farms with a maximum capacity of 1200MW.
Once built, it will generate enough electricity to power more than 800,000 homes.
The drop in global oil prices has not dented the hiring intentions of businesses in Aberdeen, according to a jobs report.
The city’s jobs market is still described as “very buoyant” in the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey despite oil prices tumbling since the summer.
Brent crude fell to a five-year low of $66 at one stage yesterday amid fears of over-supply, with investment bank Morgan Stanley warning that prices could drop to as low as $43 a barrel next year.
SURF contractor Ceona has christened its flagship deepwater field vessels after successful sea trials.
Ship building specialist Lloyd Werft delivered the Ceona Amazon to Bremerhaven, where it was christened.
The device was built to perform in multiple pipelay and operational modes and features large storage capacity and heavy subsea construction.
Edgon Resources is set to explore a number of licences it acquired after striking a deal with the Scottish Power Generation (SPG).
The UK-based company previously entered into a deal which meant it could farm into a number of onshore production licences.
