Renewable projects share £500,000
Communities across Scotland will share £500,000 of funding for projects designed to encourage the use and local ownership of renewable energy.
Energy Transition
REG gets go ahead for new UK windfarm
Green energy provider Renewable Energy Generation has been given planning permission for a new eight megawatt windfarm.
West Africa “hungry for power”
West African power leaders have gathered in Lagos, Nigeria, to discuss how to improve electricity generation and supply in West Africa.
SgurrEnergy completes wind farm projects
Renewables consultancy SgurrEnergy has completed technical support for two Scottish wind farms.
Fergus Ewing: Consumers real victim in wind subsidy scrap
This week’s summit was a an opportunity for me to hear the industry’s concerns about the recent decision from the UK Government to close the Renewables Obligation early in next April. This of course is a big blow to our industry in Scotland especially as around 70% of onshore wind projects in the UK planning system are in Scotland, this will surely have a disproportionate impact on us. This can only be described as anti-business and the impacts could spread right across Scotland and the wider supply chain, including ports and harbours, transmission and distribution, consultancy, universities and the civil engineering sector. All of this is will come at great personal and economic cost to our businesses and people. I’ve heard from many successful businesses who are at the forefront of renewables technology who are now looking being forced to looking at redundancies as a result of these changes.
Scrapping of climate change tax break to cost Infinis £7m
Green-energy giant Infinis suffered a near 8% slide in the value of its shares after it confirmed the chancellor’s decision to scrap climate change tax breaks for renewables generators will cost it £7million by March. In Wednesday’s Budget, Chancellor George Osborne said the Climate Change Levy (CCL) exemption, which allows businesses not to pay the environmental tax levied on energy if it has come from renewable power, would be removed in August. The move continues the UK Government’s “crusade” to scale back financial support for renewables, which has not been perturbed by the approach of United Nations climate change talks in Paris later this year.
Emergency summit for onshore windfarms attended by hundreds of people
An emergency summit convened in the wake of Westminster’s decision to scrap a subsidy scheme for onshore wind farms was attended by more than 200 people, the Scottish Government said. Energy Minister Fergus Ewing organised the talks after the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced it would end payments under the Renewables Obligation a year early. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and others in the Scottish Government have already spoken out against the decision, which industry leaders Scottish Renewables fears could put up to £3 billion of investment in Scotland at risk.
Serbia to see surge in wind power output by 2025
Onshore wind capacity in Serbia is expected to surge by 2025, boosted by a number of new projects in the country. The total onshore wind installed capacity will increase from just 20 (MW) Megawatts last year, to an estimated 542MW in the next 10 years. Serbia’s wind capacity has been boosted in the past three years by a number of new projects.
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.
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.