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Energy Transition

Technology

Seabox to lead subsea sulphate removal project

Seabox will lead a Joint Industry Project (JIP) that will bring advanced subsea water treatment closer to full scale development. Carried out with Az ACG, Suncor, SIPCO and the support of the Research Council of Norway, the JIP will see Seabox complete a design of a subsea SWIT and membranes plant capable of producing quality water from surrounding water on the seabed. The firm will also identify technology components available on the market and suitable for use in the SWIT plant.

Energy Transition

Bio-Power plant ready to generate power

Renewable Energy Generation (REG) said its 18MW Bio-Power project in England has now completed its commission programme and is ready to generate power. The plant, at Whitemoor in Yorkshire, will be able to produce energy under the National Grid’s Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) service.

Energy Transition

MSPs hear wave power jobs warning

A technology development body set up to encourage innovation in the wave energy industry will not provide jobs on the same scale as a wave power company which has gone into administration, MSPs have been told. Wave Energy Scotland will bring the best engineering and academic minds together to work on furthering wave technology, energy minister Fergus Ewing said.

Energy Transition

Fugro lands £13million deal

The agreement will cover geotechnical investigation work in preparation for  Hornsea Project One which is expected to become the word's first gigawatt windfarm in 2020. The farm  is located 120 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast and will provide electricity up to 800,000 UK homes.

Energy Transition

Wave power firm Pelamis goes into administration

A Scottish renewables firm testing a wave power device on Orkney has gone into administration after failing to find a financial backer. The board of Pelamis Wave Power, whose "sea snake" energy generator is undergoing tests at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), said it had "reluctantly" called in administrators "to assess the options for securing the future for the business and employees of Pelamis".

Energy Transition

China pollution spurs $2trillion clean energy leap forward

China is planning an environmental makeover on the scale of the political, cultural and market revolutions it has pursued over the past six decades. In his agreement last week with President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping committed to cap carbon emissions by 2030 and turn to renewable sources for 20 percent of the country’s energy. His pledge would require China to produce either 67 times more nuclear energy than the country is forecast to have at the end of 2014, 30 times more solar or nine times more wind power - - almost as much non-fossil fuel energy the entire U.S. has in generating capacity. That means building roughly 1,000 nuclear reactors, 500,000 wind turbines or 50,000 solar farms. The cost will run to almost $2 trillion, holding out the potential of vast riches for nuclear, solar and wind companies that get in on the action. “China is in the midst of a period of transition, and that calls for a revolution in energy production and consumption, which will to a large extent depend on new energy,” Liang Zhipeng, deputy director of the new energy and renewable energy department under the National Energy Administration, said at a conference in Wuxi outside of Shanghai this month. “Our environment is facing pressure and we must develop clean energy.”

Energy Transition

Total backs trio of climate change schemes

French oil giant Total is set to support a trio of initiatives which aim to tackle climate change. The company said it is consolidating its efforts by supporting three schemes backed by the Global Compact, the World Bank and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). Total backed the United Nation’s Global Compact’s call for companies “to factor” an internal carbon price into their investment decisions.

Energy Transition

Energy Secretary: UK has ‘moral duty’ in battle against climate change

Energy Secretary Ed Davey insisted the UK has a “moral duty” to help the world’s poor cope with rising temperatures as the Government unveiled a £720 million pledge to a UN climate aid fund. He dismissed “little Englander” critics of the UK contribution to the UN Green Climate Fund, which will help poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change such as floods and droughts and help them develop their economies while curbing emissions. Some Tories have voiced doubts about the spending, which comes from existing UK aid commitments, pointing out that the deficit is still running at £100 billion a year and Britain’s own flood defences need shoring up.

Energy Transition

50-year warning on carbon emissions

The world’s carbon emissions will have to be cut to zero in around half a century to avoid dangerous climate change, the UN has warned. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said that carbon emissions from human activities such as burning fossil fuels should hit net zero by between 2055 and 2070 to prevent temperatures rising more than 2C above pre-industrial levels. Other greenhouse gases, such as methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), need to follow suit so that overall greenhouse gas emissions reach net zero between 2080 and 2100, a report from UNEP said.

Energy Transition

UK strikes carbon deal with Canada

The UK government has signed an agreement with Canada to work together on research and knowledge sharing for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Both countries released a joint statement which identifies how they plan to work together and build on the work they have already undertaken. The use of CCS is viewed as one of the most cost effective technologies for decarbonisation of the UK’s power.

Energy Transition

Loch Ness wind farm up against fierce opposition

Anti-wind farm campaigners are gearing up to fight plans for another batch of turbines near Loch Ness. The 17 towers - each standing 415ft-high - are being proposed by Force 9 Energy for hills close to the world-famous beauty spot. The developer claims the devices, part of the Cnoc an Eas project near Balnain, will generate enough electricity to power 87,000 homes per year. However, local residents have hit out at the "relentless" tide of wind farm applications in the area, which is close to the renowned Glen Affric nature reserve.

Energy Transition

Stability sought to boost industry

Decisive action is needed by the next government to stop offshore wind schemes being shelved and attract billions of pounds of investment, a study has urged. Issues with policy, regulation and funding have seen 8.2 gigawatts of offshore wind projects withdrawn in the 12 months to June, and others have been shelved since, a report by think tank Green Alliance said. Under the new subsidies regime for low-carbon technology, new projects must compete for payments enough to install an additional 1.2GW of wind power in the five years up to 2020. But greater stability could see investment in the region of £1.8 billion a year in the supply chain for offshore wind, more than three-quarters of which is made up of small and medium-sized companies, Green Alliance said.

Energy Transition

2,250 new jobs in wind power sector

More than 2,250 jobs have been created in the UK’s wind power sector in the past year, according to the industry. The number of people directly employed in the medium and large-scale sectors of the onshore and offshore wind industry has risen by 8% to more than 15,400 full-time jobs, a report by industry body RenewableUK said. The number of indirect jobs, such as supplying components, has also increased by 8% since September 2013, to almost 15,000 jobs, bringing the total number of people whose livelihood is from the sector to more than 30,400, the report said. Most of the jobs require qualifications in science, technology, engineering and maths, and more than 2,250 direct and indirect jobs in offshore and onshore wind have been created in just over 12 months.

Energy Transition

Work begins to boost marine energy sector

Work has begun on a business park in the South of England aimed at stregthening growth within the marine energy sector. The Hayle Marine Renewables Business Park (MRBP)has been created to strengthen the sector’s growth in Cornwall. It is part of a £24million investment by Cornwall Council, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and government in the regeneration of the Hayle Harbour.

Energy Transition

European Marine Energy Centre joins global test project

Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) is to become part of a world network of wave and tidal-energy test sites. Emec and other facilities spanning Europe, Asia, and North America have agreed to co-ordinate their procedures and standards to ensure consistency in testing marine-energy devices globally. The commitment was made at an industry gathering, jointly hosted by Emec and Canada's Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy in association with the International Conference on Ocean Energy, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Delegates agreed that standards were vital in the development of test centres for ocean-energy, and that common ways need to be established for the collection and analysis of data.

Energy Transition

Senvion lands 150 megawatt contract for Canadian wind farm

German based Senvion SE has won a contract to develop the first community wind farm in Quebec. The wind turbine manufacturing firm will deliver its 3.2M114 Cold Climate Version type turbines to the 150 megawatt (MW) Mesgi'g Ugju's'n (MU) wind farm in Quebec making it the product's first use in North America.

Technology

Coretrax eyes Middle East for growth

Aberdeen firm Coretrax has timed the launch of a new product for the oil and gas industry to coincide with its participation in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference. Coretrax - named great small company winner at this year's Scottish Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) - has invested £2million in its CX-IST (inflation support tool) cement placement technology.

Energy Transition

Solar firms consider subsidy appeal

Four solar power companies are considering an appeal after losing a High Court battle to stop the Government ending a solar farm subsidy scheme early. Mr Justice Green, sitting in London, threw out their claim that there had been an unlawful change of policy. The companies warned their defeat could lead to job cuts and multimillion-pound losses, and have “serious implications for the wider energy industry”. Solarcentury, TGC Renewables, Lark Energy and Orta Solar applied for judicial review over a policy change by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) cutting short the renewables obligation (RO) scheme for large-scale solar farms. The RO scheme, introduced in 2002, was to run to 2017 but the change means it is now due to end in 2015.

Energy Transition

Walney offshore wind farm in for massive extension

The Walney offshore wind farm, located in the Irish Sea, could triple in size after extension plans for the site were given the government’s seal of approval. The wind farm, which will eventually generate enough energy to power more than half a million homes, is expected to create 230 jobs during construction and an additional 185 jobs annually during its planned 25-year lifespan.

Energy Transition

SSE names new partner for Beatrice offshore wind farm

Energy firm SSE said “significant progress” has been made towards a major wind farm development off the Moray coast, as it announced a new partner for the project. The Beatrice offshore wind farm in the outer Moray Firth could generate as much as 750 megawatts of electricity from its 140 turbines when it is up and running. SSE has agreed to sell a portion of its shareholding to fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which will own 25% of the project after the deal has gone through. SSE will then own 50% and Repsol Nuevas Energias UK will have the remaining 25%.