Posted on: 16/01/2024
This week's energy news headlines: The Government unveils plans for the biggest nuclear power expansion in 70 years; Onshore wind repowering projects could be able to apply for CfDs; Business leaders set out key ways to accelerate decarbonisation; Our industry round-up includes the latest updates from Government departments and energy regulators.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published a consultation seeking views on potential amendments to Allocation Round 7 and future rounds of the Contracts for Difference scheme. It closes on 7 March.
The Government has published latest the Energy Trends: UK renewables report providing data including capacity, electricity generation and liquid biofuels consumption for December.
Ofgem has launched a consultation setting out the objectives intended to be achieved by the Capacity Market Rules. It is seeking views on whether the rules continue to meet the objectives, whether they remain appropriate, and whether they could be met with less administrative burden.
National Grid ESO has published details of the BSUoS Fixed Tariff for 4 Oct 2024 - Mar 2025 and the Draft Tariff for 5 Apr 2025 – Sep 2025.
The Government is asking for views on proposed changes to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to support progress to net zero. The consultations will run until 11 March.
The biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years has been unveiled in a move ministers said would reduce bills, support thousands of jobs and improve UK energy security.
The plans included exploring building a major new power station as big as Sizewell in Suffolk or Hinkley in Somerset, which are capable of powering 6 million homes each.
The Government said its Civil Nuclear Roadmap will give industry certainty of the future direction of the UK’s nuclear programme. It sets out how the UK will increase generation by up to 4 times to 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 – enough to provide a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs.
Plans to streamline the development of new power stations and introduce smarter regulation could speed up the overall process and the delivery of nuclear power in the UK.
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, said: “From large gigawatt projects to small modular reactors, the UK’s wider nuclear revival will quadruple our nuclear capacity by 2050 – helping to power Britain from Britain.”
Enabling onshore wind repowering projects to apply are among possible changes proposed for the CfD renewables support scheme.
Launching a consultation, the Government said it was also looking at expanding the phased CfD policy to floating offshore wind projects and streamlining the appeals process for annual auction rounds for the upcoming allocation round 7.
Considerations for future allocation rounds include how the scheme could support innovation in floating offshore wind foundation technology and the delivery of improved coordination of offshore transmission infrastructure.
The consultation also asks whether CfD indexation should be updated to better reflect inflation risks. It closes on 7 March.
A new report from business leaders has set out high-impact ways to accelerate decarbonisation.
The Alliance for CEO Climate Leaders, a CEO-led community facilitated by the World Economic Forum, said there is a 600-plus gigatonne gap in national emissions reduction ambition and policy that needs to be closed to keep the 1.5°C target alive.
Measures highlighted include accelerating supplier decarbonisation given that well over 10% of global emissions are likely to be in the supply chains of the 1,000 largest companies globally.
It also said enabling customers to make greener choices would have a big impact and that reducing the first 50% of many products’ emissions can be achieved with an end-price impact of under 1%.
Pim Valdre, Head of Climate Ambition Initiatives at the World Economic Forum. “We need to urgently shift into delivery mode, focusing on immediate actions with outsized impacts. Enabling these actions calls for public-private action to drive the right policies, technologies and financial solutions needed to achieve a system-wide transformation.”
The Government has opened a consultation on plans to develop a cap and floor scheme to help long duration electricity storage develop.
It said such a model would provide revenue certainty for investors by providing a guaranteed revenue should returns from operating assets drop below the agreed floor.
It would also offer protection to consumers by providing a cap on the revenue that operators can earn, with some or all of the revenue earned over the agreed cap returned to the consumer.
The Government said long duration electricity storage can provide an important contribution to decarbonising the energy system. However, evidence suggests that it faces investment challenges under current energy market frameworks, meaning it has struggled to deploy at scale at present. The consultation closes on 5 March.
Last year saw 50% more global renewable capacity added than in 2022 but lack of financing for emerging and developing economies is a key hurdle for future growth.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest review of the sector found the world’s capacity to generate renewable electricity is expanding faster than at any time in the last three decades.
The amount of capacity added to energy systems around the world grew by 50% in 2023, reaching almost 510 gigawatts (GW).
“It’s not enough yet to reach the COP28 goal of tripling renewables, but we’re moving closer – and governments have the tools needed to close the gap,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
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