local energy matters · a new prospectus - city leap - has been released, outlining a series of...

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East Anglia newsEast England entrepeneurs generate £71mn from energy projectsNorfolk and Suffolk County Councils have recently received substantial revenue from the energy sector due to the continued growth of renewable energy projects across the region. Currently the annual generated income stands at £71mn, as businesses continue to invest in innovative, independent energy schemes.

The continued expansion of independent energy generation seeks to combat the ongoing fall in renewable subsidies, with companies finding new ways of making schemes, such as solar farms, financially viable according to the Energy Entrepreneurs Report from SmartestEnergy. This marks an important time for commercial and industrial companies who are investing in creative projects to help counter the loss of feed-in tariffs (FiT) in April 2019.

Offshore wind ‘needed’ for East AngliaAt the recent SNS2018 conference held on the 16-17 May, MP for Waveney Peter Aldous said that a new regional strategy is needed to reap the benefits offered by approximately 8GW of offshore wind projects being developed off the East Anglia coast.

Four key areas were suggested to be addressed, which included boosting local infrastructure, developing skills, as well as collaborating with the local offshore wind sector to strengthen supply chains and gain from the expanding investment in offshore wind in the North Sea.

£8mn energy headquarters open in GorlestonThis month Proserv’s centre of excellence energy headquarters was opened in the seaside town of Gorleston in Norfolk, marking a solid commitment by the energy service company to continued growth and interest in the region. The £8mn Artmeis House facility on Gorleston’s Beacon Park offers an additional 25% manufacturing space for the town, and has allowed for the consolidation of 180 employees from across the county to one site in efforts to improve productivity and commitment to the Norfolk coast.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council and New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) were responsible for developing the site, with investments of £4.5mn and £1.5mn respectively, with an additional £2mn from Proserv.

The lease for the site will last for 20 years. The council’s political group leaders, Graham Plant and Trevor Wainwright, stated: “Artemis House will ensure that these skilled jobs, mostly held by local people, will continue to be based within the borough, while generating rental income which is used to help support vital public services”. Doug Field, chairman of New Anglia LEP, remarked that the site is “further evidence of the strength of our [Norfolk’s] energy coastline – within which Proserv is a key supplier and employer.”

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Tariff headlinesOur Power expansion impacts prepayment marketOur Power, which has up until now been offering market leading prices to customers in Scotland, launched two new tariffs which cover England and Wales. Our Power is now the cheapest prepayment supplier on average across Great Britain. Our Power does not, however, offer its cheapest ‘Our Best’ tariff in the Eastern region. The best prepayment tariff deals in the Eastern region are shown in Figure 1, overleaf.

Suppliers are looking for tariff partnershipsApril saw the launch of Wasps Energy and Wigan Warriors Energy, both in partnership with npower. While both rugby clubs had announced npower as an official partner in 2017, this month saw the arrangements formalised with the creation of dedicated energy sales websites.

npower was not the only supplier launching new partnerships in April, with Co-operative Energy also launching a dedicated tariff for associates of the Mars Group. The tariff features 100% renewable electricity and is reportedly only available through links provided directly to Mars employees. The average tariff price is £998/year, which is £89/year cheaper than the equivalent Co-operative Energy tariff available to the wider market.

ENGIE EV tariff features on comparison websitesWhile a number of electric vehicle (EV) tariffs have been launched in recent months, the ENGIE EV Home June 20 tariff is the first example of an EV tariff featuring on a price comparison service. For Ofgem medium users with single rate meters, the tariff equates to £980/year on average, although ENGIE’s quote tool reminds customers that EV users will typically have higher usage. The tariff is promoted with the offer of “500 free driving miles” as ENGIE will credit each account with £30 for any customer with proof of having registered a low-emission vehicle eligible for a plug-in grant.

ENGIE also offers customers of the tariff a discounted chargepoint installation. The ENGIE EV 3.7kW chargepoint is available to the public at a cost of £749 but, for customers eligible for the OLEV Homecharge scheme who switch to the EV tariff, the cost is reduced to £179.

East of England tariffs and market shareTariffs from twelve ‘household archetypes’ (see the inside margin overleaf) reflect households with similar energy consumption levels, and are a useful tool for providing pricing information relevant to different types of customer.

In May there were

59 suppliers offering 190

dual fuel tariffs between them (135 fixed tariff

deals and 55 standard

variable tariff deals) in East Anglia. 70 of these deals were green

tariffs.

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Figure 1: Best buys in Eastern region (April 2018)

Non-mains gas households:

A1: Low-income electrically-heated

A2: All other electrically-heated

A3: Low-income non-metered fuel-heated

A4: All other non-metered fuel-heated

Mains gas heated households:

A5: Low-income, out-of-work snigle adults in small 1-bed social rented flats

A6: Young working adults in rented flats

A7: Low-income single adults (lone parents or elderly) in social rented houses

A8: Younger working families in medium-sized rented houses

A9: “Average” mains gas-heated households

A10: Wealthy working families in 3-4 bed semis owned with mortgage

A11: Asset-rich, “empty-nesters” in detached houses in less urban areas

A12: Wealthy working families in larger detached houses in less urban areas

Fixed tariff

A tariff which offers guaranteed standing charges and unit rates, usually until a defined end date.

Standard variable tariff (SVT):

A supply contract with an indefinite length, which has variable prices that can go up and down with the market.

Prepayment tariff:

A tariff for customers with prepayment meters, which enables payment for energy in advance through ‘topping-up’ using prepay tokens, cards or a key.

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The average saving between the least and most expensive deals across all archetypes is £453. Angelic Energy is, in part, responsible for this large range, with the supplier offering fixed tariff deals significantly cheaper than the next cheapest offering. Powershop frequently offers the cheapest standard variable tariff (SVT) deals, with Bristol Energy and Nabuh Energy more often than not offering the best value prepayment deals.

Figure 3, overleaf, shows the range of annual cost of tariffs for the Eastern supply region, updated to 30 April.

Figure 2 shows the market share of twelve suppliers in the Eastern region. The market share of all Big Six suppliers, except npower, has decreased from Q1 2017 to Q1 2018. Of the others, the only suppliers of the ones shown to have increased their market shares are OVO Energy and Utilita. For dual fuel accounts, British Gas and E.ON are the largest suppliers, serving 27.1% and 19.8%, respectively.

Figure 2: Supplier market share Q1 2018 (inner ring) and Q1 2017 (outer ring)

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Figure 3: Annual tariff cost spread in the Eastern region at Ofgem medium typical consumption value (April 2018) by archetype

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Somerset to build 25MW of battery storageSouth Somerset District Council announced in May plans to build 25MW worth of battery storage, proposed to become one of the largest and most advanced energy storage sites in the UK.

The council, in partnership with Somerset-based Opium Power, has said that the planned storage will provide essential power management assistance to the National Grid. This comes as part of a new vision of creating more income generating opportunities for the region. Revenue generated by this venture will be reinvested in the local community, improving core services, and delivering public priorities for the longer-term interests of the district.

The project not only provides an opportunity for greater revenue, but also meets the objectives and commitment to promote the use of green technology, partly by aiding development in the region and removing electricity supply constraints for renewable schemes.

The site’s production of 25MW of power for the grid for one hour’s duration is equivalent to powering over 30,000 homes, with storage important for balancing power demand and storing renewable energy that would otherwise be wasted. It is hoped that the project will be up and running by the end of 2018.

Bristol seeks £1bn energy investment to reach carbon neutral targetBristol City Council is seeking up to £1bn investment in Bristol’s energy infrastructure over the next decade to help the city reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. On 9 May, the council announced a global search for partners to respond to a series of energy and infrastructure investment opportunities it has identified for local, national and international businesses.

A new prospectus - City Leap - has been released, outlining a series of energy and infrastructure investment opportunities available to local, national and international businesses.

As part of the City Leap package, the council wants £300mn to develop the city’s heat networks and a further £300mn to reduce fuel poverty through domestic energy efficiency measures. The council is also considering the development of a “Bristol Battery” that would connect to local and national energy networks. In addition, projects focused upon commercial energy efficiency and renewable energy will be sought.

Councillor Kye Dudd, Cabinet Member for Energy and Waste, said: “City Leap sets out a diverse range of opportunities which could be available for businesses and will allow us to explore possibilities which wouldn’t be open to us working alone…. In return for partnering with us, businesses would get a chance to shape the future of the city’s energy system and unlock opportunities to gain a return on their initial investment.”

Local authority energy news

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Community and local energy£102mn local energy investment launched by the UK governmentOn 23 May the UK government unveiled a £102mn investment programme for local and community energy projects to help develop the best UK-based research and expertise from a variety of disciplines as part of the energy revolution challenge, part of the Industrial Strategy.

The Energy Revolution Research Consortium aims to deliver strategic research proposals that address the challenges of developing local, consumer-centred, low-carbon energy projects. This includes providing energy in ways that consumers want, linking low-carbon power, heating and transport systems with energy storage and advanced IT to create intelligent, local energy systems and services.

The consortium also plans to build upon a series of announcements about Industrial Strategy Fund developments into local energy systems including:

• The fast track creation of three smart local energy system designs, proposed to be ready for consumers in the 2020s

• The innovation accelerator fund to develop and commercialise local energy system products and services for UK businesses and researchers, and

• A world leading, inter-disciplinary research programme to work alongside Energy Systems Catapult to coordinate local energy projects.

Subsidy cuts slow independent renewables growthSmartestEnergy’s latest Entrepreneurs Report has found that, although the number of independent renewable projects across GB is growing, the rate of growth is slowing. In 2017, there were 6,809 such projects, a 6.2% rise on 2016 with 400 new independent generation projects coming online, compared to a 17.2% rise from 2015-16 with 942 coming online.

Despite this, a further 1GW of new capacity has been added by the 400 installations, with success mainly seen in Scotland, which boasts the highest levels of renewable growth in 2017 for GB. Scotland saw a rise of 10.7% from 117 additional projects, with its 21.7% share of total GB independent renewable generation capacity meaning that despite a relatively small population, Scotland appears to be leading the way in recent innovation. Overall, Scottish renewable generation has grown fourfold since 2000; however, growth is also slowing here.

The report attributed the decline to subsidy cuts, which it described as “a reflection of a maturing market” leading up to April 2019.

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Government policy trackerSmart metersMay saw the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) put an emphasis on rolling out smart energy systems and funding for industry innovation.

Smart energy system innovation was led by a new £15mn fund for Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS). This fund represents a smaller segment of the £100mn from the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme. Applications are open from June 2018 for ten weeks, for a minimum of £5mn for a single project.

The £15mn fund has an emphasis on company and university led projects that can demonstrate how to reduce costs from CCUS. They will be considered if they show a significant cost reduction in CCUS, faster and more widespread usage of CCUS and a route for commercialisation. The competition also allows for carbon capture and removal from the atmosphere.

BEIS also released a quarterly report on the roll-out of smart meters across the UK. There are currently 11mn smart and advanced meters running in UK buildings, a 10% increase from the previous quarter. Approximately 10mn of these were domestic and 1mn non-domestic.

1.2mn domestic smart meters were installed domestically in Q1 2018. Smart meters now account for approximately a quarter of meters in domestic buildings, for both gas and electricity.

Hydrogen economyA £20mn boost is in store for the fledging hydrogen economy, with Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry stating that hydrogen requires the funding before it can start to live up to its potential and become cost competitive. Perry said she would work with Swindon Hydrogen Hub members to deliver this.

The £20mn fund, known as the Hydrogen Supply Programme, will be used to reduce the cost of large scale hydrogen supply. This will be done in two phases:

• Developing hydrogen process engineering designs alongside a development and production plan, and

• A developmental phase to test out key components of hydrogen production.

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energy.com for

our daily feed of

low-carbon news.

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Decarbonisation of heatSeveral reports looking at future low-carbon heating were either published or scrutinised in May.

The Cost Analysis of Future Heat Infrastructure Options report by Element Energy and E4Tech analysed the cost of different technological options for decarbonising the UK heat supply. The report found that all scenarios were more costly than the status quo.

The best case scenario anticipates a £100-200bn additional cost, the central case £120-300bn, and the worst case scenario £150-450bn. The annual cost of heating would be expected to be £100-300 more per year for the average household than the status quo. ‘Low regrets’ options in the report include greater energy efficiency, injecting green gas into the existing networks and district heating.

Of the four main routes to decarbonisation, the most expensive are electrification via heat pumps (£270bn), hybrid gas electric with green gas (£210bn), direct electrification (£190bn), hybrid gas electric without green gas (£180bn) and hydrogen heating (£130bn). There tended to be a correlation between the most expensive options and the best options for decarbonisation, with heat pumps being the only technology to lower total emissions in the heating sector below 10Mt/year.

A similar forward-looking report was produced by the University of Exeter and UK Energy Research Centre. The Incumbency in the UK Heat Sector: Implications for Low-carbon report Heating examined the role of gas grid operators in attempting to shape the future of the UK heating sector decarbonisation to best meet their own ends.

The report recommended that the government should look into options to decarbonise the gas grid, but established low-carbon heat technologies should not be discounted. Focusing on gas grid decarbonisation should not be allowed to detract from other low-carbon heating technologies. The government should also be more explicit about the challenges and scales of the challenge of heat decarbonisation and be more ambitious with policies to meet UK climate targets, the report recommended.

The role of ‘green gas’ was detailed in the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies report Decarbonisation of Heat and the Role of ‘Green Gas’ in the United Kingdom. Green gas, in this report, relates predominantly to production of hydrogen by steam methane reforming, using CCS to capture emissions from the process.

The report concludes that even more government intervention would be required to roll-out hydrogen gas on a large scale than for low-carbon electrification. This could be more of a barrier to hydrogen deployment than economic considerations. The report argues this is at odds with a government and market that is already resistant to large-scale intervention, and does not see the technology having a clear pathway to deployment.

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Decarbonisation of transportCharging infrastructure initiatives dominated electric vehicle (EV) news in May, with the announcement of Pivot Power’s scheme to build 2GW worth of battery storage to use for 45 rapid charging stations around England and Wales. The network will cost £1.6bn. The additional element of large-scale batteries (50MW each) means that, in addition to charging vehicles, this system can provide flexibility services to National Grid, which is a partner in the project. These batteries can also store power when wholesale power prices are low, cutting costs for EV drivers. The chargers will be 150kW rapid chargers, with 350kW charging deployed later. Pivot Power is aiming to have ten sites operational within 18 months.

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) also continued inquiries into EV charging infrastructure uptake this month, with the BEIS Select Committee convening on 8 and 22 of May. It questioned Ofgem, National Grid, car manufacturers and local councils on uptake progress.

The inquiry called for goals to be set between now and 2040 for uptake of EVs, as well as examining potential for bringing the ban on conventional cars and vans forward from 2040. The issue of where the forecast need for private investment of £200mn for charging infrastructure would be sourced was also scrutinised.

A range of other EV-related topics were covered in both evidence sessions, such as EV impact on electricity demand, load shifting and demand patterns, supply chain infrastructure for the UK EV roll-out, availability of EV charging points, and how EV charging points could shift to large scale hubs of rapid chargers. One more session is due before results go to ministers, with considerations for BEIS on how to roll out EV charging infrastructure more effectively.

London made its own progress on EV charging infrastructure, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Deputy Mayor Shirley Rodrigues assembling an EV Taskforce of 16 companies to lead the roll-out of EV infrastructure. This taskforce will be engaged in technical workshops over the summer and work on a shared delivery plan in 2019. The taskforce also aims to engage with individual London boroughs and the national government to make reducing air pollution in the capital a priority.

The charging infrastructure will focus on rapid charge points for charging vehicles in 30 minutes or less, with emphasis likely on EV charging hubs, similar to an electric equivalent of petrol stations. The taskforce will also reach out beyond networks managed by Transport for London (TfL), as there is limited potential for TfL to continue managing new rapid charging infrastructure on its own.

The UK’s second city is generating interest on EVs too, with Birmingham to host the world’s first electric vehicles summit on 11-12 September 2018. Organised by the Department of Transport, the summit will attract senior politicians from around the world, in addition to industry professionals, academics and other experts, to discuss global EV roll-out.

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Energy research/innovationNew software to make siting renewable generators easierTwo new software tools have been released to help make it easier to find locations to build new renewable energy generators.

Consultancy Dulas launched its Remote Renewable Energy Survey Service (RRESS) tool in late May, aiming to help local authorities find suitable locations to deploy generators. The tool uses light detection systems and geographical information mapping to automatically select good sites for deploying solar panels, all without having to visit sites. This offers significant cost-savings in the early stages of planning a new solar array. Though the tool is targeted at local authorities, the first customer was elsewhere in the public sector, at the University of Chester.

Also at the end of May, internet search engine giant Google’s Project Sunroof system came to the GB market, in partnership with energy supplier E.ON. The pair have previously worked together to roll-out the tool in Germany. Google has used satellite and aeroplane mapping data to examine the solar potential of almost every roof in the UK, including assessing the effect of the slope of the roof and potential shape of solar panels.

The tool can then estimate cost and benefits of deploying solar panels and a domestic battery to store energy, and book appointments for local contractors to survey and create a firm quotation.

The tool could be particularly useful for local authorities in East Anglia, with the region regularly receiving more hours of sunshine than most parts of the UK. Parts of the country have already been mapped, including Norwich.

Project Sunroof, Norwich

Source: E.ON

The Project Sunroof map can be found at www.eonsolar.

co.uk

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Pixie Energy updatePixie Energy sponsors One Planet NorwichPixie Energy is proud to sponsor Norwich City Council’s One Planet Norwich festival on 9 and 10 June. The free festival, which will be held at The Forum in Norwich, next to Pixie Energy’s offices, will be a fun event highlighting the work of One Planet Norwich in encouraging small changes every day to reduce the amount of resources people consume so one planet can sustain us.

Hosted across the two days at The Forum from 10am until 4pm, visitors will be invited to join the Junk Orchestra in making music from recycled objects and see fantastic fashion made from pre-used plastic on the Saturday. On Sunday, there will be slapstick comedy and a hands-on science experience.

There will also be a screening of the documentary A Plastic Ocean at 7pm, described by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”. Norwich Community Solar will be amongst stallholders, with a demonstration solar panel to show how renewable energy can work in the community.

The festival is now in its fourth year. Last year The Forum welcomed 10,000 visitors over the weekend the One Planet Norwich Festival was held. Organised by Norwich City Council, this year’s One Planet Norwich Festival is sponsored by Pixie Energy. For more information about what is happening over the weekend find the One Planet Norwich page on Facebook and sign up to the festival event.

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