Posted on: 23/07/2024
This week's energy news headlines: Broader action is urged to put the UK back on track for Net Zero; The UK is set to see record power imports this year according to new figures; A new Government taskforce is launched to boost onshore wind. Our industry round-up includes the latest updates from Government departments and energy regulators.
National Grid ESO has published its 2024 update to the Future Energy Scenarios report which looks at different pathways to Net Zero.
EnergyUK has published a report setting out the benefits of greater cooperation between the UK and the EU on energy issues.
Elexon has issued a report phase consultation on a proposed modification allowing all storage sites to set and fix their own production/consumption flags. The response date is 26 July.
National Grid ESO has published a report looking at how it models demand side flexibility and opportunities to improve it through greater transparency and stakeholder collaboration.
Ofgem has published its decision to send back the Connection and Use of System Charges modification proposal CMP414 which seeks to allow new connectees to construct transmission assets to facilitate their connection to the wider transmission network. Ofgem said it wanted greater clarity on the analysis and impacts of the proposed changes.
Only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by “credible” plans, according to the Government’s climate change advisor.
Although the Climate Change Committee said emissions are now less than half the levels they were in 1990, largely due to the phase out of coal and the ramping up of renewables, much wider progress was now needed.
It called for ambitious action not just in the energy sector, but also across transport, buildings, industry and agriculture.
“The plans in place from the previous Government will not deliver enough action,” it warned. The Committee has written a priority list of ten recommendations including make electricity cheaper, reversing recent policy rollbacks, and ramping up rates of tree planting and peatland restoration.
The UK will import a record amount of electricity in 2024, according to new analysis.
The Nuclear Industry Association said system operator data showed net electricity imports totalled a record 9 TWh in the first quarter of 2024, and 14.95 TWh from January through the end of May.
This puts Great Britain on track to import nearly 36 TWh over the whole year, 46% higher than the previous record of 24.6 TWh set in 2021.
Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Other countries get the jobs, and we get the bill because we have not invested enough in our own nuclear power and other sovereign power sources.
“The next Government’s drive to net zero means we must start turning that around by approving a raft of new nuclear power stations alongside major renewable investment, so we get the jobs and the energy security for our future.”
A new onshore wind industry taskforce has been launched by the Government to accelerate growth in the sector.
The taskforce brings together representatives from government, industry, regulatory bodies, the financial sector and other organisations to increase onshore wind deployment and meet the UK’s 2030 targets.
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband said: “Onshore wind is one of the cheapest sources of power we have. The taskforce will work, develop and rebuild the pipeline of projects.”
The Government has also re-ignited a similar taskforce for the solar sector.
Growth in electricity demand in 2024 and 2025 is forecast to be among the highest levels in the past two decades, according to a new report.
The International Energy Agency report demand is being driven by robust economic growth, intense heatwaves and increasing uptake of technologies that run on electricity such as EVs and heat pumps.
Global electricity demand is forecast to grow by around 4% in 2024, up from 2.5% in 2023. The strong increase in global electricity consumption is set to continue into 2025, with growth around 4% again, according to the report.
Renewable sources of electricity are also set to expand rapidly this year and next, with their share of global electricity supply forecast to rise from 30% in 2023 to 35% in 2025.
Closer co-operation between the UK and EU on energy issues would deliver huge benefits for consumers and decarbonisation progress, according to a report.
Energy UK’s report highlights recent examples of how working together has delivered mutual benefits through cutting costs and emissions and boosting security of supply.
It said that more efficient electricity trading arrangements and working collaboratively on clean North Sea energy infrastructure can help the UK and EU cut the cost of meeting their mutual offshore wind target by €13bn.
However, the paper also warns that if pledges to link respective emissions trading systems (ETS) and harmonise trading arrangements are not fulfilled, both sides stand to lose out.
Energy UK’s Deputy Director, Adam Berman: “There’s no getting away from the fact that the UK and EU remain deeply interconnected. As the UK and EU move toward Net Zero, cooperation will enable both sides to achieve their climate objectives more quickly and at lower cost.”
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