Posted on: 20/08/2024
This week's energy news headlines: The need for connections reform is more urgent than ever according to Ofgem; The system operator announces plans to connect offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea; Large UK firms say they plan to increase their spending on carbon credits. Our industry round-up includes the latest updates from Government departments and energy regulators.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published the latest quarterly extract of the Renewable Energy Planning Database which tracks the progress of UK renewable electricity projects over 150kW through the planning system.
EnergyUK has published its response to the CM095: Implementing Connections Reform consultation.
Ofgem is consulting on its minded-to position on the project assessment for Yorkshire GREEN under the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) mechanism. It closes on 10 September.
Ofgem has published its decision to reject BSC Modification P461: 'Accurate Reporting of Customers Delivered Volumes to Suppliers'.
National ESO is inviting feedback on its proposed changes to the statements addressing the procurement and use of Balancing Servicesunder Standard Condition Licence C16. The consultation closes on 30 August.
Reform of the grid connections process to quickly deliver more renewable energy projects is more critical than ever, according to Ofgem.
The regulator said the new UK Government’s refocusing of efforts towards a new 2030 clean power mission had provided fresh impetus for work to speed up connections.
“With the queue now at 725GW across transmission and distribution, more needs to be done to meet Net Zero objectives,” said Jack Presley Abbott, Deputy Director of System Planning and Connections in a blog post.
“Delays in connecting customers exceed five years, taking connection dates well beyond 2030 and making it clearer than ever that we need to act now.”
Latest figures from an industry survey by the ESO suggest the introduction of proposed reforms could see the queue reduce to somewhere between 240 to 460GW, but Ofgem said the current proposals may not sufficiently reduce the queue size and “may not enable material improvements to the connection dates of viable, Net-Zero-aligned projects”.
Plans to connect up to 4.5GW of floating offshore wind have been unveiled by the system operator.
The ESO has put forward its recommended design to connect up to 3GW from wind farms in the Celtic Sea into two locations in South Wales and up to 1.5GW into the South West of England.
Each of the three proposed offshore wind farms would have its own connection to the onshore electricity network.
The proposals come as the Crown Estate invites pre-qualified bidders to tender under a leasing round for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
It the first time an offshore wind leasing round will have been launched with a recommended high-level network design in place.
Carbon credits are set to play an increasing important role for large UK companies in meeting sustainability targets, according to a survey.
Companies plan to spend an average of £20m on credits in the years ahead, the research by risk management and insurance broker Gallagher found.
Nine out of ten large UK businesses have already purchased carbon credits which allow the owner to emit one tonne of greenhouse gases, spending on average £2m.
Although Gallagher said carbon credits may be an important tool as part of the transition to net zero, “businesses cannot become complacent about their reliability” and warned that credits they purchase be of lower quality than expected or fail.
Rising wholesale prices are expected to see the next domestic price cap increase by 9%, according to analysts.
Cornwall Insight predicts the October price cap due to be announced later this week will be £1,714 per annum.
Looking further ahead, it expects the cap will show a further modest increase in January 2025 but warned recent tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war could see prices rise further at the start of the new year.
Cornwall Insight said over the past few months gas and electricity wholesale prices have rebounded, from their 30-month lows in February. It said the rise in wholesale market prices, particularly since the start of August, has been the key driver behind the forecast uptick in bills.
A vision of developing a ‘digital spine’ to share data across the UK’s energy sector is moving forward after a major feasibility study.
The study was commissioned by the Government to look at the potential for data sharing infrastructure (DSI) for the energy sector.
The Government said it agreed with the findings of the study that such a development “would bring significant benefits to the energy sector but recognise that delivering it will require industry collaboration to address technical and cultural challenges”.
“Making the right decisions on new infrastructure, balancing generation with flexible demand, and managing a complex energy system will require access to trusted data, and new digital infrastructure,” it said.
Next steps include developing a minimum viable product (MVP) to deliver early learnings and benefits.
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