July 24, 2012

Ed Davey Launches Cornwall Together at the Eden Project

Fresh from arguing about energy policy with the Treasury up in Westminster, Ed Davey has popped down here to South West England to help launch Cornwall Together, which according to their web site:

Is a group of Cornish people, joining together to save money on their energy bills. Simple as that.

The event was recorded for posterity, as you can see:

Ed's speech is available in full on the Department of Energy and Climate Change web site. He started by saying that:

It’s absolutely fantastic to be here at the Eden Project, whose low-carbon credentials are impeccable. The world’s first eco car show. Plans for an 80% cut in emissions by 2020. And a new deep geothermal energy system, drawing heat from Cornish stone to warm the biomes and feed into the grid.

Eventually moving on to the matter in hand, Ed pointed out that:

I’m absolutely clear that getting more competition in our energy markets, and helping people take advantage of it, is vital. That’s why one of my top priorities after taking this job was to focus on collective switching and collective purchasing. Everyone here today knows that the way people buy energy – and who they buy it from – can make a real difference. But that message isn’t making out to the wider world. In 2010, we saw significant energy price rises. Wholesale energy costs soared, driving up consumer bills. Yet consumer switching rates fell.

I want the benefits of collective switching to be open to all communities. That’s why Cornwall Together is such a fantastic initiative. Not just because this is the first time a county has joined together to help people save. Not just because it’s coming from a new angle, by working with big employers in Cornwall, across sectors. Not just because it encourages people to think about more sustainable energy options. But also because this is the first collective switching scheme I’ve heard of that will actively target the hard-to-reach the households who most need help. And 1 pound out of every 10 generated will go into a fund for Cornish communities.

This scheme really is the first of its kind. And I sincerely hope it’s the first of many.

Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project, added that:

The idea is, what would happen if you persuade all of the people who consume energy to join together, all the big guys, all the little guys, and see whether the collective buying power of that group can then liberate a price for people who are in fuel poverty, so that they can benefit from us.

Kevin Lavery, Chief Executive of Cornwall Council, pointed out that:

If we're able to promote renewable energy over time we'll see a lot more jobs in Cornwall, and a lot more of the spend on energy staying in the county.

Finally note that according to the Cornwall Together web site once more:

Cornwall Together Limited is a subsidiary of Eden Project Limited. Cornwall Together Limited, Keo Energyshare Limited and uSwitch Limited are working together to deliver the Cornwall Together project to you.

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Dave, Ed and George Argue About Energy

Some more background information has come to light concerning the apparent confusion within the UK government about their renewables obligations.  The Guardian has printed what it claims is a letter dated July 9th from George Osborne to Ed Davey discussing in particular a reduction in ROCs for onshore wind. Quoting from that letter:

Beyond 2013-14 we need to find a sensible resolution to the position regarding onshore wind on balance I am content to start with a reduction of 0.9 ROCs. However, I am only prepared to agree this if we also agree either a further reduction in the ROCs in this parliament or a review point in 2013-14 to assess costs and the scope for such a reduction.

We need to set out an approach which puts the cost to consumers at its heart. This would include a statement which gives a clear, strong signal that we regard unabated gas as able to play a core part of our electricity generation to at least 2030 – not just providing back-up for wind plant or peaking capacity.

On this basis I think we would be able to proceed to publish the RO proposals before the summer recess.

As we now know that didn't happen, so the obvious conclusion is that Ed didn't agree with George's proposal. In an article about the letter the Guardian assures us that:

David Cameron has been urged to intervene in a rapidly escalating row between the chancellor and the energy secretary that threatens to derail planned reforms to the UK's energy sector.

The Guardian then quotes the views of a variety of people on this sorry state of affairs, including those of Tim Yeo. Perhaps the most pithy remark was made by John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, who said that:

Osborne is becoming a threat to the climate, to energy customers and to the economy. He has declared war on one of the UK's only growth sectors, actively plotting to destroy green jobs and industries. His meddling is driving up bills, locking us in to decades of dirty fossil fuel use and making energy policy unworkable. It's time Cameron pulled the plug. I wouldn't trust his chancellor to run a bath.

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July 23, 2012

The Treasury Has Made UK Energy Policy Unworkable

Those aren't my words. they are a slight paraphrase of the words of the MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee.  Following on from last week's criticism of the UK government's failure to deliver the renewables obligation numbers, today the UK Parliament web site reports that:

The proposals in the Government’s draft Energy Bill could impose unnecessary costs on consumers, lead to less competition and deter badly needed investment.

Commenting on the draft bill Tim Yeo MP, Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, said that :

The Government is in danger of botching its plans to boost clean energy, because the Treasury is refusing to back new contracts to deliver investment in nuclear, wind, wave and carbon capture and storage.

It was originally anticipated that the new "contracts for difference" designed to provide energy companies with a guaranteed price for low-carbon electricity would be underwritten by the State. Now however it seems that:

The new model for contracts will spread the liability across various energy companies instead; raising concerns that the plans are now too complex and possibly not legally enforceable.

According to Tim Yeo once more:

The Government must provide investors with more certainty about exactly how much money will be available. Community owned energy projects and small independent generators are in danger  under the current plans of being squeezed out.

In conclusion the Select Committee states that:

The Government must rethink its plans urgently so that the investment that is needed to replace the UK’s aging power stations, cut carbon emissions and maintain energy security can be delivered.

It looks like a long hot summer is metaphorically in store for the legislators and the Treasury, although unfortunately not literally for the rest of us.

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A Map of Geothermal Energy Projects in the United Kingdom

It seem that lots of people are unaware of all the past, present and future projects researching and even actually producing geothermal energy in the United Kingdom. This even seems to include journalists at quality newspapers such as The Independent!

To make life easier for other researchers into this currently hot topic we've added another interactive map to our resources section. This one reveals the locations of a variety of "deep" geothermal energy projects around the UK, starting with the research project at Rosemanowas Quarry (more often spelled Rosemanowes) in Cornwall way back in the late 1970s.

A map of deep geothermal energy projects in Cornwall

A map of deep geothermal energy projects in Cornwall

Note that our map doesn't currently include the location of the "Pioneering Geothermal Energy Project" in Manchester announced last week by GT Energy, since despite having called their PR agency this morning I still have no evidence for its precise location beyond the "Devonshire Street" mentioned on the GT Energy website.

If you have any information on this project, or indeed any others that are missing from our map, please do get in touch.

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July 22, 2012

A Difference of Opinions on the Starcross Solar Park

The mound of virtual paperwork associated with the proposed 23.3 hectare solar PV park at Cofford Farm near Starcross has been gradually accumulating for a couple of weeks now.  In their original request for a screening opinion from Teignbridge council Hive Energy suggested that:

It is considered that this application does not require the submission of an environmental  statement for the following reasons:

  • The development will not be of more than local importance as the scale and nature of the proposals are not considered likely to have more wide-ranging effects;
  • The site is not within or adjacent to an environmentally sensitive area. The site does not lie within any designated areas, the closest being the Grade II* Mamhead Park, and the associated Ancient Woodland. It is considered that there is unlikely to be significant affects upon these areas.
  • The proposals are not unusually complex and do not pose potentially hazardous environmental effects. Indeed the intention of the scheme is to reduce our reliance on energy generated in such a manner.

Accordingly it is considered that that the proposals do not constitute EIA development and would not require an Environmental Statement to be submitted with a planning application for the scheme.

More on A Difference of Opinions on the Starcross Solar Park

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July 20, 2012

GT Energy Announce a "Pioneering Geothermal Energy Project" in Manchester

Earlier this month Irish based GT Energy announced that they had:

Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with E.ON UK, one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies, to develop five new deep-geothermal heat and distribution systems. Under the terms of the partnership, the two companies will collaborate on five projects to tap into the heat that occurs naturally only a few kilometres underground, providing a reliable source of clean energy for homes and businesses.

However they didn't reveal the location of those five plants. Now they have taken the next step, and they announced today that they have:

Plans to tap into the heat that occurs naturally underground and establish the UK’s largest deep-geothermal heat plant. The project will tap into one of the UK’s largest geothermal resources, located beneath Manchester called the Cheshire Basin. This natural energy reservoir equates to the heating consumption of approximately 7 million homes.

The planned project won't actually heat 7 million homes however, since:

The heat plant will be based on two wells of approximately 3,000 metres depth at a half acre site in the Ardwick district of the city. GT Energy will develop the geothermal plant and a program will be developed for the design and build of the district heating network to supply this heat to the Oxford road corridor. A similar project was developed in the UK in the 1980s in Southampton and is still in operation. This plant provides heat to its customers via 14km of district heating pipes.

This will be the largest commercial development of geothermal heating in the UK and follows closely on the introduction of the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which is the world’s first financial incentive scheme designed to encourage the development of renewable energy for heating. At present, about half of the UK’s carbon emissions derive from the energy used to produce heat, far more than from generating electricity. Administered by the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), the RHI scheme can draw on funds of £70m during 2012/13 to support the development of renewable heat projects.

Notwithstanding the recent rocky road for ROCs, it seems the UK government is firmly behind deep geothermal energy, since according to GT Energy once more UK Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said:

I was delighted to hear about the launch of this exciting scheme in Manchester, and GT Energy and E.ON’s plans for further projects to develop heat networks supplied with deep geothermal heat. This is exactly the sort of innovative green project we want to see sprouting up across the country. This builds on the Coalition’s ambitious heat strategy published in March, and I wish the project every success.

GT Energy's CEO, Padraig Hanly, added that:

We are delighted to be working on this ground breaking project. At present, energy for heating is almost entirely fossil-fuel based, but as geothermal energy is abundant we believe that we can utilise this resource in an economical and efficient way for the benefit of the citizens of Manchester. The RHI is a world leading initiative from the UK government and will boost the development of renewable energy, and GT Energy we will be at the forefront of this.

The only slight fly in the North Western deep geothermal ointment is that:

GT Energy will be seeking the views of local residents and stakeholders as part of its consultation strategy in advance of submission of its planning application to Manchester City Council in September.

Down here in South West England there are already two deep geothermal projects that already have planning permission, and presumably would quite like a share of the RHI pot of gold too. Only last week the Eden Project's two well proposal was front page news in the local press. With rather less recent fanfare than either of their competitors, Geothermal Engineering Limited's chosen location at United Downs near Redruth is just down the road from the site of the UK's ground breaking (literally!) deep geothermal research project at Rosemanowes Quarry in Cornwall. Geothermal Engineering sought the views of local residents and then obtained planning permission for their more ambitious three well project back in August 2010. Geothermal announced last year that not only were they:

Developing the UK’s first commercial-scale geothermal power plant

but also they had:

been awarded £6 million towards the cost of a geothermal plant in Cornwall. The plant will produce 10MW of electricity, to be fed into the National Grid; and 50MW of renewable heat energy, which will be made available for local use. 10MW of electricity is enough to power 20,000 homes, while 50MW of renewable heat is equivalent to the heat needed to supply 20 schools for a year.

According to their Managing Director, Ryan Law:

We are pleased that the government has recognised the potential of the deep geothermal industry in the South West of the UK. The grant will be used to leverage significant levels of private funding into the United Downs deep geothermal project. The geothermal industry was disappointed at the outcome of the Renewable Obligation Certificate Review published at the end of October. However, this grant will help the industry move forward. Once the first plant is operational, we will roll out further projects across Devon and Cornwall which could produce up to a total of 300MW of electricity. The South West has a great geothermal resource and developing this resource will mean more jobs, more British engineering expertise, and more clean energy for the country.

In conclusion, for the moment at least:

Geothermal Engineering Ltd aims to begin drilling the first well onsite in late 2012.

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July 18, 2012

DECC Dashes REA's Hopes on the ROCs

Amongst a plethora of TL(and longer)As it is our sad duty to report today that the Renewable Energy Association are very disappointed by the (in)actions of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.  The REA recently published the Summer 2012 edition of their "REA News" magazine. Here it is:

As you can see, in her introduction Gaynor Hartnell, REA Chief Executive, expressed the view that:

Under pressure from the Treasury, DECC is grappling with the task of maintaining momentum towards the renewable energy targets, whilst not allowing any possibility of over-reward. This is widely speculated to be the cause of the delay in the publication of the conclusions of the RO Banding Review. Hopefully by the time you read this edition, the results will finally be out.

As you can also see, that edition is indeed now out but Gaynor's hopes have nonetheless been dashed. Even though Parliament shut up shop for the summer yesterday the Renewables Obligation Banding Review conclusions are still not out yet. If you flick through the virtual pages of REA News you will read any number of comments concerning the importance of getting renewables funding on a firm footing as quickly as possible. Here are one or two examples:

Tim Yeo – Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee (and President of the REA)

The benefits brought by the renewable energy industry should be viewed in a much wider context than they otherwise have been. They will provide the UK with a long term commercial advantage.

Ed Davey – Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change:

The need for investment and jobs means it's really important that we forge ahead with our plans for creating an investment-friendly climate for energy, in particular for renewables.

William Hague – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs:

There is unprecedented global demand for green innovation, which could provide an enormous boost to UK industry in the years to come.

When trying to persuade other countries, both advanced and developing countires, to go green, it is a huge advantage to be able to point to the example we are setting at home.

In conclusion here are Gaynor's most recent comments on these events, which arrived in my inbox earlier today:

Those within DECC know that this delay is immensely damaging to the industry and will be seeking to resolve things as rapidly as they can. Developers need certainty and soon.

This delay is the most serious yet. It does not bode well for the schedule for electricity market reform, which is far more complex.

On the one hand the Treasury wants to bring about growth in energy infrastructure, with its new Guarantee scheme; on the other hand it is directly hampering it, by preventing the planned publication of the financial incentives for renewable electricity projects from 2013

Apparently DECC's conclusions will eventually be made public "by 30th September at the latest". What sort of example is that setting to other countries, whether currently advanced or developing? What can the UK government possibly be thinking of?

Just in case it's relevant here's another quote, this time from The Independent for a change:

Ed Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, had been due to announce a new level of Government support for wind turbines today when he appeared before Parliament.

Mr Davey is understood favouring cutting subsidies by around 10 per cent – a level recommended by the Government’s own review into renewable energy,

But the measure is being blocked by Mr Osborne who is demanding far greater cuts before signing off on the new strategy.

George Osborne is currently Chancellor of the Exchequer

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July 16, 2012

The World's on Fire. Can Geothermal Energy Help?

Sarah McLachlan thinks so. Sarah is a Canadian singer/songwriter, possibly most familiar in the popular imagination as the singer of the Oscar nominated Randy Newman song "When She Loved Me" from the soundtrack to the movie "Toy Story 2". Slightly less well known is Sarah's support for a variety of causes, one of which is geothermal energy. Here's a "music video" of her song "World on Fire" from the 2003 album "Afterglow" :

More on The World's on Fire. Can Geothermal Energy Help?

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Teignbridge DC Minutes Reveal Reasons for Refusing Tedburn Solar Farm

The minutes of the meeting of the Teignbridge District Council planning committee have now been published, including the debate about a proposed 40 acre solar farm at Gold's Cross Hill near Tedburn St. Mary that I contributed to last Monday.

My own contribution to events is summarised accurately if rather tersely!  Not least because my time ran out before I had a chance to explicitly make the point, no mention is made of the fact that if local energy storage were to be "retro-fitted" to a large scale solar PV park at some point over its anticipated 25 year life span it would inevitably have a significant impact on the site one way or another.  Whether the technology involved is a large pile of Nissan Leaf batteries, Donald Sadoway's containers full of liquid metal or Jonathan Howes' silos full of hot and cold gravel, it takes up a lot of space.  If you bury the storage medium underground there is an impact on future agricultural use of the land. If you leave it above ground it will have a visual impact that goes well beyond anything shown on the developer's current drawings.

Andy Leithgoe's objections to the proposal on "landscape" grounds as well as the "inappropriate use of farmland" are summarised also. In favour of the proposal Stuart Homewood of Inazin made the point that:

Some 200 sites have been inspected in relation to renewable energy and the current site is one of the best in the south west for efficiency of renewable energy output because of its south facing direction and proximity to the national grid.

"Proximity to the grid" does indeed seems to be a prime driver as far as solar farm developers are concerned, with the Bowhay Farm site near Shillingford being a notable exception to the apparent rule that a set of  33 kV cables should run across a "suitable site". In that case the nearest such set of overhead cables is around half a kilometre away from the boundary of the proposed solar park. One can't help but wonder if the cost of laying half a kilometre of underground cable isn't higher up on Inazin's list of priorities than selecting a suitable site on the basis of landscape and/or agricultural considerations!

One also can't help but wonder why if  "efficiency of renewable energy output" is a prime consideration in Inazin's calculations they aren't concentrating on building onshore wind turbines instead of large scale solar PV parks. As I pointed out to the Teignbridge planning committee on Monday, according to the latest statistics released by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, over the course of 2011 onshore wind in the UK achieved a "load factor" of 27.3%, whereas solar PV managed only a measly 5.5%.  Wind turbines use up far less surface area of productive agricultural land too.

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July 14, 2012

Will Eden's Geothermal Plans Make Cornwall Energy Independent?

According to the front page news in this morning's Western Morning News, and under the headline "Eden in new 'hot rocks' scheme":

Energy independence, hi-tech jobs and a long-term income from exporting power to other parts of the country could be a reality for Cornwall by the end of the decade.

It's not a reality just yet, however, since although the Eden Project obtained planning permission for a geothermal energy facility from Cornwall County Council back in 2010:

A partnership made up of EGS Energy Limited and the Eden Project say the potential to exploit the region's underground heat sources is virtually limitless and that investment is needed now to ensure the new industry is driven forward. The consortium hopes to sink the UK's first geothermal pipes deep into the earth's crust early next year, EGS and Eden are calling on the Government and entrepreneurs to back the £35 million scheme.

If the required investment is forthcoming Eden Project co-founder Tim Smit predicts:

A 30-mile network of geothermal plants along the route of Cornwall's granite backbone would be capable of producing a fifth of the UK's entire energy needs. What we are looking at is the birth of a completely new industry – and Cornwall could become a world leader in it. It has the potential to generate an enormous amount of energy and an enormous number of jobs.

Unfortunately investment in deep geothermal energy has been sadly lacking for far too long in this United Kingdom of ours. No doubt hoping for some change in that regard Mr. Smit compares the current "energy crisis" to World War II:

When Winston Churchill built the Mulberry harbours for D-Day, the size of the undertaking was unimaginable and deemed impossible. That was a time of national emergency and I would argue that protecting Britain's future energy needs is also an emergency and therefore requires equal focus, equal ingenuity and equal investment. We already know that this technology works – all we need now is for the Government to be brave enough and confident enough to push the project forward.

The editorial in today's paper, apparently "The Voice of the West Country", goes on to discuss renewable energy in general, this time under the headline "Renewables big challenge is to talk to communities":

Renewables are far more than a buzzword. They are a crucial part of all of our futures, harnessing the natural power of the earth and turning it into the power that we humans depend on. In the main that is heat, and electricity, generated by wind, wave, water, and as we report today hot rocks.

The South West is a renewables hot spot. It is windy, it has hundreds of miles of coastline, it has wave power and, critically, world-leading wave technology.

The leader writer goes on to point out that:

Another planning battle is likely in Devon after renewable company Lightsource said it intended to submit a planning application for a 54-acre solar farm at Bowhay Farm, in Shillingford Abbot, near Exeter.

As luck would have it we are well aware of that particular issue here at econnexus.org.uk! Moving on the voice of the West Country concludes by saying that:

[A 30-mile network of geothermal plants] is an incredible vision, and one that Eden's Tim Smit likens to John Rockefeller and the birth of Standard Oil in United States in the 1870s. Such a project could bring cheap energy, hi-tech jobs, and help our region tackle both fuel security and fuel poverty.

What renewables needs is belief, not just of the visionary entrepreneurs like Smit, EGS and Good Energy – the company behind the Week St Mary project. It needs the belief of all of us. To tackle issues as great as climate change, fuel dependency, fuel poverty and the price of fuel, the South West and all of us who live and work here need to embrace renewable energy and all the challenges that come with it. Visual impact will always spark a reaction in rural communities.They need to be engaged early, asked what they want, they feel, and most importantly what they fear.

Personally I'd go even further. Beyond all that, politicians locally, nationally and indeed globally who comprehend the scientific and engineering issues involved would be a great help too.

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