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Author Archives: Admin
London energy data maps
January 2013: Tim Starley Grainger has posted some useful graphics on how London is faring under some key Government energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes, such as CERT, Warm Front and progress under the Feed in Tariffs (FITs). As highlighted in various posts on this site, it doesn’t make for cheerful viewing. Graphics posted here.
“Capital’s public buildings get energy efficient makeover”
January 2013: Mayoral announcement made last month stating that “Energy conservation measures are already complete or near completion in 111 public buildings in London. The pipeline shows that 400 buildings could benefit from the Mayor’s award-winning RE:FIT programme, saving the public purse in the region of £7 million each year”. Read the full news release here. Further information on the new framework adopted for the programme at www.refit.org.uk .
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News
Tagged Buildings, Energy Efficiency, Mayor, RE:FIT
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Thames Barrier engineer says second defence needed
January 2013: BBC news story “A civil engineer who was part of the project management team which completed the Thames Barrier has said a new river defence should be planned urgently. Dr Richard Bloore said the south-east London barrier, opened in 1982, was not designed to factor in global warming. A study by the Environment Agency says with some modifications the barrier could continue to provide protection for the rest of the century.” Read the full article here.
Islington – “Heating rebate helps thousands”
8 January 2013: Islington news release: “Three-thousand council tenants with communal heating or hot water will receive a rebate of at least £145 per household next month, as the council prepares to pass on savings it has made in buying gas.
“Islington Council has secured an improved deal in its bulk purchasing of gas for estates with communal heating and hot water, which means the savings from the lower cost of gas can be passed on to tenants.” Read the full release here.
“The blunt answer is yes; in my view fuel poverty in London is getting worse”
January 2013: The transcript of discussions at the last Mayoral Question time has just become available and includes a number of interesting comments by the Mayor on both fuel poverty and his domestic energy efficiency programme, RE:NEW:
4046/2012 – Fuel Poverty Murad Qureshi: Is fuel poverty getting worse in London?
Boris Johnson (Mayor of London): The blunt answer is yes; in my view fuel poverty in London is getting worse. There is a problem in London because the price of fuel is increasing at a faster rate than household income. We have an increasing problem and that is why the Know Your Rights campaign is so important, the retro fitting is so important to reduce people’s fuel costs. I also think that, as a city, we need to campaign against the fuel companies who are ripping off the consumer, and I have made representations, as you would expect, on that. I think we need to start thinking about security of supply in London, and indeed in the country generally.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
December 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to: the delay in the publication to the Mayor’s evaluation report of his home energy efficiency programme, RE:NEW; a response to the recent report that London experienced the largest increase in the number of Excess Winter Mortality of any region; the number of low carbon and renewable energy installations installed in fire stations currently threatened with closure; on the Mayor’s recent statement that the “energy policy of the country is in chaos“; the Deputy Mayor’s views on renewable energy; the representation of decentralised energy generators on the Mayor’s High Level Electricity Working Group; the Energy Bill and its support to the attainment of the Mayor’s 25 per cent decentralised energy target
Progress on the Mayor’s DE target; CHP capacity in London; TfL arrangements to secure electricity supply for the London Underground ; TfL energy costs; TfL procurement of electricity from London-based low carbon and renewable energy generators
progress being made under the London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF); the UK’s attractiveness to clean energy investment; discussions with energy companies over recent price hikes; a London target under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO)
job losses in the insulation industry in London; Mayor’s liaison with the Insulation Industry Forum; the slow take up under the Green Deal and the January launch of the Green Deal; London bid to the Green Deal Pioneer Places fund and here.
Energy efficiency improvements linked to home extensions and conversions; the 2018 energy efficiency requirement for the private rented sector (and here); that there will be no zero carbon homes developed on the Greenwich Peninsula; checks on the standard of work completed under the RE:NEW programme; future energy consumption related to London’s future population growth; the anticipated energy output from the 25 decentralised energy schemes currently being supported by the Mayor; funding directed to the Mayor’s decentralised energy programme; papers from future meetings of the Mayor’s High Level Electricity Working Group; and the potential for anaerobic digestion in London and the number of future AD plants in London.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Anaerobic Digestion, CHP, Decentralised Energy, Energy Efficiency, Fuel Poverty, Funding, Green Deal, RE:NEW, Renewable Energy
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Government Policy on generation of electricity by local authorities
17 December 2012: John Pugh, MP for Southport, has asked a useful parliamentary question around what the Government’s position is on promoting the generation of electricity by local authorities. Apparently it has one.
Col 534W: John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the generation of electricity by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.
Gregory Barker: In 2010, we gave local authorities the power to sell electricity generated from renewable sources. It is therefore up to local authorities to generate and sell electricity if they wish and we are encouraging them to do so where this is appropriate. We have also facilitated this through ‘lite’ electricity supply licence, which would allow a local authority district heating operator to sell electricity at retail rates to consumers.
We are also supporting community ownership of localised renewable energy projects through the Feed-in-Tariffs scheme. Local projects engage neighbourhoods and communities in becoming involved with generating local heat and power e.g. Combined Heat and Power with District Heating (CHP-DH) networks in Woking, Southampton, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Local authorities also have a role in encouraging energy efficiency take up, including the Green Deal, and looking after consumer interests, for example, through the pioneer places and core cities initiatives and through supporting or running collective switching schemes.
Some points on this:
- Further to the link to the 2010 DECC news release (above) granting powers to local authorities to be able to sell renewable power – additional information is provided in this letter from the then Secretary of State to local authority Chief Executives ‘Unlocking Local Power‘ .
- Little progress has been made on the so-called ‘lite’ electricity supply licence: no local authorities have actually applied to hold a licence since Ofgem introduced this opportunity in March 2009. The GLA have however recently announced that they will – more on this in an earlier post.
- For the latest on FITs for Community Energy schemes – see the following post.
- All the neighbourhood heat and power schemes referenced in the PQ – though excellent – were all developed decades ago. Whilst good to see that these schemes are still expanding their heat networks, it would have been more encouraging to highlight progress in some new city-wide district heating schemes – however Government support in this area has been extremely limited.
Posted in News
Tagged Community Heating, Community Initiatives, FIT, Local Authorities, Ofgem, Renewable Energy
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FIT: Draft Guidance for Community Energy and School Installations
December 2012: Ofgem draft guidance document, open for consultation. It provides specific guidance for solar PV community energy and school installations on how to benefit from provisions available for the FIT scheme.
Further information on community energy and school installations can be found in the following DECC FIT FAQ document and the latest FIT rates here.
Evaluation of DECC Local Authority Competitions
December 2012: DECC have issued a tender to evaluate a series of competitions they have recently launched and the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document provides some useful information on the background to how the department will measure the success of these three particular schemes – which are:
- “Fuel Poverty Fund (£25m) The overall aim of the project is to reduce the extent of fuel poverty through the provision of resources to support improvements to the thermal efficiency of dwellings.
- The Green Deal Pioneer Places Fund (£10m)The primary purpose of the funding is for local authorities (LAs) and/or consortia of LAs (e.g. counties) to demonstrate ambitious approaches to kick starting local Green Deal activity in both the domestic and non-domestic sectors in England.
- ‘Cheaper Energy Together’ collective switching fund (£5m)The primary purpose of the funding is to support innovative collective switching or purchasing schemes by Local Authorities or third sector organisations which aim to achieve better deals on energy bills for consumers through collective purchasing power.
Applications for the competitions were submitted at the end of November. We expect the majority of project activity to complete by the end of March. “
The winners have as yet not been announced by Government: Secretary of State Ed Davey did however recently say that 115 applications had been received to “Cheaper Energy Together” competition.
London Assembly write to Government about Fuel Poverty
December 2012: Following last month’s evidence session (and see here), the London Assembly Health and Environment Committee has written to the Mayor, Department for Energy and Climate Change and energy companies about fuel poverty and domestic energy efficiency retrofit. The Committee’s correspondence can be seen here.
Writing to Minister for Energy Greg Barker, the Committee say: “The Committee would also like to know what lessons you are taking from the experience of CERT and CESP (and other programmes such as the GLA’s RE:NEW) for the Green Deal and ECO, and in particular for achieving better take-up and delivery in London. These new programmes provide an excellent opportunity to redress the previous imbalance and to show DECC’s commitment to fair delivery in London.”
The Committee quiz the Mayor over future proposals for the RE:NEW programme, asking “the Committee would like information on whether and how the plans it has heard are compatible with any further down-scaling of the annual GLA resource allocated to the programme. Your Deputy referred the Committee to the ECO funding stream but this is, we understand, for the retrofitting work itself. Is it expected to support GLA front-end activity, promotion or pipeline assembly? He also referred to a team of 90 staff within the Housing and Land Directorate, including staff transferring from the Homes and Communities Agency. The Committee would be interested to hear what quantum of staff time, and what other resource, will be allocated to RE:NEW work in 2013/14.”
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News
Tagged ECO, Energy Efficiency, Fuel Poverty, Green Deal, Housing, RE:NEW
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South Bank Decentralised Energy Scheme Proposed
14 December 2012: There were several news reports this week (here, here and here) that plans have been released to redevelop the area around the Shell Centre on the South Bank which include mention of an onsite ‘energy centre’.
The developer’s press release goes on to say that “The system will be designed to interconnect with a district heating network being explored for the wider South Bank area.” This is referring to a study undertaken in 2009 looking at the potential for an area-wide decentralised energy heat network connecting new and existing buildings along the South Bank, which was undertaken by London South Bank University for the South Bank Employers’ Group (SBEG).
The planning application is to be submitted to Lambeth before Christmas. Some additional information on the South Bank Master Plan is posted here and on the Shell Centre Dialogue here.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Community Heating, Decentralised Energy, Lambeth
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