Site search:
-
What’s new?
Energy for London Tags
Brent Buildings Camden Carbon Emissions CHP Cities Climate Adaptation Community Heating Community Initiatives Croydon Data DECC Decentralised Energy Distribution ECO Energy Costs Energy Efficiency Enfield FIT Fuel Poverty Funding Green Deal Hackney Haringey Housing Islington Lambeth Library Local Authorities Mayor Newham Ofgem Olympics Photovoltaics Planning RE:FIT RE:NEW Renewable Energy Retrofit Southwark Tower Hamlets Transport Waltham Forest Waste WestminsterEnergy Archives:
- February 2021 (1)
- January 2021 (15)
- December 2020 (15)
- November 2020 (9)
- October 2020 (3)
- August 2020 (5)
- July 2020 (3)
- June 2020 (4)
- April 2020 (10)
- March 2020 (5)
- February 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (3)
- October 2019 (1)
- September 2019 (4)
- August 2019 (2)
- July 2019 (1)
- August 2018 (1)
- November 2016 (8)
- October 2016 (8)
- September 2016 (2)
- August 2016 (8)
- July 2016 (14)
- April 2016 (12)
- March 2016 (16)
- February 2016 (8)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (1)
- November 2015 (1)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (3)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (1)
- April 2015 (1)
- March 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (18)
- November 2014 (4)
- August 2014 (8)
- July 2014 (7)
- June 2014 (25)
- May 2014 (8)
- April 2014 (4)
- March 2014 (12)
- February 2014 (7)
- January 2014 (13)
- December 2013 (11)
- November 2013 (15)
- October 2013 (15)
- September 2013 (18)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (20)
- June 2013 (33)
- May 2013 (8)
- April 2013 (16)
- March 2013 (25)
- February 2013 (14)
- January 2013 (20)
- December 2012 (23)
- November 2012 (23)
- October 2012 (25)
- September 2012 (14)
- July 2012 (12)
- June 2012 (43)
- May 2012 (20)
- April 2012 (8)
- March 2012 (40)
- February 2012 (39)
- January 2012 (40)
- December 2011 (22)
- November 2011 (40)
- October 2011 (33)
- September 2011 (48)
- August 2011 (40)
- July 2011 (58)
- June 2011 (41)
- May 2011 (80)
- April 2011 (38)
- March 2011 (33)
- February 2011 (25)
- January 2011 (24)
- December 2010 (3)
- November 2010 (7)
- October 2010 (6)
- September 2010 (7)
- August 2010 (1)
- July 2010 (2)
- June 2010 (4)
- May 2010 (1)
- March 2010 (3)
- February 2010 (3)
- December 2009 (5)
- November 2009 (2)
- October 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (3)
- June 2009 (1)
- April 2009 (1)
- March 2009 (1)
- February 2009 (1)
- January 2009 (1)
- December 2008 (2)
- October 2008 (1)
- September 2008 (1)
- July 2008 (1)
- March 2008 (2)
- January 2008 (2)
- October 2007 (1)
- September 2007 (3)
- July 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (1)
- February 2007 (3)
- November 2006 (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- February 2006 (1)
- May 2005 (1)
- February 2004 (1)
News
Energy buying plan to unlock investment for growth
December 2012: Interesting press release from the Cabinet Office stating that Government will use its considerable buying power to contract PPAs (power purchase agreements) directly with stalled renewable electricity projects.
“The Government Procurement Service (GPS), part of the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group, is the UK’s largest energy customer, spending £1.5bn a year on gas and electricity. GPS buys energy for 75% of the entire public sector which accounts for 3% of total UK energy demand. In the New Year it will open a pilot to diversify 2% of its demand, worth £25m a year.
For the first time ever, contracts will be offered direct to renewable generators for a set proportion of their capacity for up to 25 years. This will appeal to new projects which can bank on the guaranteed business to attract investment. We are aware of at least 150 projects which are currently stalled and may need finance. A small 10MW generator is estimated to return £5m a year to the local economy as well as creating jobs in the energy and construction industries. This pilot is for non-intermittent power such as biomass and energy from waste.”
The ECO-Brokerage part 2
December 2012: No information as yet from DECC on when further details on the ECO brokerage will be released (see earlier post – The ECO brokerage – on this). There has however been a little information on the brokerage from a couple of sources which are worth mentioning:
- An Inside Housing story stating that “The vast majority of social landlords will be excluded from the first sustainability auction for energy company obligation funding to improve the energy efficiency of homes.”
- And a recent consultation by Ofgem on the ECO mentions that the regulator will have “no role in administering the ECO Brokerage and this Guidance does not address the brokerage or its administrative requirements. However we recognise that, on occasion, suppliers may seek credit for measures obtained through this platform. In order for such measures to be considered eligible under ECO, their installation, reporting and notification (etc) should be demonstrably compliant with the Order and this Guidance. For further information on the ECO Brokerage Mechanism please contact ECObrokerage@decc.gsi.gov.uk.”
DECC held an ECO brokerage workshop with PWC yesterday – where the software for the ‘ebay’ style online auction platform was trialled. Hopefully some further information will be released shortly…
The Electric City
December 2012: Following last week’s LSE Cities ‘Electric City’ conference which took place at the fascinating ‘Former Shoreditch Electricity Generating Station & Refuse Destructor’ some material have been posted online.
- A series of essays on the theme Electric City have been brought together in a publication for the conference which can be downloaded here. There’s not much specifically on London’s energy challenges, but the Global Problems: City Solutions contribution highlights an interesting point suggesting that “According to some reports, urban regions already produce ten times more renewable technologies patents than rural regions.”
- A selection of video interviews from the conference are posted on Youtube
- And the Guardian has posted a series of ‘exclusive data visualisations’ from the conference which includes ‘Unpacking London: energy & pollution’ highlighting that “Three quarters of London’s energy consumption is fueled directly by oil and gas, with the vast majority of the remainder generated by fossil-fuel-powered electricity. Just 2.1% comes either direct from waste and renewables or from renewably-generated electricity.”
London installations removed from EUETS
6 December 2012: Ahead of the start of Phase III of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS), which starts on 1 January 2013, DECC has today introduced new legislation which looks to simplify the rules around the CO2 ‘cap and trade’ scheme.
The EUETS covers around 1,100 energy-intensive industrial installations in the UK such as power stations, refineries and large manufacturing plants. Not surprisingly, not many of these participants are located at London, however, there are a few at the very lowest end of the EUETS requirements, and it is these sites which are addressed in the changes made today. DECC’s press release states that these ‘small emitters’, many of which are hospitals, have been given the opportunity to “‘opt-out’ of the EU ETS from 2013 into a lighter touch alternative scheme, which will address the disproportionately higher administrative costs faced by these installations.”
The ‘opt out’ list includes the following schemes in London:
- Bloomsbury Heat & Power
- The Natural History Museum Boilerhouse
- St. Thomas’ Hospital
- Guys Hospital
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust
- Chelsea and Westminister Hospital
- Royal Free Hospital Hampstead
- St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust
- Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU) Pump House
Other sites include the Hammersmith Hospital Energy Centre and the University College London Hospital.
Common to many of these installations is that they had chosen to utilise Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems to provide greater energy resilience on site, access more affordable heat and power, and reduce the site’s overall environmental impact related to energy consumption. However, by choosing to install more energy efficient generation directly on site, rather than importing electricity from the grid, they also passed the threshold on energy consumption for inclusion under the EUETS rules (20MW thermal input). This brought these relatively modest generation sites under the complex EUETS rules, hence, this new action by Government to simplify the rules under their operation under the trading scheme is to be welcomed.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Carbon Emissions, CHP, Community Heating, Decentralised Energy, Hospitals
Leave a comment
Islington’s new energy centre brings power to the people
December 2012: Islington have officially inaugurated their council-owned CHP system which “will produce cheaper, greener heat for hundreds of residents in the south of Islington in competition to the big utility companies.”
The press release sets out that the Bunhill Energy Centre houses a 2 MWe gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engine which is connected to a kilometre of new district heating network taking hot water to more than 700 local homes on the Stafford Cripps, Redbrick and St Luke’s estates, as well as the newly reopened Ironmonger Row Baths, and Finsbury Leisure Centre.
The efficiency of the new system is further improved by an on-site 115 metre-cubed thermal store (the tall cylinder seen above).
The energy centre was specially designed to minimise noise and adopted a “plug and play” method of construction with all the major components manufactured and prefabricated off-site in order to reduce disruption to residents.
The energy centre and heat network will be fully owned and managed by the council, and was funded by grants from the London Development Agency and the Homes and Community Agency. The council ownership and management of the scheme will help to maximise the benefits of the scheme for the local community and energy bill savings for residents. For more about the Bunhill Energy Centre and heat network see www.islington.gov.uk/heatnetwork
The Bunhill Energy Centre is part of Islington Council’s Decentralised Energy Programme and marks a return to energy production for Islington Council – for more than 70 years – from 1896-1969 – the borough had its own coal-powered station in Eden Grove, Holloway (more of which on this nice flickr post).
The launch event was covered by the BBC, and also local newspapers the Islington Tribune and the Islington Gazette.
‘How Green Will the New Heygate Be?’
December 2012: 35percent.org is an useful blog focussed on sustainability issues related to the massive new development proposed at the Elephant and Castle (see earlier post on this).
The top link to the site sets out some current concerns over the energy proposals on the site, especially in relation to connecting the different energy centres on site (which would hep form a more efficient area-wide heat network), and also the likelihood of using biomethane gas (the proposal in the developers application is to use the Green Gas Certification Scheme to link the London scheme to a site which is injecting biomethane elsewhere in the national gas transmission grid). The blog entry states that no such injection schemes are currently operating, which was true at the time of writing (early November 2012) but, coincidentally, the Poundbury anaerobic digestion (AD) in Dorset began operation just over a week ago (see here and here) and is injecting renewable gas generated from the AD into the gas grid.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Decentralised Energy, Natural Gas, Planning, Southwark
Leave a comment
London academy links to district-heating scheme
December 2012: “Connecting the Walworth Academy into the local district heating scheme was the final phase in a rebuilding and expansion of the school’s facilities, giving it a new, state of the art study environment for engineering, science, technology and mathematics.” Heat is supplied from the Aylesbury Housing Estate’s district heating scheme. Further information here and here.
Excess Winter Mortality index figure highest in London
December 2012: The Office of National Statistics (ONS) last week issued its annual statistical bulletin with provisional figures of excess winter deaths (also referred to as excess winter mortality – EWM) in England and Wales for the winter period 2011/12, and final figures for the winter period 2010/11. Points to note include some important results in relation to London:
- In common with other countries, in England and Wales more people die in the winter than in the summer.
- EWM = winter deaths – average non-winter deaths
- There were an estimated 24,000 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2011/12 – an 8 per cent reduction compared with the previous winter.
- The regions of London, the South East and the East of England showed an increase in EWM between 2010/11 and 2011/12, with the largest percentage point increase occurring in London (2.0 percentage points higher)
- London also had the highest EWM index in 2011/12, with 18.9 per cent more deaths in winter compared with the non-winter period, compared with an average of 15.4 per cent for England and Wales
- Reference Table 2 shows that the increase in London occurred exclusively in people aged 85 and over. Furthermore, people aged 85 and over in London had the highest EWM index of any age group in any region.
- The Health Protection Agency reported that London had the highest level of influenza-like illness (ILI) within England and Wales (Health Protection Agency, 2012a), which may partly explain why this region also showed the highest level of excess winter mortality.
Direct link to the ONS bulletin here.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
November 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to: the way the supplier obligation support for energy efficiency works and its shortfalls in terms of London; promotion of anaerobic digestion plants through the London Plan; how the GLA’s asset strategy can promote the low carbon economy; compensating for unavoidable carbon emissions during the Olympic Games; the Mayor’s view on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) and the international response to aviation being included in the EUETS.
Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Anaerobic Digestion, Carbon Emissions, CERT, ECO, Green Deal, Olympics
Leave a comment
The impact on the fuel poor of the reduction in fuel poverty budgets in England
27 November 2012: Association of Conservation of Energy and Energy Bill Revolution campaign report setting out how the Government has significantly reduced the financial support it gives the fuel poor. The key findings of the research are as follows:
- Firstly, we find that the total budget likely to be reaching the fuel poor in England falls from £1.191 billion in 2009 to £879 million in 2013. This is a reduction of 26%.
- Secondly, we find that of the total budget reaching the fuel poor, the energy efficiency budget in England declines from £376 million in 2009 to £209 million in 2013, a reduction of 44%.
- Thirdly, we estimate that of this total energy efficiency budget reaching the fuel poor, the number of households in England receiving energy efficiency measures declines from 150,000 households – already just 3.8% of fuel poor households – to 100,000 households, an even smaller 2.6% of households projected by DECC to be fuel poor in 2013. This is a reduction of 33% from a base that was already too low. One of the main reasons for this decline is the elimination of the Warm Front programme in 2013.
- Fourthly, we find that although the programmes are slightly better targeted in 2013, the proportion of fuel poor households in England actually receiving support from the total budget increases from only 31% to 33%.
The report can be downloaded here.
The Mayor states national energy policy “in chaos”
November 2012: Further to his points made on fuel poverty and energy efficiency at last week’s Mayoral Question Time session, the Mayor also made some forthright statements on the current state of the UK’s energy policy (see page 44 of session transcript here ).
” I happen to think that the energy policy of this country is in chaos at the moment and we need to sort it out.
“…prices are going up but supply is increasingly insecure.”
“It is pretty obvious to everybody that the current strategy is incoherent.
“We seem to be going for more and more wind farms which are not actually doing the job.”
The Mayor stated that such concerns led to the convening of his first ‘electricity summit’ earlier this month and to the formation of a ‘High-level Working Group with the energy industry to examine infrastructure and investment issues in relation to London’s current and future energy needs. The group’s work will begin in January 2013.