CfD time looms
The UK has 8GW of onshore wind and solar projects primed for the next Contracts for Difference (CfD) round, a report shows.
The latest figures from Cornwall Insight’s Renewables pipeline tracker shows that both the onshore wind and solar pipeline have grown.
The consultant calculates CfD Allocation Round 4 (AR4) eligible pipeline capacities for solar and onshore wind of up to 3GW and 5GW respectively, both figures up on the same period last year. https://renews.biz/71836/solar-and-onshore-wind-pipelines-reach-8gw/
Let’s hear it for hydro!
SSE Renewables is to invest almost £50m over the next two years to repower the existing Tummel Bridge Hydro-Electric Power Station in Scotland’s Highlands with modern and efficient turbine technology. https://www.sserenewables.com/news-and-views/2021/08/sse-renewables-to-invest-almost-50m-in-repowering-of-tummel-bridge-hydro-plant/
The repowering of the power station is expected to extend its operational life by at least 40 years. This means the Tummel Bridge Hydro plant will be running in the power system of 2050 and so will play a continuing role in harnessing hydro power for a net-zero future in Scotland and the UK. was commissioned in 1933 and is one of the oldest hydro power plants in Scotland.
SSE Renewables will commence the refurbishment works in Spring 2022 and will help support the Scottish regional supply chain and local job creation. The delivery of the works programme is expected to support up to 65 construction roles at peak. https://www.sserenewables.com/news-and-views/2021/08/sse-renewables-to-invest-almost-50m-in-repowering-of-tummel-bridge-hydro-plant/
ILI Group has kicked off the initial planning phase for the 600MW Corrievarkie pumped storage hydro project in the Scottish Highlands. https://renews.biz/71852/hydro-developer-unveils-600mw-corrievarkie/ The new project at Loch Ericht, Dalwhinnie, will be able to supply power for up to 24 hours, enough to power 1.4 million homes, making it one of the largest schemes in Scotland.
The project will create a new ‘head pond’ in the hills above ‘Loch Ericht’ which will hold 22 million cubic metres of water when full.
It’s not only hydro that’s being refurbished
SP Energy Networks is investing £40m in a network refurbishment project in East Lothian and the Borders to improve resilience of electricity supply and prepare this part of their network for a low carbon future. This upgrade project is part of wider £2 billion investment plans to futureproof their transmission network across Central and Southern Scotland over the next five years, as it continues to lead the way towards a cleaner, greener future.
They are undertaking a major refurbishment project across a key overhead line route between Cockenzie in East Lothian and the village of Eccles in the Scottish Borders. The total distance of the 400kV route, known as the ‘ZA overhead line’, is around 40 miles and was first constructed in the mid-1960s and provides one of the main corridors for transferring renewable electricity around the country. https://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/news/pages/sp_energy_networks_commences_40m_network_refurbishment_project.aspx
As reNEWS reported, SPEN has launched a recruitment drive for 152 green jobs in the next four months https://renews.biz/71761/sp-energy-networks-to-create-152-new-jobs/ to help support its multi-billion pound network investment.
The news was announced as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited SPEN’s training centre, Dealain House, to announce the new Green Jobs Workforce Academy https://www.gov.scot/news/new-green-jobs-workforce-academy/ . Delivered by Skills Development Scotland, it will help people take a greener approach to their careers, from accessing training and learning new skills, to finding a new green job.
Jobs planned at Peel Ports too
Hunterston Port and Resource Campus (Hunterston PARC) is primed to secure a deal with a sustainable energy sector company that would result in the creation of 900 permanent jobs at the giant Ayrshire site. https://www.peelports.com/news-articles/hunterston-parc-closes-in-on-900-job-deal-with-subsea-energy-cable-manufacturer
Owner Peel Ports Clydeport has signed an option agreement with XLCC for a 70-acre facility to include two factories producing state-of-the-art high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable for use in the subsea transmission of renewable energy.
XLCC has instigated the planning process with North Ayrshire Council and a planning application is expected to go before committee in February next year. If consent is given work would begin in April, with another 400 jobs created during the construction phase.
The schedule is for test lengths of cable to be made by April 2023, with 200 jobs in place at the start of that year. Full manufacturing production will be underway by November 2024 with the remaining 700 jobs in place between May 2024 and November 2024.
Biomass in the news – and in the money
Farming seaweed and growing algae from the by-products of whisky manufacturing are among 24 projects to receive UK Government funding to boost biomass production. https://renews.biz/71804/uk-government-invests-in-biomass-projects/
The projects, from start-ups and family-run businesses to research institutes and universities, will receive funding of up to £200,000 (€234,000) from the Government’s Biomass Feedstocks Innovation Programme to produce low-carbon energy using organic materials.
Details of the funding are at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/4-million-funding-to-boost-uk-biomass-production with quotes from Energy Minister Lord Callanan; and more from UK Net Zero Business Champion Andrew Griffith, Dr Matthew Brown, co-founder of Forest Creation Partners, and Dr Sebastien Jubeau and Dr Douglas McKenzie founders of Phycofoods, trading as Phyco-F.
The full list of funded projects can be found on the BEIS website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-the-biomass-feedstocks-innovation-programme/biomass-feedstocks-innovation-programme-successful-projects
Congratulations to Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm
Installation of the world’s largest installed floating offshore wind farm, the 48MW Kincardine Offshore Wind project has been completed, reported reNEWS https://renews.biz/71765/worlds-largest-installed-floater-kincardine-completed/
The project, approximately 15km off the southeast coast of Aberdeenshire, at water depths ranging between 60m to 80m, is expected to generate up to 218GWh of clean electricity a year. This will be enough to power approximately 55,000 Scottish households.
….. from floating offshore wind to solar…..
Certification group Bureau Veritas has delivered the world’s first Approval in Principle (AiP) for an offshore floating solar solution to Dutch company SolarDuck, marking the beginning of a new era for this form of renewable energy https://www.offshore-energy.biz/bureau-veritas-validates-solarducks-floating-solar-unit-in-an-industry-first/
Check out Radio 4’s ’39 Ways to Save the Planet’
Having a quick break at lunch time resulted in stumbling across the fascinating ’39 Ways to Save the Planet’ – check it out all 39 at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qwt3/episodes/player.
Last Friday’s ‘Big Drop Energy’ featured Gravitricity https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z1k0. As the show’s website says: “The team behind Gravitricity think they have found a solution to a serious problem with renewable energy. As we rely increasingly on wind and solar energy the risk rises of the lights going out when the wind doesn’t blow, and the sun doesn’t shine. We can solve the problem with energy storage, but batteries are expensive and don’t last very long. As Tom Heap and Tamsin Edwards hear, the answer could lie with a deceptively simple pulley system.”
Heat in the spotlight
- SSE Energy Solutions and National Grid have unveiled an innovative new project that could decarbonise heat networks, capturing waste heat from electricity transformers to generate hot water and space heating for homes and businesses.
It is estimated that the heat recovery project will initially reduce heat network carbon emissions by more than 40% versus traditional gas-led systems. Critically, the technology offers a route to net-zero heat when applied to transformers served by 100% renewable electricity from wind or solar farms.
The project has the potential to save millions of tonnes of CO2 every year if rolled out across National Grid’s network of transformers across England and Wales, harnessing this waste heat via SSE heat networks to serve towns and cities across the region. https://www.sseenergysolutions.co.uk/news-and-insights/sse-and-national-grid-pilot-project-to-use-electricity-transformers-to-heat-homes
- The operators of Glasgow’s SWG3 said the venue will capture body heat from customers, visitors and staff before transporting it to a series of 150m – 200m boreholes installed across the venue where it will be stored https://accessaa.co.uk/glasgows-swg3-to-use-customers-body-heat-to-power-venue/
Dates for your diary
- 21 September – the deadline from RWE Renewables for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from potential suppliers to provide a range of goods and services related to the Sofia offshore wind project’s offshore construction works. https://sofiawindfarm.com/supplier-portal/#Contracts
20 October – the closing date opted for by Marine Scotland who have launched a consultation seeking answers from the industry on how best to decarbonise and oil and gas sector using offshor