Industry News Roundup August 2019

Friday 09/08 – A transmission system outage following the “almost simultaneous loss of two large generators, one gas and one offshore wind, at 16:54” causes the disconnection of “selected demand across GB”. All demand is reconnected within the hour, National Grid reports, but transport disruption continues into the weekend. The government confirms Glasgow as the host city of next year’s Conference of the Parties (COP26) summit. COP26 is a global climate conference.

Thursday 08/08 – Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission Sir John Armitt urges the government to make climate-proofing the UK’s infrastructure a priority. He calls for an additional £43bn of funding, claiming that that the new cabinet’s credibility on climate change “will soon be under the spotlight”. Committee on Climate Change Chairman Lord Deben writes a letter to Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng, setting out key recommendations about the future of carbon pricing. Carbon pricing is a system which is designed to lower carbon emissions through putting a price, or tax, on carbon emissions for large emitters.

Wednesday 07/08 – Government Europa reports on fresh fruit distributor Fruit 4 London’s use of vehicle-to-grid technology, which enables its electric vehicle fleet to sell energy back to the grid when not in use. The Welsh government consults on a draft National Development Framework including priority areas for renewables generation.

Tuesday 06/08 – Solar Power Portal reports that a new paper from asset manager BNP Paribas has claimed that solar power combined with electric vehicles will trigger a “relentless and irreversible decline” for oil. Renewz.biz reports that the global energy storage market is set to reach $500bn by 2025.

Monday 05/08 – The Committee on Climate Change urges the new Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) ministerial team to up its response to climate change, following the damage to the Whaley Bridge dam in Derbyshire. A coalition of companies and organisations calls for new Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng to support the development of the onshore wind sector to lower electricity prices.

Written By Graham Paul

Friday 02/08 – Responding to the government’s consultation on the future of carbon pricing, the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute publishes research claiming that creating a separate UK emissions trading scheme would be the “worst outcome” of the available options for carbon pricing systems. As reported by Current News, think tank the Aldersgate Group, a collection of some of the UK’s largest businesses, urges the government to create “ambitious and stable” policies to accelerate emission reductions across the economy.

Thursday 01/08 – The Institute for Public Policy publishes a paper calling for the government to introduce a Sustainable Economy Act. Power company RWE confirms plans to close the 1,560MW Aberthaw B coal fired power station, citing challenging market conditions. The closure will leave the UK with just four functioning coal-fired power stations.

Written By Graham Paul