Railpen, formerly known as RPMI, runs the railways’ pensions schemes on behalf of its parent, the Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited. It manages £34 billion of assets on behalf of over 350,000 members.

Its investment will support AGR in achieving its target of putting over 500MW of high quality renewable assets into operation by 2029.

Railpen has committed to invest in AGR’s near-term UK solar, battery energy storage system (BESS), and greenhouse projects.    Its backing will enable construction before 2026 of 160MWp of solar arrays, of 150MW in BESS, as well as AGR’s second sustainable greenhouse.

London-based AGR was co-founded in 2011 by Oliver Breidt.

Besides bringing forward onshore wind projects in the UK and northern Ireland under the Feed-in Tariff, plus solar farms across southern England & Ireland, it is known for one of Britain’s biggest and most technologically advanced greenhouses, the Fenland Greenhouse near Ely, Cambridgeshire, pictured above.

The project spans 22 hectares and produces over 2.5 million vegetables every week at peak output. The complex is powered through a combination of water-sourced heat pumps and CHP gas engines, coupled with a back-up boiler. Fenland I greenhouse spans 60Ha and produces over 2.5 million cucumbers per week. The project was initiated in 2021 as a standalone greenfield development and delivered to Greencoat Capital, part of Schroder’s Capital, in 2022.

For Railpen, its AGR investment reflects its commitment to investing in infrastructure, including directing £500m to UK energy projects since 2019. The company will be represented on the AGR board by Lewis Vanstone and Cristiana Dochioiu. AGR’s co-founder Oliver Breidt will remain as group director.

Breidt said: “I’m incredibly pleased to announce our partnership with Railpen in what is a landmark move for us. Railpen’s investment and reputation will help propel AGR into new territories and technologies, including our 1GW pipeline in Italy, and see us expanding our presence in Germany and into further agricultural assets.

“I’m very pleased to be working with Lewis and Cristiana who bring with them a wealth of experience. This will be a transformative chapter for AGR and our mission.”

Dochioiu, investment manager at Railpen added: “AGR’s approach to sustainable infrastructure development and investment matches Railpen’s ethos for sustainability and providing essential infrastructure to the UK.

“We are excited to work with the AGR team and Oliver to further develop the pipeline at AGR and drive positive change through our investment portfolio, building the critical infrastructure needed to support the UK’s transition to net zero. Railpen’s scale and long-term approach makes us an ideal partner for AGR’s ambitions to enhance energy and food security in the UK and Europe.”

Railpen were advised by parties including CMS for legal services, Grant Thornton on financial and tax and Willis Towers Watson on insurance. AGR were advised by lawyers Eversheds Sutherland.

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Under plans approved by Worthing Borough planners, heat network developer and operator Hemiko – the rebranded Pinnacle Power – will begin construction this July on its £500 million piped heat project.    £7 million of that funding comes from the national government’s Heat Networks Investment Project.

Expected to be operational by summer 2025, the network’s first stage will link Worthing’s Town Hall, hospital, Assembly Hall, museum, its Connaught Theatre and Portland House.  A connection to every building in the town is earmarked for 2050. By then 500 new local jobs are expected, 40 of them created in the project’s first five years.

The scheme’s backers calculate that first phase will save more than 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent to taking 2,000 cars off the roads.

Worthing’s layout puts it, according the Office of National Statistics, in the top fifth of most densely populated English local authorities, thus favouring a network’s efficiency and ease of reach.

Figures from the 2021 census reveal the town’s population as both growing and ageing.  The last count showed total inhabitants rising by 6.4% since 2011, with 42.9% of Worthingtonians aged 50 and over, up from 39% a decade earlier. The town’s median age of 44 years is now four years older than England’s average of 40 years old.

The Worthing Heat Network was identified in 2019 in the borough’s Carbon Neutral Plan as the most economic and efficient way to decarbonise Worthing’s Civic Quarter.

Connected buildings will in consequence be able cut carbon emissions related to heating by as much as 90%.  The net’s initial driver will be air sourced heat pumps located at the network Energy Centre. More sources of locally available, unused heat will be brought in over time.

Developer Hemiko is planning to roll out £1billion of networks nationwide this decade.  It says Worthing is already its fourth project in West Sussex alone.

CEO Toby Heysham said the project follows two recent projects in south London.

“We’re incredibly proud to have been selected as the borough’s partner. Worthing Heat Network be an invaluable piece of infrastructure for the local community, not only because it will improve public health, but it will also offer jobs, apprenticeships, and a hub for innovation and investment into the town.

Law firm Burges Salmon advised the borough on design & ownership of the planned network.  In March it published its optimistic assessment of heat networks’ potential to speed Britain towards Net Zero.

From the firm’s Clean Heat practice, director Emma Andrews said Worthing highlighted the huge opportunities which district heating networks present in allowing local communities to access greener heat on a town-wide scale.

Wilde about being earnest 

“Our experience in clean heat and energy regulation means we’re well positioned to advise project sponsors, investors, and developers across both the public and private sectors”, Andrews added.

For the government, energy minister Lord Callanan said: “Ambitious projects like Worthing’s are why the UK is a world leader in reducing emissions.

“We awarded over £7 million to Worthing Borough Council to help get the project off the ground”, the minister went on.  “I’m pleased to see they now have a partner in Hemiko to deliver a scheme that will benefit the whole town by delivering cheaper energy bills and lower carbon emissions. We have invested more than £500 million since 2019 to transform this sector.”

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Lack of policy-focused leadership and financial constraints are both holding back this major part of the economy – estimated to represent half of the UK’s business emissions  – from pursuing green growth.

Last month, Small Business Britain polled more than 2,000 SMEs – small to medium enterprises –  to examine their sustainability efforts, requirements, ambitions, and prospects.

Four in five business owners want to improve their sustainability, the survey found. Almost one in four view ‘going green’ as a growth opportunity.

Yet the survey – analysed by Oxford Brookes Business School – found almost two thirds (64%) want greater support to make sustainability improvements. Two fifths – 41% – feel lack of finance is a substantial barrier to action.

Over three quarters – 77% – of SME owners say they have already taken steps to make sustainable changes. But only 20% feel their action is significant, indicating a gap between the level of change needed and current progress.

The parties’ ‘Small Business, Green Growth’ report calls for greater leadership across government and the private sector, particularly around providing access to finance, if Britain’s employment and commercial backbone is to reach its full potential in sustainable growth, and achieve Net Zero by 2050.

Recent economic pressures – from the cost-of-living crisis to recession – are clear factors behind 34% of business owners feeling restricted in their efforts to reduce emissions. 65% want more grants to be made available.

Despite this, 25% of small businesses recognise the financial benefits and business opportunity of going green. The trend is most visible among younger start-ups. With customer and supply chain demands growing, as sustainability increasingly becomes seen as a critical issue, small businesses are also being driven by their own personal values.

Wilmer Carcamo, co-founder, Caribe Coffee Co. said: “As a small business, we prioritise sustainability as our customers expect that from us, and it’s the right thing to do. We use compostable packaging for all our coffee bags, donate our coffee sacks to a reuse and recycle community project, and would love to invest in an electric van and go further – but finances are a barrier.

“We see the desire to do more in the small business community but people are limited and need more support – while sustainable practices can unlock cost savings, this needs to be more affordable.”

“There are mounting concerns about climate change and the transition businesses and society need to make in the coming years,” said Michelle Ovens CBE, founder of Small Business Britain.

“Our research clearly shows that small business owners overwhelmingly want to go greener – driven by their own ethics as well as growing consumer expectations and supply chain demands. However, the path they need to take is not clear at all. We need more leadership and ambition – across society, the private sector and with Government – to engage and educate this vital part of the economy and to find innovative solutions for the major challenges businesses now face, particularly around financing greener growth.”

Recognising the need for enhanced practical support, Small Business Britain and BT also today launched applications for a new free, six-week ‘Sustainability for Small Business’ training programme to empower small businesses across the UK to better understand their environmental impact and embrace more sustainable practices and opportunities for change.

Delivered entirely online, with over 1000 places for small businesses available, it will focus on key sustainability topics such as measurement, accreditation, and financing.

“The commitment to sustainability among small businesses in the UK is growing, but there are challenges that still need addressing,” said Chris Sims, Managing Director, Small and Medium Business at BT.

“BT has already supported more than 1 million small businesses with digital skills support, but we are determined to help even more, which is why we are launching these new initiatives. They are designed to provide enhanced practical support to the UK’s entrepreneurs, so they can cut their CO2 emissions, implement lasting sustainability principles into the core of their businesses, and drive forward the UK’s net zero agenda in a manageable way.”

Read the report here.

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The decision was made following an assessment of the nuclear site licence application made by Sizewell C Ltd, EDF’s applicant body.  The supervising authority concluded that the application has met all the requirements set out in regulatory guidance.

Today’s move follows grants of a development consent order in January by East Suffolk district and Suffolk County councils.

Last September, the government, Sizewell C and EDF launched an equity raise process to attract private investors into the project. While triggering the DCO and entering the construction phase is not dependent on a final investment decision, discussions with potential investors are ongoing and a final investment decision is expected later in 2024.

In its initial assessment in 2022 the ONR identified two matters requiring resolution before a licence could be granted. They related to the shareholders’ agreement and ownership of land at the site. Both snags have now been resolved to ONR’s satisfaction.

In addition, the regulator has concluded that progress made since 2022, relating to both Sizewell C Ltd’s organisation and the suitability of the proposed site, do not undermine ONR’s other findings from the earlier nuclear site licence assessment.

Although the granting of a site licence is a significant step, it does not permit the start of nuclear-related construction on the site.

ONR’s regulatory responsibility starts at the point of granting of a nuclear site licence. Now granted, it is able to use the powers within that  licence to require Sizewell C Ltd to request our permission for starting nuclear-related construction.

Similarly, the licensee is required to seek ONR’s  permission to proceed to subsequent key construction and commissioning stages up to the start of commercial operation and beyond.

Mark Foy, the ONR’s chief executive & chief nuclear inspector, said: “I am pleased to confirm that following extensive engagement and review by the ONR team, our assessment of the Sizewell C application is complete and a nuclear site has been licence granted.

“The licensing process is fundamental in confirming that operators of a nuclear site are ready and able to meet their obligations under the nuclear site licence, to protect their workforce and the public.

“The granting of this licence is one step in ONR’s process, allowing us to provide greater regulatory oversight, advice and challenge to the licensee as they progress their plans.

“We will continue working with Sizewell C to ensure that the highest levels of quality, safety and security are met.”

By commencing formal construction, a £250m package of funding for the local community will become available during the construction phase of the project, including £23m for community projects, £100m for the environment, £12m to support local tourism, and a £12m housing fund.

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Greg Jackson’s bouncy renewables-to-heat pumps creation, privately held, gained more than 1.9 million net customers in the twelve months since March 2023, latest statistics from Ofgem reveal.

That rocket skywards puts the generator-retailer on a market share now of 22%, with 6.8 million households served.  Octopus was the only large energy supplier to increase its market share over the past year.

The company’s spokespeople say it is persuading more Brits than any of its rivals to switch away from existing suppliers.  Over the same period, the firm accepted more than 800,000 customers from other providers, equal to one account switched inbound every minute.

In a separate mass transfer, 1.3 million households moved over from Shell Energy Retail following Octopus’ takeover of the business in late 2023.

The figures mean Octopus is now officially the UK’s largest electricity supplier, only eight years after launching to the market.

Company spokespeople point to the brand’s popularity among its own customers. Octopus Energy comes out on top in almost every service ranking, including Which?, Trustpilot and Money Saving Expert. It is also the only energy supplier named as a Which? Recommended Provider for seven years in a row.

TIME Magazine has named Octopus as one of the world’s ‘100 Most Influential Companies’. Britain’s government recently featured it as a poster child for the country’s businesses in its ‘GREAT’ campaign, intended to attract foreign investmen.

After rapid worldwide expansion, including into Japan & Italy and investing in both European offshore wind and in Xlinks, the Morocco-to-Devon wind and solar mega-venture, Octopus says it is active in 18 countries, looking after almost 8 million households globally. It is also one of the largest investors in renewables in Europe, managing a portfolio worth £7 billion.

The technical core of Octopus’s success – its Kraken platform for billing, fulfilment and power trading – is now licensed to 54 million customer accounts across 16 countries. It is increasingly being adopted in other sectors such as water and broadband.

Pictured above with Kraken boss Deepak Ravindran, Octopus’ founder Greg Jackson commented: “We’ve invested relentlessly in outstanding people and technology to deliver better customer service and lower costs.  Today’s news shows that this works.

“I hope that we can inspire both entrepreneurs and existing companies”,  Jackson went on.

“By investing for the long-term, and by truly focusing on customers, they can deliver success for themselves and for those they serve.”

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Energy Systems Catapult was launched in 2015 by Innovate UK, the arms-length governmental body steering marketable scientific research.

The Catapult has since built a team of nearly 300 experts across energy technologies, including engineering, consumption, financial & commercial management and energy policy. It draws on sector-leading test facilities & modelling tools, as well as data amassed in more than 500 research projects.

Dr Cocker’s 28 years of industrial experience includes spells with innovators and some of the UK’s biggest energy companies.  In the past decade he chaired both the Energy Innovation Centre and the Energy & Utilities Industrial Partnership.

He said: “The Catapult has created an impressive track record helping promising clean technology businesses to bring innovative energy products and services to market.

“With just 26 years left to hit our Net Zero target, this is an incredibly important and exciting time. We are seeing companies aiming to transform the energy system, making the transition to a zero-carbon economy easier, cheaper, more accessible, and simpler for consumers.

“There are a host of economic opportunities that innovators – large and small – can seize as we make the move to Net Zero. I look forward to helping the Catapult team to support these talented innovators to reshape the sector.”

The Catapult’s chief executive Guy Newey said: “Tony will be a fantastic addition. He brings a wealth of sector experience and expertise that will help bolster our mission to accelerate Net Zero energy innovation.

Dr Cocker will step into the role previously held since 2015 by Nick Winser CBE. The departing boss said: “Energy Systems Catapult has come so far since it was founded. We have helped deliver economic growth, supporting hundreds of companies to create new products and services that will be key to getting us to Net Zero.

“In our work in Local Area Energy Planning or Warm Home Prescription, we have ignited a spark in the innovation space to create a better approach that benefits both consumers and innovators

Based in Birmingham, Energy Systems Catapult is part of a network of nine world-leading technology and innovation centres. It fosters collaboration between industry, government, research organisations and academia.

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The power distributor is pledging up to £2.7 million until 2029 to help schools in poor areas reach Net Zero goals. Schools in its DNO catchments of south Wales, England’s south west and the Midlands are eligible.

Working with outreach body Solar for Schools, the £2.7 million commitment forms part of NG’s Social Contract, which aims to add value to the environment and to the lives of communities and workers.

Ellie Patey, the DNO’s community engagement manager manages the money. She said: “This new fund aims to help more schools adopt solar power to decarbonise and to reduce energy costs. It’s also an important way to engage pupils in ways to reduce carbon and emissions”.

Two Birmingham colleges have already benefitted.  The Ark Victoria Academy and Ark Kings Academy have had solar systems installed, saving £3,500 in a single month. Over the lifetime of the PV panels, savings are forecast to be more than £1.2 million.

The systems are expected to save more than 1,153 tonnes of CO₂ over their lifetime, the same benefit as removing 260 fossil-fuelled cars off the road for a year.  Savings will be channelled back into the schools’ budgets or vital infrastructure.

Educational pluses from the project have already seen 2,000 students at both colleges  take part in workshops & themed assemblies. They have built up a store of STEM-related resources, covering energy, efficiency, sustainability and economics.

“Our education programme links the solar on the roof with the curriculum in the classroom”, declared Ann Flaherty, director at Solar for Schools.  “Learn from your school buildings, not just inside them, is what we say”.

“By getting solar on the roofs, we’re helping students to see they can do something locally to reduce carbon.  That helps meet national targets, and helps globally to reduce emissions.”

Ark Schools’ property head Bryan Knope oversees the foundation’s 39 academies, many in inner cities.  He enthused: “We’re delighted to receive National Grid’s funding and install solar PV at our schools in Birmingham, London and Hastings.

“Reducing CO₂ emissions is a top priority for Ark”, Knope added. “We’ve set ourselves a tough target to cut consumption by 20% this year.  Solar for Schools’ live energy-savings dashboard helps provide a detailed picture of consumption”.

National Grid’s £2.7 million is targeted to spur independent investors to raise an intended £10 million, securing more PV arrays on roofs of schools otherwise too poor to “go solar”.

Robert Schrimpff, Solar for Schools’ CEO, said: “We hope that other companies will follow National Grid’s example to drive impactful change and decarbonisation.”

Applications are now open. Schools should look here.

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Twelve piped heat grids, including across London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Excel Centre in Docklands and the prestigious Battersea Power Station retail & residential complex, pictured, were sold to new investors at the end of last year.

The chain as sold was quantified at 432MW of heating capacity, 117MW of heating and 67MW of electricity.  Pipelines under Edinburgh’s St James’ Quarter, and in Birmingham, Coventry, Newcastle, Leicester and Southampton complete the portfolio.

Bring Energy will focus on accelerating the delivery of sustainable city-scale heating and cooling, optimising its existing networks, enhancing customer service, and decarbonising its portfolio.

Its first project is a large-scale water source heat pump installation, designed to recover wasted heat from cooling processes at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Backed by international and UK investors, Bring Energy is hoping to profit from energy ministry D-ESNZ’s favouring of the sector’s low-carbon technology.

The government’s Energy Security Bill published in November provided provisions for the expansion of  district networks, including the powers for government to implement heat network zoning in England and to make heat networks the first option for heat supply for new and existing buildings covered by those zones.

The bill includes a Green Heat Networks Fund (GHNF), a three-year, £288 million source of capital grants, supporting the commercialisation and construction of new low and zero carbon heat networks.

Also known as district heating, heat networks supply heat from a central source to consumers, via a network of underground pipes carrying hot water. This avoids the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building.

“Heat networks could provide 20% of UK heat by 2050, up from around 3% today, and are critical to enhancing energy security and achieving net zero”, Bring Energy’s executive chairman Richard Burrell observed.

“We want to bring low-carbon heating and cooling to cities across the UK and work with local authorities, developers, and communities to accelerate growth of city-scale networks.”

Burrell’s earlier career includes founding and floating listed energy companies including AMP Clean Energy, a provider of distributed heat and power.  He is also non-executive chair of Esken Renewables, claimed as the UK’s biggest supplier of biomass feedstock, and a director of Mathieson Capital Investment Management.

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RenewableUK, the Offshore Wind Industry Council, the Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland say their Industrial Growth Plan plots a course to mark out the UK as a leader in offshore wind’s global growth.

The UK’s offshore wind industry already employs 32,000 people, the plan calculates. Each new big offshore turbine park can add £3bn to the economy.

Employment is set to rise to over 100,000 by 2030. Ten years further on, investment in new marine spinners will create an wealth of over £90bn for the nation, says the report.

Steps set out in the group’s plan would support an additional 10,000 jobs a year and boost Britain’s GDP by £25 billion more between now and 2035, if the nation can accelerate yearly offshore deployment to 6GW, in line with our net zero targets.

The UK, the researchers note, already boasts the world’s second biggest national pipeline of offshore wind projects at all stages of development. At nearly 100GW, that stands at more than six times the nation’s capacity now generating.

Choke points already noticeable in making, equipping and deploying maritime spinners could yet scupper those targets, though.  The Plan identifies strategic new factories and manufacturing capabilities needed to head off the threat.

Key technology areas enabling  uninterrupted investment include manufacture of wind blades and turbine towers, foundations, cables and other key components and services for projects, both in UK waters and for export.

Invoking new AI technologies, the document sets out plans to expand testing facilities for cutting-edge technology, such as new materials  for blades and floating collars.  Under the aegis of Britain’s Catapult technology stimulators, a new national innovation hub for the sector should be created, incorporating a new advanced technology institute.

Almost £3 billion of new funding must be directed at turbine enablement, says the report. With private finance doing the heavy lifting, a return to the economy of just under £9 for every £1 invested is possible.

Many of Britain’s competitors have introduced new incentives to attract investment in offshore wind projects and domestic manufacturing, hoping to replicate home success.

RenewableUK boss Dan McGrail said: “Our plan is the deepest dive ever into offshore wind’s supply chain, identifying the highest-value components and services which the UK should focus on to get the biggest economic bang for our buck from future wind farm development.

“For example, it shows that the UK will need three hundred giant turbine towers every year for offshore wind projects between now and 2030 to deliver government targets. The plan charts a clear course for us to ensure that we seize that massive economic opportunity”.

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho added: “Plans set out by industry today will work with our £1 billion Green Industries Growth Accelerator to make sure the UK can build out the supply chain – including the turbine blades and high-voltage cables that we will need to produce cheaper, cleaner, more secure energy.”

Read the industrial growth plan here.

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A 25-year energy industry veteran, most recently at ESB, Ireland’s electricity supplier, Wallace, pictured, will run the planned CHP plant, once it is commissioned by Essar Energy Transition (EET). Before re-branding in January, EET was known as Essar Oil UK.

The plant will play a key role in both reducing emissions at Stanlow and delivering on EET’s ambition to create an energy transition hub in the North West.

Stanlow produces about 2m tonnes a year of CO2, making it the region’s biggest emitter.  The intended CHP plant is at the centre of EET’s intention to turn the complex, producer of around one-sixth of UK oil and gas, into the world’s first fully decarbonised refinery.

Led by Wallace, EET Hydrogen Power will, the group says, play a significant role in transitioning from carbon pollution. More energy efficient than current processes, the CHP -plantwill initially deliver a 13% carbon dioxide emissions reduction from the site or 180,000 tonnes per annum.

Once powered by EET Hydrogen, a reduction of 740,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be achieved, equivalent to taking 350,000 cars off the road.

EET Hydrogen Power will contribute to EET Fuels’ decarbonisation ambitions. It adds further fuel switching capability beyond the £45 million hydrogen-ready furnace in construction at Stanlow. Announced in 2022, the furnace is a first of a kind in the UK, and will be fuelled by EET Hydrogen.

Stanlow is the nerve centre of the government-backed HyNet hydrogen scheme. The refinery site will be home to a production hub, costing up to £3bn. It will comprise two initial hydrogen production facilities built by EET Hydrogen, itself a joint venture between refinery owner Essar Oil UK and low carbon technologists Progressive Energy.

Scheduled to be operational by late 2027, the first will make 350MW of ‘blue’ hydrogen each year, ‘scrubbed’ from hydrocarbon feedstock with high pressure steam. This will be followed a year or two later by the bigger HPP2 unit, producing 1GW per year.

EET Hydrogen is tasked to develop 1.35GW of blue hydrogen for the UK market, with follow-on capacity set to reach 4GW.

Supplying adjacent industrial buyers, the new Stanlow facility will produce ‘blue’ hydrogen for glassmaker Pilkington, consumer products giant Unilever and container manufacturer Encirc, among others.

Wallace’s most recent job was as hydrogen manager with the Irish electricity entity’s asset development team, tasked to deliver ESB’s Net Zero 2040 strategy.

Of his new position, Wallace said:  “Through its ambitious hydrogen and industrial carbon capture projects, EET has made tremendous steps to become a leading example of decarbonisation in the UK.

“I’m looking forward to working with the wider team to achieve these plans and support the region’s decarbonisation plans”

EET CEO Tony Fountain added: “We wish Rob a warm welcome to EET. He brings extensive knowledge on hydrogen and power development and will make a valuable contribution to successfully implementing our ambitious decarbonisation projects.”

The erstwhile Essar Oil UK, still controlled by brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, bought Stanlow from Shell in 2011. Despite early plans to increase its area by 25%, recent financial performance has been chequered.

Three months ago, the Guardian reported that the company, despite ceasing imports of Russian oil in 2022 in response to Putin’s attack on Ukraine, was benefitting from a $500 million line of credit extended until June this year by the trading division of Lukoil, Russia’s second biggest oil company.

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Today’s latest estimate of the price of Britain’s slow investment in tested utility-scale BESS (battery and energy storage systems) comes from battery developers Field.

A notorious pinch point in Anglo-Scots transmission, known as the ‘B6’ boundary, intermittently blocks cross-Border electricity flows, themselves a legacy of too-slow investment in long-distance transmission, the battery developer asserts. The result is British homes and organisations left avoidably on the hook for hundreds of millions, while years are spent in network upgrades.

Grid capacity constraints plus substituting gas-fired power for wasted renewables, added nearly £1 billion of ‘curtailment’ costs to electricity bills for homes and businesses in 2023, the company calculates. Abundant energy from wind farms was unable to be transmitted to areas of demand.

The majority of last year’s £920 million total cost was caused by bottlenecks at the B6 boundary. Analysis published  by Field estimates this boundary alone could cause up to £2.2 billion of curtailment costs by 2030, if left unaddressed. Overall UK curtailment costs could reach £3.5 billion by that date.

The firm’s analysis also asserts that wind farms in Scotland are being curtailed as much as 40% of the time. Transmission capacity across key boundaries in the UK, including at B6, rarely has more than a 50% utilisation rate, further restricting backbone power flows.

Increasing the amount of “intertrip services” which the NG- ESO can buy and using “Grid Booster” batteries could both help solve problem. The latter technology, says Field, is already being deployed in continental Europe and Australia.

Around 90% of the curtailment fees linked to the B6 boundary could be solved by adding 10GW of energy storage nearby, Field suggests.

It calls on co-operation between the now independent NG-ESO , Ofgem and D-ESNZ to:

• Prioritise cost effective measures like batteries and related services to maximise use of the existing grid.
• Opt for physical batteries before focusing on market-based mechanisms such as zonal pricing. The latter will unnerve investors certainty, and take a long time to implement.

 Field’s CEO Amit Gudka commented:

“In an era where energy bills remain high and carbon emissions keep rising, it’s alarming that we’re wasting clean, cheap, abundant energy on a daily basis. As our analysis suggests, this problem is getting worse, not better.

“More efficient use of established technologies, such as battery storage, would dramatically reduce curtailment costs and network investment needs. It would also reduce the need for expensive, complex and disruptive market-based mechanisms such as zonal pricing”

Operators of backbone transmission have begun addressing the problem. The Eastern Green Links (EGL) 1 and 2 connectors, both rated at 2GW and with the latter backed by National Grid’s and SSE’s transmission units, last year received initial planning consent.

Due for commissioning in 2029, EGL2 will run for 290 miles under the ocean from Peterhead to east Yorkshire, near Drax.

Three more 525kV connectors are on transcos’ drawing boards. And last month the NG-ESO announced £58 billion worth of improvements, intended to add 86GW of new transmission capacity alone by 2035.

Commissioning such wider pipes cannot come too soon, says Field.

Founded three years ago, its first BESS unit, a 20MWh device in Oldham, began homing ohms in 2022.  Within a pipeline of 4.5 GWh of further projects, Field claims 410 MWh of sites are either shovel-ready or already in construction.

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As UK energy prices begin to fall – on 1 April the new price cap of £1,690 takes effect, down from £2,382 for the same period last year, – Ofgem makes public changes in its approach to ensure consumers are protected as the pace of change accelerates on Britain’s journey to Net Zero by 2050.

The regulator frames its mission under five priorities:

• Shaping a retail market that works for consumers
• Enabling infrastructure for Net Zero at pace
• Establishing an efficient, fair and flexible energy system
• Advancing decarbonisation through low carbon energy & social schemes
• Strengthening the regulator as an organisation

Last week the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) predicted the nation’s electricity demand could grow by over 50% by 2035, as more sectors such as transport and heating use more electricity.

Ofgem’s strategy re-vamp follows appointment in September of its new chair, Mark McAllister, pictured, formerly the head of nuclear regulator the ONR. New directors have also joined contributing expertise in customer service, engineering, economic regulation, digital services and business.

McAllister said price shocks in recent years surpassed anything he had seen in his 45-year energy career.

“As things start to stabilise, now is the time to shift our focus forward to building a cleaner, more secure and affordable energy system that will help to deliver a net zero future for generations to come, while ensuring we are not susceptible to similar shocks again” he said.

Officials recognise Britain’s need for renewables-friendly infrastructure signal network upgrades delivered at a rate unseen for decades. But the task brings opportunities and benefits for customers, McAllister added.

Centrepiece of the agency’s national drive is the agency’s new Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework, designed to weed out redundant network projects, thus axing years off connection waits afflicting renewables & storage sources, including 50GW of extra offshore wind.   Two projects, including the 2GW Anglo-Scots EGL1 subsea connector, received provisional approval under ASTI this month.

In November Ofgem unveiled too a network of regional energy planning roles, intended to improve local power planning and speeding up roll-out of new infrastructure.

Ofgem has also put in place new consumer standards requiring energy suppliers to be more proactive in identifying and helping customers at risk of struggling with bills and published a major call for input on debt and affordability to consider how to find a lasting solution to the issue.

It is seeking views on reform of the retail price cap, reflecting the role of dynamic and time-off-use tariffing seen as essential to accommodate a more dynamic power market.

McAllister added: “Our intention is to use our vantage point to bring together all parts of the sector, providing constructive challenge and working in partnership to realise the benefits of the new energy system for the whole of society.”

Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley added:  “We are now at a pivotal moment as we look ahead to a huge transformation of how we use our energy, how it’s getting to our homes and how it’s created in the first place.  This means potentially a huge range of possibilities for consumers – smarter tariffs, more energy efficient homes and ultimately more affordable bills.

“Getting there will not be easy, but it is necessary and we must ensure we bring the public along with us as we make this transition”.

Alongside its strategy to 2029, the regulator also releases its detailed Forward Work Programme (FWP) covering twelve months ahead.  From next year the FWP will update the longer-term strategy and the progress it has made towards its objectives, adding metrics to assess progress.

Read the Multiyear Strategy here.

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With a battery-supplying West Midlands gigafactory as its intended anchor tenant, the venture is designed to foster world-leading collaboration between industry, academic institutions and investors.

Backers say the Greenpower Park campus will support the development of businesses and factories involved in low-carbon manufacturing & research. Tax breaks linked to the area’s investment zone status, are being offered as inducements.

Coventry’s planners believe setting up a cluster of high-tech, low carbon manufacturing could attract as much as £2.5Bn of private capital.  They have granted outline planning approval for a facility capable of producing 60GWh devices every year, enough to power 600,000 electric vehicles.

Chinese battery maker EVE Energy, supplier to BMW & other car makers, is the latest technology firm reportedly in late stage discussions with Whitehall ministers to confirm a tenancy, reportedly to sealed with its £1.2bn investment.  A battery plant on the West Midlands site would be Britain’s biggest, larger than equivalent plants in Sunderland or earmarked for Somerset.

Civic leaders cite “active endorsement” from nine local universities. Those institutions stand ready to supply, they say, an emerging workforce of over 210,000 local students enrolled in relevant degrees and vocational courses.

Coventry council’s Jim O’Boyle, the city’s cabinet lead for regeneration and climate change, hailed the plans as  “a decisive stride towards fortifying Britain’s position as a global leader in electrification innovation”.

“The unveiling of Greenpower Park with the West Midlands Gigafactory marks a transformative moment for the nation’s Net Zero landscape,” he said.

“This ambitious initiative is a clarion call to the world that the UK is open for business, ready to lead the charge in the green industrial revolution”, councillor O’Boyle added.

With its strategic location, unprecedented financial support, academic partnerships, a ready-made skilled workforce, and oven-ready plans to build Britain’s biggest gigafactory, Greenpower Park is poised to become the cornerstone of the UK’s electrified future, driving forward our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and economic growth.”

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Recent back-tracking by Rishi Sunak in crucial green drives, including delaying the phasing out of new fossil-fuelled cars and approving more oil extraction in the North Sea, are weakening firms’ intentions towards sustainability, says the report, Small Business Perspective on Sustainability – The Mandate for Support from a new UK Government”.

Ahead of this year’s still undeclared General Election, researchers hired by Novuna Business Finance sought to measure SME owners’ desire to boost their firms’ sustainability.

Clearer guidance from Westminster is needed across a range of green initiatives, researchers found, if firms making up Britain’s commercial heartland are not to lose heart.

Two years ago, Novuna’s research reveals, fewer than 60% of SMEs were working on at least one internal sustainability drive.

By February 2024, the survey finds, that share had soared to 92%.  Typical small businesses now juggle three or more green drives at the same time.  Nearly a fifth are managing at least five projects.

Topics most exercising SMES in their green-seeking ambition, the study shows, include

• reviewing or switching energy usage (31%),
• having a positive environmental impact on a firm’s immediate community (29%),
• cutting out packaging and waste/recycling (28%)
• switching to greener forms of transport (cycling schemes, electric vehicles, public transport).

The report also highlights how Sunak’s recent policy U-turns, intended to retain Far Right voters and science-deniers, are sowing doubt in Britain’s boardrooms.

Nearly a quarter of small businesses now feel less confident about obtaining grants to fund green initiatives (23%), Novuna’s report discovers. One in five told the survey they are now looking to adopt green and sustainable measures at a slower pace.

Fourteen per cent said green initiatives have fallen in their business priorities, reflecting ministers’ changes of heart.  12% were blunter, agreeing with the view “If the government doesn’t take sustainability seriously, why should I?”

Novuna asked small businesses too what green policies they hoped for from a new government.

Topping the firms’ wish list, 73% sought more and firmer Whitehall backing for renewable energy. 72% seek wider, more substantial investment in the green economy.  On a par were government pledges to ban single-use plastics, crack down on littering and plant more trees.

The answers imply frustration widespread in boardrooms at Labour’s retreat from its  pledge to spend £28 Billion from day one to expand low carbon power.

From Novuna Business Finance, researcher Jo Morris commented: “Too often the sustainability debate circles around big brands. There is an urgent need to better understand the small business community’s views on key issues.”

“Our report contributes a better understanding of SMEs, the crucial role they play in supporting sustainability – and the support they need to achieve more.”

For a copy of Novuna’s report, email here.

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The National Grid-ESO’s plans, costed in its ‘Beyond 2030’ manifesto at £58 Billion over the coming decade, are the biggest transformation of country-spanning transmission & distribution grids since they first emerged in the 1950s.

Carrying new wind-generated power from marine farms concentrated off the east coast to urban centres of heaviest demand requires delivering an ‘electrical spine’, running from landing points in Aberdeenshire down to demand hot spots in England’s North West, the report outlines.

Three quarters of the new grid investment will be made at sea, the document discloses. Three new subsea links to North Sea wind farms, including Hornsea 3, the world’s largest at 2.9GW, will be built, the operator intends.

But new pylons and transformers onshore threatening rural views look likeliest to spur resistance from objectors.

Heavyweight grid upgrades & extensions are seen as essential if the UK is to bring online the 50GW of offshore wind capacity the government is targeting by 2030, en route to delivering on its goal of a fully decarbonised grid by 2035.

The projected £58 billion tag is a quantum leap beyond the £9 billion the National Grid currently budgets now in its Great Grid Upgrade. That programme is tasked to remove existing transmission bottlenecks over the next two years.

The ESO needs to take ‘swift, co-ordinated & lasting action” if Britain is to meet its longer term decarbonisation goals, the body’s executive director Fintan Slye told the Sunday Times at the weekend.

Accommodating new capacity from offshore wind, interconnectors, and nuclear power will all generate more electricity than the networks are currently able to transport, the National Grid said.

Regional imbalances dot the nation’s infrastructure. Scotland, famously ‘the Saudi Arabia of wind power’, generates at present around 15GW, but uses no more than 5GW even on winter’s coldest days.

Endorsing the plans, a National Grid statement hailed them as recognising the need for networks to be delivered at pace, “unlocking a more affordable and resilient decarbonised electricity system in the UK”.

“We now look forward to working with the System Operator, with government and with Ofgem on the further development needed to progress these reinforcements”, a Grid spokesperson added, “and to move towards creating a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, coupled with a consentable Centralised Strategic Network Plan.

“That will sets out what energy infrastructure needs to be built, where and when, to deliver a capacity-rich, future-ready network that will serve society and underpin economic growth,” the Grid’s statement noted.

The plans will now receive comment from industry stakeholders and Ofgem.  Network operators and generators will develop work up through recommendations further through a Detailed Network Design Phase.

The process involves testing alternative on- and offshore answers, further developing cable routing and technology choices.

Industry stakeholders welcomed the ESO’s intentions. ​​​​From analysts Cornwall Insight, Tom Faulkner commented: “The ESO lays out the essential grid investments required to keep pace with the escalating electricity demand

“The 2035 forecasts for wind and solar capacity outlined in the report are notably ambitious compared to Cornwall’s current estimates”, Faulkner went on. “Achieving these targets will demand substantial investment, not only in grid infrastructure but also in the renewable generation assets themselves.

From pro-growth campaigners Britain Remade, founder Sam Richards observed: “If Britain wants an abundant supply of secure domestic energy that cannot be used as an economic weapon by autocratic regimes, then we need to continue to invest in offshore wind and the critical infrastructure needed to move the energy around the country.

“Investing in clean energy is not just good for the environment, it’s good for the economy. From Aberdeen to Teesside and Ramsgate the offshore wind industry has already created tens of thousands of well-paid jobs with even more to come”.

Reforms to ‘Britain’s glacial planning system’ were essential though to slash delays in permitting offshore wind farms built”, Richards added

“It’s mind boggling that it can take up to 13 years to build an offshore wind farm despite construction of the actual turbines only taking two years”.

Read NG-ESO’s ‘Beyond 2030’ in full here.

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