Comments for theenergyst.com

Comment on Ofgem names best and worst home energy suppliers for first time by Sylvia Pryce

Sylvia Pryce — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 08:47:23 +0000

I am an OVO customer (by default) I was transferred from SSE who were an amazing company. Ovo however have been a nightmare from the beginning. Ive had my account accidentally cancelled, a new one opened then to be told i now had two except one was in the name of a man who stays five minutes away on a different street. All of a sudden since smart meter installation apparently my usage has pretty much doubled. I cannot emphasize enough the incompetence of this company as a whole.

Comment on MPs to hear solar developers’ complaints over NG’s and DNOs’ ‘farcical’ hook-up waits by Nigel Morris

Nigel Morris — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:51:00 +0000

Is it not the primary and fundamental role of Ofgem to ensure that DNOs and TSOs have sufficient grid capacity to serve our needs?

Where is the accountability of the Ofgem leadership from 10 years ago who didn’t look far enough ahead and commence the build out of network capacity (or looked at it and didn’t want to raise electricity costs on their watch to pay for it)?

Where is the current accountability of Ofgem and the NGESO for demonstrating that they are now doing sufficient to ensure that in 10 years time we aren’t faced with the same thing.

The oversight of Ofgem is a real concern. Its precious independence looks very much like unaccountability at times.

Comment on Dunelm ups solar roll-out across UK stores by simhedges

simhedges — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 11:26:54 +0000

Good that they are making some progress, but it’s pretty slow.: they have 150 outlets, 4 have solar panels already, and they will be increasing that number by 3 by July. If they add 3 more outlets every 6 months, it’ll be about 70 more years before they all have panels.
So what are their longer term plans?

Comment on SSE partners with developers to transform defunct Welsh coal plant by Alban Thurston

Alban Thurston — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:38:41 +0000

In reply to Jeff Heenan-Davies.

Accept my apologies, Jeff, for letting through this ‘word salad’ – you’re right! PR folks, please note: Derivative, tired corporate goobledegook offends, antagonises and bores readers.

Comment on SSE partners with developers to transform defunct Welsh coal plant by Jeff Heenan-Davies

Jeff Heenan-Davies — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 12:51:30 +0000

‘They maintain Aberthaw presents a unique opportunity to integrate peripheral assets and explore traditional and disruptive technologies, squaring well with its commitment to decarbonise energy, heat, and transport, while also creating and supporting low-carbon jobs and delivering a financial boost for local communities.’
Word salad drizzled with jargon. Mission – shoehorn a list of favourable points into a posh, authoritative-sounding sentence.
Plain English please.

Comment on Exeter hydrogen refuelling hub set to open in 2026 by David Dundas

David Dundas — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 09:47:10 +0000

Wonderful news that we will see a new fuel cell grade hydrogen mobile dispensing facility by EMotive part of the Exeter H2 Hub consortium based just outside Exeter. Although it is aimed at local utilities, I hope this will be the restart of an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations in the UK which stalled 2 years ago because of the short term thinking by the National Infrastructure Commission who’s focus is exclusively on electric charging points, when hydrogen filling stations are needed to power our huge fleet of heavy good vehicles that all need to be converted from diesel to hydrogen fuel cell power by 2050

Comment on MPs to hear solar developers’ complaints over NG’s and DNOs’ ‘farcical’ hook-up waits by Alban Thurston

Alban Thurston — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:42:30 +0000

Your wise words as ever, David.
What measures do other readers of The Energyst consider policy- and law-makers need to deliver immediately, so that our necessary, radical and utterly unprecedented re-shaping can be achieved within a decade to green Britain’s grid? What are the essentials of a constructive and constructed ‘war footing’, needed to transform the NG? Which other countries are achieving such transformations better? And how? Evidenced contributions are very welcome.

Comment on MPs to hear solar developers’ complaints over NG’s and DNOs’ ‘farcical’ hook-up waits by David Dundas

David Dundas — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 13:03:04 +0000

The lack of transmission capacity of the UK National Grid has been known for years, but building overhead transmission lines don’t gain votes, on the contrary the pylons often receive local opposition and lose votes. It is likely that by 2050 most of the UK’s primary energy demand, presently around 2,000 TWh will need to be delivered by electricity with around 30% of it then converted into hydrogen according to the Government hydrogen strategy of August 2021. Considering that today only 20% of primary energy is delivered by electricity, ramping it up to around 80% requires long term thinking and action which our politicians are not good at.

Comment on GB power prices to remain high, despite drop in short-term forecasts: Cornwall by David Dundas

David Dundas — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 11:14:02 +0000

With the urgent need for the UK Government to support investment in fossil-free energy sources and the need to promote the use of fossil-free energy, I doubt that the UK will see an overall drop in the cost of fossil energy. At present electricity costs around 3.5 times more per kWh than gas which is nonsense when more than half the UK’s energy comes from low cost fossil-free renewables. What is likely to happen is a gradual reduction of electricity prices as gas prices go up so that over time gas and electricity prices reach parity, then fossil gas will become increasingly more expensive.

Comment on Swedish heat pump maker commits £300 million to UK, intends 8,000 jobs by David Dundas

David Dundas — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:38:15 +0000

Over a year of operation, ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are far more efficient than the air source type (ASHP) and provide around 4 times as much heat as the electrical energy to drive them, because the ground below about 13 metres is at a constant temperature, whereas ASHPs become less and less efficient as the ambient air temperature drops, so most ASHPs are fitted with electric heating back-ups for cold weather that only gives a return of 1 times for the direct electric power, so over a year a typical ASHP in the UK will give an average return of about 3 times, in Central Europe where winter temperatures are much lower than the UK, the efficiency of an ASHP may drop as low as 2 times.
To achieve a gain of 4:1 a GSHP should be connected to a bore hole as digging up the ground to a depth of say 10 metres to lay a serpentine of pipes is likely to be costly, which is why some contractors only dig down a few metres to save their cost to the detriment of the performance of the heat pump.

Comment on Charles booed by eco-protesters, as King’s Speech confirms bill to pump more fossil fuels by David Dundas

David Dundas — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 10:35:19 +0000

Producing oil and gas from the UK’s own fields will reduce the fossil carbon footprint of imported products that require additional fossil energy to transport them to the UK. The argument that the additional production from UK fields will be exported, ignores the fact that most refineries can be adjusted to accept different grades of crude oil according to price and need. Using our own oil and gas not only improves national security but also means that it will have come from more secure fields where environmental control in the UK is better than many oilfields around the world, where pollution from them is often allowed by lack of supervision of their operation; I have seen this with my own eyes as a Schlumberger oil/gas well service engineer

Comment on Electric Tevva truck to drive skills at Mira by David Dundas

David Dundas — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 16:01:00 +0000

The article also mentions the Tevva 7.5 ton hydrogen-electric truck which is much like the battery only version supplied to MIRA and might have been a better loan to MIRA as it is similar but with a much smaller battery backed up with a hydrogen fuel cell, to give students experience of hydrogen-electric power that will be needed for larger commercial vehicles .

Comment on Steel city forges plan to swap gas for green hydrogen by David Dundas

David Dundas — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 12:21:06 +0000

Hydrogen can be used for reducing iron ore to pig iron as well as providing the heat energy for reheating steel prior to forging, so it is not clear from the aricle if it is just for reheating or als for reducing the iron ore or both. If it is just for reheating then another fossil free energy source could be biomethane produced from organic waste, in particular food waste and sewage. Since local councils are now required to collect food waste separately (since 01/04/23) there should be plenty available for making fossil free methane which is easier to use in existing heating equipment at Sheffield Forge Masters.

Comment on Offshore wind chiefs slam government’s AR5 auction failure by gerry goldner

gerry goldner — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 16:11:49 +0000

A lot of groups claim that fossil fuel usage can be reduced by using more renewable energy.. Since May 2023 the builders of windfarms have been demonstrating that the strike prices set have been to low.
The industry is now likely to reduce its future investments.
In contrast, Centrica has contracted to take delivery of around 14 LNG cargoes per year and could provide enough energy to heat 5% of UK homes for 15 years. The deal, with a market value of $8bn, marks an additional move by Centrica to build further resilience in the UK’s energy security.. [media release July 2023]

Comment on Ministers walk Tory tightrope over new wind farms in England by Sara Lanier

Sara Lanier — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 16:56:45 +0000

If John Hayes MP’s claim that onshore wind turbines lower house prices proves to be true, he will find anyone under 50 who is not a wealthy NEPO hedgefund child will be seriously in favour of turbines being erected in the richer parts of England’s Home Counties. It may be the only way would-be owners will ever access affordable housing.