Environmentalists now fear that the UK government's draft energy bill to be published on Tuesday will end in a new "dash for gas". They want the bill to be guided by the government's stated wish to almost completely de-carbonise the electricity industry by the 2030s. But there has been no guarantee such a target will be enshrined in the bill. Click here for full story

EirGrid, the independent electricity transmission system operator in the Republic of Ireland, is inviting companies to bid to trade energy when its undersea electricity cable to the UK becomes operational later this year. EirGrid is holding trading launches to provide companies with information on how to trade on the Interconnector…. they are holding a launch in Dublin and London. Both launches will take the same format and provide the same information. Click here for full story

Ministers will press ahead this week with the biggest overhaul of the energy sector in two decades – amid escalating warnings from the industry that it remains seriously flawed. Energy Secretary Ed Davey will lay the Draft Energy Bill before Parliament on Tuesday, hailing it as a blueprint to keep “lights on, bills down and air clean”. [Note from Editor: EMR and CFDs will come under the conference spotlight on Wednesday at All-Energy] Click here for full story

Officers at a national park have said a project to replace a power line must have a plan to protect rare wood ants. Steel electricity towers are to be replaced with smaller, less obtrusive, wooden poles between Etteridge and Boat of Garten in Badenoch and Strathspey. The work is a condition of the major upgrade to the Beauly to Denny line. 

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The average household's annual energy bill of £1,252 now accounts for 11pc of a couple's basic state pension of £11,175 a year, the study by price comparison website uSwitch.com found. The cost of energy is now the top household worry for Britons (90pc), ahead of the rising cost of food (77pc) and mortgage payments (42pc). Click here for full story

SSE, one of Britain's biggest energy suppliers, reported a 2 percent rise in full-year profit as growth at its production and generation unit offset a drop in its supply business ….Perth, Scotland-based SSE said operating profit at its wholesale business unit - which includes the production, storage and generation of energy - was up 6.4 percent, helped primarily by higher output of renewable energy. Click here for full story

Government plans to reform the electricity market to favour low-carbon power are "unworkable" and will lead to "a train wreck" in the sector, and higher and more volatile energy prices for consumers, according to a group of the UK's leading renewable energy companies.  Click here for full story

A group of Britain’s leading renewable energy firms have written to the Energy Secretary to express concerns about the planned Electricity Market Reforms. Scottish and Southern Electric (SSE), Ecotricity, Good Energy, Renewable Energy Systems, Natural Power and Fred Olsen Renewables have written to Ed Davey warning that EMR proposals will only benefit nuclear generators and dissuade long-term investment in British renewables.

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According to a new report from Marketsandmarkets, a marketing research company, the global smart cities market is expected to top $1 trillion by 2016. Currently, the report estimates the value of the smart cities market at $526.3 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of about 14.2 percent from 2011-2016. Over that time, the smart energy industry is expected to see the largest growth, from $22.9 billion in 2010 to $80.7 billion in 2016, a 28.7 percent compound annual growth rate. 

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The head of Schneider Electric's Smart Cities initiative explains why efficiency and technology are key to making cities more liveable.  Click here for full story

Douglas Fraser writes about North Connect, the five-company, three-country consortium that plans to put a large amount of copper across the North Sea in the form of the first of two such High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cables between Norway and the UK, with the potential for injection points across the North Sea, where it can link into the giant wind farms being built there. Click here for full story

Friends of the Earth has warned that the upcoming Electricity Market Reform (EMR) is David Cameron’s last chance to keep his promise to lead the ‘greenest Government ever’. The environmental charity believes that the upcoming Energy Bill, which was included in the Queen’s Speech, is a unique opportunity to ensure that the UK’s electricity system is largely free from fossil fuels by 2030. Click here for full story

According to the latest research from E.ON, 75 percent of Britons are currently ignoring the benefits of smart meters. The UK energy provider found that by disregarding this technology, UK consumers are missing out on energy bill savings of up to 4 percent. Click here for full story

Cable supplier Nexans has been handed a deal from Dong Energy to supply cables for the 389MW West of Duddon Sands project. The order is for 122km of medium voltage submarine cable for the project, which is located in the Irish Sea. Installation is scheduled for Q3 2013. Click here for full story

According to the latest research from the Forum of Private Business, energy costs are among the most important infrastructure issues faced by small businesses in the UK. The proactive business support organisation, which is focused on the growth and profitability of small businesses, reported the results from its Referendum survey on ‘Infrastructure for Growth'. Click here for full story

Ofgem have appointed the preferred bidder - Transmission Capital Partners (TCP) - for the first project in the second round of tenders to own and operate offshore links for the Lincs project. This is the second largest offshore transmission project to have reached this stage. Click here for full story

Viking Energy chairman Bill Manson has dismissed suggestions the windfarm project is at risk of being killed off by high transmission charges. It follows publication of a report by energy regulator Ofgem on the latest stage of Project TransmiT on Friday which opted to impose higher charges on projects in the Scottish islands than those on the mainland. Click here for full story

It seems that pan-continent grids are in our future, with the mammoth Desertec project moving ahead in North Africa, and now talks about laying a cable between Iceland and the UK to carry excess geothermal energy to Europe. There's enthusiasm for an eventual pan-Europe supergrid across the continent, which would feed in geothermal from Iceland, wind and wave energy from Northern Europe, solar from the south and from Desertec in North Africa. Click here for full story

The electricity market reform (EMR) package confirmed in the Queen’s Speech should support the potential for homeowners to have their own energy storage, according to ‘smart’ home firms. To avoid hitting consumers with bigger costs after the shake-up of the way electricity is sold and transferred, the head of a home energy management firm said the “flexibility” of the grid would be key. Click here for full story

An overhaul of the electricity market set out in the Queen's Speech aims to drive massive investment in low carbon power and bridge the looming energy gap.Keeping the lights on as old coal and nuclear power plants are shut down in the next decade will require pouring £110 billion into energy supplies and the grid - more than double the current rate of investment - the Government has warned. And the UK has legally binding targets to meet on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and boosting renewables. Click here for full story

If the UK is to keep to its environmental commitments then electricity market reform (EMR) needs to quickly facilitate investment in new large scale generation, whilst enabling transition to a low carbon energy system over the next ten years, say the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). The warning from the IET comes as the Energy Bill, which will underpin the EMR, is expected to be covered in today’s Queen Speech.  Click here for full story

Reforms the electricity market to encourage more investment in low carbon generation and clean energy. Puts more restrictions on the emissions of new coal plants and creates a new independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, funded by the industry. The Bill will affect England and Wales with the majority of proposals also applying to Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

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Plans to turn Shetland and Orkney into major exporters of green energy have been dealt a serious blow by energy regulator Ofgem. The northern isles will have to pay up to seven times more to transmit power to the national grid than mainland generators, an 18 month consultation has decided. The decision, which is open to consultation for a further six months, represents a serious setback to plans for Shetland’s 370MW Viking Energy wind farm and Orkney’s marine energy park in the Pentland Firth. 

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Minister for Energy Fergus Ewing responded to Ofgem’s review of transmission charging. He said: "We have Europe’s best renewable energy resources, yet the unfair system of locational charging continues to result in Scotland facing the highest charges in the UK, while subsidies are paid to generators elsewhere.” Click here for full story

General Electric (GE) has announced a tie-up with China's XD Electric to tap into China's fast growing market for electric transmission and distribution. GE has agreed to buy a 15% stake in XD, one of China's largest makers of power transmission and distribution equipment.  Click here for full story

Electricity generated by wind, wave or tidal energy in the west of Ireland may well be lighting up British homes in the future, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said. Confidence about developing an export market for electricity was expressed by Mr Kenny when he spoke at the official launch of the Grid West Project at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Castlebar. Click here for full story

 GNB Industrial Power will be unveiling its innovative Modular Energy Management System (MEMS), the latest addition to its renewable energy applications range, at this year’s All-Energy Show taking place in Aberdeen from the 23rd to 24th May 2012. The market for the storage and integration of renewable energy is set to grow, with total worldwide revenue for energy storage expected to reach £21 billion by 2020. With this in mind, GNB has taken up the challenge of developing an innovative and cost-effective storage system based on its lead acid technology.  Click here for full story

Ofgem has today taken the next step toward a new approach to transmission charging. It is requiring industry to develop changes to the current charging approach which will better reflect the costs placed on the system by all forms of generation, particularly renewable generators, which operate intermittently. The aim of the changes is to facilitate Britain’s transition to a low carbon energy sector at the lowest cost to consumers. Click here for full story

The risk of the UK being hit by power blackouts by 2030 has risen as the economic crisis hampers efforts to upgrade the electricity infrastructure, experts have warned. A hard-hitting report into global energy requirements said more needs to be done to secure the country’s electricity supply. The prospect of households experiencing frequent power cuts as a result of demand for electricity outstripping supply in less than two decades’ time was raised in the study conducted by energy experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers. (PwC).

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12th Annual PwC Global Power & Utilities Survey is based on research conducted between October 2011 and April 2012 with senior executives from 72 utility companies in 43 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.





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The UK should tap into the leading smart grid technology or risk losing out on a £5 billion export market, according to a recent report. An industry group is urging the Government to not waste the smart grid opportunity which could offer up to 10,000 jobs. The commissioned report by SmartGrid GB claims that the economic benefit of tapping into the market of intelligent energy networks and infrastructure outweigh any risks; and it a plethora of industries can benefit from the move.  Click here for full story

Wind power producers Britain and Denmark are studying options to build a power cable between them to import and export renewable energy and increase market competition, the countries' grid operators said on Monday. Britain's National Grid and Denmark's Energinet.dk will publish an initial interconnector study by the end of this year, detailing potential landing points, capacity and how a cable could integrate into a North Sea super grid to connect offshore wind power.   Click here for full story

S&C Electric Co., a Chicago maker of electric power systems equipment, won a smart grid contract on a Scottish wind park from a unit of Electricite de France SA and will target new markets with its voltage control technology. S&C Electric Company Europe Ltd. will supply a system that helps smooth the power supply from the Fallago Rig wind farm developed by EDF Energy Renewables Ltd., S&C said today in an e- mailed statement. 

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Members of the British and French governments are in Alderney to discuss the creation of a cable link between the two countries via the island. In February, the island signed deals for the development of tidal arrays and an interconnector cable. 

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The Marmite-making multinational corporation which also brings us Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Hellman’s mayonnaise this week touted its environmental credentials. Unilever says renewable energy now contributes a fifth of its total energy use, while 100% of the electricity it buys in Europe is now from renewable sources. Click here for full story

Eon has awarded a roughly £19m onshore cable installation contract to Balfour Beatty for the consented 219MW Humber Gateway offshore wind farm. Over 30km of UK-manufactured 132kV cable will be installed underground to connect the £736m wind farm’s two export cables from the Holderness Coast to a new substation near Hull. Click here for full story

The UK must move quickly to secure its leading position on smart grid technology or risk losing out on a £5bn export market and 10,000 skilled jobs, an industry group has claimed. A report commissioned by SmartGrid GB, a coalition of 23 companies including BT, SAP, GE, EDF and Siemens, says the economic benefits of accelerating a move to more intelligent energy networks and infrastructure far outweigh the risks and could be spread across a wide range of industries. Click here for full story

Doubts over whether Europe's future electricity supply can cope with spiralling demand will leave the continent's energy sector "on a knife edge", until concerns over the policy and financing environment governing new capacity are addressed. That is the conclusion of a new PwC survey that predicts an 84 per cent rise in electricity consumption by 2035 driven by population growth, urbanisation, and technological changes such as the anticipated shift to electric vehicles.  Click here for full story

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won a significant order from the Dutch-German transmission grid operator TenneT to supply an AC (alternating current) power transmission link connecting Nordergründe, an offshore North Sea wind farm, to the mainland grid in Germany. The order was booked in the first quarter. The link has a capacity to transmit 111 megawatts (MW) of clean wind power. Click here for full story

Utilities and investors plan to spend 60 billion euros ($79 billion) to build and modernize power plants in Germany as the country closes its nuclear reactors over the coming decade, the BDEW utility lobby said.  The 84 projects, of which 69 are at least in the permitting stages and scheduled to start operating by 2020, have a combined capacity of 42,056 megawatts, the BDEW said in an e-mailed statement today. They include 23 sea-based wind farms, 29 gas-fired stations, 17 coal generators and 10 hydro-power pump stations, it said.

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