The government must plug its policy shortfall or risk failing to hit binding net zero targets, the Science and Technology select committee has warned. Identifying ten areas where government policy is lacking, the committee issued a series of recommendations in a new report looking at how to achieve net zero by 2050. Among the committee’s
The UK recorded a new grid carbon intensity low last weekend, as the country enjoyed extensive periods of fifth carbon budget-compliant power generation. The new record low - 39g CO2/kWh - was recorded at 3:24pm on Saturday 17 August, and came as wind sent renewables’ contribution to electricity demand soaring. Data compiled by Drax Electricity
Those digits won’t mean a lot outside of energy circles, but they’re likely to be etched into the UK industry’s folklore. Just after 16:52 on Friday 9 August 2019, the UK’s power system - one of the most secure in the world - tripped, causing power outages felt by more than 1 million customers. While
Asda signs up its fridges to keep the UK warm this winter Supermarket’s freezers will help power 8,500 homes by matching defrost times to blackouts or surges in demand Hundreds of Asda supermarket stores will help power the UK’s electricity system this winter by using their fridges as a virtual battery pack for the energy
The electric utility industry has been buffeted by two recent trends that threaten to upend the profitability, and in some cases the future viability of, those companies that are slow to adapt to a new, rapidly changing landscape. Specifically, in the past decade, the industry has had to grapple with both waning demand and the
The sudden loss of nearly 2GW of generation triggered a stress event and power cuts experienced up and down the country on Friday evening (9 August 2019). The incident, which caused significant disruption up and down the UK, was triggered by failures at two large generators, specifically Orsted’s 1.2GW Hornsea offshore wind farm and the
A lightning strike that caused two separate losses of generation – described by National Grid ESO as an “extremely rare and unexpected event” – has been revealed as the cause behind Britain’s power cut on 9 August 2019. This morning the electricity system operator published its interim report into the incident, revealing that a lightning
Battery storage assets were called into action last week after the UK suffered country-wide power outages following a transmission system stress event. Last Friday evening (9 August 2019), two large generators were disconnected from the UK’s power system almost simultaneously, effectively taking 2GW worth of electricity generation within minutes of each other. That collapse in
Introduction Economy 7 was launched in the late 1970’s, with an aim to provide customers with cheaper energy costs in the night and average or slightly higher rates in the day. As a result, this makes it a favourite for people who work nights, have a storage heater or want to utilise things such as
The UK must scale-up decarbonisation of heat and transport, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest in-depth review of UK energy policies. Whilst the report praises the UK’s overall decarbonisation efforts, it stressed the need for greater investment in the transport and heat sectors if the country is to reduce its emissions in line