On August 9, a thunderstorm caused 1.5 GW of generation capacity to go offline within seconds in the U.K. The incident caused millions of households to temporarily lose power but the situation could have been considerably worse if not for the country’s battery storage reserves. Renewable energy company RES claims to have averted disaster in
Solar panels might seem like they’re in direct competition with plants. One is catching sunlight to do photosynthesis, the other wants to take it to push electrons. Surely Highlander rules apply, and there can be only one on a plot of land, right? In reality, it’s not a zero-sum game. Some plants will burn in
Under the new law proposed by HM Revenue and Customs, the VAT for new solar and energy storage products will increase from 5% to 20% from October The government is being urged to stop the proposed VAT increase for solar and battery storage technologies by industry, environmental groups and more than 17,500 people. Under the
Implement “proper” climate change plans or risk facing legal challenge, environmental lawyers have warned 100 councils across England. The councils – all of which are currently developing a new local plan – have been put on notice by environmental law firm ClientEarth, giving them eight weeks to explain how evidence-based carbon reduction targets will be
E.ON made a bold announcement last week: all 3.3 million of their customers will be placed on a 100% renewable tariff as standard. No need to change their tariff or account. No extra charge. A good news story on the face of it. But is it too good to be true? The overnight switch to
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
Good Energy is exempt from the price cap because we do much more to support growth in renewables and clean technologies than others. And because our customers have actively chosen our tariffs to contribute to that support. Is your energy truly green? If you care about the answer to that question, it is because you
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
Despite the fact that United States president Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement back in 2017, there are many, many companies, politicians, and constituents that have not given up on moving away from fossil fuels and toward meeting the carbon emissions cap set by the accord. In fact, polling shows that a majority
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