National Grid is able to confidently predict the 2019 record just six months into the year Zero-carbon energy sources are poised to overtake fossil fuels as the UK’s largest electricity source over a full calendar year. This year will be the first that fossil fuels make up less than half of the electricity generated, according
Large-scale renewables are the most important factor in decarbonisation of the energy sector, according to a new UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) report. However, rapid, unprecedented changes across the entire UK economy will be required to meet net zero. Disruptive change, defined by UKERC as a significant deviation from past trends in a short timeframe,
The UK recorded its greenest ever winter in 2018/19, as mild conditions, high renewable output and system flexibility combined to send carbon intensity tumbling. National Grid ESO’s Winter Outlook document, published yesterday, revealed that the average carbon intensity of power generation over the period established a new record low of 242.8g CO2/kWh, almost half the
Details have emerged of the UK's Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), which will see owners of small-scale solar facilities continue to be paid for surplus energy sent to the grid, aiming to close the policy gap left by the end of feed-in tariffs (FiTs), by the end of 2019. Details of the SEG have been much-awaited
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
The Smart Export Guarantee places a legal obligation on energy suppliers with more than 150,000 customers to introduce export tariffs by 1st January 2020 The government is introducing new laws that will ensure households and businesses with new small-scale renewable technologies, such as solar panels, are paid for exporting electricity to the grid. The Smart
The UK has now gone a fortnight without coal, underpinning what has been a landmark month for the country’s energy mix. The record was confirmed by National Grid ESO at 3:12pm this afternoon, the moment it became clear that the UK would surpass two consecutive weeks without any coal-fired generation whatsoever. Having only gone a
April 1st 2019 saw the closure of the feed-in tariff scheme for the support of new solar installations. We look back at the successes and failures of the scheme, and cast our eyes towards a subsidy-free solar future. THE STORY OF FEED-IN TARIFFS Launched in April 2010, feed-in tariffs have been responsible for massive uptake
UK power prices turned negative for nine consecutive hours on Sunday in what’s been billed as an “extraordinary turn of events” for the country’s electricity system. Unusually low demand, some 2GW below forecasts, combined with high wind generation to send prices spiralling, and National Grid was even forced into instructing onshore and offshore wind farms
ScottishPower has revealed intentions to make Glasgow the UK’s first ‘net zero’ city, in collaboration with Glasgow City Council. And the utility is also preparing a battery storage rush in a bid to support its renewable energy ambitions. To achieve net zero emissions, the city will need to decarbonise heat and transport, as well as