Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 23/01/24.
Policy paper: Standing charges: CFP response to Ofgem call for input – Committee on Fuel Poverty
20 January 2024. The Committee on Fuel Poverty response considers the impact of standing charges on fuel poor households:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standing-charges-cfp-response-to-ofgem-call-for-input
Press release: Carbon capture and clean hydrogen technology will drive growth and generate jobs on Humberside – Ofgem CEO
18 January 2024. Jonathan Brearley said: “It’s inspiring to see such ambitious, innovative projects taking shape in Humberside and Teesside, which will help to create thousands of jobs and are critical to achieving the government’s target of decarbonise the power system by 2035, and reach net zero by 2050”:
News: Greenland losing 30m tonnes of ice an hour, study reveals – Guardian Online
17 January 2024, Damian Carrington. Total is 20% higher than thought and may have implications for collapse of globally important north Atlantic ocean currents:
News: Wasted wind costing £1bn a year? Green hydrogen can save it, urges Policy Exchange – The Energyst
16 January 2024, Alban Thurston. Too slow deployment of grid upgrades and new storage technologies is costing Britain as much as £1billion a year in wasted renewable power, says a new report. The figure could rise to £3.5 billion by the 2030s, think tank Policy Exchange calculates:
News: Sunak ‘dodging scrutiny’ by failing to appoint chair of Climate Change Committee – The Observer in the Guardian Online
14 January 2024, Toby Helm. No successor has been named for Lord Deben – and now the independent watchdog’s chief executive has resigned:
News: UK sees 39% jump in households failing to pay energy bills – Reuters in Yahoo News
11 January 2024, David Milliken. The number of British households who failed to pay their energy bills last month was 39% higher than a year ago, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed, showing ongoing economic strains despite a recent fall in inflation:
Link: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-sees-39-jump-households-112736954.html
News: UK climate watchdog chief Chris Stark to resign with goals in doubt – Energy Voice
11 January 2024. The head of the UK’s Climate Change Committee Chris Stark will resign as the government struggles to put the country on a trajectory to reach a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050:
Open consultation: Alternative routes to market for new nuclear projects – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
11 January 2024. Views sought to understand how government can support investment in advanced nuclear technologies and enable high value projects to be taken forward. This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 4 April 2024:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/alternative-routes-to-market-for-new-nuclear-projects
News: Roadmap sets out how UK will increase nuclear generation by up to 4 times to 24GW by 2050 – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Great British Nuclear, The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP, Andrew Bowie MP, and The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP
11 January 2024. Roadmap sets out how UK will increase nuclear generation by up to 4 times to 24GW by 2050:
Open consultation: Long duration electricity storage: proposals to enable investment – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
9 January 2024. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is consulting on the policy framework to enable investment in long duration electricity storage. This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 5 March 2024:
Research and analysis: Long duration electricity storage: scenario deployment analysis – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
9 January 2024. A study of the impacts of long duration electricity storage technologies on the GB power system:
Explainer: Factchecked: the UK government’s claims about North Sea oil and gas – Guardian Online
8 January 2024, Helena Horton. Rishi Sunak says the policy shift towards fossil fuels will lower bills and is backed by independent advisers. Is he right?
News: Oil and gas legislation is total distraction, senior Tory says – BBC News Online
8 January 2024, Becky Morton. Plans to guarantee annual oil and gas licensing rounds are “a total distraction” which reinforce the idea the UK is “not serious” about tackling climate change, a senior Tory has said:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67913795
Consultation: Ten-year review of the Capacity Market Rules – Ofgem
8 January 2024. The Capacity Market Rules and Regulations require that we review the capacity market rules every five years. The next review of the Capacity Market Rules (the ten-year review) is due to be published this year. This consultation is to inform that review. Closing dtae 19 february 2024:
Link: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ten-year-review-capacity-market-rules-consultation