Heat is the elephant in the room of the energy transition. While we have made massive strides in greening our electricity supply with wind and solar, our heating sector remains stubbornly attached to fossil fuels. In the UK, over 80 percent of homes rely on natural gas boilers. Electrification via heat pumps is one solution, […]
The Catch: The Role of CCS in Decarbonising Gas Heat Read More »
While many readers were engaging with the debates at Utility Week Live earlier this summer, I made the sacrifice and headed to San Jose to pick up on the global trends being discussed at the Grid Edge World Forum. The challenges we face in Great Britain with the transition to a low carbon energy system are clearly global ones and the question that interested me was where was the UK leading and where was it lagging on the world stage.
Maxine Frerk: Letter from America Read More »
Digital disruptors such as AirBnb, Zopa and GiffGaff manage to deliver impeccable customer service and remain within arm’s reach of their customers at all times despite changing expectations. What lessons can we learn from them and how do they relate to network asset performance?
Managing customer expectations Read More »
In June, the government committed to a target for the UK to be net-zero for carbon by 2050. Many local authorities (a number which increases by the week) have set even shorter targets, some seeking to achieve net-zero decades ahead of the remainder of the UK.
Local authorities are advancing the pace on net-zero Read More »
The recent publication of the FPSA2 (Future Power System Architecture) report highlighted the challenge of delivering 35 new or enhanced functions that will be needed by 2030 to manage the whole power system and its interfaces with other grid-edge vectors – such as gas and transport – in the current institutional governance framework. Ofgem’s Jonathan Brearley highlighted the challenge to regulators of being able to adapt to the speed of change and the breadth of the transformation now under way.
Is governance fit for purpose? Read More »
Ofgem is getting a new chief executive. Jonathan Brearley will take over in February at a time of “unparalleled change in the energy industry,” according to the regulator’s chairman, Martin Cave.
Is flexibility expertise tomorrow’s export opportunity? Read More »
The energy and utilities workforce recruitment challenges are well documented. Employers are unable to fill more than one third (36%) of skilled vacancies. This is well above the 23% UK average and notably higher than any other sector.
Innovating for skills Read More »
I was at an event last week and over dinner we got to talking about the challenges the power sector currently faces.
Industry must break step to cross the bridge Read More »
Today (Thursday 2 May) the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published its long awaited ‘Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming’ report. I believe its release, just days after the Extinction Rebellion protests and Labour’s call to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’, marks a really important step towards the low, or even zero, carbon economy that we need to build in the UK.
How Cadent is building a low-carbon future for the UK Read More »
