Gas
Network Awards 2020: Meet the finalists!
After receiving a larger number of superb entries than ever before, the judges have made their final decisions and we are proud to unveil the well-deserved finalists for the Network Awards 2020!
Heat
Tube plan among local energy projects scooping £21m from UKRI
The Department for Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has revealed 10 demonstration phase projects sharing £21m from UK Research and Innovation's (UKRI) Local Smart Energy Designs programme, including a scheme to recycle heat from London Underground tunnels.
Gas
Five hydrogen projects share £28m BEIS funding
Five projects geared to developing hydrogen as a low carbon fuel are to share £28m in government funding, as part of a £90m funding package aimed at cutting both domestic and industrial emissions.
Gas
Laying the foundations for heat network growth
Government proposals to increase customer protection and accelerate decarbonisation across heat networks, now backed by a multi-million funding commitment, are welcome news, says Switch2 Energy chief executive Richard Slee
Gas
Electrifying the low carbon heat debate
The Ground Source Heat Pump Association (GSHPA) begins 2020 with a new look and a new confidence that - with heat pumps emerging as a favoured option in the government's Future Homes consultation - the sector is about to come into its own.
Gas
Smart Energy in Orkney
A visit to the Scottish isles of Orkney unveils an innovative smart energy system, writes Anna Stegman, technical liaison manager for the Energy Revolution Integration Service at the Energy Systems Catapult.
Gas
Cybersecurity: making smart homes secure
Internet-connected smart devices can deliver significant benefits to users' lives, anticipating needs and providing services in areas from entertainment to energy use
Gas
Paying for net zero –
The UK's 2050 net zero emissions commitment has added urgency to calls for a review of the allocation of decarbonisation costs. Jane Gray reports on a recent Network debate event, hosted in association with National Grid.
Gas
BEIS spotlights heat networks with consultation and grants
The Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) has welcomed two new government announcements supporting heat networks: a consultation in advance of dedicated legislation and the award of £40m to seven projects through the Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP).
Heat
An honourable mention: James Yu interview
SP Energy Networks' Future Networks Manager, Professor James Yu, received an MBE in the New Year's Honours List. Here Network catches up with him to discuss challenges, past, present and future.
Heat
UK Power Networks pioneers new super-fast circuit breakers
UK Power Networks is claiming a world first by installing next generation circuit breakers in part of London's electricity network, estimating significant cost and carbon savings due to their ability to facilitate the connection of Combined Heat and Power systems.
Gas
New energy management models needed after Ofgem review
Significant changes to network charging methodology announced by Ofgem are likely to have a major impact on industrial and commercial (I&C) energy bills from April 2021, writes Charlie Ward of New Stream Renewables.
Gas
Decarbonisation Action Plan targets greenwashed energy tariffs
The energy regulator Ofgem has published its Decarbonisation Action Plan, which has seen support for its targeting of greenwashed energy tariffs.
Gas
Ofgem launches low carbon Action Plan in nine steps
New Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley used his first day in post to publish the regulator's Decarbonisation Action Plan, setting out nine steps the regulator plans to make in the next 18 months to meet the 2050 net-zero challenge.
Heat
New apprentices for UK Power Networks as levy criticism mounts
In National Apprenticeship Week, UK Power Networks has announced that it is recruiting 16 new apprentices to join the company in September.
Heat
Householders vital to net-zero transition, says ADE
Policy makers should put the energy needs and aspirations of households at the centre of their thinking on achieving a net zero energy system, according to a new report from the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE).
Gas
Ofgem’s RIIO-1 electricity framework too lax, says NAO
Consumers paid too much for their electricity during the RIIO-1 price control period after Ofgem set performance targets for the network companies too low and allowed them over-generous cost budgets, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
Gas
National Grid: 400,000 needed for ‘Net Zero Workforce’
The energy sector will have to step up on recruitment, training and communications with potential staff to fill 400,000 roles needed to meet the operational requirements of a net-zero energy system by 2050, according to a new report from National Grid.
Gas
IDNO Leep Utilities wins ‘dark kitchen’ contract
Leep Utilities, a licensed independent distribution network operator (IDNO), has won the contract to operate the electricity networks for six sites operated by commercial kitchen company FoodStars.
Gas
Low carbon heat must go electric in 2020, says GSHPA
The chairman of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association (GSHPA) has told Network that 2020 will be a key milestone on the road to net-zero, when it plans to "build a significant coalition for the decarbonisation of heat through electrification".
Gas
2020 vision: Siemens’ outlook on the next 12 months
Will 2020 be a turning point on the road to net-zero? Energy systems specialist Siemens, headed by GB chief executive Carl Ennis, looks ahead to advances in generation, off-grid networks, electric vehicle uptake and corporate transparency.
Gas
Energy trading and asset management in a ‘flex’ market
Dominic Fava, head of marketing and propositions at Origami, a provider of energy trading platforms, looks at the difficulties of trading energy in a more flexible - and therefore volatile - electricity market, and how a new generation of smart IT systems will be needed to support energy companies.
Gas
Calculating storage and flexibility in a net-zero world
Alex Buckman, networks and energy storage practice manager at the Energy Systems Catapult, describes its new Storage and Flexibility Model, a number-crunching tool that can calculate the future storage and renewable generation capacity needed to meet variable demand in a net-zero world.
Gas
Squeezing efficiency from energy-from-waste
A high-efficiency waste gasification demonstrator project funded by the Energy Technologies Institute is producing electricity for the grid, but its sponsoring organisation was wound up at the end of December. Before closing day, ETI project manager Paul Winstanley told Elaine Knutt about what the ETI/Kew Technology Sustainable Energy Centre has achieved, and possible future milestones.
Gas
First live hydrogen trials on campus ‘living lab’
Keele University campus has become the site of the UK's first live trial to inject hydrogen into a gas network, in the first of a series of demonstrations by the HyDeploy consortium.
Gas
Queen’s Speech promises net-zero policies in 2020 budget
The Queen's Speech from the new Conservative government this week reaffirmed its commitment to achieving net-zero and investing in renewable energy, but contained little in the way of detail, promising instead that the first budget will prioritise a range of net-zero enablers.
Gas
Ofgem sets ‘tough but fair’ ground rules for RIIO-ED2
Ofgem has laid out the underlying framework for the RIIO-ED2 price control period for electricity, ahead of further consultation from the regulator next year to define the specific methodologies.
Heat
Take in a lodger to save the planet, research says
New research by a team from the University of St Andrews argues that energy policy must factor in increases in domestic square meterage per person in order to achieve climate change targets.
Gas
Debating the steep path to net-zero 2050
Meeting the challenge of 2050 is already top of the sector's agenda, and is likely to be in clear focus for the new government too. In February, at the Future Networks and Future of Heat conferences, the sector will have the chance to debate its response and the path ahead.
Gas
Pumping up affordable low carbon power
Graham Wright, chairman of the Heat Pump Association, on the important role heat pumps could play in the low carbon heat mix, and the need to increase the rate of installations to meet net-zero.
Gas
Why hydrogen-based fuels will be a net-zero essential
Matti Rautkivi, director of strategy and business development at Wärtsilä Energy Business, explains why the Finnish company is backing several innovators in the field of hydrogen-based fuels - and why the UK government should do so as well.