net-zero
Gas
Smarter Grid Solutions launches new energy resources management system
Smarter Grid Solutions launches new energy resources management system to help accelerate the net zero transition
Gas
North West poised to deliver £7bn investment into low carbon skills
The North West Energy & Hydrogen Cluster is to set out a roadmap for low carbon skills in the region.
Gas
Heat energy “greatest decarbonisation challenge”
A new paper identifies that heat energy, which now accounts for over a third of the UK's carbon emissions, is the greatest decarbonisation challenge the UK faces to reach net zero.
Heat
Leaked DEFRA report says net zero goal may increase air pollution
A leaked report from DEFRA warns that a move to burning hydrogen to heat UK homes risks increasing nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution in towns and cities.
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.
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.
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.
Power
Johnson toughens up targets on coal power and EVs
Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will eliminate all coal-powered electricity generation by 2024 - a year earlier than originally planned - and will outlaw the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035 rather than 2040.
Power
DNOs publish data on connected assets over 1 MW
The Energy Networks Association, which is running the Open Networks Project, has announced the completion of its project to publish System Wide Resource Registers, detailing connected generation over 1MW on the distribution networks.
Gas
RIIO-2 business plans fail on net-zero, says Ofgem panel
Ofgem's RIIO-2 Challenge Group has criticised most of the energy companies that submitted their business plans in December for lacking strategic vision on reaching net-zero, although National Grid ESO was given an honourable mention.
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
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".
Policy & Regulation
Expert team to advise Citizens’ Assembly on climate change
Three groups of experts have been appointed to advise the soon-to-be-established Citizens Assembly on climate change, an initiative that has been jointly commissioned by cross-party MPs on six parliamentary committees.
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
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
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
New Johnson mandate to shape post-Brexit trade and net-zero
The Conservatives' decisive victory in the General Election sets the country on the path to Brexit and EU trade deal negotiations, including talks on the future trading arrangements for the gas and electricity flowing through interconnectors to Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Ireland and Denmark.
Gas
Labour’s nationalisation plan adds ‘Big Six’ to DNOs
Labour has extended its renationalisation agenda with plans to bring the supply arms of the Big Six energy companies into public ownership, a surprise move announced at its manifesto launch on 21 November that has prompted concern in the sector.
Gas
ESC launches modelling tool for 2050 scenario planning
The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) has launched a new software modelling tool that can weigh up different scenarios on how national, regional and local energy networks in the UK can use storage and flexibility technologies to decarbonise at least cost.
Power
ENW adds network capacity ahead of net-zero 2038 commitment
Electricity North West has announced the start of work to add capacity to the power network in south Manchester in support of the £7m South Manchester Enterprise Zone project.
Gas
Hydrogen boilers, CCUS and biogas critical to net-zero heat, says ENA report
The government should mandate "hydrogen ready" boilers for new installations in domestic properties as part of a radical strategy to deliver a zero carbon heat network by 2050, concludes a major new report outlining a viable pathway for decarbonised heat in the UK.
Gas
Net-zero will need a regulation review, contractor warns
New thinking on energy regulation that better supports network investment will be required if the UK is going to meet its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to Burns and McDonnell, a US based engineering and construction business operating in the UK since 2017.
Gas
Wales and West signs up to Welsh ‘net-zero ready’ 2035 target
Wales and West Utilities, the gas distribution network operator for Wales, has become the first company to sign up to the Welsh government's Climate Change Pledge, committing itself to having a "net-zero ready" gas network by 2035.
Gas
Labour outlines fast track to zero carbon energy by 2030
The Labour Party has unveiled a report setting out an accelerated plan to fully eliminate carbon emissions from the UK's energy system by 2030, including goals of installing 8 million heat pumps and insulating 27 million homes.
Gas
UK needs ‘Olympic’ delivery body to drive shift to net zero heating, says think tank
MPs and members of the public are equally in the dark over the urgency of decarbonising the heat network, raising the need to establish a powerful new body to coordinate the complex task, according to a report by cross-party think tank Policy Connect.
Power
Siemens announces partnership with UK100
A network of mayors and council leaders is joining forces with Siemens to try to unlock a pipeline of clean energy projects worth more than £100bn as part of the UK's drive to meet net-zero emissions and the Paris Climate goals.
Power
Renationalisation would risk UK missing net-zero target, report claims
Labour's plans for renationalising energy networks would put at risk the UK's efforts of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a new report.
Heat
BEAMA members commit to net zero
A number of BEAMA's member companies have made a commitment to reduce their emissions to net zero by 2050.
Gas
Net-zero at heart of upcoming conference
The subject of net-zero will be at the heart of this month's Network Asset Performance Conference in Birmingham with industry experts providing their views on how to deliver the asset base for the net-zero challenge.
Heat
Accelerating the EV revolution
Matthew Boulton, chief commercial officer at Pivot Power, discusses how the company is working at a local level to speed up the decarbonisation of transport.
Power
Networks must consider needs of vulnerable customers, analysis shows
Analysis carried out on behalf of the Energy Networks Association (ENA) shows that network operators must ensure that vulnerable customers are not left behind as the UK works towards net zero.