Daily Debrief

Project employs technology that can be used to store and release renewable energy using even gentle slopes A hillside “battery” outside Plymouth in Devon has begun generating electricity using a first of a kind hydropower system embedded underground. The pioneering technology means one of the oldest forms of energy storage, hydropower, can be used to store and release renewable energy using even gentle slopes rather than the steep dam walls and mountains that are usually required. Continue reading...

Plans to connect up to 2GW of offshore wind to British and German grids come on same day as governments ink new North Sea clean energy pact

A of the meeting held by the Interministerial Group for Net Zero, Energy and Climate Change.

The onshore power grid needs enormous amounts of new transmission capacity to handle the massive expansion of offshore wind power in the North Sea, as proposed by the North Sea Summit.

National Grid will partner with TenneT Germany to develop a new multi-purpose interconnector project which could connect British and German offshore wind to both countries.

Leaders and energy ministers of the North Sea region have committed to co-operate closely to speed up the development of stable, secure, and affordable offshore energy and hydrogen.

Lenders requirements for contracted revenues for BESS projects in the UK appears to have softened, an executive at investment firm Triple Point said.

Octopus chief adds to debate over critical sector as PM embarks on first trip to Beijing by a British leader since 2018

Emma Howard Boyd, Laurie Laybourn, and Felicity Alvey to offer insights on how businesses can strengthen their climate resilience efforts BusinessGreen has confirmed the line up for its latest monthly webinar, Spotlight on Resilience: How to map your climate risks and build resilience, which will take place at midday on Tuesday 10th February. The interactive webinar will bring together Emma Howard Boyd, CBE, co-chair of Climate Resilience for All and chair of ClientEarth; Felicity Alvey, programme director for the Climatewise initiative at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; and Laurie Laybourn, executive director of the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative (SCRI). The hour-long session will see the expert panel explore the challenges and opportunities businesses face as they work to enhance resilience in the face of escalating climate risks. As such, the webinar will discuss why governments and businesses are routinely underestimating climate risks, how organisations can better map the risks they face, and how to build a compelling business case for investment in climate resilience measures. The session will be chaired by BusinessGreen editor-in-chief, James Murray, who said the expert panel would explore one of the biggest, and yet often overlooked, challenges faced by businesses, investors, and policymakers. "Climate impacts and risks are intensifying all the time, and yet proven measures that can enhance resilience, minimise future costs, and bolster corporate performance are routinely marginalised," he said. "Our latest Businessgreen Spotlight webinar brings together some of the UK's leading experts in this critical field to provide practical guidance on how business leaders and sustainability executives can develop and execute effective climate resilience strategies." The webinar is free to attend and viewers can sign up through the event website.

Responding to the Government’s announcement of new protections for heat network customers, Energy UK’s chief executive, Dhara Vyas said: “Ensuring households on heat networks are protected in the same way as other energy customers will raise standards across Britain’s thousands of existing heat networks and lay a foundation from which the sector can grow. Last… Read more

The government wants more homes to have heat pumps and is making grants available.

”We couldn’t justify keeping them on our balance sheet any longer,” CEO Per Witalisson says of the dropped offshore wind projects, which have led the listed company’s board to slash its EBIT target.

NKT will deliver 217 km of power cables to Energy Island Bornholm, which will consist of 3GW offshore wind.

Natural gas daily spot prices at the benchmark Henry Hub rose sharply over the past week, reaching nearly $8.15 per million British thermal units on January 22 as colder weather increased demand for space heating across the country. Higher wholesale natural gas prices generally contribute to higher wholesale electricity prices. ...

Ground rents will be capped as part of wider plans to overhaul the leasehold system in England and Wales.