Weekly Debrief

Publicly owned energy company and government back 1GW expansion of South Yorkshire electrolyser factory – creating over 400 jobs

Partner Insight: Kevin Ball from Wattstor explains how the firm can seamlessly blend grid power with onsite generation, consolidating its supply into a single, fully dynamic tariff The UK's energy system is undergoing a massive, unprecedented transition. If you look back over the last 25 years, we were de-industrialising and using less energy, even as grid capacity increased. Today, however, we are facing a completely new paradigm: we must accommodate highly scattered, intermittent renewable generation while simultaneously managing a surge in overall electricity demand. For C-suite decision-makers, this macroeconomic shift is no longer just an abstract sustainability challenge; it is about to become a very real, very painful line-item expense on the balance sheet. To fund the necessary estimated £70bn grid infrastructure upgrade over the next five years, the way businesses are being charged for transmission services is fundamentally changing. For years, finance leaders could rely on traditional energy procurement and basic energy efficiency measures, such as reducing consumption during winter 'triad' peak periods, to avoid high transmission charges. That mechanism is being phased out and is now virtually gone. Following Ofgem's Targeted Charging Review (TCR), most Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges are now decoupled from actual consumption. They have been replaced by an unavoidable, fixed daily charge: the Transmission Demand Residual (TDR). This has, in turn, created a profound regulatory mismatch. Current network rules punish businesses for brief power spikes, forcing them to pay massive 365-day standing charges for capacity needed only in short bursts. Worse still, these charges are locked into rigid five-year price control periods. In April 2026, fixed TDR charges will jump by over 65 per cent. For many medium-sized energy users, this means an unavoidable bill increase of around £75,000 per year, locked in until March 2031. Why traditional energy strategies no longer work Historically, rising energy costs could be managed through smart procurement or site-wide efficiency drives. Today, however, these new fixed capacity charges require a fundamentally different approach. Because TDR bands are based on your peak connection rather than your overall volume, traditional strategies only solve part of the equation. Even a standard solar installation, while excellent for reducing overall consumption, cannot always guarantee power during a sudden demand spike on a dark winter afternoon. Credit: Wattstor In addition, the obvious regulatory fix; simply reducing your contracted import capacity to drop into a cheaper band – is no longer straightforward. Because TDR bands are locked into five-year periods, incremental capacity reductions mid-cycle are no longer recognised. Under current rules, the only way to trigger a mid-period band reduction is if a site surrenders more than 50 per cent of its total contracted capacity. How storage and generation can reduce grid exposure By pairing on-site renewable generation with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), a business can effectively decouple its operational power needs from its grid dependence. Think of the battery as a dynamic, invisible buffer. It monitors your site's demand in real-time, instantly stepping in to provide power during sudden surges. This smooths out your grid profile seamlessly, ensuring your core operations never have to slow down. This localised buffering creates additional headroom within existing capacity, allowing operations to grow without triggering higher fixed charges. De-risking the transition with a fully funded solution Credit: Wattstor Even when the operational and regulatory benefits are clear, the capital expenditure required for commercial solar and battery storage remains a significant hurdle for many organisations. To remove this financial barrier, Wattstor developed the Price Protect model. Rather than expecting businesses to shoulder the upfront cost and technical complexity of new infrastructure, we fully fund, build, and operate the generation and storage assets directly on your site. Wattstor seamlessly blends your grid power with the onsite generation, consolidating your supply into a single, fully dynamic tariff. This uniquely structured agreement tracks the UK hourly wholesale price (allowing you to capitalise on market dips with a guaranteed discount) while strictly shielding your balance sheet with a fixed, non-indexed price cap for up to 25 years. Ultimately, Wattstor absorbs the technical, operational, and financial risks of the transition. Your business secures the physical infrastructure needed to permanently lower its capacity charges, alongside immediate and long-term energy savings, with zero capital investment required. A true win win. ** The grid is changing and the costs of inaction are rising rapidly. The businesses that thrive in this new era will be the ones that take control of their own energy – localised not centralised. ** Kevin Ball is chief commercial officer at Wattstor. This article is sponsored by Wattstor.

Large scale wind and solar farms producing green hydrogen and ammonia are the only credible path to both fuel and climate security, writes Alex Tancock

Somerset EV battery cell factory project secures lion's share of £470m government grant funding package geared towards supporting UK's transition to zero emission vehicles

UK chief of Mingyang says 'fact speaks for itself' after planned array it had preferred supplier agreement for has offtake deal terminated weeks after Chinese supplier barred from British projects

“We expect a positive first-quarter update, supported by strong order intake following major contract wins in the UK offshore wind and US onshore wind sectors,” the investment banks says.

Half of the wind turbines will be fitted with low-emissions steel towers, while 40 turbines will be equipped with a total of 120 reusable rotor blades.

The project was part of a package of tech investment promising the UK could become an AI superpower.

Planning decisions for major clean energy projects to be accelerated by appointment of Environment Agency as single lead environmental regulator, according to Defra

Fallout from Middle East crisis prompts more people to explore the alternative source of power

Planned floating offshore wind farm ran into trouble due to significant increases in inflation and supply chain costs

Form Energy has set the energy storage industry buzzing with a trio of big deals in 2026 – its CEO tells Recharge that scale was always the plan

Ørsted is well on its way to bolstering its financial position, says its chair, adding that agreements on new North Sea offshore wind projects provide greater investment certainty in wind power.

Van Oord has installed three monopile foundations at Ecowende's Hollandse Kust West wind farm using GBM Works' jetting solution in combination with CAPE’s vibro lifting tool for the first time.

Sandra Laville has been reporting on England’s sewage crisis for years. She answered your questions on the water privatisation scandal. Guardian environment correspondent Sandra Laville’s reporting on the sewage crisis in English water has helped to expose a scandal of privatisation that has created a swell of fury across the political divide. Sandra has now finished answering your questions. Read the Q&A below. The government has put the cost of renationalising water at £100bn. But this is a disputed figure. Academics working with the People’s Commission on the Water Sector say this figure is ‘serious scaremongering created on biased evidence’ which was paid for by water companies. It is based on the Regulatory Capital Value of companies as determined by Ofwat, not the” true and fair value in law”, which reflects losses from market failures, like the cost of pollution or the monopoly profits taken by shareholders and banks. The route to renationalisation could come via the system set up legally when the companies were privatised. Under the law companies can be put into special administration if they are unable to pay debts, if they breach licence obligations, such as on sewage pollution, or failing to supply water, and if it is considered in the public interest to do so. Special administration is a form of temporary renationalisation. This is the million dollar question! While tackling separation across the whole network at once is considered too disruptive and costly, particularly in urban environments, the chartered institute of water and environmental management says moving towards separated systems is their key focus to address urban pollution and storm water sewage releases. New developments, for example, are now mandated to have separate pipes for foul wastewater and surface water run off. They also want to see the increased use of sustainable drainage systems like water butts, and storage basins for existing properties, to reduce the amount of runoff into the system. Keeping gardens rather than paving them over, and creating so called sponge cities is also key to tackling pollution. The UK was described as the dirty man of Europe back in the 70s and 80s, due to levels of pollution. For example in coastal towns there were no water treatment plants to treat sewage, raw sewage was just pumped and dumped into the sea. It was only when the EU directives came in that the clean up began. Chief amongst these was the Urban Wastewater directive, the Water Framework directive, and the Bathing Water directive. Since leaving the EU there have been fears that these pieces of legislation could be watered down. James Bevan, as CEO of the Environment Agency, talked about changing the Water Framework Directive, essentially to make it easier for rivers to pass tests for chemical and biological health. Currently no river is rated as in good overall health under the WFD where rivers have to pass both chemical and biological health tests. Continue reading...

SMMT data shows sales of new fully electric cars accounted for almost a quarter of the overall market in March 2026

The rental value of viable EV charging locations has doubled in recent years with car parks, grey land, and brownfield plots all suitable contenders for such sites, according to Knight Frank

The deadline for nominations for the third annual Women in Green Business Awards closes on Friday 17 April There is now just one week left to nominate individuals, organisations and initiatives for the Women in Green Business Awards 2026 ahead of the deadline on Friday 17th April. Back for its third year running, the prestigious awards event seeks to recognise and celebrate the many women who are working every day to advance the green economy. Following the success of the past two editions of the awards - which brought together around 400 leading women from across the green economy – the 2026 even will once again provide a unique opportunity to showcase the work of women within the sustainability sector and promote the critical importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in driving forward the net zero transition. This year's awards will take place on the evening of Wednesday 7th October 2026 at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in Central London, bringing together hundreds of sustainability executives, engineers, marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and campaigners for the event's gala dinner and awards ceremony. The award categories cover a wide range of different sectors, roles, and businesses, so if you know of an organisation or individual who would be a worthy finalist - or if you are that person - please do put forward a nomination. All nominees will then be invited to complete an entry questionnaire, with the most impressive submissions announced as finalists on the 17th June. Winners and highly commended entries from the list of finalists will be selected by our panel of expert judges, with the winners announced at the glittering awards ceremony in October. "We've recruited a fantastic panel of judges and we're looking forward to receiving the nominations that recognise the many brilliant and inspiring women working every day to advance the green economy and catalyse environmental action across the UK," said Jade Burnett, chair of the judging panel for this year's awards. "The Women in Green Business Awards offer a powerful opportunity to celebrate this work and demonstrate the vital role that diversity, equity and inclusion play in driving the net zero transition." Last year's awards celebrated the success of hundreds of women working right across the green economy, including the likes of our Clean Tech Innovator of the Year Agnes Czako from AirEx Technologies, Leader of the Year Gillian Harrison from Whitefox Technologies, Corporate Sustainability Lead of the Year Kate Chapman from London Marathon Events, and Lifetime Achievement Awards winner Emma Howard Boyd. Nina Vidon, head of onshore renewables at WSP, took home last year's award for Energy Professional of the Year. She is one of many previous Women in Green Business Award winners to have offered their advice, insight and encouragement to future potential nominees. "Winning this award represents the peak of my 23 years of career in the energy industry and demonstrates I made the right movement migrating from oil and gas to renewable industry," she said. "It gave me a real sense of belonging. Being a female engineer feels really isolating sometimes, and seeing women being celebrated for their great achievements is very encouraging and sets the example for other women to thrive. "The evening was really pleasant, relaxed and very dynamic, with very engaging speakers. It was great to engage with other people that believe in women's competence to produce great results. The Women in Green Business Awards builds on the success of the UK Green Business Awards, which will this year take place on the evening of Wednesday 24th June as part of London Climate Action Week. For all the information on the Women in Green Business Awards 2026, including the nomination and entry process, judging panel, and sponsorship opportunities, please check out the event website.

Corpay is partnering with Voltempo in building UK’s largest charging network for electric lorries

The Equity Capital Markets team from Burges Salmon has advised ITM Power on the £40 million strategic equity investment by Great British Energy.

Brigg, Lincolnshire: The peas are in and next up are maize and wildflowers, but with our fuel use running to 50,000 litres a year, I have one eye on the news Spring has sprung, and with warming soils we start planting our more delicate crops such as peas. With the chatter of skylarks in the background, we slowly drill our way across this 15-hectare field using a three-metre precision drill that carefully places the seed. Six weeks ago, this would have cost £7.50 per hectare on fuel, now it’s £15 per hectare – a severe shock to the farm’s finances. It’s not often that an arable farmer’s mind is so focused on global events, but our fuel use tops 50,000 litres a year and the Middle East conflict is having profound consequences. Thankfully, we’re partly protected. Over the last seven or eight years, we have transitioned to a low-disturbance approach to establishing crops, disturbing the top inch only. This means less tractor use and healthier soil – a big priority here. Fertiliser prices are also a worry. Common practice is to buy a year’s worth every June, but prices are skyrocketing, and there’s no UK production any more to help us out. Continue reading...

Applying a TCO lens to downtime, safety and workforce costs turns private 5G from a discretionary upgrade into strategic infrastructure.

RWE has installed an offshore wind turbine using a reduced CO2 steel tower and recyclable rotor blades at the Thor wind farm.

The Fife, Scotland, hydrogen trial is moving forward at Easter 2026, and that timing matters more than it might seem. Easter is a season associated with renewal, honesty, sacrifice, and the choice to leave behind what no longer serves the common good. Against that backdrop, SGN is advancing a project ...

Decision by the Secretary of State to make corrections to The Morgan Offshore Wind Project Generation Assets Order 2025.

Operators will no longer have to navigate lengthy application processes to install chargers under changes to planning and traffic rules which come into force today, according to the government

China’s CATL wants to electrify global shipping fleets but hurdles remain to large-scale adoption

Europe’s annual deployment of offshore wind farms expected to triple over next decade, with analysts concerned about dependency on just two turbine suppliers

The major energy company plans to invest in several projects in collaboration with partners to strengthen its future offshore wind business.

Wind energy can play a key role in addressing some of Europe’s biggest challenges, according to the chairman of Vestas, who calls for a coherent industrial policy.