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Work underway on new £2.6bn offshore windfarm

Historical maritime buildings in the harbour of Wick in Caithness, Scotland, will be brought back into operation when renovated to act as the hub for one of the largest new offshore wind farms in the UK.

Work is well underway to build the £2.6 billion, 84 turbine offshore wind farm in the outer Moray Firth. Designed by world famous Scottish engineer Thomas Telford in 1807, the conservation of the onshore maritime buildings will play a key part in generating 588MW of sustainable energy from the wind farm to go into the grid.

Leading independent management, design and construction consultancy Pick Everard, based in Inverness and Glasgow, is part of the team who will be delivering the onshore aspects of the project alongside HRI/Munro Architects.

Pick Everard is delivering mechanical and engineering services for the £10 million land base which will service the windfarm commissioned by BOWL (Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd). Once complete, the wind farm will power approximately 450,000 homes (around three times the number of homes in the Moray and Highland regions).

Doug Soutar, director at Pick Everard, said “This is such an exciting project to work on and one that is key in helping us to continue to deliver sustainable energy for the future.

“The onshore element of the project comprises the conservation, re-planning and part reconstruction of two blocks of the historic Old Pulteneytown area of Wick.
“These buildings are more than 200 years old and have a longstanding history of being used for maritime purposes. We are pleased to be helping to bring them back into service again following planning permission from the Highland Council.”

Wick has provided a safe haven for fishing, commercial, and leisure vessels for the last 150 years or so with the harbour consisting of three basins. The Inner and Outer Harbours are the main fishing and leisure berths, and the River Harbour is the commercial area.

Steve Wilson, senior project manager for SSE, added “Renovation of the iconic Thomas Telford buildings in Wick is well underway and has been progressing well. These buildings will become our long term Operations and Maintenance base for Beatrice Windfarm.

“These Thomas Telford buildings are a symbol of Wick’s industrial and marine past so we are really pleased to be utilising them and in doing so help continue that legacy. We’ve been very pleased with the support there has been in the area.”

The Beatrice wind farm will be operational in 2019. It is one of the largest private investments ever made in Scottish infrastructure, bringing economic and community benefits to the area. Beatrice will also create opportunities with job creations across the region, skills training, investment in Scottish ports and harbours, supply chain opportunities and community benefit funding.

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Government plans to upgrade energy infrastructure and increase investment in clean energy

The Government last week reaffirmed its commitment to spend £730m of annual support on renewable electricity projects over this parliament, and set out further details for the next Contracts for Difference auction where companies will compete for the first £290m worth of contracts for renewable electricity projects.

The second Contracts for Difference auction will result in enough renewable electricity to power around one million homes and reduce carbon emissions by around 2.5 million tonnes per year from 2021/22 onwards. It will also allow developers of innovative renewable technologies to deliver the best deal for bill payers. For example, the maximum price for offshore wind projects is now 25% lower than was set for the last auction, and a competitive auction could bring that price down further.

The Government has also today set out proposals for the next steps to phase out electricity generation from unabated coal-fired power stations within the next decade. This long-term plan will provide confidence to investors that the UK is open to investors in new, cleaner energy capacity as we transition from coal to gas, and build a diverse energy system giving us greater security of supply, which includes record investments in renewable technology and the reliable electricity that new nuclear power investment will provide.

This will be of some comfort to the environmentally conscious, who fear that the recent election of Donald Trump to the position of President will undermine real progress in green technology globally. Trump has already dismissed global warming and there will be no encouragement of reducing carbon emissions under his administration.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said “We’re sending a clear signal that Britain is one of the best places in the world to invest in clean, flexible energy as we continue to upgrade our energy infrastructure.

“This is a key part of our upcoming Industrial Strategy, which will provide companies with the further support they need to innovate as we build a diverse energy system fit for the 21st century that is reliable while keeping bills down for our families and businesses.”

These are essential elements of the Government’s plan to upgrade the UK’s energy infrastructure, lower our carbon emissions and spur on the growth of large scale, low-carbon energy – a key part of the global deal to tackle climate change agreed in Paris last year.

Taking unabated coal power out of our energy mix and replacing it with cleaner technology, such as gas, will significantly reduce emissions from the UK’s energy use. The government first announced its intention to take unabated coal out of the energy mix in November last year.

The Government is also looking to end uncertainty over whether onshore wind projects on remote islands should be treated differently from onshore wind projects on mainland Great Britain. A consultation is being launched asking for views which either support or oppose this position which will be reviewed to provide a comprehensive answer.

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Hinkley Point C delayed – meanwhile renewable energy outperforms coal in new statistics

Controversial plans to construct a nuclear power plant in the UK have been delayed following the government postponing any final decision until early autumn. Meanwhile, new official UK electricity statistics indicate that renewable technology is currently outperforming coal in terms of energy generation.

Prior to today’s announcement that the project would be delayed, French firm EDF were financing the majority of the £18bn Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, and final contracts were due to be signed this week.

However, Business Secretary Greg Clark has now said that the government will have to “consider carefully” before backing the original plans.

The project has raised serious concern over both environmental impact and ever-rising costs, which make it a costly carbuncle rather than a real asset to Britain. There are also questions being raised about the fact that the plant is being built by foreign governments. For example, around 30% of the £18bn cost is currently being provided by Chinese investors.

Stop Hinkley Spokesperson Allan Jeffery commented “Now even the financial press says Hinkley Point C has become a laughing stock.

“The cost keeps rising while the cost of renewables is falling rapidly, and the potential to make savings with energy efficiency is huge. We could replace Hinkley much more quickly and cheaply without the safety fears and without producing dangerous waste we don’t know what to do with.”

Renewables

In other energy news, the Government’s new annual energy statistics show that renewable energy sources are replacing coal as mainstream technologies generating power for British homes, offices and factories.

Renewables-BS-article

Today’s figures confirm that 25% of the UK’s electricity was generated from renewables last year – an increase of 29% on 2014. Nearly half of this (48%) came from wind power alone. 1 in 8 units of electricity generated in the UK came from wind.

In comparison, coal generated 22% of the country’s electricity – down from 30% in 2014.

RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Maf Smith said “The Government took the right decision when it announced the phasing out of coal. Now we can see renewable energy filling the gap, replacing old technology with new. 2015 was the first year that renewables outperformed coal.

“A quarter of Britain’s power is now coming from wind, wave and tidal power and other renewable energy sources. Renewables are now part of our energy mainstream, helping us modernise the way we keep the lights on by building new infrastructure for the generations to come.”

The contribution of offshore wind grew by 30% in 2015, while onshore wind grew by 23%. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which published the figures, said this was due to increases in capacity, load factors and higher wind speeds.

The Government’s latest poll on the public’s views on energy, the Public Attitudes Tracking Survey, was also published today. It showed that 76% of people support renewable energy. 70% of people also said renewable projects provide economic benefits to the UK.

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Wind turbines set to reach mega heights with new techniques

Wind turbine towers are set to reach heights of up to 170m with new construction techniques and materials, according to wind power engineering specialists K2 Management. Tower heights have grown steadily over the last decade as operators seek stronger wind speeds higher up in the atmosphere.

Based on work with various clients across the globe, K2 Management believes new technology developments like modular concrete structures mean turbine heights are likely to soar to up to 170m in the coming years – higher than London’s ‘Gherkin’, and almost as high as the Eiffel Tower. This compares to the tallest towers of 150m at present. There has been a 48% increase in average hub height since 1999, and based on its experience in the industry and its partnerships, K2 Management has insight on how to manufacture hybrid tower concepts up to 170m.

According to K2 Management wind resource experts, a 3 MW turbine located in a forest area for example, with an average wind speed of 6 meters per second, will meet 13 percent more wind speed if the turbine height doubled from 70 to 140 meters. Annual energy yield prediction would increase by almost 30 percent because of less surface aerodynamic drag and the viscosity of the air.

Therefore, going up to 170 meters from 70 meters will boost energy yield prediction by 35 percent on average. The more complex the terrain – for instance forests, hills, mountain, buildings – the larger the impact is in using taller turbine towers.

K2 Management CEO Henrik Stamer says “170m towers could become a common sight in the near future in markets like the USA and Germany as part of a new renewable skyline. We expect to see more of these mega designs as we help our clients get the most out of their wind projects.”

Through its network of experts across the globe, K2 Management possesses a unique vantage point overlooking the wind industry, allowing for a view into emerging trends. The Company is able to draw on this wide breadth of experience to identify ways of making wind projects more efficient.

Stamer adds: “As a company that is at the global cutting edge of technology we are helping push the limits of the wind industry in terms of power generation efficiency, cost-effectiveness and return on investment; and these new mega wind turbine towers are a case in point.”

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World’s largest concentrated solar plant opened in Morocco

Morocco has launched the first phase of the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world. When fully operational, the plant will produce enough energy for more than one million Moroccan households.

Inaugurated officially by His Majesty Mohammed VI of Morocco, the solar plant underlines the country’s determination to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, use more renewable energy, and move towards low carbon development.

The three-plant Noor-Ouarzazate CSP complex called NOORo expects to achieve over 500 megawatts (MW) installed capacity, ultimately supplying power to 1.1 million Moroccans by 2018. It is estimated that the plant will reduce the country’s energy dependence by about 2 and half million tons of oil, while also lowering carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year.

Concentrated solar power is such a promising technology that the International Energy Agency estimates that up to 11 percent of the world’s electricity generation in 2050 could come from CSP. This is especially true in the Middle East and North Africa, a region with abundant solar resources and high hopes of eventually helping to meet the E.U.’s demand for energy.

“With this bold step toward a clean energy future, Morocco is pioneering a greener development and developing a cutting edge solar technology,” said Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for the Maghreb, “the returns on this investment will be significant for the country and its people, by enhancing energy security, creating a cleaner environment, and encouraging new industries and job creation.”

Despite the potential of CSP, relatively high technology costs, when compared to fossil fuel alternatives, deter utilities from investing. Concessional and public financing were key to lift this project off the ground. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy, the government agency focused on the country’s solar ambitions, secured over $3 billion needed for the Noor-Ouarzazate complex from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), European financing institutions and the World Bank.

“This launch shows that the low-cost, long-term financing provided by the CIF can serve as the spark that attracts the public and private investments needed to build massive CSP production facilities at an attractive cost for countries interested in developing solar energy,” said Mafalda Duarte, Head of the Climate Investment Funds.

Trailblazing projects on the African continent, like the Noor solar plant, are proving the performance of CSP. As well as the environmental benefits, the plant results in new, local jobs, and can lead to a high-performing sustainable energy economic sector for Morocco.

Yacine Fal, AfDB resident representative in Morocco, said “Noor solar complex is part of the innovative operations of AfDB in the energy sector in terms of financing and technology. It stands to serve as an example for Africa and the world about how to create effective pathways to greener and more inclusive economies through renewable energy”.

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Lack of green policies damaging UK industry

Following a recent spate of government cuts to renewable incentives and technologies, buildingspecifier hear from an industry expert to understand the impact this has been having on the UK renewables sector as a whole.

It appears that the latter half of 2015 has already seen the death of many earnest eco-friendly practices – first it began with the scrapping of the green deal shortly after an election victory, with no apparent replacement scheme to follow. The Green Deal was far from perfect – but following the subsequent assaults on environmental, ecological and energy matters that followed, such as the U-turn on Zero Carbon Homes building standards, the ending of subsidies for onshore wind farms and a failed attempt to begin fracking in Lancashire despite widespread public opposition, people are beginning to question the seriousness of this government’s commitment to the environment that we all have to live in and the validity of a speech once made by David Cameron where he expressed that he wanted to be “the greenest government ever.”

Most recently, the Department for Energy and Climate Change revealed their intentions to cut subsidies for solar energy by almost 90% from January in a consultation paper that was published earlier this month. This follows George Osborne underlining his determination to get the government’s nuclear energy programme moving by providing a £2bn government guarantee for the delayed Hinkley Point power plant project. So how is this affecting the section of the UK construction industry who specialise in green technology and renewable energy?

Silvio Spiess, founder and CEO of Innasol, the UK’s leading biomass business, comments on the recent green cuts and the uncertainty surrounding the industry.

“Heating constitutes 78% of the average consumer’s energy consumption. It is therefore a no-brainer that heating should be the government’s principal focus over the next few years.”

“The consistent degression of biomass technologies under the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive scheme clearly demonstrates that there is significant appetite in the UK for renewable heating. The tariff for domestic biomass has dropped by 47% over the last nine months, the tariff for small commercial biomass (up to 200kW) has dropped by 53% over the last 15 months – entirely due to consumer popularity. UK home and business owners are calling for affordable, clean energy.”

“The current uncertainty which surrounds renewable heating and other green technologies is only damaging the industry: consumers are less willing to invest in renewable heating technologies and green businesses themselves are less prepared to invest in their staff and infrastructure. By cutting green subsidies, the government is jeopardising the UK’s progression towards cleaner, greener, more affordable energy.”

“Innasol calls on the government to recognise this demand, and to commit to investing in renewable heating past Q1 2016. By reallocating budget to further invest in subsidies (like the Renewable Heat Incentive) to promote renewable heating, the government will propel the UK towards carbon emissions reductions and closer to the EU 2020 targets. Now is the time to act.”

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Celebs call to make renewables cheaper than fossil fuels

Climate change is arguably the biggest threat to stability and prosperity around the world. Experts agree that by 2035 the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will exceed the critical level consistent with a temperature rise of less than 2˚C.

Did you know that the sun delivers 5000 times more power to the surface of Earth than we could ever need? With the cost of renewables slowly but surely falling, something must be done to improve developmental knowledge of renewable energy, which currently recieves less than 2% of the world’s publicly funded research, development and demonstration.

The Global Apollo Program’s website says that their “aim is to accelerate the decarbonisation of the world economy through more rapid technical progress, achieved through an internationally-coordinated program of research and development over a 10-year period.”

An open letter has now been signed by several high profile scientists, businessmen and public figures urging world leaders and citizens of the Earth alike to back the principles of the Global Apollo Program ahead of the UN climate change conference talks which will take place in Paris at the end of 2015.

The letter reads as follows:

We the undersigned believe that global warming can be addressed without adding significant economic costs or burdening taxpayers with more debt.

A sensible approach to tackling climate change will not only pay for itself but provide economic benefits to the nations of the world.

The aspiration of the Global Apollo Program is to make renewable energy cheaper than coal within 10 years. We urge the leading nations of the world to commit to this positive, practical initiative by the Paris climate conference in December.

The plan requires leading governments to invest a total of $15 billion a year in research, development and demonstration of clean energy.

That compares to the $100 billion currently invested in defence R&D globally each year.

Public investment now will save governments huge sums in the future.

What is more, a coordinated R&D plan can help bring energy bills down for billions of consumers.

Renewable energy gets less than 2% of publicly funded R&D. The private sector spends relatively small sums on clean energy research and development.

Just as with the Apollo space missions of the 1960s, great scientific minds must now be assembled to find a solution to one of the biggest challenges we face.

Please support the Global Apollo Program – the world’s 10 year plan for cheaper, cleaner energy.

Signed:
– Sir David Attenborough
– Professor Brian Cox
– Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
– Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy Environment and Water
– Ed Davey, Former UK Energy Secretary
– Bill Hare, Founder and CEO, Climate Analytics
– Nilesh Y. Jadhav, Program Director, Energy Research Institute @NTU, Singapore
– Niall Dunne, Chief Sustainability Officer, BT
– Carlo Carraro, Director, International Centre for Climate Governance
– Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair, Grantham Institute
– Mark Kenber, CEO, The Climate Group
– Ben Goldsmith, Founder, Menhaden Capital
– Sabina Ratti, Executive Director, FEEM – Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei
– Lord Browne, Chairman L1 Energy
– Zac Goldsmith MP
– Professor Martin Siegert, Co-Director Grantham Institute
– Professor Joanna Haigh CBE, Co-Director, Grantham Institute and Vice President of Royal Meteorological Society
– Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
– Dr Fatima Denton, African Climate Policy Centre
– Denys Shortt, CEO, DCS Group
– Lord Turner, Former Chairman, Financial Services Authority
– Lord O’Donnell, Former Cabinet Secretary
– Lord Layard, London School of Economics
– Professor John Shepherd CBE FRS
– Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal

Watch the video below to find out more about the Global Apollo Program – a 10 year project that aims to coordinate international research and development and discover breakthrough clean technologies to tackle climate change.

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New scheme launches to power office buildings… with coffee!

Coffee shops fuelling Londoners’ morning caffeine fix will also be helping to power office buildings and supermarkets, under a new capital-wide scheme.

The innovative coffee ground collection service is the brainchild of advanced biofuel company bio-bean, previous winners of the Mayor of London’s inaugural green technology Low Carbon Entrepreneur Award. They will turn the waste coffee grounds collected from London baristas into advanced biomass pellets, which will then be used to power energy networks with the capacity to heat up to 15,000 homes. The support and funding from the award has helped to turn founder and chief executive Arthur Kay’s green idea into a viable, now nation-wide business, employing over 20 people.

Mayor Boris Johnson called on more students to get involved in London’s thriving green economy and submit green business ideas as he launched the 2016 Low Carbon Entrepreneur Award with a top prize of £20,000. He was joined by Mr Kay at independent coffee shop Workshop Coffee in Clerkenwell, one of hundreds of coffee shops, office blocks and transport hubs in London now part of the daily coffee ground collection service run in collaboration with recycling company First Mile.

The competition has helped many university students launch green businesses including SolarBox, which turns disused telephone boxes into solar-powered mobile phone stations, and online clothes-swapping website Clotho London. The value of the green industry to the city is already as much as £30 billion a year and it employs 160,000 people, growing throughout the recession and now at a rate of six per cent a year.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said “Our green economy is booming and I want the next generation of Low Carbon Entrepreneurs to help make London the greenest, most sustainable innovative city on earth. The roaring success of previous winners like Bio-bean demonstrates the huge market for green technology ideas. They’ve done the hard grind and Londoners can now enjoy their daily coffee fix in the safe knowledge that as well as their own caffeine kick the energy levels of as many as 15,000 homes are being boosted!”

Bio-bean is the first company in the world to industrialise the process of recycling waste coffee grounds into advanced biofuels. Their factory has the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes of waste coffee grounds each year, the equivalent of one in every ten cups of coffee drunk in the UK, and at full capacity turn these into enough power to heat the equivalent of over 15,000 homes. Furthermore, as well as saving money for customers, each tonne recycled through bio-bean’s process saves up to 6.8 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Bio-bean has already secured a deal with Network Rail to collect waste coffee grounds from London’s seven largest train stations and has plans for even greater expansion.

Bio-bean chief executive Arthur Kay said “The first ever Low Carbon Entrepreneur Award gave me (and bio-bean) a great start. The London collection service marks a milestone in our UK development, as we collect waste coffee grounds at every scale, saving money on waste disposal fees and creating sustainability advantages for each of our clients.”

This year’s awards will be sponsored by Citi, the global banking group, and will offer £20,000 and paid internships at Citi in the UK, where the bank employs almost 10,000 people. 10 finalists will pitch to a panel of well-known judges in ‘Dragon’s Den’ style and the winners will receive funding to put towards their business idea. The competition is an important part of the Mayor’s vision to make London the European capital for green technology and to also nourish young entrepreneurship. Awards are open from today until February 2016. Entries can be made in a number of different categories, including transport, energy efficiency, product design and food waste.

Michael Lavelle, head of Corporate and Investment Banking, UK at Citi, said “We’re thrilled to be the new sponsor of this important initiative in London. At Citi, we are committed to developing innovative ways of financing projects that lead to sustainable growth. We recently announced that Citi will lend, invest and facilitate a total of $100 billion within the next 10 years to finance activities that reduce the impacts of climate change and create environmental solutions that benefit people and communities.”

The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation is currently exploring how it could deliver the Mayor’s aspiration for a clean tech cluster to be developed on site, which could allow businesses in the sector to work together in close proximity similar to the ‘silicon roundabout’ for tech companies in east London. This could support businesses to maximise the benefits generated by the new High Speed 2 (HS2), Crossrail and Great West Main Line interchange, which will be situated in the area.

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Queen Mary University Library Collecting Solar Energy

The library roof at the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) had surpassed its natural life expectancy and been experiencing considerable water ingress, requiring urgent remedial work to prevent disruption to students.
In order to determine the most appropriate remedial solution the 2,000m2 roof area was surveyed by flat roof specialists Bauder, who proposed stripping the existing roof covering down to the structural metal deck and replacing it with a high quality and long lasting bituminous system. The client also decided to use this opportunity to make a positive and visible contribution to the university’s carbon reduction programme through the addition of energy producing solar panels. The library is the core study area for most students and is unsurprisingly one of the highest consumers of electricity out of all the campus buildings, so it seemed extremely appropriate that the PV would be situated there.
The main library roof and three connecting tank rooms were all waterproofed with Bauder’s premium bituminous system, BTRS, which is capable of withstanding permanently sited loads of up to 2000Kg/m2 and has a life expectancy in excess of 40 years. The system build-up included a highly efficient 120mm PIR FA-TE insulation for superior thermal performance, achieving the required 0.18 U-value. Tapered insulation was also used around the perimeter of one of the tank room roofs to effectively provide drainage falls without having to incorporate them into the structure.
Roof areas totalling 1,000m² were fitted with 126 monocrystalline PV modules, set at a 10 degree angle to optimise energy generation. The panels are expected to generate 32.43 MWh of energy within the first year and deliver CO2 savings of 17.155 tonnes, equal to 8,358 kg of coal burned. The PV system was installed using a unique drill-free technique that ensures the integrity of the roof is completely upheld; and the simplicity of this method also meant that roofing contractor, R T Roofing Services, could install the entire array in just two days.
One of the major challenges for this project was performing the required works on a busy campus and keeping noise levels to a minimum. To overcome this challenge the project team worked closely with the client to develop a work and delivery schedule; with many of the materials brought to site and unloaded at the weekend. Bauder also provided ear plugs for all library users to make sure that they weren’t disturbed from their work. Despite these logistical challenges, all roofing works were completed in time for the start of the new academic year and were undertaken as part of the university’s long term maintenance and regeneration programme.
Jennifer Raagas, QMUL Project Manager, stated her delight with the finished works at the university, “We are incredibly pleased with the work performed by Bauder and their approved contractors on the library roof. They have been extremely accommodating during an eventful summer period at the university, and their service has been of the absolute highest quality. Our new BauderSOLAR PV panels will not only help us generate our own solar energy but will also provide excellent research and learning opportunities for our students. With Bauder delivering a single source solution of roof renewal with PV install we have complete peace of mind over our roof’s guarantee and long-term future performance.”

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