5 January, 2022 – Energy costs along with inflation are causing SMEs to struggle as sales and investments in 2022 remained low. More than a third of businesses are finding it hard to manage their energy bills even with government support, with many businesses fearing closure if adequate help is not provided.
5 January, 2022 – The UK’s renewable generation sector has set a new record for the amount of zero-carbon electricity generated onto the grid. On January 4th, 87.6% of electricity generated on the grid was zero carbon. In 2022, renewables accounted for around 40% of Britain’s electricity mix.
4 January, 2022 – Financial help provided for household energy costs will be decreased from April onwards with typical bills expected to reach £3,000. The guarantee was set for 2 years however the government has decided to end it in April 2023 with the exception of certain eligible households.
4 January, 2022 – Legal and General Capital allocated a £5 billion investment into clean energy infrastructure, helping support innovation within the clean energy sector. This investment helped spearhead the installation of renewable energy technologies such as solar and ground source heat pumps across the UK.
20 December, 2022 – Hull and Peterborough will become the first cities to benefit from the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF). The £288 million, three-year programme was launched in march to improve heat networks across Britain and boost the implementation of heat pumps, solar and geothermal energy.
20 December, 2022 – Ofgem approves a national rollout of a new energy system which could save consumers in Britain up to £1 billion. CLASS (Customer Load Active System Services) is a voltage control solution created to help the National Grid balance supply through the installation of voltage controllers at substations.
20 December, 2022 – A funded project from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) installed 742 heat pumps across households in the UK. However to reach the target of 600,000 installations per year by 2028 the processes needs to become as easy as possible for consumers and additional funding will be required.
20 December, 2022 – Wholesale gas and electricity prices have been fixed for businesses until march 2023. However, the help is under review due to persistently high costs. An announcement concerning support for businesses has been postponed until the new year creating more uncertainty regarding the costs of bills.
16 December, 2022 – Around half of UK councils across England and Wales state that they will not be able to afford the rising cost of energy bills unless they invest in retrofitting onsite energy-efficient solutions. The main issue these councils are facing is the lack of budget available to implement these solutions.
15 December, 2022 – Plans for four new high voltage subsea cables connecting offshore wind to the National Grid have been approved by Ofgem to help alleviate the pressures of the UK’s energy crisis. SSEN Transmission proposed the plans, aiming to help the UK reach 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030.
