7 March, 2024 – This week Jeremy Hunt released the spring Budget. The UK Government confirmed an extra £120 million for the Green Industries Growth Accelerator (GIGA) taking the total funding to over £1 billion, with £390 million allocated to the offshore wind supply chain and electricity networks.
5 March, 2024 – The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published two new reports that link the rise in solar, wind and electric vehicles to softening the increase of carbon emissions in 2023. Emissions raised by 410 million tonnes or 1.1% in 2023, compared to the rise of 490 million tonnes the year prior.
5 March, 2024 – Wiltshire Council plans to develop a solar car park at Five Rivers Health & Wellbeing Centre, which will be constructed of carbon-friendly materials. There will also be EV charging points, along with solar that will contribute towards 10% of electricity demands, saving £50,000 on annual energy bills.
2 March, 2024 – The state of Guernsey has dropped standby charges for large-scale renewable energy infrastructure. This is in the hope of removing potential barriers that may be faced when investing in large scale renewables.
16 February, 2024 – Consultancy Cornwall Insight has predicted a 15% decrease in annual energy bills from April, totalling nearly £300 a year. This takes the total annual bill to £1,635, the lowest in more than 2 years.
15 February, 2024 – British Gas has reported a 10-fold increase in its profits from £72 million in 2022 to £750 million in 2023. Ofgem reported that this huge growth was due to them allowing British Gas to recover losses of £500 million after Russia invaded Ukraine.
14 February, 2024 – The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA) has called for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to provide a further uplift on the £20 billion already pledged to the sector. The CCSA claims that an uplift is needed for the UK to become world-leading in the carbon capture sector.
13 February, 2024 – National Grid has collaborated with Octopus to implement a process change which will speed up the installation of low carbon technologies. The change will allow Octopus engineers to simultaneously upgrade the fuse on the incoming electricity supply before installation.
1 February, 2024 – OVO has launched a new partnership with Vaillant to offer a new heat pump rate of 15p/kWh, which will cut the running costs of heat pumps by £495 a year. This means households will have two different electricity tariffs, one for the heat pump and another for electricity usage.
31 January, 2024 – Oxford PV has made a breakthrough this week in solar PV development. A perovskite-based panel which achieves a record 25% conversion efficiency has been developed, advancing on conventional panels’ benchmarks in the low 20s.
