Future Concepts
When people talk about digitisation in energy the things that spring to mind are often use of sensors to gather more granular consumption information, and more sophisticated market and system data platforms, allowing new forms of trading and optimisation. Another interesting area is the [...]
The use of hot springs has been known since antiquity and there is evidence that Native Americans used geothermal energy for cooking as early as 10,000 years ago, yet despite this, by the end of 2019, there was only 13.9 GW of installed geothermal [...]
Last week, National Grid ESO published the first costings for its Future Energy Scenarios (“FES”). The key conclusions of its analysis are: The cost difference between the four scenarios is just 7% The total cost of each scenario over the next 30 years is [...]
In July 2020, National Grid published its 2020 Future Energy Scenarios (“FES-2020”), its annual update on the four scenarios describing what it sees as the “credible pathways for the future of energy over the next thirty years.” They are not intended to be firm [...]
This weekend the press became very excited by an announcement from the UK Government that it is commissioning new research into space-based solar power (“SBSP”) systems that would use satellites to collect solar energy and convert it into a microwave or a laser that [...]
As we begin to emerge from the covid lockdown there is a lot of talk about a “green recovery” and “building-back green”, with a renewed focus on hydrogen. Last week the Confederation of British Industry (“CBI”) with the University of Birmingham called on the [...]
Another new year brings another look back at the past 12 months and a time to consider what the energy market outlook might be for 2020. This time last year, my predictions for the top five energy themes for 2019 were: The retail price [...]
The challenges posed to electricity grids by adding increasing amounts of intermittent renewable generation are well known, and costly to manage, however a Scottish technology company claims to have the answer. Faraday Grid, believes it can massively increase grid capacity to carry renewables at [...]
In July, National Grid published its 2018 Future Energy Scenarios, with the following headlines: Capacity could increase from 103 GW today to between 189 GW and 268 GW by 2050, with the more decarbonised scenarios requiring the highest capacities. Up to 65% of generation [...]
Yesterday came the long-awaited decision as to whether the UK Government would offer any support or subsidy to the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon scheme. There has been widespread criticism of the decision (see #SwanseaBay on twitter) with many people questioning why the Government is [...]