French interconnector trip triggers flexibility providers into action
Image: Getty.
Flexibility providers sprang into action late last week after Britain’s interconnector suffered a trip, causing around 1GW of capacity to fall off the system.
Last Friday the interconnector between Britain and France suffered a trip, causing its output to half in moments. Around 1GW of generation capacity effectively fell off the grid, causing fluctuations in the frequency of the grid.
Grid frequency fell to 49.63Hz, prompting National Grid ESO to call upon its portfolio of frequency response assets to back the system up.
While the frequency was comfortably within its 49.5-50.5Hz limit - the System Operator has a normal operating target of 49.8Hz - and there was no risk of the fault triggering a stress event, flexibility providers were called into action while the trip was offset.
Energy aggregator Limejump said dynamic frequency response assets, predominantly batteries, were the first to respond, and were called upon to export “harder and harder” in response to the shift in frequency. Static frequency response assets such as diesel generators were next.
In total, National Grid instructed a range of assets to respond to the trip, highlighting the role flexibility providers have carved out for themselves in helping maintain a stable grid.
A spokesperson for Limejump confirmed that its batteries had been called upon throughout, but stressed the impact on pricing within the balancing mechanism was minimal.
“BM pricing doesn't react immediately as you submit prices one hour in advance. However Limejump assets were called by the control room at better prices than they would have received if there was no event.
“There would be an uplift in prices as 1GW of extra power [was] needed to be procured, but… on this occasion, we didn't see an immense price surge, but events like this can have that effect and are happening more frequently with the increasingly volatile energy market,” the spokesperson added.
Fellow aggregator Flexitricity was also called into action, and the company’s founder Dr Alastair Martin said the delivery of assets was “perfect” in response.
“Sudden failures of the French interconnector are not uncommon – in a bad year it might happen ten times. The level of frequency deviation, while a little on the high side for this size of loss, is not abnormal.
“Flexitricity has responded to these incidents before and stand ready to do so again. Having a varied portfolio of assets to use allows us to be prepared for fluctuations in energy demands and maximise value for our clients.”
The interconnector’s trip just happened to occur at a time when the UK grid was in the midst of a coal-free fortnight, a spell in which surging wind generation helped shunt coal off the grid, but also caused significant volatility in the country’s system price for energy.
All the World’s Carbon Emissions in One Chart
May 31, 2019 By
All the World’s Carbon Emissions in One Chart
Two degrees Celsius may not seem like much, but on our planet, it could be the difference between thriving life and a disastrous climate.
Over two centuries of burning fossil fuels have added up, and global decision-makers and business leaders are focusing in on carbon emissions as a key issue.
Emissions by Country
This week’s chart uses the most recent data from Global Carbon Atlas to demonstrate where most of the world’s CO₂ emissions come from, sorted by country.
| Rank | Country | Emissions in 2017 (MtCO₂) | % of Global Emissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌐 Rest of World | 10,028 | 27.7% | |
| #1 | 🇨🇳 China | 9,839 | 27.2% |
| #2 | 🇺🇸 United States | 5,269 | 14.6% |
| #3 | 🇮🇳 India | 2,467 | 6.8% |
| #4 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 1,693 | 4.7% |
| #5 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 1,205 | 3.3% |
| #6 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 799 | 2.2% |
| #7 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 672 | 1.9% |
| #8 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 635 | 1.8% |
| #9 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 616 | 1.7% |
| #10 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 573 | 1.6% |
| #11 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 490 | 1.4% |
| #12 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 487 | 1.3% |
| #13 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 476 | 1.3% |
| #14 | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 456 | 1.3% |
| #15 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 448 | 1.2% |
| 🌐 Top 15 | 26,125 | 72.2% |
In terms of absolute emissions, the heavy hitters are immediately obvious. Large economies such as China, the United States, and India alone account for almost half the world’s emissions. Zoom out a little further, and it’s even clearer that just a handful of countries are responsible for the majority of emissions.
Of course, absolute emissions don’t tell the full story. The world is home to over 7.5 billion people, but they aren’t distributed evenly across the globe. How do these carbon emissions shake out on a per capita basis?
Here are the 20 countries with the highest emissions per capita:
Source: Global Carbon Atlas. Note: We’ve only included places with a population above one million, which excludes islands and areas such as Curaçao, Brunei, Luxembourg, Iceland, Greenland, and Bermuda.
Out of the original 30 countries in the main visualization, six countries show up again as top CO₂ emitters when adjusted for population count: Saudi Arabia, the United States, Canada, South Korea, Russia, and Germany.
The CO₂ Conundrum
We know that rapid urbanization and industrialization have had an impact on carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, but at what rate?
Climate data scientist Neil Kaye answers the question from a different perspective, by mapping what percentage of emissions have been created during your lifetime since the Industrial Revolution:
| Your Age | % of Total Global Emissions |
|---|---|
| 15 years old | You've been alive for more than 30% of emissions |
| 30 years old | You've been alive for more than 50% of emissions |
| 85 years old | You've been alive for more than 90% of emissions |
Put another way, the running total of emissions is growing at an accelerating rate. This is best seen in the dramatic shortening between the time periods taken for 400 billion tonnes of CO₂ to enter the atmosphere:
- First period: 217 years (1751 to 1967)
- Second period: 23 years (1968 to 1990)
- Third period: 16 years (1991 to 2006)
- Fourth period: 11 years (2007 to 2018)
In order to be a decarbonised economy by 2050, we have to bend the (emissions) curve by 2020… Not only is it urgent and necessary, but actually we are very nicely on our way to achieving it.
— Christiana Figueres, Convenor of Mission 2020
Renewable energy jobs in UK plunge by a third
The number of jobs in renewable energy in the UK has plunged by nearly a third in recent years, and the amount of new green generating capacity by a similar amount, causing havoc among companies in the sector, a new report has found.
Prospect, the union which covers much of the sector, has found a 30% drop in renewable energy jobs between 2014 and 2017, as government cuts to incentives and support schemes started to bite. It also found investment in renewables in the UK more than halved between 2015 and 2017.
The union compared the situation to the devastation caused to coalmining communities in the 1980s and demanded instead a “just transition” to clean energy.
The Prospect report analysed and collated data taken from various sources, including the government, surveys and industry.
Sue Ferns, the senior deputy secretary general at Prospect, told the Guardian: “The government’s market-led approach has failed, and resulted on offshoring green jobs while UK workers are left behind. Without a proper industrial strategy from government that promotes low-carbon generation like renewables and new nuclear, we will be unable to secure the future of our energy supply, which is under threat in the coming decade.”
The focus on Brexit had not helped, she added. “The government’s tunnel vision on Brexit means the real challenges facing our country have been neglected for too long. We need a sensible deliverable strategy that provides a stable long-term pathway to decarbonisation.”
The drastic fall in jobs came as the government effectively shut down schemes that rewarded consumers for buying solar panels, withdrew subsidies for onshore wind and reduced incentives for low-carbon energy. Ministers have argued that as the costs of renewable energy have fallen sharply in recent years, the industries should no longer rely on public subsidy, but multiple redrawings of government schemes in recent years have helped to create turmoil and a lack of certainty for companies.
Government support has taken the form of various schemes across the last decade, including feed-in tariffs for consumers with solar panels, a renewables obligation forcing the big energy suppliers to invest in renewables, and most recently, contracts for difference. The latter were meant to overhaul the whole energy sector by setting up auctions by which companies would bid for generation contracts favouring low-carbon energy, but early troubles meant dirty energy such as diesel generators were often the inadvertent winners, and while the scheme still operates it has enjoyed little support from successive chancellors.
Between 2016 and 2017, there was a sharp fall in investment in UK renewables, which fell 56% to the lowest level since 2008, according to the as-yet-unpublished Prospect report that has been seen by the Guardian. Last year, the annual rate of addition of renewables capacity fell to its lowest level since 2012, which the union said was driven by the collapse in solar and onshore wind deployment. Without the significant rise in bioenergy capacity that took place in 2018, the fall in new renewables would have been much greater, the union said.
While some sectors have remained buoyant, such as offshore wind, new capacity in onshore wind in England slowed markedly after the government withdrew financial support and changed planning laws to make the construction of windfarms more difficult.
Luke Clark, head of external affairs at the trade body RenewableUK, said: “We’re expecting the number of direct jobs in offshore wind to treble to 27,000 by 2030, as part of the landmark offshore wind sector deal we’ve agreed with government, as this provides long-term certainty for the industry. However, as onshore wind remains excluded from government-backed auctions for contracts to generate power, the UK is missing out on employment and investment opportunities offered by this technology. The auction process has also failed to bring forward new technologies like tidal energy projects, so there is huge potential to ramp up employment in renewables as we move to net zero emissions.”
The trade union said the dismal picture for jobs in much of the sector contrasted with government rhetoric on issues such as moving to a net zero carbon target and parliament declaring a climate emergency.
Ferns told the Guardian: “Successive governments have promised us a green jobs revolution, but after an initial upsurge we have now started going backwards. This is deeply worrying for the future of the energy sector and for low-carbon jobs in the UK.”
She added: “The Committee on Climate Change has recommended zero carbon by 2050 and others are pushing for even more ambitious timescales. We need a just transition for all the workers affected and this means we need to work proactively to ensure that the damage inflicted on coal communities in the 1980s is not repeated.”
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
No nuclear needed: Renewables could meet UK’s carbon targets, but only with new policies
The research and analysis firm has claimed that its power price modelling service has marked a “notable shift away” from previous thinking that new nuclear plants would be crucial towards meeting the country’s carbon targets.
It said that continued improvements in the development and operation of established renewables such as wind and solar has seen them becoming increasingly cost-effective, meaning that they could effectively offset the capacity new nuclear generation would provide, and at a lower cost to consumers.
EDF’s Hinkley Point C reactor is currently under development, but there remains considerable uncertainty over additional new nuclear plant in the UK after a string of developers pulled out of would-be projects citing deteriorating market conditions and economics.
The government has promised to buy electricity worth £30bn over 35 years from the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Photograph: EDF Energy/PA
In November last year Toshiba confirmed that it had scrapped plans to build a new nuclear power facility in Cumbria after it failed to find a buyer for its NuGen subsidiary.
That led energy secretary Greg Clark to claim that a “substantial pipeline” of renewables could fill the gap left by the Moorside project’s collapse.
The situation was then exacerbated in February when Hitachi suspended work on the Wylfa Newydd nuclear project in Wales, a development which some in the sector said risked “blowing a hole” in the UK’s decarbonisation strategy.
Cornwall’s latest forecasts would appear to indicate that new renewables could effectively curtail the need for new nuclear, at least immediately. But Ben Hall, head of new business at Cornwall Insight, said this could only occur with a significant ramp up of renewables policy.
“Despite the falling costs of solar PV, onshore and offshore wind and other low-carbon technologies, deployment may still need some form of support above and beyond the power markets. Captured wholesale prices for renewable projects will fall relative to baseload prices, leading to lower revenues because of what is commonly termed power price cannibalisation.
“From our modelling it is also evident that the combination of Capacity Market de-rating factors for renewables and projected clearing prices - even if they rise - is not going to be enough to encourage significant new-build merchant renewables,” he said.
Hall’s words echo those made by the Committee on Climate Change, which earlier this month recommended that the UK government establish a 2050 net zero target, but only if it is serious about doing so and willing to follow through on the necessary policy framework
HZI Hands Over 50 MW Waste to Energy Plant in Edinburgh
The handover follows 31 months of construction for the plant, which is located in the east of the Scottish capital and will process around 155,000 metric tonnes of non-recyclable household and commercial waste.
The plant, which has a total generating capacity of 50 MW, will export over 12 MW of electricity is fed into the grid.
While the project in Edinburgh is HZI’s first foray into Scotland, it’s the fifth project the Swiss cleantech company has delivered on behalf of FCC.
Paul Taylor, Group Chief Executive at FCC, describes the collaboration: “After plants in Zistersdorf in Austria, Hartlebury and Greatmoor in England, and the installation in Majorca in Spain, we can now also look back on a successful partnership with HZI in Edinburgh. Once again, they’ve proven to be a reliable partner that professionally delivers a high-quality product.”
“For HZI this project in the UK marks a further milestone in one of Europe’s most important markets, underscoring our role as one of the global leaders in thermal energy recovery,” said Andres Kronenberg, Chief Business Development Officer at HZI. Alongside the HZI combustion technology, the installation also features HZI XeroSorp®, a dry flue gas treatment system whose sophisticated design both reduces the plant’s water consumption and boosts thermal energy recovery.
Scotland Pioneers Renewable Energy, Aims to Lead Climate Emergency
EDINBURGH, Scotland – Scotland, Europe’s largest producer of oil and gas, is pioneering the use of renewable energy in a bid to meet some of the most ambitious global climate targets.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared a “climate emergency” on April 28 and a few days later, made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero in 2045, five years before the rest of the UK.
The country has followed the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee, an independent advisory body, which said that the region has a greater number of sites that can be used to capture and store carbon dioxide and a vast area for planting trees.
If it succeeds in being a carbon neutral economy, capable of absorbing the CO2 it produces, Scotland would overtake the rest of the UK and to the European Union, which has set the objective for 2050, in line with the Climate Agreement of Paris.
Experts such as Karen Turner, director of the Centre for Energy Policy at the University of Strathclyde International Public Policy Institute in Glasgow, said that its biggest challenge will be to convert the oil and gas industry in the North Sea, which is an important part of the national economy.
Turner told Efe that the experience and skills in this sector could be applied to the capture and storage of CO2, the technique used to remove it from the atmosphere or directly prevent it from reaching it.
“Oil and gas extraction sites can be used to store carbon, which can be an opportunity to save jobs, and we know that many of the operators in the sector are interested in this type of mechanism that can change the type of industry North Sea,” she said.
Minister for Energy Paul Wheelhouse said Scotland should lead the development of this complex technology and make it “commercially viable for countries that can not afford such a level of research.”
An average of 1.7 million barrels of oil per day was produced in the North Sea in 2018, an increase of four percent over the previous year and the highest level since 2011, according to the UK Oil and Gas Authority.
Experts agree that, despite still having a significant production of fossil fuels, Scotland has opted to invest in renewable energy sources such as wind and, as of October, managed to produce cleanly an average of 98% of its electricity. The aspiration is to reach 100% next year.
The Orkney Islands, in the northeast, are a great component of this environmental revolution.
They produce more electricity than they can consume thanks to the commitment to wind, tidal and an incipient alternative: the generation of hydrogen from non-polluting sources.
In line with the new measures that the regional executive is implementing against global warming, it has decided to keep the controversial tax paid by passengers to fly from Scottish airports which previously it had committed to reduce.
Sturgeon’s cabinet has backed down by considering that it is not “compatible” with its environmental goals.
Turner said that the issue of how to reduce polluting emissions generated by aviation must be addressed “honestly.”
“This is one of the biggest problems, because we want Scotland to be an accessible and open place to the world, especially in the context of Brexit, and we also try to achieve climate objectives and rethink the issue of aviation, “he said.
Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace warn that meeting the goal of net zero emissions in 2050 is necessary to reduce the increase in the global temperature of the planet from three degrees to 1.5 degrees.
Consultation opens over the UK’s carbon price future
by New Power
The UK government is consulting, along with the devolved administrations, on a new UK carbon pricing scheme that would be employed in the event the UK could not take part in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) after Brexit.
The consultation reiterates that a linked UK ETS is the preferred carbon pricing option, because it allows:
- access to a larger market
- increased abatement opportunities
- more cost-effective emissions reductions for UK businesses
If that is not possible the government has promised that there would be a new arrangement that “would be at least as ambitious as the current EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and will provide a smooth transition for relevant sectors”. Fall-back options include the UK introducing its own domestic trading system, which would not be linked to the EU ETS or the introduction of a tax on carbon. It also considers the implications if the UK participates in Phase IV of the EU ETS (as the UK is still in the UK, regulations for this phase have to be transposed into UK law during 2019).
A UK ETS would follow the EU model in auctioning allowances, but with some free allocations which the government said would help stop ‘carbon leakage’ when industries move to countries with no emission limits. Free allocation would not apply to the power sector. The auction would have a reserve price that would take into account recent prices for carbon emissions, which have ranged from £4.70 to £13.70.
Government is also considering a decarbonisation fund and considers whether such a fund should be set up and whether it should be funded from free or auctioned allowances.
An initial review of the new system would take place in 2023.
The consultation does not include detail of the carbon tax option, but it says responses may feed into further work on this alternative. It said if the option went forward, government would explore ways of incentivising installations to reduce emissions, how the rate would be set and how to ensure that businesses would have sufficient visibility of future costs.
See the full consultation here. The closing date is 12 July.
See the HMRC technical note on a carbon tax here
The Landfill Ban in Scotland - what next for the 1M tonne Gap
It seems fairly clear that the looming landfill ban to be enforced in Scotland by legislation, enacted in 2012 (The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012) and which comes into force on 1st January 2021 will leave around 1 million tonnes of biodegradable residual waste stranded. In England there is no absolute ban yet, but the Committee on Climate Change has urged government in Westminster to follow Scotland's lead by 2025 and legislate by implementing a legally binding ban. Governments in Scotland and England have encouraged the reduction of landfilling biodegradable waste and thus the production of environmentally damaging methane by gradually increasing landfill tax in the expectation that private enterprise would step in and build more and better recycling; and energy recovery facilities (ERF's) for the inevitable material that cannot be recycled. To an extent this has been successful, but not entirely so and various estimates suggest that there will be a shortfall in available recycling and ERF's of 1M tonnes in Scotland and at least 8M tonnes in England.
In the last few months there has been an increasing media interest in what will happen in Scotland on 1st January 2021 when the ban comes into force. Various suggestions have been made including shipping to Europe, transporting it, by road or ship, to English landfill or derogation on the ban in those areas which are not served by recycling and ERF's.
Shipping waste to Europe particularly from more remote areas, involves multiple handling, road transport and storage and is increasingly, and rightly, recognised as an irresponsible solution for waste disposal. There is now a public awareness of the dangers of waste export, making headline news with the 'Blue Planet' and 'Drowning in Waste' and other documentaries, and highlighting a fact long known within the industry that not all waste exported is treated responsibly. Responsible waste handling/disposal aside, fossil fuelled shipment of waste overseas is costly both in terms of cash and carbon emissions and is simply unsustainable and environmentally damaging. We must recycle what we can and recover energy with what is left. But, what of the landfill ban and the stranded 1M tonnes in Scotland?
There are a number of options for this waste which excludes shipping it overseas for the above reasons:
- Ship the waste to England for landfill - can only be a temporary solution as England is likely soon to implement a legal ban. Furthermore, this will be a costly exercise adding at least £50/tonne to the cost of landfilling in Scotland today. The most striking result however will be the flight of landfill tax out of Scotland and into the English exchequer and this surely would be politically and economically unacceptable.
- Lift the ban on landfill - but this would be environmentally unacceptable and probably constitute political suicide on the part of the sitting Scottish Government
- Allow a managed derogation of the ban - in certain areas where there is no or insufficient recycling/ERF facilities. Derogated landfilling would be subject to close scrutiny by SEPA and subject to an additional landfill tax designed to accelerate the building of recycling and ERF's to replace landfill. In other words simply an acceleration and intensification of the drivers currently in place that have been largely, but not wholly successful.
Of the options suggested above, we believe that derogation of the landfill ban is now inevitable in certain areas. It keeps landfill tax in Scotland, avoids costly transport and breaking of the proximity principle and will increase and enhance the financial incentive for private enterprise and councils to build and operate recycling and energy recovery facilities. As soon as such facilities are in place then landfills in the catchment area can be immediately closed and the derogation for them removed.
Scottish Government Climate Change Bill - Revised Target for 2045
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Climate Change action
- Part of:
- Environment and climate change
Scotland will go greener, faster with world-leading targets.
Scotland will stop contributing to climate change within a generation under new, tougher climate change proposals.
Amendments to the Climate Change Bill have been lodged to set a legally binding target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 at the latest with Scotland becoming carbon neutral by 2040.
The existing targets proposed in the Bill were already world-leading. In response to calls from young people, scientists and businesses across the country, Scottish Ministers have adopted the advice of independent experts, the UK Climate Change Committee.
This means that in addition to the net-zero target for 2045, Scotland will reduce emissions by 70% by 2030 and 90% by 2040 – the most ambitious statutory targets in the world for these years.
The Committee’s recommended targets for Scotland are contingent on the UK adopting a net-zero greenhouse gas emission target for 2050.
Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:
“There is a global climate emergency and people across Scotland have been calling, rightly, for more ambition to tackle it and safeguard our planet for future generations. Having received independent, expert advice that even higher targets are now possible, and given the urgency required on this issue, I have acted immediately to set a target for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for 2045 which will see Scotland become carbon neutral by 2040.
“I have been consistently clear that our targets must be ambitious, credible and responsible. We must take an evidence-based approach and balance our climate, economic and social responsibilities. We have already halved greenhouse gas emissions from Scotland while growing the economy, so we know we can do it. I am committed to meeting the most ambitious targets possible, and doing so while continuing to build an inclusive and fair economy.
“Every single one of us now needs to take more action – not just the Scottish Government but also all businesses, schools, communities, individuals and organisations. The UK Government must also act.
“The Committee on Climate Change say that Scotland’s ability to meet these world-leading targets is contingent on the UK Government also accepting their advice and using the relevant policy levers that remain reserved. As such, I call on the UK Government to follow our lead, accept the Committee’s advice, and work with us to achieve this goal.
“We can, and we must, end our contribution to climate change. I invite everyone to accept the advice we’ve received and work with us in a just and fair transition to a net-zero economy.”
Mass VPP rollout could save £32 billion worth of network upgrades, claims project consortium
Image: Moixa.
Furthermore, the project holds the potential to cut domestic energy costs and slash emissions.
The Smart Local Energy System (SLES) project in Worthing and Shoreham-by-Sea, first unveiled earlier this month, will establish a VPP aggregating domestic solar and battery storage, electric vehicle chargers, a marine source heat pump, a grid-scale battery and air source heat pumps.
The operational capacities and benefits of those technologies will be blended together using VPP software developed by battery storage firm Moixa under the three-year project aimed at showcasing its potential.
Moixa and other consortium partners on the project, including Flexitricity, PassivSystems, Connected Energy and Flexisolar, have claimed that not only could it cut energy costs by as much as 10%, but a nationwide rollout of the technology could offset infrastructure upgrades worth as much as £32 billion by 2035.
Chris Wright, chief technology officer at Moixa, said the project would showcase UK expertise in an emerging global smart grid market.
“This project will show how solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles at home and in the workplace can play a vital role in creating a smart, low-carbon, energy system, cutting energy bills, saving the country billions and helping to meet our climate targets.”
The first step of the project will see £7.2 million of its budget used to create a VPP with around 2MW of capacity, becoming the first in the UK to use both batteries from different manufacturers and electric vehicles.
Solar panels and batteries will be installed in 250 council homes in Worthing and Shoreham, coupled with 100 schools and council buildings, from Autumn this year to combine a further 4MW of generation and 4.2MWh of battery storage. Installations of strategically-placed EV chargers will follow from early next year.
The GridShare platform is to use machine learning and AI technologies to tailor their performance and maximise savings, which is expected to boost savings on home energy bills to around 40%.
More than 1MW of spare capacity from those installations will be aggregated using Moixa’s GridShare platform and entered into flexibility markets, before an additional 1MW of capacity is added as soon as electric vehicles are fully integrated.
Once all of the technologies are deployed, the VPP will boast 7.65MW of generation and 17MW of storage capacity, which will be aggregated and traded by Flexitricity, with Moixa also retaining the right to trade its own flexibility directly.
Steve Read, West Sussex County Council’s director of Energy, Waste and Environment, said: “The lessons we learn will help the government to plan ahead and adapt our national energy system to the fundamental changes taking place. These include the growth in renewable energy supply, increasing demand for energy from electric vehicles and other innovations, and the challenge of balancing energy supply and demand.”