Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981 · 30 July 2017 at 12:08PM

North Carolina Governor manages to get a bill through to double the amount of solar, but has to agree to an 18 month moratorium on wind deployment ..... but then issues an executive order to move forward with all the necessary background work for wind, ready for the end of the moratorium. :T

North Carolina Renewable Energy Logjam Breaks Wide Open — Almost!

The new solar law probably doesn’t make everyone happy, but it apparently comes close. Among other provisions, it enables solar developers to access low-cost financing, permits property owners to lease rooftop solar panels, and sets out a process for selecting sites for utility-scale solar farms.

The anti-wind faction didn’t get much time to celebrate their victory. On the same day that he signed HB 589, Cooper also signed Executive Order 11, expressly aimed at mitigating the impact of the moratorium:
“This executive order directs DEQ to continue recruiting wind energy investments and to move forward with all of the behind the scenes work involved with bringing wind energy projects online, including reviewing permits and conducting pre-application review for prospective sites.”

Martyn1981 · 31 July 2017 at 3:09PM

A simple and short summary of what seems to be happening regarding electricity in the UK:

The UK government is suddenly showing signs that it gets it

silverwhistle · 31 July 2017 at 8:39PM

On the other hand, on the same site:

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/uk_solar_growth_hamstrung_by_deeply_frustrating_westminster_policy_bonfire

Martyn1981 · 3 August 2017 at 7:16AM

Not green energy, but important storage news, and storage helps with green energy adoption - virtuous circle.

Siemens’ C&I customers offered ‘no-money-down’ energy storage financing

The value proposition for C&I customers is the reduction of their electricity bills. With C&I electricity users in the US, UK and many other territories, their electricity costs are calculated to charge them a premium for peak electricity use, although the models for billing them these amounts vary from market to market. Siestorage lets users arbitrage their electricity purchases and defer them to non-peak times, saving them not just power costs but network costs as well.

Energy storage systems allow businesses to reduce amounts of energy drawn from the grid without interrupting their business activities, industrial processes and so on. Adding energy storage can also add resiliency and stability to power supply, reducing exposure to outages, other unscheduled interruptions and changes in voltage.

'Pay-for-outcomes' model gives customers 'excellent opportunity' to manage power costs

Siemens said that to date, while customers saw the benefit of energy storage, “few were willing or able to commit the necessary capital to access the technology”.

lstar337 · 7 August 2017 at 9:42AM

A story posted in the energy section seems to be claiming bills will rise steeply due to green energy investment over the next three years.

Here is a quote:

The cost of green taxes on energy bills will more than treble over the next five years, the official economic forecaster has said.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said that cost of the subsidies, which are levied on household and business energy bills, is expected to rise from £4.6billion in 2015-16 to £13.5billion in 2021-22.

It comes after British Gas claimed that green taxes will cost households £150 from next year as it blamed the Government for a huge rise in electricity bills.

Interesting reading as AFAIK the need for subsidy is reducing all the time.

So where is the money going?

Of course, this is news from the Torygraph with their green hate agenda.

ed110220 · 7 August 2017 at 10:46AM

I'm surprised there hasn't been more reporting of the news that the VC Summer nuclear power plant has been cancelled mid-construction in South Carolina, given this is what may well happen to Hinkley C. It was one of only two nuclear power plants under construction in the USA (two reactors at each).

ASavvyBuyer · 7 August 2017 at 10:56AM

lstar337 wrote: »

A story posted in the energy section seems to be claiming bills will rise steeply due to green energy investment over the next three years.

Here is a quote:
Interesting reading as AFAIK the need for subsidy is reducing all the time.

So where is the money going?

Of course, this is news from the Torygraph with there green hate agenda.

It appears, from checking the ofgem & other government sites, that what are being called "Green Taxes" are in fact for other things. The majority being for (not so) SMART meters (about £40 per year), support funds for companies going bust, Warm Home payments, etc. Some may even be for paying for the clean up of nuclear & fossil fuels.

In fact it looks like less than £30/year of this "Green Tax" is actually for helping to support solar & wind generation, and that is actually reducing as costs come down and the subsidies reduce.

Martyn1981 · 7 August 2017 at 11:57AM

lstar337 wrote: »

Interesting reading as AFAIK the need for subsidy is reducing all the time.

So where is the money going?

Playing Devil's advocate, it could be that the volume of subsidies will go up, despite the amount of each subsidy falling as we generate more and more leccy from renewables.

In the last 10yrs we've gone from roughly 5% of leccy from RE, to 25% in 2016, and expected to hit 33% by 2020.

So for instance, 4x the generation at half the subsidy is still 2x more, IYSWIM.

Now for the good news. We see these subsidies, but what we don't see are the externalities of FF burning, such as health costs on the NHS (subsidy for coal) and spending on AGW mitigation (such as renewable subsidies) which is a subsidy for CO2 emissions by FF burning. [Edit: The good news being that whilst one subsidy is going up, hopefully the other will come down, which these articles typically forget to point out, when trying to put forward half an argument. M.]

More good news, if you have a quick read / study of the CfD register, you'll see what each scheme gets, or will get.

CfD Register

the subsidy element is the difference between the sale price and the strike price, so if you sell at £50 and have a strike price of £100/MWh, then the subsidy tops up the £50 difference.

Take a look at the PV and on-shore wind rates, they are in the mid to high £80's, as was the German CfD issued in 2015 at the same time. Now Germany is down to £50/MWh, and the UK is looking at various versions of subsidy free in the next few years. £50/MWh is a rough guide for subsidy free.

Also off-shore wind is an eye opener, the rates range from £162 down to £123 and have fallen in every subsequent auction. The auctions this year are expected to come in at around £90 (for commissioning in 2021/2) and there's a bid max of £85 for the auction for commissioning in 2026. We may well see a £70/MWh bid for future deployment in an auction before the end of this decade.

More good news - the wind and PV contracts are for 15yrs, but off-shore wind should generate for 20yrs, on-shore wind 20-25yrs and PV for 30yrs, so many of these schemes will 'fall out' of subsidy in the next 10-15yrs, but contribute subsidy free generation. Plus refitting these farms will be much cheaper than building them, so expect a new round of subsidy free generation at the locations in the future.

There's also a chance that we may see 'cheap' nuclear, but this is looking less and less likely with the collapse of Westinghouse and the US cancelling nuclear builds on the grounds of them being 'un-economic'. So sadly, the 'turd in the punchbowl' is Hinkley Point C, which shows on the register at £97/MWh, may start in 10yrs time, and will be receiving subsidies for 35yrs, so till around 2062 or later.

So back to the start, I don't know if the subsidy element will rise as much as they say, but it displaces FF subsidies elsewhere, and is of course required to reduce AGW and far greater costs to society, and the subsidies look to be relatively short-term with most probably gone by 2040*.

* Based on a 15yr subsidy, apart from off-shore wind, will we start any new subsidies from 2025 onwards?

Martyn1981 · 7 August 2017 at 12:22PM

ASavvyBuyer wrote: »

It appears, from checking the ofgem & other government sites, that what are being called "Green Taxes" are in fact for other things. The majority being for (not so) SMART meters (about £40 per year), support funds for companies going bust, Warm Home payments, etc. Some may even be for paying for the clean up of nuclear & fossil fuels.

In fact it looks like less than £30/year of this "Green Tax" is actually for helping to support solar & wind generation, and that is actually reducing as costs come down and the subsidies reduce.

And for balance, one of today's news articles:

Fossil fuel subsidies are a staggering $5 tn per year

A new study finds 6.5% of global GDP goes to subsidizing dirty fossil fuels

Fossil fuels have two major problems that paint a dim picture for their future energy dominance. These problems are inter-related but still should be discussed separately. First, they cause climate change. We know that, we’ve known it for decades, and we know that continued use of fossil fuels will cause enormous worldwide economic and social consequences.

Second, fossil fuels are expensive. Much of their costs are hidden, however, as subsidies. If people knew how large their subsidies were, there would be a backlash against them from so-called financial conservatives.

A study was just published in the journal World Development that quantifies the amount of subsidies directed toward fossil fuels globally, and the results are shocking. The authors work at the IMF and are well-skilled to quantify the subsidies discussed in the paper.

I think the annual worldwide subsidy for renewables is around £150bn, that's a "b" not a "t". In fact it may be less and in dollars.

lstar337 · 7 August 2017 at 12:53PM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Now for the good news. We see these subsidies, but what we don't see are the externalities of FF burning, such as health costs on the NHS (subsidy for coal) and spending on AGW mitigation (such as renewable subsidies) which is a subsidy for CO2 emissions by FF burning.

Great! So government costs go down, but our costs go up.

A sort of stealth re-distribution of funds from our pockets into the back pockets of wealthy politicians. :rotfl:

This is good news Mart? :rotfl:

Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

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