Energy news in general

Scot_39

Government to pay more for wind generated energy

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly8ynegwn4o

Round 7 auction cap announced.

"This year, the maximum guaranteed price for offshore wind will be £113 per megawatt-hour, up from £102 in 2024."


So another 10.8% on the cap.

Let's see how close to the cap the bids come in.

wrf12345

Surely the ever falling cost of battery farms should be reflected in falling wind prices?

QrizB

wrf12345 said:

Surely the ever falling cost of battery farms should be reflected in falling wind prices?

That's a bit of a leap. The cost of building and operating a wind turbine isn't related (to any significant degree) to the price of a storage battery.

Scot_39

wrf12345 said:

Surely the ever falling cost of battery farms should be reflected in falling wind prices?

Auction license prices are at grid connection point wholesale.

They do not include any new grid / transmission infrastructure costs, with investment running in the £10-15bn pa range(*), curtailment and balancing costs (forecast to hit £8bn pa - c£250 per connection - per domestic customer ?? ) or any backup storage any other supplier or even their owners may build elsewhere.

(*) And add £bns in financing and maintenance costs to those lovely fixed network costs that you so hate that tg3 idea of and have doubled our electric Standing charges between 2022 and 2024 under Ofgems TCR..


Even DESNZ officials have said to tge parliamentary accounts commity with oversigh the UK has been wrong to focus on wholesale prices for renewables, and that the in past - until Milibands ar6 - dropping wholesale rates have not led to lower bills.  Its a failed pricing model and should have been scrapped - but Miliband has committed us to 95% by 2030 - so unlikely.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-government-admits-fossil-fuels-064223528.html


To put BESS in perspective, 2024 figue c7GWh(see link), after 1.5GW installed in 2024 (down on 2023 growth and so were future applications according to link below)  that's enough to store / replace renewables theoretical 43GW wind and non domestic solar power (which would add further c5.5 GW) peak capacity for about 10 min.  

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/battery-storage/uk-reaches-7gwh-of-bess-but-growth-slowed-in-2024-ireland-grows


Arguably given how unreliable a source the pricing should include a minimum storage capacity by the farm suppliers - to store excess - so dont need to pay them as much (ideally any) curtailment - and replace no or reduced live generation overnight for solar farms  or when wind dips. 

In fact as those DESNZ reports suggest, it should realky includevall those extra costs in tge decision process.

But the added cost would give even futher evidence to the lie of the cheap green energy promises we are all being sold by our political masters, past and present.

Anything near £100/MWh on a 2012 CfD basis makes FOSW style  renewables more expensive than new nuclear like Sizewell C under its original agreed in 2016 CfD price - £92.50 IIRC -  now we're all paying in our taxes and our bills during construction a levy for it has that changed  ?

QrizB

Scot_39 said:

Anything over £100/MWh on a 2012 CfD basis makes FOSW style  renewables more expensive than new nuclear like Sizewell C under its original agreed in 2016 CfD price - £92.50 IIRC

I think there's some crossed wires in the reporting. The administrative strike price for offshore wind was £73/MWh (in 2012 money) for offshore wind, not £102. £102 is the inflated price.

See here for details. AR7 is priced in 2024 money.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6880d6f8f47abf78ca1d3550/cfd-ar7-administrative-strike-prices-methodology-note.pdf

Also note that AR6 settled at about £59/MWh for offshore wind, £51 for onshore wind and £50 for solar PV. Somewhat cheaper than HPC or Sizewell C.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contracts-for-difference-cfd-allocation-round-6-results/contracts-for-difference-cfd-allocation-round-6-results-accessible-webpage

Scot_39

Yes I thought I remembered a £73 figure, but J assume that's also gone up c 10.8%.

Which is why I added at a 2012 basis as wasn't sure they were using normal in recent past CfD 2012 basis when mixed the two in my later post..

QrizB

Scot_39 said:

Yes I thought I remembered a £73 figure, but J assume that's also gone up c 10.8%.

Yes.

Per the gov pdf linked above, the AR7 administrative strike price for offshore wind would have been £81/MWh if quoted in 2012 money.

JKenH

There may be a separate argument for investing in more offshore wind for environmental/climate reasons but this latest auction price cap surely buries once and for all the long peddled myth that offshore wind is cheaper than gas. By the time the AR7 capacity is actually built there will be so much paid out in constraint payments that wind power will probably be costing twice as much as gas fired generation. That’s before the cost of back up generators/storage is factored in. 

mmmmikey

JKenH said:

There may be a separate argument for investing in more offshore wind for environmental/climate reasons but this latest auction price cap surely buries once and for all the long peddled myth that offshore wind is cheaper than gas. By the time the AR7 capacity is actually built there will be so much paid out in constraint payments that wind power will probably be costing twice as much as gas fired generation. That’s before the cost of back up generators/storage is factored in. 

We don't really know which will be cheaper in the long run because we don't know what will happen with gas or wind prices in the long run. They may be linked at the moment but it doesn't have to be that way and it would only take another war to dramatically change the picture.

The_Green_Hornet

Shield poorer households from costs of clean energy plans, says Ofgem

Britain’s clean energy future risks creating “winners and losers” if lower-income households are not shielded from the costs added to energy bills to pay for it, the head of the energy regulator has said.

Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem’s chief executive, said a “systematic approach” to sharing the rising costs of the government’s green power ambitions was needed to avoid poorer households facing soaring monthly payments.

The regulator for Great Britain launched a root-and-branch review on Wednesday into how the costs of upgrading the energy networks can be recovered through home energy bills in a way that is fairer.

The review could include plans to cut standing charges for lower-income households while wealthier customers pay a higher cost for upgrading the energy system

Shield poorer households from costs of clean energy plans, says Ofgem | Ofgem | The Guardian