UK
Decarbonising power sector to save £1,600 a household
The government’s independent adviser, The Committee on Climate change (CCC) has suggested that consumers would save £45bn, or £1,600 a household if the government pursues plans to decarbonise the power sector by 2030. The CCC suggested that the cost of gas and rising cost of carbon combined with falling clean energy costs would generate the savings. It’s worth noting the study doesn't calculate the costs if carbon pricing was abandoned – but this would effectively mean a policy of no action at all to tackle climate change and withdrawal from the EU.
SSE warns of energy price rises
SSE has warned that bills could rise again later in the year as it unveiled its annual results. The company, under fire after a heavy fine for mis-selling, said costs have risen by £80 per dual fuel household since it last put up bills last October.
Scotland approves world’s largest wave farm
Ministers have approved plans for the world’s largest commercial wave farm off the Scottish Isle of Lewis. The 40MW project by developers Aquamarine will generate enough power for 30,000 homes – equivalent to 5-10 modern offshore wind turbines. However the project will be delayed whilst developers wait for SSE to install an undersea inter connector to Lewis.
Home energy efficiency: Government doesn’t know what it wants
Carbon Brief reports on a new report from Parliaments Energy and Climate change committee that suggests the government has yet to work out what success on its Green Deal energy efficiency scheme would look like.
World
EU leaders pursue shale ‘dream’
EU leaders meeting in Brussels say the bloc needs to do all it can to reduce the cost of energy – including the development of shale gas. They have asked the EU’s energy commissioner, Gunther Oettinger to come up with a report looking at why bills have risen and what can be done about it. The meeting came as the heads of eight of Europe’s largest utilities, including RWE and E.On wrote to EU leaders demanding more ‘visibility’ on future energy policy. Poland has also announced it is to delay a new tax on shale gas in order to prevent a further exodus of explorers.
UK petrol retailers hand complaints to EC
The UK petrol retailers association has handed a batch of complaints to the European Commission after complaining that British authorities had failed to act. It comes as the EC’s on-running investigation has drawn attention to the secretive sector of oil company traders which Reuters claims have “huge turnover and millionaire staff with risk appetite higher than at Wall Street's biggest banks.”
India wind power target held back
India's ambitious push to increase the share of renewable energy in its total power generation portfolio to nearly one-fifth by 2017 is being hindered by slow progress on incentives, according to industry officials – reported by the Wall Street Journal. The paper reports complaints from leading firms that government incentives have been inconsistent and slow to arrive, delaying any possible investment.
