David Wilcock
A hi-tech underwater "plug socket" that tests ways of producing energy from wave power has been taken over by the Government.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced today that the running of the £42 million Wave Hub, on the seabed off the Cornish coast, will be taken over by a Government-run company at the start of 2012.
The project, which lies 10 miles out to sea and is joined to the National Grid at Hayle, near St Ives, allows the testing of various experimental wave energy devices to gauge their effectiveness in producing electricity and supplying it to the network.
Business Minister Mark Prisk said: "As part of the transition to a green economy the Government is committed to developing clean energy sources including marine.
"Development of the Wave Hub in Cornwall will bring both environmental and economic benefits to the UK and I am pleased that we are able to take this positive step today."
The Wave Hub was created as part of a plan to make Cornwall a centre of "green" technology development. It was originally run by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), which like the other RDAs across the country has been disbanded by the Government.
Wave Hub Limited, based in Hayle, will take over the management of the Wave Hub on January 1.
Andrew George, the Lib Dem MP for St Ives, welcomed the announcement.
He said: "I am pleased to see that the Wave Hub has been given a significant boost in recent months, achieving an even playing field with Scotland on the subsidy (Renewable Obligations Certificate) and now being given the certainty of full Government backing as it enters its development phase.
"This is a real boost for its future. I look forward to seeing major progress in the next two years."
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Tidal energy turbine set up in the sea
Hilary Duncanson
Monday 26 December 2011
A 100ft underwater turbine destined to form part of a major tidal energy project has been installed in the sea around Orkney.
The one megawatt (MW) device, which can power the annual electricity needs of 500 homes, will now undergo a series of tests to check its performance and reliability.
The turbine will eventually be used in the world's largest tidal stream energy development, in the Sound of Islay in the west of Scotland.
Those behind the project said the installation of the device at Orkney signalled a "major step forward for the global marine renewable energy industry".
The HS1000 tidal turbine has been developed by the company Hammerfest Strom and was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
It will now enter a test period in preparation for larger-scale production.
It is the same machine that will be used by ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) as part of the world's first tidal turbine array in Islay. The £40 million project, aimed at harnessing the power of the sea to generate enough electricity for more than 5,000 homes, received planning consent from the Scottish Government in March.
Officials hope the Orkney tests will help them to finalise the timetable for the Islay project, with machines being installed as early as possible between 2013 and 2015.
SPR chief executive Keith Anderson said: "We are delighted that the HS1000 turbine has been successfully installed in Orkney, and Hammerfest engineers deserve huge credit for carrying out this difficult operation in very testing weather conditions. We look forward to monitoring its progress when fully operational next year.
"This is a major milestone in the development of tidal power technology in Scotland, and for the tidal power industry across the world. We anticipate using this turbine as part of our project in Islay, which will be the first of its kind in the world, and remains the only consented tidal array project in Scotland. Beyond this, we have ambitions to use this turbine as part of even larger-scale projects in the Pentland Firth, which we are currently investigating."
Managing director of Hammerfest Strom Stein Atle Andersen said: "The device was installed in one of Europe's most challenging waters, during the roughest time of the year, which shows the extreme conditions the technology and the team is capable of handling."
WWF Scotland director Richard Dixon, said: "This announcement is another positive step forward for the marine renewable industry in Scotland. There is a massive amount of power in our seas and Scotland is well placed to lead in developing the technologies to turn this potential into clean, green electricity.
"Alongside energy-saving measures, wave and tidal energy have a critical role to play in meeting the Government commitment to decarbonise our power supply by 2030.
"Given the huge renewable energy potential around our coast, and the strong skills in offshore engineering, marine energy offers a fantastic opportunity for Scotland.
"With careful planning, we can harness wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions while safeguarding the nation's tremendous marine environment."
First Minister Alex Salmond said the project was a "fitting end" to an exceptional year for renewable energy in Scotland.
He said: "This year projects were switched on representing £750 million of investment in renewables, and a staggering £46 billion of investment is in the pipeline.
"We have seen momentous progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables and more from other sources by 2020, with enough renewable energy capacity installed to more than meet our interim target of 31%.
"The testing of the HS1000 tidal turbine is another exciting and significant development, and is a tribute to the engineers involved. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the tests."
Monday 26 December 2011
A 100ft underwater turbine destined to form part of a major tidal energy project has been installed in the sea around Orkney.
The one megawatt (MW) device, which can power the annual electricity needs of 500 homes, will now undergo a series of tests to check its performance and reliability.
The turbine will eventually be used in the world's largest tidal stream energy development, in the Sound of Islay in the west of Scotland.
Those behind the project said the installation of the device at Orkney signalled a "major step forward for the global marine renewable energy industry".
The HS1000 tidal turbine has been developed by the company Hammerfest Strom and was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
It will now enter a test period in preparation for larger-scale production.
It is the same machine that will be used by ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) as part of the world's first tidal turbine array in Islay. The £40 million project, aimed at harnessing the power of the sea to generate enough electricity for more than 5,000 homes, received planning consent from the Scottish Government in March.
Officials hope the Orkney tests will help them to finalise the timetable for the Islay project, with machines being installed as early as possible between 2013 and 2015.
SPR chief executive Keith Anderson said: "We are delighted that the HS1000 turbine has been successfully installed in Orkney, and Hammerfest engineers deserve huge credit for carrying out this difficult operation in very testing weather conditions. We look forward to monitoring its progress when fully operational next year.
"This is a major milestone in the development of tidal power technology in Scotland, and for the tidal power industry across the world. We anticipate using this turbine as part of our project in Islay, which will be the first of its kind in the world, and remains the only consented tidal array project in Scotland. Beyond this, we have ambitions to use this turbine as part of even larger-scale projects in the Pentland Firth, which we are currently investigating."
Managing director of Hammerfest Strom Stein Atle Andersen said: "The device was installed in one of Europe's most challenging waters, during the roughest time of the year, which shows the extreme conditions the technology and the team is capable of handling."
WWF Scotland director Richard Dixon, said: "This announcement is another positive step forward for the marine renewable industry in Scotland. There is a massive amount of power in our seas and Scotland is well placed to lead in developing the technologies to turn this potential into clean, green electricity.
"Alongside energy-saving measures, wave and tidal energy have a critical role to play in meeting the Government commitment to decarbonise our power supply by 2030.
"Given the huge renewable energy potential around our coast, and the strong skills in offshore engineering, marine energy offers a fantastic opportunity for Scotland.
"With careful planning, we can harness wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions while safeguarding the nation's tremendous marine environment."
First Minister Alex Salmond said the project was a "fitting end" to an exceptional year for renewable energy in Scotland.
He said: "This year projects were switched on representing £750 million of investment in renewables, and a staggering £46 billion of investment is in the pipeline.
"We have seen momentous progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables and more from other sources by 2020, with enough renewable energy capacity installed to more than meet our interim target of 31%.
"The testing of the HS1000 tidal turbine is another exciting and significant development, and is a tribute to the engineers involved. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the tests."
World's largest solar plant powers up
Spanish venture is as big as 210 football pitches and has 600,000 mirrors. But there's a dark side
Alasdair Fotheringham
Sunday 01 January 2012
Just under a month ago, on an empty mountain plateau in Andalusia, the last of 600,000 parabolic mirrors were connected, and Andasol, the world's largest solar power station, become operational. It is, as it glints in the Spanish sun, a shining example – literally – of what renewable energy offers.
Big almost beyond belief, it is powerful, clean and looks unlike any power station you could ever imagine. Spread over terrain which covers the equivalent of 210 football pitches, there is nothing to see behind the security fences and drainage ditches but interminable lines of gleaming, eerily silent, parabolic mirrors. They gyrate simultaneously to follow the sun's path through the sky – for all the world like an enormous Star Wars android army awaiting orders from above to destroy the local populace.
The bleak, empty flatlands of the Guadix plateau, 30 miles from Granada, were chosen by the backers of Andasol, a joint venture by four German companies, as the location for their €350m (£293bn) investment because, at 1,100 metres above sea level, Guadix's atmosphere is clearer and less turbulent than lower altitudes. Purely because of that, it captures more solar energy than the entire Saudi Arabian peninsula.
Other plus points include an ample underground spring system, which supplies water for the turbines, as well as 2,000 hours of sunlight per annum. And if a conveniently close high-voltage power line was an indispensable factor, so too was the degree of local government support. For all these reasons, if solar power is going to work anywhere, it's going to work here. But there are clouds on the horizon.
When Rainer Kistner, Andasol's director, talks about business prospects, he can find little cause for celebration. The source of his woes are the so-called feed-in tariffs, the indirect government subsidy which acts as the financial lifeblood for renewable energy projects. They were slashed by half last week in the UK, and, Kistner fears, they face equally dismal prospects in Spain, too.
"In the future, we know that tariffs will go down. Dramatically," Kistner gloomily predicts. "It cannot affect existing power plants" – such as Andasol – "but the government has to give some sort of guarantee to the investors. It can't say it'll pay so many euros per kilowatt hour... for the next 25 years and two years later say 'Sorry, but we'll give you only half of this'."
Spanish and UK solar energy are not alone in facing an imminent crisis. Globally, renewable energy is on the retreat, to the point where last month the Ernst & Young accountancy firm warned that, should the eurozone debt crisis worsen, a climate funding gap of $45bn (£29bn) worldwide could emerge by 2015.
Even if government cuts do not deepen, which is unlikely, the Ernst & Young report claimed that a gap of $22.5bn on investment in renewable energy and subsidies is likely to emerge across 10 leading world economies in less than four years. Among them is the UK where the shortfall is estimated to be $5bn, while in Spain – effectively confirming Kistner's fears – it would be $6bn.
"Continuing economic uncertainty is pushing a low-carbon economy further out of reach," said Juan Costa Climent, Ernst & Young's global climate analyst. And the International Energy Agency's chief economist, Fatih Birol, warned recently in the Spanish newspaper El País that "renewable energies are going through a very difficult period. Countries are cutting subsidies to reduce the [public] deficit. And that is legitimate, but it will have long-term implications."
Andasol's Kistner recognises that renewal energy subsidies have been part of the political discussion on how to reduce Spain's deficit, but he points a finger at the "big electrical companies who would like to lay the blame on renewable energy companies for the increase in price. They've already reduced the tariff for photovoltaic solar energy. The Spanish government right now is nearly bankrupt. And we are living under laws from when the situation was healthy. Our plant should not be affected, but I'm worried about new projects. In a completely liberalised market, there would never be any chance for a new [electricity-producing] technology because the risks are too high."
The real victim of these cuts and the blame games between the electrical companies, as ever, is the environment. While countries such as Canada abandoned the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions last week, Andasol's production alone prevents nearly 500,000 tons of CO2 from being pumped into the atmosphere per annum. And while some media reports say Andasol's output of 150 megawatts is relatively modest, it still provides enough energy for a city of half a million inhabitants.
Part of the explanation for Andasol's high output is that, rather than using the better-known photovoltaic solar energy system, which directly creates electrical current, its linear solar concentrators in the mirrors absorb the heat. The heat is then transferred and thermally stored in some 30,000 tons of salt – heat which can keep the electricity-producing steam turbines turning for up to eight hours after sunset.
"The challenge for most renewable energy sources is that you have to provide electricity whenever the end- consumer needs it," says Kistner. "A photovoltaic solar power needs the sun, but if you want to watch a football game at 10pm or cook a meal you don't care about that. And storing electricity, rather than storing solar heat, like our power station does, is very expensive."
Given the relentless series of government cuts, it is hardly surprising that those companies still keen to invest in renewables are looking further afield. In North Africa, for example, an international venture called Desertec Industrial Initiative has recently announced plans for a Sahara-wide, €400bn solar energy project, starting in the region of Ouarzazzatte in Morocco in 2015.
Desertec's plans could produce 15 per cent of Europe's electricity by 2050, managing director Paul van Son told the news agency Reuters last month. Space – vital for thermal solar plants which could dwarf even somewhere like Andasol – is hardly lacking in the Sahara, either. According to Desertec, it receives as much solar energy in six hours as the entire world uses in a year. "It's interesting, and there are definitely locations that are better than here," Kistner says, "even if the huge political projects take a lot of time. Ultimately, in any case, there is no other choice but renewable energies."
However, Kistner says the companies behind Andasol are very nervous about future projects because of their concerns about the ebbing tide of government feed-in tariffs for renewables. While the cuts continue, those concerns can only increase.
Alasdair Fotheringham
Sunday 01 January 2012
Just under a month ago, on an empty mountain plateau in Andalusia, the last of 600,000 parabolic mirrors were connected, and Andasol, the world's largest solar power station, become operational. It is, as it glints in the Spanish sun, a shining example – literally – of what renewable energy offers.
Big almost beyond belief, it is powerful, clean and looks unlike any power station you could ever imagine. Spread over terrain which covers the equivalent of 210 football pitches, there is nothing to see behind the security fences and drainage ditches but interminable lines of gleaming, eerily silent, parabolic mirrors. They gyrate simultaneously to follow the sun's path through the sky – for all the world like an enormous Star Wars android army awaiting orders from above to destroy the local populace.
The bleak, empty flatlands of the Guadix plateau, 30 miles from Granada, were chosen by the backers of Andasol, a joint venture by four German companies, as the location for their €350m (£293bn) investment because, at 1,100 metres above sea level, Guadix's atmosphere is clearer and less turbulent than lower altitudes. Purely because of that, it captures more solar energy than the entire Saudi Arabian peninsula.
Other plus points include an ample underground spring system, which supplies water for the turbines, as well as 2,000 hours of sunlight per annum. And if a conveniently close high-voltage power line was an indispensable factor, so too was the degree of local government support. For all these reasons, if solar power is going to work anywhere, it's going to work here. But there are clouds on the horizon.
When Rainer Kistner, Andasol's director, talks about business prospects, he can find little cause for celebration. The source of his woes are the so-called feed-in tariffs, the indirect government subsidy which acts as the financial lifeblood for renewable energy projects. They were slashed by half last week in the UK, and, Kistner fears, they face equally dismal prospects in Spain, too.
"In the future, we know that tariffs will go down. Dramatically," Kistner gloomily predicts. "It cannot affect existing power plants" – such as Andasol – "but the government has to give some sort of guarantee to the investors. It can't say it'll pay so many euros per kilowatt hour... for the next 25 years and two years later say 'Sorry, but we'll give you only half of this'."
Spanish and UK solar energy are not alone in facing an imminent crisis. Globally, renewable energy is on the retreat, to the point where last month the Ernst & Young accountancy firm warned that, should the eurozone debt crisis worsen, a climate funding gap of $45bn (£29bn) worldwide could emerge by 2015.
Even if government cuts do not deepen, which is unlikely, the Ernst & Young report claimed that a gap of $22.5bn on investment in renewable energy and subsidies is likely to emerge across 10 leading world economies in less than four years. Among them is the UK where the shortfall is estimated to be $5bn, while in Spain – effectively confirming Kistner's fears – it would be $6bn.
"Continuing economic uncertainty is pushing a low-carbon economy further out of reach," said Juan Costa Climent, Ernst & Young's global climate analyst. And the International Energy Agency's chief economist, Fatih Birol, warned recently in the Spanish newspaper El País that "renewable energies are going through a very difficult period. Countries are cutting subsidies to reduce the [public] deficit. And that is legitimate, but it will have long-term implications."
Andasol's Kistner recognises that renewal energy subsidies have been part of the political discussion on how to reduce Spain's deficit, but he points a finger at the "big electrical companies who would like to lay the blame on renewable energy companies for the increase in price. They've already reduced the tariff for photovoltaic solar energy. The Spanish government right now is nearly bankrupt. And we are living under laws from when the situation was healthy. Our plant should not be affected, but I'm worried about new projects. In a completely liberalised market, there would never be any chance for a new [electricity-producing] technology because the risks are too high."
The real victim of these cuts and the blame games between the electrical companies, as ever, is the environment. While countries such as Canada abandoned the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions last week, Andasol's production alone prevents nearly 500,000 tons of CO2 from being pumped into the atmosphere per annum. And while some media reports say Andasol's output of 150 megawatts is relatively modest, it still provides enough energy for a city of half a million inhabitants.
Part of the explanation for Andasol's high output is that, rather than using the better-known photovoltaic solar energy system, which directly creates electrical current, its linear solar concentrators in the mirrors absorb the heat. The heat is then transferred and thermally stored in some 30,000 tons of salt – heat which can keep the electricity-producing steam turbines turning for up to eight hours after sunset.
"The challenge for most renewable energy sources is that you have to provide electricity whenever the end- consumer needs it," says Kistner. "A photovoltaic solar power needs the sun, but if you want to watch a football game at 10pm or cook a meal you don't care about that. And storing electricity, rather than storing solar heat, like our power station does, is very expensive."
Given the relentless series of government cuts, it is hardly surprising that those companies still keen to invest in renewables are looking further afield. In North Africa, for example, an international venture called Desertec Industrial Initiative has recently announced plans for a Sahara-wide, €400bn solar energy project, starting in the region of Ouarzazzatte in Morocco in 2015.
Desertec's plans could produce 15 per cent of Europe's electricity by 2050, managing director Paul van Son told the news agency Reuters last month. Space – vital for thermal solar plants which could dwarf even somewhere like Andasol – is hardly lacking in the Sahara, either. According to Desertec, it receives as much solar energy in six hours as the entire world uses in a year. "It's interesting, and there are definitely locations that are better than here," Kistner says, "even if the huge political projects take a lot of time. Ultimately, in any case, there is no other choice but renewable energies."
However, Kistner says the companies behind Andasol are very nervous about future projects because of their concerns about the ebbing tide of government feed-in tariffs for renewables. While the cuts continue, those concerns can only increase.
Indian generator Essar Energy to build eight coal-fired power plants
First station goes online in Gujarat as company insists Indian customers cannot afford to pay extra costs of clean technology
Terry Macalister
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 December 2011 17.48 GMT
An energy company listed on the London Stock Exchange is planning to spend up to an estimated $6bn (£3.8bn) building eight coal-fired power stations that could add tens of millions of tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere.
Essar Energy has just brought online the first part of the 1,200MW Salaya 1 plant in Gujarat on the west coast of India and says this and other stations are needed to counter power shortages. The move comes after countries around the world met in Durban, South Africa, this month to try to hammer out a new climate change treaty to cut global CO2 emissions.
Britain is introducing cleaner fuels and phasing out its old coal-fired power stations while saying that new ones would need carbon capture and storage schemes attached. But a spokesman for Essar, which is listed on the FTSE 100 but operates largely in India, said its customers on the subcontinent could not afford the extra costs associated with subsidising cleaner technologies.
"You have to remember that India is a place where 44% of households do not have any power at all and demand is rising by 10% per annum. Equally, the per capita power use in India is 736 kilowatt hours [per year] compared with 2.5m in China and 14.3m in the US," he added.
Essar, one of many foreign-based resources companies listed in London, was unable to say exactly how much carbon would be produced from the eight planned plants, which would generate around 8,000MW of power. "We are currently in the process of collating these for our sustainablility report which will be out next year," said the spokesman.
The biggest coal power plant in Britain – Drax in north Yorkshire – has generating capacity of 4,000MW and in 2007 generated 22m tonnes of CO2. This figure has been reduced as Drax starts to burn wood and other biomass as well as coal.
Indian power companies are pushing the government to allow them to cut down forests so that they can press ahead with new coal mines. Essar has pledged to plant more new trees than it clears, though that promise is unlikely to satisfy many environmentalists.
Terry Macalister
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 December 2011 17.48 GMT
An energy company listed on the London Stock Exchange is planning to spend up to an estimated $6bn (£3.8bn) building eight coal-fired power stations that could add tens of millions of tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere.
Essar Energy has just brought online the first part of the 1,200MW Salaya 1 plant in Gujarat on the west coast of India and says this and other stations are needed to counter power shortages. The move comes after countries around the world met in Durban, South Africa, this month to try to hammer out a new climate change treaty to cut global CO2 emissions.
Britain is introducing cleaner fuels and phasing out its old coal-fired power stations while saying that new ones would need carbon capture and storage schemes attached. But a spokesman for Essar, which is listed on the FTSE 100 but operates largely in India, said its customers on the subcontinent could not afford the extra costs associated with subsidising cleaner technologies.
"You have to remember that India is a place where 44% of households do not have any power at all and demand is rising by 10% per annum. Equally, the per capita power use in India is 736 kilowatt hours [per year] compared with 2.5m in China and 14.3m in the US," he added.
Essar, one of many foreign-based resources companies listed in London, was unable to say exactly how much carbon would be produced from the eight planned plants, which would generate around 8,000MW of power. "We are currently in the process of collating these for our sustainablility report which will be out next year," said the spokesman.
The biggest coal power plant in Britain – Drax in north Yorkshire – has generating capacity of 4,000MW and in 2007 generated 22m tonnes of CO2. This figure has been reduced as Drax starts to burn wood and other biomass as well as coal.
Indian power companies are pushing the government to allow them to cut down forests so that they can press ahead with new coal mines. Essar has pledged to plant more new trees than it clears, though that promise is unlikely to satisfy many environmentalists.
UK investment in green energy stagnates at £2.5bn
Total financial commitment to renewable energy sharply down on 2009 figures as developing world surges ahead of Britain
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 December 2011 14.07 GMT
UK investment in green energy failed to pick up significantly in 2011, reflecting difficult economic circumstances and uncertainty over government policy. The government's figure of £2.5bn is slightly higher than an estimate for the previous year and well down on total investment in the sector in 2009.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change said the investment, which represents the total financial commitments announced by a variety of companies between April and December to proposed renewable energy projects, had the potential to create 12,000 jobs across Britain.
Chris Huhne, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: "Renewable energy is not just helping us increase our energy security and reduce our emissions. It is supporting jobs and growth across the country, and giving traditional industrial heartlands the opportunity to thrive again."
But the £2.5bn investment announced since April showed little progress from 2010, when £2.1bn was poured into renewables and other low-carbon forms of energy in the UK, according to the US-based thinktank Pew Environment Group.
The 2010 figure was itself a dramatic fall of 70% compared with the investment reached in 2009, when at least £7.1bn was put into the sector.
DECC said this year's investment figures were the first it had compiled, so direct comparisons with previous years have not been possible because Pew's methodology was likely to be different. However, the department agreed that Pew's figures could be used as an indication.
Investors have complained of a damaging uncertainty in government policy, as twice this year the government cut the subsidy rates available to solar energy, and this autumn announced plans to reduce the incentives for wind power.
In 2010, the UK fell out of the league of the top 10 countries around the world in terms of renewable energy investment. This year's figures are extremely unlikely to redeem the UK's place in the league, as many countries in the developing world in particular have surged ahead, including China and India.
The fall in investment in renewables confirms research by the Guardian earlier this month that showed the number of wind turbines built this year is down by half on last year. In the year to the end of November, 540MW of new turbines, on land and offshore, were built – comprising 200 onshore turbines and 50 offshore. In 2010 more than double that capacity – 1,192MW of turbines – were constructed.
This contrasts sharply with more than 30GW of gas-fired electricity generation that is in the planning stages. Charles Hendry, minister for energy, said oil and gas were crucial to the UK economy, contributing about 2% of GDP. Granting 46 new licences to explore for oil and gas under the North Sea, he said: "Our innovative licensing system continues to make the UK one of the most attractive places to do business. These continued high levels of interest, and the award today of these licences, gives me yet more reason to be optimistic for a prosperous 2012 for the UK oil and gas sector."
DECC said last year there was a 27% increase in renewable energy consumption from 42.6TWh in 2008 to 54TWh in 2010 – representing 3.3% of total energy consumed. The energy from wind generation increased by 46% from 7 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2008 to 10.2TWh in 2010, and in 2010 achieved 5GW of offshore and onshore wind capacity.
There was also, according to DECC, a threefold increase in the use of biofuels in transport from 1% of total road transport fuel supply in 2007-08 to 3.33% in 2010.
Huhne said: "Our renewable target is less demanding than other EU member states, but the effect is bringing real jobs and investment. I do not want the UK to be left behind by turning our back on the green economy. The agreement to negotiate a global deal secured at [international climate change talks in December in] Durban has reinforced major nations' commitment to cutting carbon. We cannot afford to stand alone while the world wises up."
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 December 2011 14.07 GMT
UK investment in green energy failed to pick up significantly in 2011, reflecting difficult economic circumstances and uncertainty over government policy. The government's figure of £2.5bn is slightly higher than an estimate for the previous year and well down on total investment in the sector in 2009.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change said the investment, which represents the total financial commitments announced by a variety of companies between April and December to proposed renewable energy projects, had the potential to create 12,000 jobs across Britain.
Chris Huhne, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: "Renewable energy is not just helping us increase our energy security and reduce our emissions. It is supporting jobs and growth across the country, and giving traditional industrial heartlands the opportunity to thrive again."
But the £2.5bn investment announced since April showed little progress from 2010, when £2.1bn was poured into renewables and other low-carbon forms of energy in the UK, according to the US-based thinktank Pew Environment Group.
The 2010 figure was itself a dramatic fall of 70% compared with the investment reached in 2009, when at least £7.1bn was put into the sector.
DECC said this year's investment figures were the first it had compiled, so direct comparisons with previous years have not been possible because Pew's methodology was likely to be different. However, the department agreed that Pew's figures could be used as an indication.
Investors have complained of a damaging uncertainty in government policy, as twice this year the government cut the subsidy rates available to solar energy, and this autumn announced plans to reduce the incentives for wind power.
In 2010, the UK fell out of the league of the top 10 countries around the world in terms of renewable energy investment. This year's figures are extremely unlikely to redeem the UK's place in the league, as many countries in the developing world in particular have surged ahead, including China and India.
The fall in investment in renewables confirms research by the Guardian earlier this month that showed the number of wind turbines built this year is down by half on last year. In the year to the end of November, 540MW of new turbines, on land and offshore, were built – comprising 200 onshore turbines and 50 offshore. In 2010 more than double that capacity – 1,192MW of turbines – were constructed.
This contrasts sharply with more than 30GW of gas-fired electricity generation that is in the planning stages. Charles Hendry, minister for energy, said oil and gas were crucial to the UK economy, contributing about 2% of GDP. Granting 46 new licences to explore for oil and gas under the North Sea, he said: "Our innovative licensing system continues to make the UK one of the most attractive places to do business. These continued high levels of interest, and the award today of these licences, gives me yet more reason to be optimistic for a prosperous 2012 for the UK oil and gas sector."
DECC said last year there was a 27% increase in renewable energy consumption from 42.6TWh in 2008 to 54TWh in 2010 – representing 3.3% of total energy consumed. The energy from wind generation increased by 46% from 7 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2008 to 10.2TWh in 2010, and in 2010 achieved 5GW of offshore and onshore wind capacity.
There was also, according to DECC, a threefold increase in the use of biofuels in transport from 1% of total road transport fuel supply in 2007-08 to 3.33% in 2010.
Huhne said: "Our renewable target is less demanding than other EU member states, but the effect is bringing real jobs and investment. I do not want the UK to be left behind by turning our back on the green economy. The agreement to negotiate a global deal secured at [international climate change talks in December in] Durban has reinforced major nations' commitment to cutting carbon. We cannot afford to stand alone while the world wises up."
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