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Supporting the company’s commitment to Net Zero, the renewable vessel fuel, HVO30 – made from 30% hydrogenated vegetable oil and a marine gas oil fuel blend – will be used to power two crew transfer vessels provided by Great Yarmouth-based NR Marine Services.

Compared to standard marine gas oil, HVO30 is predicted to result in around a 30% reduction in equivalent CO² emissions from the two vessels. The renewable fuel is created from 100% waste vegetable oils and holds a proof of sustainability certificate from the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) system.

ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia ONE project director, Charlie Jordan, commented:

“As part of the drive to get to Net Zero, we’ve been working with suppliers across our East Anglia ONE windfarm to reduce CO² emissions throughout the project. Developing low emission vessels for use in operational windfarms is a real challenge for the industry and we’re proud to be leading the way and taking on this challenge to help us operate in a cleaner and greener way.

“As we continue to work towards Net Zero – and with the UK hosting the COP26 UN climate change summit later this year – it’s vital we all do our bit to ensure our operations are as sustainable as possible. Our ambition is to continually work with our supply chain to find ways of reducing our environmental impact across our projects. We’re really pleased to be working with NR Marine Services to deliver this pilot project, which is an exciting milestone on that journey.”

Owen Nutt, director of NR Marine Services, which is operating crew transfer vessels on East Anglia ONE as part of a contract with Turner Iceni, added: “We are really pleased to be paving the way with reducing vessel emissions on two of our vessels, NR Cougar and NR Jaguar.

“East Anglia ONE is an important project for us and it’s great to see ScottishPower Renewables committing to purchase the HVO30 fuel in a bid to further reduce carbon emissions. We are looking forward to analysing the performance of the new fuel and hopefully rolling it out to the entire fleet in the future.”

Located 43km off the coast of Suffolk and completed during lockdown in 2020, East Anglia ONE is one of the largest offshore windfarms in the world. It comprises 102 Siemens Gamesa 7MW offshore wind turbines and the capacity to produce 714MW of clean energy – enough to power the equivalent of more than 630,000 homes - every year.

The £2.5bn project includes:

£25m invested in a state-of-the-art operations and maintenance base at Lowestoft Port, delivering 100 long-term skilled jobs £5m co-invested in Great Yarmouth Port to prepare the facility for construction and assembly of the turbine components

£70 million committed to local suppliers delivering works across the East of England

the creation of 3,500 jobs at the peak of construction

Outcomes from ScottishPower Renewables’ programme of work in East Anglia include the sponsorship of 10 engineering masters at the University of East Anglia, the recruitment of several local young people for a new offshore wind apprenticeship, the sponsorship of 26 places to date at the Offshore Wind Skills Centre, with a focus on retraining experienced engineers from the wider offshore or engineering sectors, and ongoing active support for International Women in Engineering Day events across the region.

East Anglia ONE is a joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group. It is one of four offshore windfarms ScottishPower Renewables plans to develop in the region.

SCOTTISHPOWER RENEWABLES

scottishpowerrenewables.com

END TO COAL POWER BROUGHT FORWARD

From 1 October 2024 Britain will no longer use coal to generate electricity, a year earlier than planned, Energy and Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan has announced.

UK government brings forward the date to remove unabated coal from the UK’s energy mix to 2024

key step in UK government’s plans to decarbonise the power sector and eliminate the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050

move means that within just 10 years Britain will have reduced its reliance on coal for electricity from around a third to zero The move is part of ambitious government commitments to transition away from fossil fuels and decarbonise the power sector in order to eliminate contributions to climate change by 2050.

The announcement on June 30 confirms the intention set out by the Prime Minister last year to bring forward the deadline to end unabated coalfired electricity generation. new wind power record, with just over a third of the country’s energy coming from wind.

The rise in the use of renewables thanks to competition, free enterprise and government incentives to kick start new technologies had in turn helped to drive down the cost of green energy, with coal power now more expensive in most countries.

The UK Government is similarly calling on all nations to accelerate the phase out of coal power.

Coal is one of the most carbon intensive fossil fuels and responsible for harmful air pollution. By eliminating its use in electricity generation, the UK can make sure it plays a critical role in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees – a key aim of its COP26 presidency. She said: “As one of the first countries to commit to ending coal power combined with its significant success in driving up renewables, the UK is leading the world in moving away from fossil fuels and significantly decarbonising its energy system.”

Through its COP26 presidency, the UK government is urging nations to follow its example and abandon coal power for good.

The UK has made huge progress in reducing the use of coal across the power sector, with coal accounting for only 1.8% of the UK’s electricity mix in 2020, compared with 40% a decade ago.

The announcement was made ahead of Trevelyan speaking at the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) Europe Roundtable on the importance of countries phasing out coal as part of London Climate Action Week.

The UK government had already ended its support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas earlier this year. Today we’re sending a clear signal around the world that the UK is leading the way in consigning coal power to the history books and that we’re serious about decarbonising our power system so we can meet our ambitious, worldleading climate targets.

In May, under the UK’s leadership, G7 Climate and Environment Ministers agreed to end all new finance for coal power by the end of 2021 and to accelerate the transition away from unabated coal capacity and to an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s.

COP26 PresidentDesignate Alok Sharma said: “The next decade will be make or break for our planet and the most powerful way we can make a difference is to end our reliance on coal.

The minister said: “Coal powered the industrial revolution 200 years ago, but now is the time for radical action to completely eliminate this dirty fuel from our energy system.

“Today we’re sending a clear signal around the world that the UK is leading the way in consigning coal power to the history books and that we’re serious about decarbonising our power system so we can meet our ambitious, world-leading climate targets.

“The UK’s net zero future will be powered by renewables, and it is this technology that will drive the green industrial revolution and create new jobs across the country.”

The UK had run for 5,000 hours without coal-fired electricity in 2020, and earlier this year broke a “Ahead of COP26, I hope the UK’s decisive step towards a cleaner, greener future sends a clear signal to friends around the world that clean power is the way forward. The impact of this step will be far greater if we can bring the world with us, and so our desire to support a clean and just energy transition is central to my discussions on the road to COP26.”

A top priority of the UK COP26 presidency is to accelerate the global transition from coal to clean energy. The UK government is asking governments to set coal phase out dates and end overseas coal investments, and has set up the Energy Transition Council to bring together partners to ensure that clean power is the most attractive option for developing countries and to support just transitions.

CONRAD ENERGY COMPLETES STRATEGIC ASSET ACQUISITION

Conrad Energy has further consolidated its move into the battery storage arena with the acquisition of a 44MW operational battery asset near Bedford.

The largest flexible power producer in the UK continues to put supporting the transition to a low carbon economy at the heart of their strategic plans and the acquisition will enhance its growing organic battery pipeline of over 250MW.

“Battery storage has a growing role to play in supporting the grid network and creating futurefit power infrastructure for the UK,” said Steven Hardman, Managing Director. “This exciting acquisition reflects our vision for Conrad Energy as a full-service power solutions provider, leveraging the expertise of our growing team to support both the grid as well as commercial and industrial customers. Storage projects complement our flexible generation fleet as both provide essential support for increasing levels of renewable power.”

The battery asset will provide immediate revenue for Conrad Energy and the company anticipates making further targeted acquisitions and placing equipment orders in the coming weeks.

Specialist business advisory firm FRP, was appointed as the Administrators of the site on 28 September 2020 and secured the sale of the site and assets to Conrad. Dynamic Containment (DC), a system designed to deploy energy quickly following any significant changes in frequency deviation. DC was introduced to the UK in October 2020 and only 12 companies have been appointed by the National Grid to provide this type of energy service due to its complex technical and reporting requirements.

Jason Baker, partner at FRP and Joint Administrator, said: “We’ve been working closely with a specialist team to review the development site since we were appointed, and are pleased to have been able to secure a purchaser for the asset so quickly. It’s also a huge coup to see that the battery site has been given the green light to adopt Dynamic Containment to support the National Grid and we wish the new owners well as they take the site forward.”

The acquisition fits with Conrad Energy’s strategy to support the energy transition through owning and operating flexible power generation and storage assets as well as providing route to market services for similar plants and renewable power projects. The business also supplies commercial and industrial customers with flexible energy solutions from onsite generation as well as competitive and tailored supply contracts.

INNOVATION DRIVING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO TREAT YORKSHIRE’S WASTEWATER

Yorkshire Water and its partners Stantec and BarhaleDoosan JV are currently constructing an integrated wetland at Clifton wastewater treatment works to help reduce reliance on energy intensive treatment processes.

Here Yorkshire Water project lead Michael Housby explains the thinking behind the innovative project.

Phosphorus removal from treated wastewater is a particular focus for Yorkshire Water and all water companies alike and we have looked at a variety of innovative ways of meeting our goals in this area.

We are always looking for innovative/alternative solutions. One element of our programme identified a number of our existing sites where the creation of wetlands integrated into the treatment process could have significant benefits in terms of energy saving, carbon reduction and long-term positive impacts for the environment and local biodiversity while achieve the regulated Phosphorus performance

Integrated wetlands are considered to be lowcost, low-energy and low-maintenance in nature, compared with traditional chemical-based solutions. They are particularly well suited to rural areas, so our innovation and strategic planning teams identified our wastewater treatment works at Clifton – a small site near Doncaster – as the number one site to begin this project. As a result, we are now building a wetland which will be planted with more than 20,000 plants to naturally remove phosphorus from treated wastewater before it is returned to the environment.

The £1.2m project is the first of its kind in Yorkshire and will remove phosphorus from millions of litres of treated water in a natural, sustainable and low-carbon process, while also achieving a biodiversity net gain. The project also removed the need for carbon-intensive engineering solutions to upgrade the treatment works. The mechanically driven rotating biological contactor at Clifton required replacement and the new 4mg/l phosphorus permit would require the installation of a chemical dosing set up, new settlement tanks