REA NEWS Summer 2013

REANEWS XXX

www.r-e-a.net

THE HARTNELL INTERVIEW: ALAN WHITEHEAD POLICY OVERVIEW: EU SPECIAL JEREMY LEGGETT: THE CARBON BUBBLE

SUMMER 2013

Green Gas is Go! HOW PRINCE CHARLES’ ESTATE IS BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO BIOMETHANE

A NEW DAWN AT THE REA GAYNOR HARTNELL AND NINA SKORUPSKA IN CONVERSATION ABLE: BIOGAS IN BAVARIA DOMESTIC RHI: HERE AT LAST! MEMBERS NEWS: GREEN GROWTH SHOOTS this issue is sponsored by

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CONTENTS SUMMER 2013 EDITION

FOREWORD I’m delighted to welcome you to REA News for the first time.

In July, shortly before I started as the REA’s Chief Executive, I met up with Gaynor to find out what I’ve let myself in for! You can read highlights from our conversation on p. 20. Gaynor has left big shoes to fill, and I feel privileged to be taking on her mantle.

And what a time to step into the job! The Electricity Market Reform (EMR) process is now well underway, with detailed secondary legislation beginning to appear. EMR is a recurring theme in many of our features ‒ not least Gaynor’s final ‘Hartnell Interview’ with longstanding renewables champion Alan Whitehead MP (p. 24).

As always, we have brought together industryleading insight and analysis, including a powerful article on ‘unburnable carbon’ from Jeremy Leggett (p. 13). There are policy updates from our in-house experts throughout.

Most importantly, this issue demonstrates how renewables are transforming our economy. The Duchy of Cornwall’s award-winning Poundbury biomethane project (p. 10) has fired the starting gun on the market for 100% renewable gas.

This growing sector will surely provide new employment opportunities for Billy Hamilton and his fellow candidates on our EU biogas training programme (p. 38).

Finally, we have sought to give more voice to our members in this issue, including a new Members’ News section (p. 19). I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our forthcoming autumn events (p. 14), to sharing my ideas for the REA’s future, to hearing your ideas for your business’ future, and working to make them a reality!

Dr Nina Skorupska

"Ladies and gentlemen, I must say it is an exciting and encouraging day because I’ve been rather badgering the Duchy and others over the years that we needed to find a way of kick starting the anaerobic digestion sector in this country.”

HRH The Prince of Wales at the opening of the Poundbury biomethane injection plant – read more on p. 10

4 News Round-up 6 Policy Overview: EU Special 10 Duchy of Cornwall: Green Gas to Grid 13 Jeremy Leggett: Carbon Bubble 14 REA Events & Awards 16 Ocean Energy: Swansea Bay 19 Members’ News 20 Nina Skorupska Meets Gaynor Hartnell 23 Cornwall Energy: Levy Control Framework 23 STA: Solar Farms 24 The Hartnell Interview: Alan Whitehead 26 Understanding Biofuels & Bioliquids 28 Bio-Energy: The Sleeping Giant Awakens 28 Stewart Boyle: Bio-Energy 31 Social Media Meets Renewables 31 Geothermal Industry Overview 35 Community Energy: More than CO2 & kW 37 Planning Policy: Community Benefits 38 Learning Biogas in Bavaria

CREDITS REA News is edited by James Beard with contributions from REA staff and invited guest writers. Thanks to all our contributors: Stewart Boyle, Jaryn Bradford, Tom Edwards, Stuart Elmes, Gerry Grant, Billy Hamilton, Padraig Hanly, Ilmari Lastikka, Jeremy Leggett, Andrew Mercer, Agamemnon Otero, Pekka Pesonen, Andrew Phillips, Mark Shorrock, Jan Sisson, Neil Turner, Caryl Walter, Rebecca Willis and Baroness Bryony Worthington. The editor would also like to acknowledge the behind the scenes efforts of Leonie Greene, Gaynor Hartnell and James Mills, and give special thanks to Alan Whitehead MP. Feedback on REA News is encouraged: jbeard@r-e-a.net Published August 2013

The cover photo features L-R: Ciaran Burns, Certification Manager, REAL; Peter James, Poundbury Project Manager, Duchy of Cornwall; Virginia Graham, CEO, REAL; Andrew Phillips, Rural Director of Finance, Duchy of Cornwall; Hamish Bichan, Owner, Active Business Partnerships. The Duchy of Cornwall and the Office of the Prince of Wales received the UK’s first certificates under the Green Gas Certification Scheme, operated by REA subsidiary company REAL, at the REA Awards Gala Dinner in June. J V Energen, a joint venture between the Duchy of Cornwall, J V Farming and Active Business Partnerships, also won the REA Leadership Award for the Poundbury biomethane project.

Picture: Phil Clarke-Hill/REA

Published by the Environment Media Group, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London SE1 7NQ Design: Katie Johnson Sales: Rob Mowat, Commercial Director, t: 020 7633 4514 e: rob.m@environmentmedia.co.uk Disclaimer: This magazine has been compiled in good faith and the Publisher has endeavoured to ensure accuracy throughout. Neither the Renewable Energy Association nor the Environment Media Group can accept responsiblity for any inaccuracies or the products or services advertised.

reA news editor JAmes BeArd gives A round-up of recent key news stories email: jbeard@r-e-a.net / twitter: @JamesBeardreA

London Array

pm prAises renewABles

we're pleased that david cameron has taken a personal interest in renewables in recent months

Web giant Google is becoming one of the world’s leading renewable energy investors.

In January, Google ploughed $200 million into a Texas wind farm, and in June, The Guardian revealed that Google’s secretive innovations lab Google X, which developed Google Glass, is designing new renewable energy systems too. They’ve already invented solar-powered balloons to bring wireless internet to developing countries, and now they’re working on a super-light wind turbine.

Speaking to Forbes in March, Google’s Director of Energy and Sustainability Rick Needham explained that it’s all about the bottom line: “While fossil-based prices are on a cost curve that goes up, renewable prices are on this march downward.” Apple and Facebook have also ramped up their green energy investments in recent months.

5.7 million renewables jobs worldwide and counting Research by the United Nations Environment Programme, published in June, has found that 5.7 million people are employed directly or indirectly in renewable energy around the world. Over 150,000 people are employed in the small scale off-grid solar industry in Bangladesh alone – more than the entire renewables industry employs in the UK! In April 2012, the REA revealed that the UK currently supports 110,000 jobs in renewables, while expanding to meet our 2020 targets could see that number climb to 400,000. We will be publishing an updated version of the ‘Made in Britain’ report in the coming months – watch this space!

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summer 2013 REA NEWs

rolling stones keyboardist backs biomass chuck leavell in his georgia forest

Biomass is taking some stick at the moment – so to speak – with certain groups claiming it can be ‘dirtier than coal’. The REA has been working hard to demonstrate that in reality, it is in the interests of industry and the environment alike to practice responsible forest management. Read more on this on p. 28.

We’ve found an unexpected ally in this debate in Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, whose family owns 2,500 acres of forest in Georgia. Writing in The Wall Street Journal in June, Leavell said: “Europe’s increasing use of woody biomass, such as wood pellets, has not resulted in the inappropriate over-harvesting of U.S. forests that some fear. The demand has created a viable use for woody material from forestry operations that typically goes to waste. Using this resource for energy puts it to good use and is a wise thing to do.”

geothermal goes global Despite being a mature technology and offering extremely reliable low carbon energy, geothermal is yet to take off in several countries – including the UK – because of the investment risks associated with drilling wells. However, the wheels are beginning to turn on the global scale as experts attempt to unlock private investment. In March, the World Bank announced its Global Geothermal Development Plan, designed to leverage private finance to support the drilling of test wells in developing countries. In May, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated that a $500 million global fund could result in nearly $10 billion of new private sector investment in geothermal heat and power around the world. Read a UK industry overview by GT Energy's Padraig Hanly on p.31.

UsDA/Flickr (Creative Commons)

google’s green energy push

We were delighted to see the PM visit not just one but two major renewable energy projects this summer. The first visit in June was to Diageo’s aptly named Cameronbridge Distillery in Fife, which uses a newly built CHP plant to recover heat and power from the by-products of the whisky distillation process. He described Diageo as “a world leader in embracing bioenergy technology and a major contributor to Scotland’s economy”.

Less than a month later, the PM cut the ribbon on the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 175 turbine London Array. He said the project “shows that Britain is a great country to come and invest in, it’s meant jobs for local people, and it means clean, green energy for half a million homes”.

COnfidenCe

REA/Blue & Green Tomorrow

is kEy

reAL goes from strength to strength with new website and logo

Overall confidence in the renewables industry stands at 47%

In March, the REA published the results of the first ever Renewables Industry Confidence Survey. We asked our members if they thought the UK would reach its 2020 renewables target, how confident they were in their sector’s policy framework, and what their near term prospects were for turnover, new business and employment. The results were reported in The Financial Times.

Only 4% of respondents thought the UK will achieve its 2020 target. Confidence was also low in the functioning of Contracts for Difference, the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, but slightly higher for the Feed-in Tariff.

Short term business prospects were reasonably encouraging, with most companies expecting minor improvements in turnover, new business and employment over the next six months. This data combined gave an overall confidence score of 47%. We call this the Renewables Industry Confidence Index (RICI).

The second round of the confidence survey is open from mid-September to mid-October. Please encourage a member of your management team to fill out the survey by scanning the QR code or visiting: svy.mk/1cxMz37

Consumer Affairs minister Jo swinson presents the Tsi Certificate of Approval to reCC Head of Operations mark Cutler at the Tsi Conference in June.

Our subsidiary company, Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd, is continuing to grow. REAL is best known for its Consumer Code for domestic renewable energy sales, but this is only one of seven core activities REAL is now involved in, so the REAL Consumer Code has been renamed the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) to help distinguish between the Code and the company. RECC is approved by the Trading Standards Institute’s new Consumer Codes Approval Scheme.

REAL now has its own logo and website – www.renewableenergyassurance.org.uk – where you can read all about the two consumer codes and five certification schemes that REAL is involved in across renewable energy and organics recycling. The UK’s first commercial scale biomethane injection plant at Poundbury in Dorset is registered with REAL’s Green Gas Certification Scheme – read more on p. 10.

Out and about with our members On 4th June, our gasification and pyrolysis group went to Westminster for its third annual parliamentary reception. The theme was ‘the year of the build’, as the sector enjoys a period of relative stability following the outcome of last year’s RO banding review.

The House of Commons was also the venue for the REA and BP Biofuels biofuels breakfast debate on 21st June. The panel discussions, chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby, were lively to say the least, but all agreed that sustainable biofuels are key for decarbonising transport.

And on 4th July, the Solar Trade Association hosted a first-of-a-kind meeting bringing solar companies and electricity network operators together to foster greater collaboration between the sectors. The event was part of the pan-European PV Grid project, which seeks to identify and overcome barriers to the increased penetration of solar power into the electricity supply, to enable PV to achieve its full potential.

We’ve also hosted an industry day at the UK headquarters of JCB, our biannual biogas training course in St Ives, several sector group meetings and policy seminars and, of course, our Annual Awards Dinner in June – read more about the Awards and forthcoming REA events on p14.

New faces at the Rea follow us on Twitter! scan the Qr code or visit: bit.ly/14HoPdH

We’ve seen several changes in recent months, not least our move to new offices in Victoria. The top news is that Gaynor Hartnell has stepped aside as CEO to be replaced by Dr Nina Skorupska – Gaynor passes the torch on to Nina on p20. Several other colleagues have also moved on, including Head of External Affairs Leonie Greene (who continues to work for the Solar Trade Association), Events Executive Emma Nielsen and Policy Assistant Nicola Darvill.

We have some new faces too, with Frank Gordon taking on the Renewable Power brief, including the Energy Bill, while Leah Ashcroft now heads up Events. Finally, the REA has a new Twitter handle too – you can now join our 3,000+ followers at @REAssociation.

Our new Chief executive dr nina skorupska was introduced to members at the reA Annual Awards dinner in June

REA NEWs summer 2013

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Policy Overview: EU special T

he pros and cons of EU membership is a live debate amongst politicians and the media. But the implications for the renewables Paul Thompson, Head industry are often of Policy, reA overlooked.

One thing is certain: the EU has set the pace when it comes to renewables. Most notably, the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) set binding renewable energy targets for each Member State.

The REA has played a major part in ensuring that the policies Government puts in place to achieve the target are effective, although this has sometimes felt like an uphill struggle!

However, Brussels is now desperately preoccupied with the financial crisis, and apparently putting less time and resource to energy and climate change. The result

is not a direct row-back on renewables policy per se, but a lack of joined-up thinking, with different silos of the EU policy machinery proposing policies which threaten to severely undermine the RED. Our three guest writers offer some examples and explanation. Jan Sisson, MD of German solar company Juwi Renewable Energies, explains how the Trade Commission’s investigation into alleged dumping of Chinese solar panels is freezing investment in PV. Pekka Pesonen of COPA COGECA explains how the Environment Committee has put millions of pounds of biofuels investment at risk with its misguided ‘indirect land use change’ proposals. And carbon trading charity Sandbag explains why the Emissions Trading Scheme – designed to make fossil fuels more expensive and renewables more attractive – is unable to make a tonne of carbon cost more than a cup of coffee.

Finally, Mike Landy, our UK project leader on the ‘Keep on Track!’ project, which tracks and facilitates progress towards our 2020 renewables target, looks at the 2030 energy and climate change Green Paper.

Before handing over to our guests, I would also add that the 2030 Green Paper negotiations offer the UK Government an opportunity to fundamentally reaffirm its commitment not just to renewables, but to climate policy overall. Ever greater uncertainty and complexity in environmental policies, combined with occasional anti-green rhetoric, give the impression of a Government grudgingly implementing inherited commitments without any interest in the pressing reasons for addressing climate change in the first place. Signing up to a triple package of ambitious targets for renewables, carbon and energy efficiency would go a long way towards restoring confidence in the socalled ‘greenest Government ever’.

Biofuels: Commission puts brakes on support

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summer 2013 REA NEWs

“Our industry can tell a good story and it is one that must be told.” double food production by 2050.

However, we must now turn our attention to ensuring the significant benefits that biofuels can contribute to increased production of food, feed and fuel, are understood at plenary and within the Council of Ministers. Given the interests of European farmers in producing feedstocks for both ethanol and biodiesel production, this will not involve picking winners. On-farm, policy decisions that are bad for one feedstock are more often than not bad for the rest of the rotation; such is the fine balance in optimising farm output.

Since the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, the agricultural community has embraced the opportunity to contribute towards European mandates and has subsequently benefitted from market signals which have driven the inevitable global production response. The removal of this market opportunity, coupled with increasing

administrative burdens, leading to the likely underutilisation of land across Europe, does little to promote the necessary drive for green growth across the EU27.

It is easy to simply ask for consistency and certainty from policy makers. However, until this methodical, practical approach materialises, it is up to the industry, in its entirety, to form new and innovative partnerships to demonstrate the benefits of this burgeoning sector. Whilst messages are not always as simple as an opposing ‘food vs fuel’ argument, or an orang-utan holding a petrol pump, our industry can tell a good story and it is one that must be told.

Vivergo Fuels

At the time of writing this, the ramifications of the Environment Committee vote on Thursday 11 July are still being digested by the biofuel supply chain. Early Pekka Pesonen, secretary General, Copa Cogeca interpretations would suggest that Ms Lepage’s ‘compromise’ amendments have failed to reflect any of the concerns voiced by the agricultural industry or our fellow stakeholders.

With the finalisation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a number of high profile bans on essential crop protection products and the continuing attacks on biofuels as environmentally damaging, it would be easy to think that European policy makers have forgotten about robust sciencebased policy making, in favour of a short term agenda. On-farm decisions are being hamstrung by policy and markets are being restricted at an alarming rate. All this at a time of an economic downturn and a need to

Wheat sampling at Vivergo's, newly opened bioethanol plant - read more on page p. 19

solar PV: EU-China trade war stalling UK projects Whichever route developers take to secure PV module supply, given that they constitute around 50% of the cost in a fully-operational PV project, that ROC/FIT income will only go down over time, and that there is relatively limited scope for cost savings elsewhere, we may be faced with a situation similar to Germany, where only around 10% of planned projects remain viable.

For the UK, the chilling effect of antidumping duties could have serious consequences for the UK’s energy economy as a whole. We often boast that solar PV is the most ‘democratic’ form of renewable energy, because it can be implemented at many scales. This means the potential stunting of the solar industry’s growth will also affect a correspondingly wide range of stakeholders.

The main issue is uncertainty today.

In the absence of certainty, investors in large-scale PV projects are naturally more reluctant to put their money down and are demanding even more onerous project warranties to insulate themselves from taking further risk. Ultimately the impact of this will be to slow down the deployment of utility-scale solar PV – to what extent remains to be seen.

The sTA represents the UK in the AFAsE campaign against antidumping duties. For the latest developments, scan the QR code or visit: bit.ly/13jm9xs

solar farms, just beginning to take off in the uK, will be more affected by increased panel prices than roof-mounted schemes juwi Renewable Energies

Ask any solar developer about the current situation regarding PV module supply pricing, availability and purchase conditions - and most will tell you the same thing – Jan sisson, managing they’re not sure Director, juwi renewable energies how much antidumping duties will impact on their projects. There has already been a marked (30-40%) rise in prices for polycrystalline PV modules for delivery before early August, when the higher duties will probably apply, averaging 47%.

After August, will developers be forced to use more expensive modules produced in the EU, or will they still continue to buy Chinese products, albeit at higher prices due to the duties?

Why have around 80% of solar projects used Chinese modules in the past? One reason: they are the most technically and commercially appropriate products in the market.

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REA NEWs summer 2013

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eu eTs: short-term fix welcome, but more work needed For eight years, the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has made carbon emissions a commodity.

11,000 power Baroness Bryony Worthington, Founder stations and Director, sandbag industrial polluters have been given permits allowing carbon pollution, and the right to trade these permits. The theory goes that over time, as the EU reduces the number of permits, industrial emissions will reduce too. As the real costs of emissions are included, renewables increasingly reach grid parity, and investments soar. Not only that, but thanks to the magic of the marketplace, the emissions reductions will come at the cheapest possible price.

The ETS was the first such scheme ever attempted, and it began with problems; heavy industrial lobbying meant the EU’s targets were not set in line with a fair share of global carbon reductions; generous provisions allowing companies to offset emissions with cheaper overseas credits were made; then the recession hit. Economic

output dropped faster than anyone predicted, and with the economy, emissions fell by 27%, far past the 20% reduction planned for 2020. Now the market is so full of permits every single sector is oversupplied, and a tonne of carbon costs just €4. This stockpile stores up a glut of legal pollution further down the line.

At this point we take stock; Sandbag’s research reveals that the ETS has simply cancelled out emissions reductions made in other areas, such as increasing renewables. As it stands, it is an anticlimate policy.

But there is hope; from China to California, from Australia to South Korea, new emissions trading schemes are beginning which fix some of the problems with the EU ETS. European lawmakers have taken heed, and introduced ‘backloading’, which passed through the European Parliament in early July.

‘Backloading’ temporarily delays the hand out of new permits, and so reintroduces a little more scarcity into the market. As reform goes, it will likely only have a small effect on pushing up the rock-bottom carbon price, but as a political signal of the determination to fix the scheme, it’s key.

The European Commission is now hard at work on proposals for major reform, and now is the time for businesses, NGOs and individuals to contribute. Sandbag suggests removing 3.5 billion surplus carbon permits, returning the scheme to its originally intended ambition. Practically, fixing the ETS is simple, if the political will exists for Europe to regain the lead in the fight against climate change.

Destroy Carbon To fix the carbon market, and fight climate change, the EU Emissions Trading scheme must have fewer permits. At sandbag, we offer individuals the chance to buy a permit (at cost price), taking a tonne of pollution out of the scheme, and also email EU leaders encouraging them to reform the market. For more information visit: www.sandbag.org.uk/carbon

Looking to the future: The 2030 Green Paper

G

iven the direct impacts EU policy is having on UK renewables at present, it is timely that in March the European Commission mike Landy, senior published its Policy Analyst, reA uK Project Leader, Keep Green Paper on on Track!

2030 energy and climate policy. It asks what lessons can be learned from the current 2020 framework, while addressing trade-offs between competitiveness, security of supply and sustainability. However, since the 2020 framework was decided in 2008, EU economic growth has stagnated, energy costs have escalated and concerns are mounting about the affordability of ambitious climate change policies.

The 2020 framework committed the EU to a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG), a 20% increase in energy efficiency, and a 20% share of renewables. The UK’s

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summer 2013 REA NEWs

specific renewables target is 15% overall energy with a sub-target of 10% transport energy. The Commission reported that most Member States are broadly in line with their national action plans, but the UK is one of only four countries not to meet its 2011/12 indicative target by the end of 2010, leaving us “needing improvement”. The REA represents the UK in the European Keep on Track! project, which charts progress against the targets and works with stakeholders to overcome the key barriers. The project’s first annual progress reports were published in June as part of EU Sustainable Energy Week.

The 2020 framework has had a significant impact on annual renewable energy growth rates across Europe, increasing from 1.9% pre-2000 to an average 4.5%. However, with disruptive changes to support schemes and continuing economic challenges, the outlook for 2020 does not look promising. Only 4% of respondents to our recent Confidence Survey think the target is achievable. UK renewables need to grow 16% year-on-year to reach our 2020 target.

The Commission’s 2050 Roadmap projects

a renewables share of around 30% in 2030.

The European Renewable Energy Council is calling for a 2030 target of 45%. The 2030 Green Paper takes a more cautious approach, and asks whether a separate renewables target is even needed, or whether they should compete with other approaches under a simple carbon target (our Government’s preferred approach).

The REA’s response to the consultation gave an emphatic YES to the need for a 2030 renewables target, which should be legally binding and distributed at Member State level, as at present. The focus should be on how high to set the target and how to ensure the right balance is struck between competitiveness, energy security and sustainability.

To read the reA’s response to the 2030 Green Paper, scan the Qr code or visit: bit.ly/14Hc6rD

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All systems go for green gas to grid J

J V Energen

V Energen has built and operates the first commercial scale plant in the UK to inject 100% renewable gas into the gas grid at Rainbarrow Farm in Andrew phillips, rural director of Finance at the Dorset. J V Energen duchy of cornwall is a joint venture between three parties. The Duchy of Cornwall needed renewable energy to assist their project development; J V Farming needed more sustainable break crops and fertiliser sources; and Active Business Partnerships helped pull the project together.

This joint venture approach between a land-owner and property developer, local farmers, and strategic business consultants, coupled with the local gas network operator, Scotia Gas Networks, has ensured the right mix of direction, funding, technical expertise, and agricultural knowledge.

We can handle all stages of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process within the team, from growing crops to using the digestate.

Each party brought something to the venture, and had something to gain from its success.

Rainbarrow Farm sits on Duchy of Cornwall land just outside Poundbury,

hrh the prince of Wales officially opened the plant in november 2012

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summer 2013 REA NEWs

the urban extension to the Dorset county town of Dorchester which is built to The Prince of Wales’s architectural principles.

Poundbury is famous internationally as a pioneering example of urban development and is a striking example of a sustainable community designed to put the needs of people before cars. Poundbury was created

by His Royal Highness to break the mould of post-Second World War development and mixes high-density social and private housing with work and leisure facilities.

Poundbury is expected to be fully completed by 2025 when it will house approximately 5,000 people and provide 2,000 jobs in factories, offices and general facilities across the site. It is already home to 2,000 people and provides employment for some 1,650 people and 140 businesses.

The Duchy of Cornwall started looking at sustainable energy solutions for Poundbury in 2008 and work began in June 2011 on the anaerobic digester. The project was undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 was the development of the AD to generate biogas and electricity, which was completed in February 2012, with electrical generation commencing at the end of March. Phase 2 involved working closely with Scotia Gas Networks for the clean-up and treatment of the raw biogas to produce biomethane for injection into the local gas network, which began in October 2012.

HRH The Prince of Wales officially opened the plant in November 2012. His Royal Highness has long advocated the importance of protecting the planet’s finite resources and finding sustainable solutions to our energy needs. His Royal Highness has been consulted at every stage of this pioneering project as well as visiting the site throughout the development and since. The Prince is pleased that Poundbury and Dorchester has a sustainable and long-term supply of renewable energy.

Inputs And outputs The plant uses around 41,000 tonnes per year of a mixture of maize silage, grass silage and food waste. This fuel is sourced from local farms and businesses, including Dorset Cereals and House of Dorchester Chocolate Factory (both based in Poundbury), and a local potato processing plant in Weymouth.

At full production we will produce 400kWh of electricity and inject 400m3 of biomethane into the gas network per hour, enough gas for the annual requirements of 3,200 new build houses. The gas will spread through the distribution network to around 4,000 homes in the winter and 56,000 homes in the summer.

The electricity and biomethane produced at Rainbarrow Farm will provide a substantial proportion of the energy requirements for Poundbury, and will produce a net carbon saving of around 4,435 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.

Using biogas to produce biomethane, rather than electricity, is more energy efficient than using it in a CHP and also allows for the direct displacement of fossil-derived natural gas. pIoneerIng ApproAch Rainbarrow Farm is the first commercial scale plant to inject biomethane into the local gas distribution network, the first to use a three-stage membrane technology to clean the biogas, the first biomethane operator to register for and receive the Renewable Heat Incentive, and the first registrant on the REAL Green Gas Certification Scheme.

J V Energen is also a founding partner in Barrow Green Gas, a gas shipping company

engagement and recognition Before any work commenced we held a public consultation with the local community – residents, councillors, farmers – and the planning application was amended as appropriate. Since then there have been

J V Energen

which trades biomethane and Green Gas Certificates to enable organisations to reduce their carbon footprint.

At Rainbarrow Farm, new membrane scrubbing technology developed by DMT delivers an extremely pure methane gas with very low losses of methane. In delivering a purer methane gas with higher calorific value, less propane is required to reach the appropriate level required for network entry.

This technology requires extremely low maintenance and operating costs.

Equipment was installed throughout the AD plant and the biogas clean-up plant to provide biogas in a steady state condition with low oxygen, hydrogen sulphide and nitrogen content. This was important as it meant the gas would be fully compliant with the UK Gas Safety Management Regulations.

The cost of construction of the AD plant was very competitive in the industry, with consultancy and professional fees minimised, setting an economically compelling example for others.

rainbarrow Farm in dorset, the site of the Poundbury Biomethane Project

hundreds of visitors to the site, and J V Energen takes very seriously its role of engaging both with the industry and the general public. The site has been visited by numerous groups, including the REA, ADBA, national and local government, the IEA Bioenergy Task 37 Biogas Group, UK and overseas property developers, farmers, agricultural students, and local residents. It has raised the profile of AD and biomethane through national and international press articles, and through the BBC and ITN. It is immensely gratifying that all the hard work has been recognised by the energy and renewables industries. J V Energen has received several awards already, including the Leadership Award at the REA’s British Renewable Energy Awards in June. Together with Scotia Gas Networks, we were also

finalists in the Project Award category.

In April the plant won an Environmental Impact Award at the 2013 UK Energy Innovation Awards, and in July a UK AD & Biogas Award for Making the Most of Biogas.

The project is the result of bold teamwork.

It wasn’t a public company, or a venture capital fund, or a local authority or a Government department which achieved this project, but a private estate with a commitment and a willingness to pioneer renewable energy solutions, working in partnership with local farmers, business consultants and the local gas network operator. Now that the path has been tested and proved, others will follow and we hope the UK biomethane industry will take off.

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e-POWER AUCTION OUT PERFORMS THE ELECTRICITY PPA MARKET Cornwall Energy have produced some interesting analysis of the last three e-POWER auctions.* Their analysis shows that compared with typical short term bilateral PPAs that might offer 85% to 95% of full market value, generating sites in the latest e-POWER auction achieved an average of 98.1%. The results were very similar too for the previous two auctions (98.0% and 95.9%).

Suppliers are increasingly finding the e-POWER auction a convenient place to buy power with 17 taking part this time compared to 14 in the last auction.

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email: e-power@nfpas.co.uk

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REA NEWS summer 2013

11

MAXIMISE THE VALUE OF

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4th Floor, Higham House

email: e-power@nfpas.co.uk

New Bridge Street West

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Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AN

Renewables a safer investment bet than the unburnable carbon bubble

I

dysfunctionally to overheat the planet.

It does not even require governments to regulate emissions in the way they have promised. It simply invites investors to recognise that they might, and that capex would be better invested in smarter things.

Immediately we scored a goal. HSBC oil and gas analyst Paul Spedding said that our report “makes it clear that ‘business as usual’ is not a viable option for the fossil fuel industry in the long term. Management should already be looking to new business models that reduce the risk of stranded assets destroying shareholder value. In future, capital allocation should emphasise shareholder returns rather than investing for growth.”

Of course, the moral arguments, made in parallel, make an even stronger case. In the US, the Fossil Free campaign, launched by a coalition of student organisers and groups such as 350.org, has been arguing for divestment of fossil fuels on moral grounds.

As a result, more than 400 US university campuses and dozens of cities, including Seattle and San Francisco, have campaigns to promote divestment from hydrocarbons.

Media coverage of the Carbon Tracker analysis and the Fossil Free campaign has spread rapidly. On 4 May, The Economist concluded that “neither public policies nor markets reflect the risks of a warmer world”. On 16 May, The Wall Street Journal concluded that “the concept of a carbon bubble has gone mainstream”.

On the same day, the first carbon bubble resolution at an energy company annual general meeting won strong support: 20% of shareholders in Consol Energy supported a request that the US coal and gas giant report

Carbon Tracker & Grantham Research Institute, Lse 2013

have been advocating renewables as the backbone of a global response to the grave danger of climate change for a quarter of a century now. In all that time, I have Jeremy Leggett, never seen anything Chairman of solarcentury, solarAid trouble the deeplyand Carbon Tracker entrenched fossil fuel incumbency the way the carbon bubble debate has this year.

Let me tell the story chronologically. On 18 April, Carbon Tracker, a small group of financial analysts that I chair, published its second report. In our first report in 2011, we calculated the amount of “unburnable carbon” in coal, oil and gas reserves if governments meet their commitments to keep the rise in global temperatures below the danger threshold of 2° C. The figure we reached for this “stranded” carbon was 80%.

We also analysed its distribution, company by company and stock exchange by stock exchange. Taking this as a starting point, our second report looked at the capital expenditure that could be wasted over the next ten years by listed fossil fuel companies in chasing reserves that will have to be left in the ground. The answer is more than $6 trillion, if last year’s spend is replicated.

There is a lot that the renewables industries could do with even a fraction of that.

The stranded-asset argument is new and dangerous for the incumbency. It does not use ecological or moral levers to try to stop the enormous amounts of capital flowing

on the financial risks associated with having to leave most of its coal reserves in the ground.

Entering June, Rio Tinto announced that it wanted to exit $3 billion of Australian coal assets. On 10 June, the International Energy Agency concluded that 60-80% of coal would need to stay in the ground.

Ten days later, coal diehards hit back. The Australian Coal Association warned that activists were using “invalid slogans” as part of a “radical campaign” to scare off investors, in an effort “to disrupt and ultimately destroy the Australian coal industry”.

On 8 July, Norway’s biggest insurance company, Storebrand, announced that it was ditching 19 companies with interests in coal and tar sands. Storebrand will prefer “longterm, stable returns” henceforth.

Four days later came the development that might yet prove the clincher for renewables advocates. Impax Asset Management produced a report showing that fossil fuel divestment can increase returns — the more so if you invest in a mix of clean energy.

The bad news for the incumbency continued through July. The World Bank announced that it would be limiting financing of coal-fired power plants to rare circumstances where no feasible alternatives are available. The US Export-Import Bank declined to participate in the financing of a large coal-fired plant in Vietnam on environmental grounds. The European Investment Bank announced it would be dropping coal investments. Goldman Sachs released a report concluding: "we believe these events are indicative of a gradually worsening outlook for thermal coal demand, with implications for equity investors in particular."

Meanwhile, global investment in renewables has grown steadily to more than $250 billion a year. The quantity of renewables capacity added annually exceeds that of fossil fuels and nuclear combined. We can expect these trends to accelerate as the carbon bubble risk becomes more widely appreciated.

Jeremy Leggett's book The Energy of Nations: Risk Blindness and the Road to Renaissance is published by Routledge on September 26th (see www. jeremyleggett.net/books). This article is an edited update of his latest monthly column for Recharge Magazine.

Carbon Tracker revealed that $674bn is being spent each year to develop fossil fuel resources into proven reserves, adding further to levels of 'unburnable carbon

Rea news summer 2013

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REA EVENTS AUTUMN 2013 REA HEAD OF OPERATIONS LINDSAY BARNETT INVITES YOU TO JOIN THE REA’S TEAM OF ExPERTS AT OUR INDUSTRY-LEADINg EVENTS. For more inFormation on all rea events, email events@r-e-a.net or visit www.r-e-a.net/events

FORTHCOMINg REA EVENTS Domestic RHI Seminar 5tH sePtemBer - lonDon

bit.ly/1cK92cu

after much waiting, we now know that the Domestic renewable Heat incentive will open for applications in spring 2014. at our rHi seminar, DeCC officials will give presentations and take questions on:

• the opportunities the rHi offers; • the decision-making processes behind the policy; • and details of how to comply with the regulations. the scheme will support biomass boilers, solar thermal systems and air and ground source heat pumps. we have invited specialists from each of these technology sectors to share their insights and highlight the sales opportunities for your business. £175 | £125 for REA/RECC members

REA/Siemens Financial Services: Energy Efficiency Financing Seminar 19tH sePtemBer - lonDon more and more businesses and organisations are looking to cut carbon and costs by installing on-site energy saving and energy generation equipment. siemens Financial services offer a number of financing options bit.ly/1cK92cu in this sector. the finance can make it easier for consumers to purchase systems by reducing upfront capital requirements, and hence make it easier for installers to sell their products. this event will tell you how becoming a recognised supplier could help your company develop a more compelling customer proposition and close more deals.

FREE

Energy Demand Response Seminar 24tH sePtemBer - lonDon energy demand response is a way of modifying user demand for electricity, primarily by offering financial incentives. the idea is to encourage commercial and industrial users to consume less grid-supplied electricity during peak hours, bit.ly/13Vv5YT thereby allowing power companies to manage their supply more efficiently. this seminar will provide delegates with a unique opportunity to gain a full understanding of the opportunities that ‘demand response’ provides as well as the policies that drive them. attendance is a must if you are: • a medium/large electricity consumer; • a renewable power generator; • a provider of standby generating equipment; • or a provider of advice within the energy sector. £200 | £150 for REA members

Second REA EMR Seminar 6tH novemBer - lonDon the electricity market reform programme is “the biggest transformation of Britain's electricity market since privatisation”, according to the secretary of state for energy ed Davey. it will have implications across the whole energy sector, and bit.ly/14HdZh9 especially renewable power, as Contracts for Difference replace the renewables obligation.

DeCC has recently begun the process of consulting on the detailed secondary legislation outlining how emr will be implemented. this event is therefore ideally timed to update industry on how the latest policy developments will impact on your business. £200 | £150 for REA members

RECENT REA EVENTS

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EMR SEMINAR 27tH marCH

REA AWARDS 13tH JUne

PLANNINg CONFERENCE 18tH aPril

BIOgAS OPERATINg & ENgINEERINg COURSE 25tH-28tH JUne

UK BIOMETHANE DAY 2013 21st maY

REA INDUSTRY DAY 10tH JUlY

gASIFICATION & PYROLISIS PARLIAMENTARY RECEPTION 4tH JUne

RHI BIOMASS SEMINAR 15th JUlY

SUMMER 2013 rea news

reA AWArDs 2013 CONGrAtuLAtIONs tO eVeryBODy WhO WAs NOmINAteD AND esPeCIALLy the WINNers! Thanks To eveRyone who helpeD make The awaRDs a suCCess, paRTICulaRly ChaIR oF JuDGes peTeR aInswoRTh, aFTeR-DInneR speakeR mIChael poRTIllo anD oF CouRse ouR sponsoRs. Champion Award Winner: Peter Fraenkel

phil Clarke-hill/Rea

For longstanding commitment to the promotion of not just tidal energy, but also solar, wind, hydro and biomass. Peter is currently progressing a radical new energy storage concept.

Community Award Sponsored by Infinis Winner: repowering The Judges were particularly impressed by the skills and employment opportunities Repowering created for Brixton residents, and its role in bringing energy awareness to hundreds of social housing tenants. Read more about Repowering on p. 35.

Gaynor hartnell’s last reA Awards Gala Dinner as Chief executive, where her successor Dr Nina skorupska was introduced to the members

Commended: westmill solar Farm

Project Award Sponsored by reNews Winner: solarcentury – Blackfriars Bridge

Company Award Winner: Good energy

The Judges recognise the truly iconic status of this worldfamous project, which has done much to raise the profile of the UK as a destination for renewables investment.

This Award acknowledges the marriage of bright ideas, a passion for renewables, and an unrelenting commitment to excellent customer service.

Innovation Award Winner: Oxford PV – solar Glass A technology with the potential to turn iconic glass buildings into powerhouses, with no compromise to building performance.

Commended: 3sun Group – RFID wind turbine health and safety inspection system

Installer Award Winner: ecohill renewable energy solutions Ecohill is a family company with an impeccable customer service record, and a worthy winner.

Commended: Feed It Green

Leadership Award Winner: J V energen LLP The Poundbury project was incredibly complex. J V Energen and partners had to overcome challenges which no company had encountered before, and showed tremendous leadership. Read more about the Poundbury project on p. 10.

Pioneer Award Sponsored by Blue & Green Tomorrow Winner: Lancashire County Pension Fund This Award acknowledges LCPF’s bold move into infrastructure debt – hiring new staff along the way – and bucking the trend of conservatism.

Commended: Clearfleau – Dailuaine aD plant

skills Development Award Winner: NatWest The Judges applaud NatWest for training up their staff in response to the growing demand for renewables funding, when there are many other more established sectors equally hungry for credit.

Finally, the reA Judges’ Award this year goes to Andrew Garrad. andrew founded what has become the world’s largest wind energy consultancy Garrad hassan, which last year became the Renewables Division of Germanischer lloyd Group (Gl Gh), employing 1,000 staff worldwide, a quarter of these in the uk. andrew is now the Chairman of Gl Gh, and also the president of the european wind energy association. reA Chairman martin Wright said: “GL Garrad Hassan is a household name in the world of renewables, in no small measure because of the entrepreneurial drive of Andrew Garrad. He is a giant in the industry and many renewables projects would not have gone ahead were it not for the diligent and rigorous consultancy work provided by Andrew and his team.”

Rea news summer 2013

15

I

n the 1990s, Peter Fraenkel (winner of this year’s REA Champion Award) successfully powered a light bulb from a turbine mounted Stephanie Merry, beneath a moored raft Head of Marine in Loch Linnhe. In April Renewables, REA this year, Marine Current Turbine’s 1.2MW Seagen tidal turbine celebrated its fifth anniversary. It has now delivered more than 7GWh of power to the electricity grid.

Wave power has developed in parallel.

Literally hundreds of inventions have been developed to extract and exploit wave energy. These include the deep water ‘sea snake’ Pelamis and the shallow water flapping Oyster.

The UK remains the global leader in marine renewables, not least because of the exemplary test facilities at the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkneys, a partially-consented site for deployment with

ready-made grid connection.

Underpinning the marine energy sector in the UK are the skills of our workforce ‒ creative engineers who thrive on new challenges, backed up by experience from the offshore oil and gas sector.

Project developers are now planning deployment of arrays of multiple devices.

This will inform the debate about the technical and environmental interactions of devices in close proximity.

Minister Greg Barker recently announced the creation of the UK’s first two Marine Energy Parks, one in southwest England and one in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters. This initiative seeks to foster business collaboration, attract investment and accelerate the commercialisation of marine energy.

However, the move to Contracts for Difference could jeopardise this progress by injecting increased uncertainty into the market, while the dropping of the Renewables Obligation removes the incentive for suppliers

Issues with the Energy Bill must be resolved to get ocean energy investment flowing again.

to invest in innovative renewables projects.

Meanwhile environmental regulators have concerns about perceived (yet often unfounded) environmental impacts of these new technologies. The costs of environmental impact assessments and monitoring weigh heavily on the sector, while the presence of a conditional license to operate further disincentivises investment.

The potential benefits of wave and tidal energy development to the UK cannot be ignored. Innovative and exciting projects can help build awareness and political capital in marine energy, so I’m delighted to share with you Mark Shorrock’s plans for a tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay.

200 Strand, London, WC2R 1DJ Telephone: +44(0)20 7539 7272 Fax: +44(0)20 7240 6143

Major suppliers of renewable Fuels to European power generators, industrial, commercial and domestic users.

Biomass UK provides renewable and necessary material for both direct power generation and co-burning with conventional fuels derived from sustainable production.

Fuel types include woodchip, sawdust, wood pellet, PKE, olive cake and other plant derived fuels.

Contact: John White, Managing Director Office: +44 (0)20 7539 7272 • Fax: +44 (0)20 7240 6143 Mobile: +44 (0)7831 669660 • Direct Fax: +44 (0) 1653 628003

16

SUMMER 2013 REA NEWS

Pelamis Wave Power

Ocean energy: From rising tide to stormy waters

Harnessing the

Tidal Lagoon Power Limited

power of the tide…

Concept art of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon

A

10,000MW program of tidal lagoons could provide 10% of the UK’s baseload electricity requirements. Tidal lagoons are a viable, Mark Shorrock, large scale alternative to Chief Executive, conventional electricity Tidal Lagoon Power production. They combine proven technologies and civil engineering construction methodologies in an innovative configuration to generate predictable, clean electricity for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The Swansea Bay development will have a rated capacity of 240MW, generating 420GWh net annual output that will save over 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and generate enough electricity for the 109,000 homes in the Swansea area. In addition to generating electricity, the £750 million development will create up to 3,000 jobs during the construction phases and also provide visitor facilities and other amenities including art, education, mariculture and sporting/recreational facilities. The seawall is expected to be open to the public during daylight hours for recreational use including walking, running and cycling.

Swansea Bay has been chosen as it offers the necessary conditions for building lagoons ‒ the water must be shallow and the tidal range must be large. The Severn Estuary holds the second highest tidal range in the world and Swansea Bay reaches a range of

just over 10 metres. As well as benefitting from this key characteristic, Swansea has a gently sloping seabed (suitable for this construction method) and proximity to a population centre, such that transmission losses are minimised from the electricity produced.

In order to control the flow of seawater to generate electricity, the lagoon will be built by forming a 9.5 kilometre-long, U-shaped seawall running from Swansea Port out to sea before curving back to re-join land adjacent to Swansea University’s new Science and Innovation Campus (SAIC).

The seawall will have a sediment core held in place by a casing of sediment-filled geotextile tubes, known as Geotubes®. The outside of the structure will be covered in rock armour of various sizes, depending on its level of exposure. The sand used to form the walls will be taken from within the lagoon footprint. Rock armour will then be brought in by sea to provide protection. The top of the seawall will have an access road which will

“The £750 million development will create up to 3,000 jobs during the construction phases and also provide visitor facilities and other amenities including art, education, mariculture and sporting/ recreational facilities”

be used for operation and maintenance of the lagoon as well as for visitors.

In the south-western part of the seawall there will be a turbine/sluice gate housing structure. The housing structure will contain 16 hydro turbines, which will be permanently underwater. These turbines (which will be seven metres in diameter) will generate electricity on both the flood (in-coming) and ebb (out-going) tides. There will also be 10 sluice gates ‒ these large underwater gates will let seawater in and out of the lagoon without going through the turbines, as required.

The generation sequence will happen on the flood and ebb tides, four times a day in total. The electricity generated from the lagoon will be transported to the nearest National Grid substation at Baglan by underground cables. The cables will be laid in the seawall and then alongside existing roads/paths to the River Neath and onto the substation.

With formal consultation having just finished and a community share offer also closing shortly, support for our proposals at a local level has been overwhelmingly positive.

We are on course to submit a planning application in late 2013 and, if successful, work should begin construction in April 2015 with the power plant connected to the National Grid and ‘power ready’ in spring 2018. That’s when we’ll start to change the balance of the UK’s energy mix by harnessing the power of the UK natural resources bestowed on our island nation.

REA NEWS SUMMER 2013

17

Providing solutions to meet your renewable energy needs

Meet face-to-face with the renewable energy community

All-Energ y 2014 Call for Paper s coming so o n w w w.all-e nergy.co.uk / conference

All-Energy is the UK’s only face-to-face forum covering all renewable energy sectors, providing the best platform for you to do business with national and international executives, developers, engineers, politicians and investors as well as major oil and gas organisations eager to explore opportunities in renewables and attend the world-class conference.

87% of visitors said they were satisfied with the event, and 88% said they were likely to attend in 2014 64% of visitors had the following job titles – MD, Partner, Owner, President, CEO, Board Member, Manager, Team Leader 54% of attendees have specific renewables projects coming up in the next 5 years 7687 attendees from 48 countries 606 exhibiting companies from 17 countries

Interested In Exhibiting Contact the sales team: 44 (0)20 8439 5560

all-energy@reedexpo.co.uk Featuring ENERGY EFFICIENCY

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Follow us on Twitter @AllEnergy

www.all-energy.co.uk

member News Dan Medlicott – Membership Development Executive, REA For more information about our members or how to join the REA, scan the QR code, visit www.r-e-a.net/membership or email me at dmedlicott@r-e-a.net

Vivergo welcomes Vince Cable to open UK’s largest bioethanol plant

Vivergo Fuels

Bluefield Partners

Business Secretary Vince Cable MP opened Vivergo’s bioethanol plant at Saltend, near Hull, in July. The development has supported over 1,000 jobs in construction, and will support 80 permanent, highly skilled jobs in operation. As well as producing 420 million litres of renewable transport fuel every year, the £350 million plant will also generate 500,000 tonnes of animal feed co-products annually for use by UK livestock farmers.

Vince Cable said: “Vivergo is a good example of how joint ventures, using the financial support and expertise of big companies, can not only create local jobs but also help meet the energy security and fuel demands of our country and support local farmers."

David Richards, Managing Director of Vivergo, said: “Our business is a great example of sustainable economic growth, ensuring that valuable commodities such as bioethanol and animal feed which ordinarily would have been imported are produced here in the UK.”

Lse goes blue and green

Solar and wind power have arrived on the London Stock Exchange. In March, Greencoat UK Wind successfully raised £260 million on the main market of the London Stock Exchange to invest in six operational UK wind farms. BIS invested £50 million and the Green Investment Bank

purchased 24.5% of the Rhyl Flats offshore wind farm alongside Greencoat. Stephen Lilley, Partner of Greencoat Capital, said: “Greencoat UK Wind represents the first opportunity to invest into a listed infrastructure fund, fully invested in operating UK wind farms.”

In July, Bluefield Partners launched Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited.

The £130 million fund, which focuses on large scale agricultural and industrial solar assets, is the first of its kind in the UK. Bluefield Managing Partner James Armstrong said: “The Fund has been backed by a broad range of large institutional investors, which is a clear reflection that solar energy assets are rightly being recognised as a great way to earn long term, stable income.”

Cabinet Office reaping multi-million pound benefits of direct contracting with Air Products Air Products recently tied up a deal with the Cabinet Office’s Government Procurement Service to deliver electricity for 20 years at a fixed price. This will significantly lower the cost Government pays for energy and support the creation of hundreds of local jobs.

The Cabinet Office anticipates savings of £97 million over the life of the contract. The deal will allow Government to buy a portion of its electricity directly from one of Air Products’ gasification facilities at a low fixed price via an innovative Power Purchase Agreement rather than buying entirely through short-term wholesale markets which are subject to unpredictable price fluctuations.

REA Chief Executive at the time Gaynor Hartnell said: “It is excellent to see the commercial arm of Government realising the benefits of contracting directly with a renewable generator.

The generator gets the benefit of a long-term PPA, which coupled with ROCs provides a steady income stream. The purchaser gets certainty over its future electricity costs. We hope more such agreements are finalised.”

Clarke energy

Clarke energy to supply first ever biogas engines for sub-saharan Africa Clarke Energy has signed a deal with Tropical Power to provide two biogas engines for an anaerobic digestion plant in Kenya. The plant, believed to be the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, will produce enough energy to power roughly 5,000-6,000 typical homes in rural Kenya. The engines are specially configured to operate at the high altitude of the project, nearly 2,000 metres above sea level.

James Hobday, Clarke Energy’s new Business Development Manager for

Africa, said: “This project demonstrates the viability of biogas as a power source in Africa to deliver significant supplies of power to the region.”

Clarke Energy will provide support to Tropical Power, training operators with gas engine operation and maintenance.

The more demanding maintenance procedures will be supported by Clarke Energy’s East African service hub.

The biogas engines are scheduled for delivery to Kenya in the last quarter of 2013.

Rea news summer 2013

19

Passing the torch In July, outgoing REA Chief Executive Gaynor Hartnell met up with her successor Dr Nina skorupska to share their experiences and look to the future.

GH: Tell me about yourself, Nina. How did you get here? What’s your background?

NS: Oh my goodness – how long have you got?! Well, joining the REA and taking up this opportunity to be its new CEO was a really good decision for me. I’ve been working for 25 years in the energy industry, from running power stations to leading a trading floor. In all that time, everything I’ve done has been about improving things and making them more efficient.

Gaynor, believe it or not, when I started my career no one was concerned with CO2.

Renewables were there, but it was really just about making electricity as affordable and as reliable as possible.

So next I went to work in Germany, and then my last role was in the Netherlands where I was a chief technical officer,

20

summer 2013 REA NEWs

responsible for the largest energy company in the country. This role was not just about making electricity, but dealing with the sustainability arguments too. In the Netherlands, they talk about a ‘bio-based economy’, and my company at that time was at the forefront of that agenda. So coming to the REA builds on all those ideas: making energy as efficient, as affordable and now also as sustainable as possible. That’s why coming here now seems like the right thing to do.

GH: That kind of background and experience certainly gives you a good grounding for the role – it isn’t an easy job!

NS: Definitely! Coming back to the UK, you can see the situation is very complicated. All the different stakeholders, the Government, the members, the media, third parties... How

did you manage all that? Especially with the financial crisis as well?

GH: It’s certainly not an easy time for the sector. A few years ago, everything was rosy in the garden. We had a challenging renewables target, which meant that all of the different renewable technologies could look forward to unconstrained expansion.

There was no question of having to compete with each other; they were expanding to meet the target at the fastest rate they could.

But with the challenging financial climate and the “runaway train” situation with the solar PV Feed-in Tariffs remaining too high, things changed. The Government became sensitised as to how it manages the financial control of its policies. It has responded by mapping out exactly what contributions it wants from each technology and making sure these contributions are not going to be exceeded. In other words it fell firmly into the mode of trying to “pick winners”.

NS: I thought they really wanted the market to decide?

GH: Well that may be the rhetoric, but it’s not the reality. It has created challenges within the industry, because there is a tendency now to compete with each other, or even turn against each other – a tendency I’ve tried hard to prevent.

NS: So what did you think success would look like when you started off in the REA? You’ve now been the CEO for a number of years...

GH: I was there right from the beginning, actually. I was a catalyst in setting it up.

It’s no secret that I would have liked there to be one united voice for the whole of the renewable energy sector: a professional, really well-resourced organisation, putting the evidence base to the Government in a really coherent way. It’s what I would like to see happen and always have.

When the REA started we only covered electricity. In fact we were called the Renewable Power Association. Renewable electricity was the only show in town. We lobbied to get heat and transport covered, and changed our name to the REA in 2005.

Since then we’ve got polices across all of the sectors and it has been a case of trying to get them working in a way which enables the market to deliver the winners – not have Government picking the winners. Clearly it’s not turning out that way at the moment, but that’s what we need to get back to.

NS: That is where I believe I can bring my experience of balancing affordability – which is obviously a big focus for the Government – and the drive for sustainability – which is absolutely where the renewables fit in.

I also want to deal with this myth that renewables can’t deliver reliability. There are so many technologies, it is such a broad church, that renewables really can provide the answer. So hopefully I can walk that tightrope and achieve some of these things a little bit further down the line.

GH: All power to your elbow! I think it is time for a new direction. Government policy is getting incredibly complicated.

Elements are interacting with each other in a way that’s hard to predict – particularly when it comes to this Electricity Market Reform package.

NS: Maybe with my business background I can work with the members to become this force, this bigger voice. I hope we really can support the Government in achieving its targets, but at the same time allow this wonderful industry to be able to make a profit too, and to be successful, and to be sustainable as a growing part of the economy. It’s tricky! There’s still so much to do! You’re handing over the baton to me, so I’m going to ask you a question now: What advice would you give me?

GH: Well, you will be working with some very committed and knowledgeable individuals on the Board of Directors and you’ve got great staff too, so the framework is there. Beyond that, I think it’s very important to have clear principles and stick to them. I’ve always felt that, with such a broad church of members, you’ve got to be crystal clear about what you’re doing and why. So set out your principles, stick to them, be clear about them. In my opinion you need that firm grounding philosophy.

NS: Thank you. As you can imagine, like every business leader who comes into a new area and wants to hit the ground running, a big part of what I’m going to be doing is listening. Hopefully, when I speak to people, they’ll realise what I want to

Nina skorupska in the operations room of the power plant she ran in at moerdijk in the Netherlands

Gaynor Hartnell speaking at Action renewables’ rHI Conference in Belfast in June

achieve, but also share their views quite openly with me so that we can take the REA forward and build on what you’ve achieved so far Gaynor.

GH: I’m really looking forward to seeing where you take the REA. And of course I am excited about moving on to the new things I want to do. But the REA will always be dear to my heart. And I’d like to stay involved to some extent and help in whatever capacity I can. I can see the Association is going to be in great hands, Nina! Welcome to the REA!

This is an edited version of the conversation, which we also filmed. Watch exclusive excerpts from the conversation on our YouTube Channel. Scan the QR code or visit: bit.ly/1d36zIB

REA NEWS summer 2013

21

Organic waste is energy

ed award s t n e i l c nd Weltec D Project” a ” A “Best Award t u p t u “AD O

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05/08/2013 12:58

The Levy Control Framework: A tricky tightrope for Government

T

he Government has made a splash by publishing proposed renewables support rates (‘strike prices’) under its flagship Contracts for Difference (CfD) support programme Tom edwards, Pricing for low carbon power.

Analyst Cornwall But this policy entails an energy obligation on electricity suppliers financed through consumer bills.

The Levy Control Framework (LCF) is a mechanism designed to ensure that the levies on consumers are kept below a maximum threshold. The policies specifically included under the framework are: the Renewables Obligation (RO), small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) and CfDs. The cap on spending for the next three years has already been set out, rising from £2.6 billion in 2012-13 to

£3.9 billion in 2014-15. In December 2012 the Government announced that by 2020 the cap would increase to £7.6 billion (in 2012 money). DECC is expected to publish a summary and forecast of the costs under each policy for each year. The Government has 20% headroom in the cap before it has to develop a plan to bring the costs of policies back in line. However, as the policy is a cap, any renewables underspend as a result of investor uncertainty will not be rolled over into subsequent years.

A PwC report published in March concluded that the limited CfD pot will delay investment in UK renewables. Using the Government renewable energy roadmap, the report noted that there will be a shortfall in CfD funding beginning in 2017 and lasting until 2025.

Cornwall Energy has undertaken its own analysis of the LCF in light of the publication

of the strike prices and using the 2012 Gone Green scenario published by National Grid.

National Grid’s scenario is used as it has lower capacity forecasts compared with DECC but still meets the UKs renewables targets.

The modelling shows that the LCF is breached in 2018-19. However, this remains under the 20% cap and by 2020-21 the total cost is estimated at £8.4 billion. A further scenario has been modelled with a less optimistic view of offshore wind development, based on committed projects only. In this case the spending cap is not exceeded, with costs reaching £7.3 billion in 2020-21. However under this scenario the UK does not meet its renewable energy targets. The Government has a tightrope to walk in order to ensure it meets both its targets for energy affordability, which is a pressing issue today, and its targets for renewables deployment, with the long term advantages that brings.

Harvesting the sunshine sTA Chief Executive Paul Barwell explains how the UK is just beginning to realise the potential of large scale solar, and sets out the steps industry is taking to ensure best practice

Westmill solar Co-operative introduces the local community to the solar farm they have invested in

to do so by knee-jerk political actions. The UK has ample lower quality agricultural land it can use, but we must use it wisely.

The STA membership has drawn up its own best practice guidance, which lists Ten Commitments for responsible solar developers. This ensures that the industry will work in partnership with residents, landowners, local planners and other organisations like the NFU and the newly formed National Solar Centre to ensure that solar farms are socially responsible.

We have also set up steering groups to cover grid connection and public relations and we are represented on various DECC task forces including ‘engagement’ and ‘sustainability and land use’.

Together we have a common goal to achieve Government’s ambitions of 20GW by 2020. Opinion polls show the public loves solar, and as long as we ensure that solar farms are developed responsibly, they will have a big role to play in reaching that goal.

REA NEWs summer 2013

23

Westmill solar Co-operative

S

olar farms have arrived in the UK! Large scale solar has undergone a renaissance, as changes to the policy framework mean that solar farms are now a real commercial Paul Barwell, Chief executive, solar Trade prospect. This is largely Association thanks to the reductions we have seen in the cost of the technology (bar unexpected policy costs in light of the European Commission’s anti-dumping tariffs – read more on this from STA member juwi on p. 7).

This is great news for our energy security and climate change objectives, and it is no surprise to see solar power take its rightful place in the Government’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, thanks in large part to strong lobbying from the STA. However, mindful of the issues that have plagued onshore wind, MPs have been quick to jump on press stories criticising large scale solar in recent months. It is in the industry’s interests to self-regulate, before it gets forced

PRASEG

Alan Whitehead addressing a PrAseG Conference. Alan is also co-chair of the Co-Chair of the Associate Parliamentary sustainable resource Group (APsrG).

The Hartnell Interview: Alan Whitehead In her final Hartnell Interview as REA Chief Executive, Gaynor talks to Alan Whitehead MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Renewable & sustainable Energy Group (PRAsEG) GH: Alan, you’re clearly deeply respected by the industry, and your blog is often referred to. Are you alone in having an energy blog?

AW: I believe so. It’s been going three years now and I thought hard about it before embarking on it. I wanted it to provide a narrative over time, which meant commitment and regular postings. Being a long-term presence counts, just as it does with PRASEG. PRASEG has had regular meetings and maintained itself as a body with a strong sense of commitment from nonparliamentary members, as well as a core of MPs closely associated with it. There is a genuine and deep transference of expertise.

GH: Coming back to the blog, you often write about Electricity Market Reform (EMR). I’m thinking of the recent one on the Capacity Mechanism. You’ve obviously got concerns, but realistically, would a Labour Government have done much different? Most of the seeds of the EMR package were sown under

24

summer 2013 REA NEWs

the Labour administration. The days of the Renewable Obligation (RO) were numbered, were they not?

AW: Yes, the work of bringing forward nuclear, getting to grips with carbon reduction, reforming support for renewables in a way that copes with changes in the wholesale price of electricity – these were started under Labour. EMR is a one off necessity to get things onto the right track. The current government has got bogged down, however. It’s the product of a compromise and therefore less effective than it might have been. It lacks an overall strategy.

It’s probably more complex than it should be. And the term Electricity Market Reform is a misnomer. The one thing that is not being reformed is the electricity market! Were that the case, I think Labour would have moved back to the Pool. With an Electricity Pool some of the bolt-on elements of EMR would not have been required, such as ensuring

there is access to the market for independent generators, or the Capacity Mechanism perhaps, as the Pool paid for an element of capacity.

GH: It would have taken quite a number of years to get back to the Pool, wouldn’t it?

After all, it took many years to introduce the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA). Have there been discussions with the utilities about a return to a Pool? How long do they think it would take?

AW: Frankly the Big Six would not have liked it, and it would have been a fairly predictable conversation, were Labour to effectively ask their permission to do it!

Coming back to nuclear, I am mystified by how far we have moved position. Originally a renaissance was envisaged – 16GW and after 2018 one being rolled out every 18 months. Where are we now? We might get just Hinkley C, and in the early 2020s?!

It’s breath-taking really, what a miss this represents in terms of strategy. We are going

Agustin Rafael Reyes/Fotopedia (Creative Commons)

Alan was instrumental in bringing forward the uK’s first geothermal district heating scheme in his constituency, and has helped make southampton one of the most low-carbon cities in the uK.

"Renewables are the future, and the industry’s got to start thinking along those lines!" benefit, and communities having the energy project done to them and then getting compensated. The whole assumption at the moment is the latter (read more on this on p.

37 – ed).

There are lots of barriers to community ownership and there is little doubt that more involvement aids public acceptance.

We shouldn’t look at the type of community ownership model you see in Germany as foreign, but as something that could happen here. Local energy was the norm in the UK in the past - look at the municipal ownership of gas works, for example. Now we have such a tiny proportion in local hands. It hasn’t always been like that and it’s not how it is elsewhere in the world.

GH: I must disagree with one of your

Has the sun set on nuclear power? And if so, is it up to gas and renewables to keep the lights on?

statements in the Committee’s press statement, Alan. You said “Government needs to do more to encourage local authorities to identify suitable areas for renewable energy development”. The REA has always said that having local authorities identify areas on maps is bound to end badly, for all sorts of reasons. For one, it’s going to give people the wrong impression. They might get a false sense of security if they’re outside an area, they’ll think they will never see a proposal near them, or the opposite if they live inside a zoned area whereas in reality a project might never be proposed there.

AW: I think I probably disagree with myself now! It might work for some types of projects. Heat mapping being a good example.

GH: Agreed. Well we have agreed on a lot of things Alan, and often there is a bit more tension in these dialogues. Are there any areas where, you feel the renewables industry behaves badly? Is there any message you think we should take on board?

AW: The industry must mature, and take a different view on how it expects to be underwritten by Government. If we are serious about getting renewables to be a major strategic part of our energy economy, they have to be mainstream. There will be no room for renewables if they always have to be subsidised. This impression just gives ammunition to those people who don’t like renewables.

Some Ministers think of renewables as a small side show. The industry should talk more confidently, become more mature, bet bigger scale. It needs to start talking about the time when it’s not going to be subsidised at all, and to see that as a good thing.

Renewables are the future, and the industry’s got to start thinking along those lines!

more information: praseg.org.uk alansenergyblog.wordpress.com

REA NEWS summer 2013

25

Suitcivil/Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons)

to have to fill the gap with other forms of energy – gas – and by the time that nuclear could be with us, the system is going to look completely different. Indeed adding nuclear to the mix by the time it is ready might cause difficulties. There is still lip service paid to a great nuclear future, but the reality is that the moment has passed us by.

GH: So you think the future is gas and renewables, rather than nuclear and renewables?

AW: I think there is much sense in that actually, given where we are now.

GH: And might that be shale gas?

AW: Well the official opposition position is that there are lots of questions and considerations about how shale gas exploitation might be undertaken safely and responsibly. But shale gas exploitation is not necessarily a bad thing. What I’ve been trying to do is ask some questions.

The big question, to me, is: If shale gas is going to be a substantial part of our energy economy, what are the consequences for the landscape? For example, how many wells might there be? How might these be distributed across constituencies in those parts of the country where the resource is located? It is extraordinary how little discussion there has been. It has simply been announced that it’s a good thing the UK’s got lots of it and we need to get on with it.

GH: An industry community benefit protocol has been agreed, with £100,000 per exploratory fracking rig and 1% of any revenues thereafter. What is your view of this growing expectation that energy projects should pay host communities? I see you were quoted in the Energy Select Committee press release on its Local Energy report. The Committee has suggested the Government should consider the option of making a community ownership offer mandatory for all new developments. That’s a different take on the subject.

AW: There is a big distinction between communities benefiting in the sense of them doing an energy project and getting the

Understanding biofuels & bioliquids around 3.1% of vehicle fuel used in the UK is biofuel (mainly blended with conventional fuel), while bioliquids account for such a small fraction of electricity generation that there are no public data available.

Biofuels are supported in the UK under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), while bioliquids are supported under the Renewables Obligation (RO). Both industries have to abide by EU-wide sustainability criteria, which prevent the use of feedstocks with high carbon intensity and those grown in plantations made by clearing sites of high ecological value, such as Indonesian rainforest.

The minimum greenhouse gas (GHG) saving for biofuels and bioliquids is 35% compared to fossil fuels, rising to 60% by 2018. UK biofuel producers are leading the sustainability charge and achieving average GHG savings of 68%.

Palm oil is the feedstock most often

Driving forwards New energy solutions are desperately needed for the evergrowing transport sector. Neste Oil is at the forefront of the movement Illmari Lastikka, Head of to develop eu Affairs, Neste Oil sustainable fuels.

Our NExBTL renewable diesel is based on our proprietary technology, and is the most advanced diesel fuel on the market today. It has been proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40–90% over the product’s entire life cycle compared with fossil diesel. It also reduces tailpipe emissions, helping improve urban air quality.

NExBTL renewable diesel is produced by hydrotreating various vegetable oils, animal-based waste fats, and residues of vegetable oil refining. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is an advanced biofuel

26

summer 2013 REA NEWs

compared to traditional biofuel FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) that is produced through esterification of vegetable oils.

In the HVO process, hydrogen is used to remove oxygen from the triglyceride vegetable oil molecules and to split the triglyceride into three separate chains, thus creating hydrocarbons which are similar to conventional diesel fuel components.

This allows NExBTL diesel to be used in all modern diesel engines without any modification as such, or blended with fossil diesel in various concentrations without any concerns regarding quality.

Currently the majority of Neste Oil's R&D resources are directed to extending our raw material base. Neste Oil's NExBTL renewable diesel can already be produced from over ten different raw materials, such as certified palm oil, camelina oil, jatropha oil and waste fats from food and fish processing. And there’s more to come!

We are currently researching microbial oil and algae oil for use as raw materials in

associated with deforestation and habitat loss.

In 2011/12, no palm oil was used for power generation at all. Palm oil can be sustainable though, thanks to certification schemes such as those used by Neste Oil. The tiny fraction of UK transport fuel derived from palm oil last year (<0.1%) was certified sustainable.

Next generation fuels can be developed from unconventional feedstocks, such as algae and wastes, using advanced techniques like gasification and pyrolysis. But R&D is risky and expensive. Businesses need certainty in the existing policy frameworks to attract the investment required to drive forward the commercialisation of next generation fuels, which can achieve GHG savings of up to 90%.

Thankfully, a number of pioneering businesses leading the way! Here’s how Neste Oil are researching advanced biofuel feedstocks and 2OC are developing bioliquids from the fat in our sewers! renewable diesel production in the future.

In 2012, we opened Europe's first pilot plant for producing microbial oil from waste and residues in its Porvoo refinery in Finland. Neste Oil is also taking part in several Finnish and international algae research projects aimed at developing more cost-effective methods for producing algae oil.

Despite encouraging results from research projects into new potential raw material, such as algae and microbial oil, the decision to start an industrial scale investment project requires regulatory stability. The current lack of long term vision on EU legislation, as well as uncertainty related to current legislative changes, makes the investment environment to new technologies very challenging.

Neste Oil's NexBTL plant in rotterdam

Neste Oil

B

ioenergy has a big role to play in decarbonising our energy mix across heat, power and transport.

One of my bugbears is the oft-made confusion between biofuels (for Brittany Vogel, Policy transport) and bioliquids Analyst, reA (for power). Public debate on these topics can get a little heated, so it’s important to be clear!

'Biofuels' is the name for transport fuels developed from organic sources, such as bioethanol from wheat, maize and sugar beet, or biodiesel from rapeseed and used cooking oil. Currently around 3% of vehicle fuel used in the UK is biofuel (mainly blended with conventional fuel), while bioliquids account for less than 1% of UK electricity generation.

Biofuels and bioliquids can be developed from many of the same feedstocks. Currently

Work is now underway on our first combined heat and power (CHP) plant in London, providing renewable heat and power to Andrew mercer, Thames Water’s CeO, 2OC sewage works (the biggest in the country) and the UK’s only desalination plant at Beckton. The fuel we use will be derived from fats, oils and greases (FOGs) from the restaurant and food processing industries and, if you are eating I apologise, from the so-called ‘fatbergs’ which clog the capital’s sewers and cost £1 million per month to clear.

It has not been easy. Given the current economic climate and uncertainties over Electricity Market Reform, there were many

in the City this year who were amazed that we managed to raise in excess of £74 million in project finance, even with a £200 million power purchase agreement from Thames.

The configuration of technologies built around a neighbouring gas pressure reduction station (PRS) can turn relatively unrefined liquid gunk into power, heat and cold. Our 2-stroke Man engine gives us huge flexibility on feedstocks. As the manufacturers told us: “If you can melt it, we can burn it.” Without smell or smoke, I should add.

Waste heat from our engine will be used as a necessary part of the pressure reduction process. This will enable existing gas fired boilers to be turned off.

Our renewable heat now does the job.

Downstream of the gas expansion, we will install a turbine, which generates up

® for free hot water from PV arrays!

Artist's impression of the Beckton CHP plant

2OC

Fat power

to an additional 3MWe from recovered thermal energy. There is still sufficient heat available for the sewage works and local housing. Crucially, because of our link to the gas supply network, we can track and match demand. The more gas that flows, the more power we produce, 24 hours a day.

Introductory meetings with the Green Investment Bank and Technology Strategy Board have proved encouraging and we are now looking for research partners in these technologies. Our aim is to stay in renewables, but that is no longer with the certainty we had when we began seven years ago. HMG’s policy indecision and inconsistency make financing projects ever more difficult in the current climate.

Free Hot Water from New Solar iBoost An innovative way to use the free energy generated by renewables is to store it into your hot water tank. Solar iBoost simply detects

when energy is being exported, for example on a solar pv system, and diverts this energy to the immersion providing plenty of hot water on sunny days and preheating even in winter.

Uses surplus PV power to heat hot water for free l

Our compact and user friendly designed Solar iBoost is an ideal add on for new PV installations or a great retrofit accessory.

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It’s fast and low fuss to fit too because its energy monitoring clamp, needed to send the export information to the Solar iBoost, has a wireless transmitter for up to 30m distance.

Solar iBoost’s smart design fits neatly into the airing cupboard

The device includes a digital display enabling householders to monitor daily, weekly, monthly and total savings which cut out the costs of heating by gas, oil and electricity.

Solar iBoost is available from Marlec Engineering based in Corby. Log on to www.marlec.co.uk or call 01536 447866

REA NEWS summer 2013

27

BIO-ENERGY THE SLEEPING GIANT AWAKENS Drax Power

B

When Drax’s biomass conversion programme is complete, it will be one of the largest renewable power plants in Europe

new bio-ethanol plant on Humberside, offering biofuel, high protein animal feed and CO2 for carbonated drinks, as well as Celtic Renewables’ innovative bio-butanol developments with the whisky industry.

They describe Stansted House in West Sussex, which has adopted modern wood heating and completely turned around 1,000 acres of woodland that was losing money. They include the 8MW biomass CHP plant developed by Helius on Speyside, and pioneering co-firing work by Drax with a ‘cradle to grave’ sustainability chain over their wood sources from the USA. Not everyone loves bio-energy. REA members will be all too aware that from a position of support five years ago, environmental NGOs not only turned their backs on biofuels but have also set against pure biopower and co-firing. A proxy ‘debate’

Vivergo Fuels

io-energy has had a turbulent year.

For every positive headline on developments in electricity generation from biomass, anaerobic digestion, transport stewart Boyle, senior Associate, biofuels or wood heating, south East Wood there have been others Fuels suggesting the use of wood or crops for energy is unsustainable and policy support should be withdrawn.

I have spent the last 18 months working on a book looking at the potential for bio-energy in the UK (‘The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Bio-energy in the UK’). I wanted to know if bio-energy’s big advantages were real. I had heard talk of its versatility (offering heating, cooling, power generation, transport fuels and bio-chemicals); its reliability (no problems of intermittency); and its relative costeffectiveness. I set out to discover whether it could indeed provide credible solutions and enable a smooth transition to a lowcarbon economy.

The book’s headline conclusions are clear: Between 10% to 20% of our energy could practically come from all types of bio-energy by 2030-40.

I go on to document 30 real world case studies of bio-energy in action. There could have been many more.

These range from Owen Yeatman, farmer and AD pioneer, to Richard Branson who is driving ‘second generation’ biofuels into the global airlines sector. They include Vivergo’s

Vivergo’s saltend bioethanol plant is the largest in the uK, and also the uK’s largest single-source supplier of animal feed

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summER 2013 REA NEWS

over issues such as indirect and direct land use change and so-called ‘carbon debt’ has been raging.

I spent a big chunk of my life working for Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and others.

I am respectful of much of their work. Having reviewed the basis of their anti-bio-energy arguments however, I conclude that their case is biased and lacking solid scientific basis. I think they have ‘lost the plot’ on bio-energy and don’t understand that a ‘perfection now’ attitude will kill off many great transition technologies.

Part of the problem with bio-energy is that most of the public, press and politicians don’t really understand its true nature. Vital woodland management is dressed up as rainforest destruction, and the so-called ‘Food vs Fuel’ debate ignores the real potential of ‘Food AND Fuel’ farming.

To achieve the full potential of bioenergy we will need a significant effort to educate, show how it offers an integrated energy solution and is the route to a ‘circular economy’, and be prepared to argue head on the short-term ‘bad science’ arguments being used against it.

Copies of Stewart's book will be available in hard copy (£9.99) and digital format (£8.99) from 18th September via stewart@oneplanetmedia.co.uk For REA members a £2 reduction is available for any orders received prior to launch date.

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The energy and information revolutions: Renewable energy meets social media

W

e are in the middle of two revolutions. Not only has the last ten years seen greater understanding of the benefits and importance of renewable Gerry Grant, energy, but millions of Tonic Business solutions people are now consuming information in a fundamentally different way due to the emergence of social media.

Many businesses see social media as a sales tool, but it is much more than that. Used correctly, with a clearly defined strategy, social media allows you to connect with those that are interested in your business, cause, service or product on a much more personal level.

The vast majority of people understand what renewable energy means, but some people fear it as the great ‘unknown’. This can result in opposition to renewable projects. Whether you like it or not, people are talking about your business, products and services online.

The solution is to ensure that people are well informed. The quicker you can respond to any

complaints and correct any falsehoods, the quicker you can build a positive relationship with your customers and stakeholders. Social media allows you to thank supporters and quickly placate detractors.

Social media also allows countless choices on how you get your message across. Imagine how much more information you can convey in a short video than in a newspaper article that has been edited to fit the page. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn allow you the opportunity to spread your message quickly and, crucially, analyse responses in real time.

Social media has no printing delays, you can get your message out there instantly and get a response from your target market just as quickly.

Just like renewable energy, social media is an ever changing environment with new possibilities opening up almost daily. It allows you to research your competition, your target market, and the way people feel about your company, while at the same time educating people about why you are the best at what you do.

On the other side of the coin, social media giants like Facebook and Google are ramping up their green energy investments and powering their data centres with renewables – for simple financial reasons as well as PR. Social media and renewable energy are two key technologies for preparing society for the new challenges of the twenty-first century, and these industries have a lot to offer to each other.

Geothermal: Huge potential held back by circular reasoning

G

eothermal energy can be used both for heating and power generation. With no fuel stock issues and low visual impact, geothermal is the ideal energy source Padraig Hanly, for cities and towns. managing Director, GT energy MIT estimate that the world’s energy demands could be supplied 4,000 times over from geothermal. Closer to home, SKM suggest there is approximately 100,000MW of potential in the UK. Countries with strong geothermal industries, like France and Germany, have a licensing system in place for developing geothermal resources. This is similar to the system here for mining and petroleum exploration. Government wants the industry to develop before committing resources to developing geothermal legislation, which creates a degree of circularity. The industry

continues to work with officials and we remain confident that a long term solution can be found.

Geothermal electricity currently qualifies for 2 ROCs under the Renewables Obligation but it really needs 5 ROCs to be commercially viable. Consultation is ongoing on support levels for geothermal electricity under the Contracts for Difference scheme.

More positively, deep geothermal heat is expected to receive its own dedicated tariff of 5p per kWh under the Renewable Heat Incentive – but confirmation of this has been delayed. Without this the industry cannot progress.

At present there are two electricity projects in Cornwall with planning permission. Our district heating project in Manchester is due for planning decision in the coming months and another is currently being planned for North Tyneside. Elsewhere, Cheshire East is set to carry out feasibility for a proposal in Crewe.

The outlook for deep geothermal is warming but, as with any new industry, the hardest part is getting the first project developed. Once this happens, we are confident the rest will fall into place. We are currently undertaking detailed geological survey work in Manchester to create the blueprint for drilling for the geothermal plant. We expect this to be completed by the end of the year, enabling us to commence the drilling programme in late 2014 and deliver the UK’s first operating large scale geothermal energy system by 2015.

Geothermal energy could supply 100GW of heat and 9.5GW of electricity in the uK

Rea news summer 2013

31

Domestic rHI: sector set for growth

T

he 12th July was a landmark day for renewable heat in the UK, with the publication of the Government’s response to its 2012 consultation on mike Landy, extending the Renewable Head of On-site renewables, reA Heat Incentive to residential properties, confirming that the scheme will open to applications in spring 2014. The industry heaved a collective sigh of relief, after waiting four years since the policy was first announced and wondering if this day would ever arrive!

But now it has and the terms outlined by DECC have been warmly welcomed by industry.

So what can we look forward to when the scheme launches next spring? The domestic RHI is targeted at, but not limited to, households off the gas grid. Tariffs will be paid for seven years to the owner of the heating system and increased yearly by RPI. The tariffs reflect support

for renewable heat over 20 years but payments are being ‘front-loaded’ into the first seven years to reflect the capitalintensive nature of the investment. The scheme will support air source heat pumps (ASHP), biomass boilers, ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and solar thermal systems. The support rates at launch in 2014 vary depending on the technology installed.

The scheme will cover single domestic dwellings and will be open to owneroccupiers, private landlords, Registered Providers of Social Housing and third party owners of heating systems, but not new-build developments (other than self-build).

It will be open to anyone in these groups who installed an eligible technology since 15th July 2009, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

Tariff (p/kWh)

Applicants will be required to complete a Green Deal Assessment before applying.

They must ensure that they have met minimum energy efficiency requirements of loft and cavity insulation where required by the assessment but will not be obliged to undertake other ‘green tick’ measures. The renewable heat generated will be estimated (or ‘deemed’) in most cases for payment purposes, though DECC is keen that this should move to metered heat in future, should this be practicable.

Consumers will be able to use Green Deal finance and claim the RHI, thereby providing part-finance towards their system.

The domestic RHI is expected to be open until March 2021. DECC’s modelling projects that it might support around 750,000 renewable heating systems by 2020.

ASHP

Biomass

GSHP

Solar Thermal

7.3

12.2

18.8

At least 19.2

Biomass has final piece of the puzzle

32

summer 2013 REA NEWs

"Research shows the general public support renewable energy and will do it, particularly if the neighbours are doing it!" think many managers of sites that are ideal for biomass heating opted to just wait and see.

The domestic RHI is finally confirmed, but I think industry success may require some new positive messages. Financial payback is a key driver for renewable heat, but despite what you may hear to the contrary I believe the general public are more receptive to morality, social justice, citizenship and just doing the right thing. Research shows the general public support renewable energy and will do it, particularly if the neighbours are doing it!

These seemingly emotional decisions need to be supported by simple and easy to follow processes, good quality guidance from real technology experts and, in an ideal world transparent, bespoke and impartial advice on all the energy options available. This is where the Green Deal has

Renewable Energy systems

The RHI has been a rollercoaster since its inception.

The jubilation of a thoughtful and well designed nondomestic scheme was followed by a quagmire of administration and Neil Turner, sales and overly complex marketing manager, renewable energy systems metering. With these teething problems addressed, a fledgling biomass heat industry was building momentum and growing in confidence, but then came an apparently random cut to the medium biomass tariff despite an overall budget underspend. The industry has been through it all and survived, but there is one final piece required – the domestic RHI...

The biggest problem we have found with the RHI is so few know what it is or how it works. The non-domestic RHI needs the domestic RHI to finally make the scheme a ‘household name’. Our biomass heat sales team spent a lot of time educating their customers that “it really is as good as it sounds”, which unfortunately sounds a bit like “too good to be true”. For this reason I

to work for the RHI, breaking down barriers and helping the general public make confident decisions.

RES is hugely supportive of the renewable heat industry. Heat remains an integral part of our biomass power generation projects and we see renewable heat as essential to the UK achieving renewable energy targets.

Government interventions in the market for domestic renewables have meant that the solar heating market in the UK has not been a barrel of laughs in recent years. But stuart elmes, CeO, the announcement of Viridian solar & solar Thermal Working the domestic RHI has Group Chair, solar changed everything.

Trade Association Although the solar heating tariff has been capped at a ‘value for money’ level of 19.2p/kWh (with scope to increase to 21.7p/kWh subject to a review due in autumn), the payments to householders are going to be at a level far in excess of anything that has gone before.

The STA has been working hard to press the case not just for an increase in tariff levels, but also to ensure that the deeming method captures the full benefits of solar heating. Solar energy generation is strongly dependent on the hot water used and a key

result of our work is that the deeming method will use a hot water demand based on the actual number of people in the house. Solar heating incentive schemes in other countries are often based on paying per installed solar area, incentivising over-sizing and delivering less energy than anticipated. DECC’s decision will incentivise high performance.

The STA calculates typical seven-year RHI payments ranging from £1,150 for a single person household to £3,250 for a six person household.

The way that solar heating is sold is going to change. A focus on the ‘soft’ reasons for going solar – climate protection, ethics, demonstrating your values to others, will be complemented with ‘hard’ arguments based on financial paybacks and return on investment. The STA will be supporting its membership with advice around capturing all the fuel savings from a solar installation, for example from improvements to the performance of the hot water cylinder.

Until the start of the RHI next spring enhanced RHPP payments of £600 are

Viridian Solar

solar thermal gets healthy tariff and sensible deeming method

available (up from £300 previously thanks in part to the STA’s successful #tweetforheat Twitter campaign). An amount which, although removed from the RHI payment schedule, means you get your hands on the money sooner. There’s no longer a reason to wait. Customers should go solar right now and we need to get the message out there!

The Energy Saving Trust is convinced that heat pumps can play a role in providing an effective and efficient heating solution for many UK homes.

Our latest heat pumps Jaryn Bradford, study has found that senior Technical Delivery performance and efficiency manager, energy has improved following saving Trust recommendations to design, installation and operation. This is supported by technical data from heat pump performance field trials and user feedback which indicates that well-installed and operated heat pumps can perform to very high standards.

The recent tariff announcements for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) mean it is a good time for households to start looking at heat pumps and other renewable heat technologies.

Under the RHI, our figures show that homes best suited for heat pump

installations could earn savings and incomes of around £1,350 a year on air source heat pumps and around £3,000 a year on ground source heat pumps.

The performance monitoring trials showed the positive impact that different recommendations and more robust standards can have in improving the performance of heat pumps. If heat pumps were installed today under the current installer guidelines, it is likely they would achieve even better performance that those indicated in the study.

User behaviour was shown to impact heat pump performance, but was still less significant than the correct design and installation of a system. In fact 80 per cent were satisfied with their heat pump installation, while 77 per cent would recommend one to a friend.

The study signals the end of our heat pump field trials, but the Energy Saving Trust sees a positive future for the technology.

Energy Saving Trust

Heat pumps see bright future thanks to RHI and new study

Heat pumps, like many technologies, will continue to evolve and improve in terms of performance and efficiency – likewise for installer standards. Perhaps more importantly, the RHI will guarantee annual payments for those that install heat pumps meaning big income and savings for seven years.

REA NEWS summer 2013

33

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Practitioner's Perspective

J

ob creation, internships, energy efficiency initiatives that lower householders’ bills – these are not the first thing that Agamemnon Otero, Director, repowering come to mind when London you see a bunch of shiny solar panels and smiling faces. But that is what this year’s REA Community Award winner accomplishes. Repowering has taken renewable technologies like photovoltaics and used the revenue stream to run community programs that promote wellbeing, devolving power to local people and creating local energy in its two forms, people power and renewable power.

Beyond 4% return and tax deductions, investors in Repowering’s projects are

putting thousands of pounds into deprived estates. 20% of the profits are allocated to, what Repowering have coined, a Community Energy Efficiency Fund that maintains ongoing financial support to the communities’ wellbeing for twenty years. In most cases that means training, home energy audits and energy switching programs.

With a vision of making hundreds of megawatts of energy from renewable technologies, the team says that their iterative engagement process is the key to success. Including citizens not only by asking what they need and giving it to them but sharing ownership of the project. Repowering coproduces local energy projects with local government and community groups addressing the economic and social exclusion that vulnerable residents face.

Current solar projects in London not only provide renewable energy but a system which address fuel poverty,

Repowering London

Community energy: More than carbon and kilowatts

An intern working on repowering’s Brixton energy project

reducing bills by up to 40%, while creating training programs in energy reduction and energy generation. It’s not just power to the people; it’s power to, for and by the people. It is repowering communities to make resilient cities.

Policy Perspective

David McHugh/Ovesco

H

arvey’s brewery in the small Sussex town of Lewes has been brewing beer for thirsty locals since 1790. Today it provides a boost of a different sort by rebecca Willis, Associate, Cogenerating electricity operatives, uK on its roof, with solar panels owned by local co-operative Ovesco, using investment from the local community. Ovesco is one of a growing number of energy co-operatives. The largest, Westmill, owns a 6.5MW wind farm. All plough profits back into the local area, and help local people to understand how our energy system works.

It is tough to succeed at community energy, though. For every Ovesco, there are many more projects that never see the light of day. It’s hard for smaller schemes to elbow their way into a market that isn’t designed for them. A group in Oxford have

An Ovesco community solar scheme

just spent twelve years developing a hydro scheme at Osney Lock.

Politicians are supportive in principle.

Ed Davey recently called for ‘a community energy revolution’. Yet the policies just don’t work for smaller players.

Government has recognised this, and we are pleased they have agreed to increase the Feed-in Tariff threshold to 10MW for community schemes, removing the uncertainties of the CFD system.

Now DECC is working on the UK’s first Community Energy Strategy. We would like to see a simple, predictable process for community renewables projects,

taking them through planning, licensing and grid connection. Community schemes could be offered preferential access to the grid, and the option of selling their power locally. In Denmark, all wind developments are required to offer a share to the local community to own: could we do something similar here? And the Green Investment Bank could work alongside commercial banks to de-risk lending to community schemes.

If we get it right, there could be Ovescos in every town. Our energy system, and our communities, would be stronger and more resilient as a result.

REA NEWS summer 2013

35

Featuring a site visit to the Malaby Biogas plant As a responsible employer and project developer, it is your duty to ensure your AD plants are run efficiently, legally and that your staff remain safe and well.

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The voice of the UK’s renewables industry

community benefits: are they still voluntary, and does it matter?

Defining ‘community benefits’ Clarity on the conceptual distinctions between types of benefit may not matter to local people or politicians, but it is important for developers navigating the planning process, and for the image of the industry as a whole.

‘Community benefits’ do not include benefits that are a direct and natural result of development (e.g. construction jobs or local regeneration). Nor does it include measures designed to mitigate specific impacts of development, which a planning authority may require by way of section 106 agreement (e.g. replacement habitats).

‘Community benefits’ means only those additional benefits provided voluntarily. misleaDing narratives Government appears to endorse several reasons why developers should offer community benefits.

One narrative holds that 'Localism' means communities should be allowed to negotiate planning permission in return for other benefits. No doubt this is the idea that led The Telegraph to wrongly conclude ‘locals to get veto power over wind farms’. But it is the planning authority who makes

Infinergy

T

he wind industry has a long history of providing voluntary additional benefit packages to local communities. This has led to an expectation, caryl Walter, associate, now encouraged by a bond Dickinson llP Ministerial 'challenge', that wind developers’ new projects should come with gifts to the communities in which they do business.

On 6 June, DECC and DCLG announced a number of measures to encourage more community engagement and benefits. Ed Davey said the measures would 'ensure that communities receive a fairer share of benefits associated with onshore wind and are properly empowered to negotiate with developers'.

The proposals include an increased voluntary commitment to provide funds under RenewableUK’s community benefits protocol, from at least £1,000 to £5,000 per MW/year.

a walking tour visits burton Wold Wind farm

planning decisions. Its duty is to consider the public interest as a whole, not to hold a local referendum. According to established legal principles, it is not even allowed to take community benefits into account when determining a planning application.

The principles can be criticised, but it remains fundamental to the planning system.

Government has not indicated that it wishes to change them.

Another narrative focuses on ‘reward’ for ‘hosting’ wind farms. This too is misleading because it implies an element of compensation. As long as a development does not impact a right, there can be no legally recognised harm. A person’s preferred view of their neighbour’s field is not a right protected in law. Such concerns enjoy qualified protection under a planning regime that recognises visual and landscape impact: the planning authority can require mitigation measures where mitigation is possible, and refuse permission if impacts would be unacceptable in planning terms.

Finally, Government has been surprisingly keen to embrace a narrative of redistribution, as articulated in Ed Davey's statement that communities should receive 'a fairer share of benefits associated with onshore wind'.

But there has been no suggestion that the overall tax burden on onshore wind is too light, or that its subsidy is too great (a review of support levels was carried out only last year). If the accounts are right but redistribution is wrong, then Government might have put forward a scheme similar to the one that benefits communities close to landfill sites. It allows site operators to claim a tax credit against contributions they make

to environmental projects in the local area.

Instead, Government's request for specified community benefit payments from developers looks a lot like a tax that has been introduced without the rigorous debate that must normally accompany tax legislation.

Where We are noW The problem is that developers will struggle to get any credit for their generosity if benefit packages are officially discussed as a community entitlement. What is undertaken as public-spirited community outreach or CSR could be mistaken for mere compliance.

Developers agree that those who are strongly opposed to wind farms will not be swayed by community benefits. To the contrary, opponents frequently express their disdain for what they call the industry’s ‘bribes’. As long as there is no clear justification for Government ‘expecting’ specified sums, all the half-articulated arguments for this expectation add up to diminish developers' charity, and to obscure the bigger picture.

Recent announcements that both fracking and any new nuclear will come with substantial community benefit packages confirm that Government is committed to State-promoted CSR. No doubt there is widespread agreement with the principle that the benefits of development should go disproportionately to people who are asked to put up with it in the public interest. But Government should carefully consider the mechanism and narrative if it wishes to facilitate social consensus rather than fuelling discontent.

REA NEWs summer 2013

37

Learning Biogas in Bavaria

By Billy Hamilton, who completed the Advanced Biogas Learning in Europe scheme in April Billy hamilton gets hands-on with the farm’s digesters

T

he REA was successful last year in a bid to manage a £60,000 biogas training scheme: ‘Advanced Biogas Learning in Europe’ (ABLE). The scheme, funded by the EU Leonardo programme and run in partnership with the German Biogas and Bioenergy Society (GERBIO), offers 30 budding biogas professionals the opportunity to gain experience working in Germany at an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, laboratory or factory. It is principally aimed at people looking to develop a ‘hands on’ career in the UK green economy.

Billy Hamilton undertook a two week placement at an on-farm AD plant in Germany in April. Here he shares his experience.

IntroductIon Having grown up on a farm and worked on farms for many years I understand the growing pressures on farmers to adapt to ever-changing guidelines and regulations while trying to maintain a reasonable income and standard of living. I see anaerobic digestion as a chance for farmers to take a lead in moving society toward a more sustainable future while improving onfarm waste management and generating an additional farm income.

I have also studied environmental science at university and spent ten years working in the environmental sector so I am very much aware of the need for sustainable energy production from renewable sources. Not only would this improve energy security by reducing the reliance on imported fuels but it is also important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

As I am currently unemployed I decided to apply for this placement to learn more about biogas production and as to experience German culture and language. the work pLacement The placement was for two weeks on a family run pig farm and biogas plant near Obernzenn, Bavaria. The farm is located in a little village called Esbach in North West Bavaria. Aside from the biogas plant they have 2,000 finishing pigs and they farm 250 ha. The biogas plant itself has a 500kW

38

summer 2013 REA NEWs

production capacity and is run on a mixture of pig slurry (35-40%), maize silage (4550%) and rye-grass silage (10-20%).

I very quickly became involved in the dayto-day running of the farm. April is a very busy time for farmers with crop planting, spraying, digestate and slurry spreading and silo preparation being just some of the additional work carried out over and above the normal operations of feeding the digesters, maintenance etc. My specific tasks included: repair of the pumps that supplied heat from the CHP to the digesters; repair of feeders for the pig barn; painting the silo with bitumen in preparation for the rye-grass harvest; servicing CHP engine; and replacing the activated carbon in the H2S gas filter.

My daily routine included testing the three digesters using FOS/TAC equipment and dry matter analysis of maize silage and samples taken from the digesters. This helped us to understand the processes taking place in the digesters and provided the biogas operator with valuable information on any changes in the system on a day-to-day basis. cuLturaL aspects The Sturm family made us feel very welcome during our two week stay. We were accommodated in the family home and we had all our meals with the family.

Although Thorsten and Georg Sturm spoke English well and were glad of the opportunity to practice with us, the other family members and Christian, the farm labourer, only spoke German and the local dialect. This was a great opportunity for

me to practice speaking and understanding German.

I greatly enjoy German cuisine and baking. Christa, Georg’s wife, is an excellent cook and runs her own small bakery on the farm. We were treated daily to apfel strudel, schneeball and many varieties of wurst. We were also lucky enough to be there during a 350 year anniversary party of a local brewery. This party took place in an Oktoberfest-style tent with traditional music and food. I dressed in traditional Bavarian “Lederhosen” and found that the local people really appreciated the effort and made us feel very welcome. concLusIons I am very glad to have had the opportunity to participate in the REA’s biogas placement programme in Germany. I benefited greatly from the experience in a number of ways.

Firstly, I gained valuable experience in the day-to-day operation of an AD plant – something that I intend to put to good use back home. Secondly, I enjoyed very much the cultural aspect of the placement and learned quite a bit about Bavarian culture, cuisine and language. And finally I made good friends and will remain in contact with Thorsten Sturm and the Sturm family.

For more information or to apply for the ABLE programme, email REA Head of Biogas David Collins: dcollins@r-e-a. net. Alternatively, scan the QR code or visit: bit.ly/s4c4tc

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