Dear Channel 4 News I have enjoyed Channel 4 News over the years, but was so shocked at the poor quality of your item on climate change and renewables earlier this week I decided to offer some feedback. Your weather balloon stunt was mildly entertaining and showed pretty pictures of clouds, but what was the […]
Read MoreWhy was Dinorwig built? Load following, standby, fast reserve, pumped storage?
Roger, My own analysis has also shown that there is insufficient value in the difference between peak and off peak electricity prices to make energy storage economic. However, this may not be the only revenue stream for an energy storage system. Mechanisms that may provide greater return are as you say, within islanded communities (where […]
Read MorePapers in Energy Policy from Mark Delucchi and Mark Jacobson, Stanford / California University USA – 100% renewable energy at reasonable prices and timescales
Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi recently published two papers in Energy Policy expanding upon our article on 100% wind, water, and solar power for the world, published in Scientific American in November 2009. I am attaching corrected in-press proofs of the articles. Mark and I continue to work on various aspects of this, so we […]
Read MoreUK Energy bills set to rise £ 3 / year to pay for £2bn investment in distribution / trasnmission
4th Oct 2010 – BBC web site Energy bills set to rise to pay for £32bn investment The rise in renewable energy such as windfarms mean a radical rewiring of the National Grid is needed Gas and electricity bills will both have to rise by £3 a year, as £32bn is needed to improve the […]
Read MoreFull time job for power expert Large Combustion Plant Best Available Techniques Reference Document
Dave, Below is the link to the GH 40 post (2 years full time work based in Petten) we have open (closing date 31.01.2011) for a co-author of the rewriting of the Large Combustion Plant Best Available Techniques Reference Document (BREF). We are looking for someone with a few years of experience in the power […]
Read MoreUK electricity energy generation statistics – proportion of thermal, nuclear, wind and other renewable energy sources
total generationn: 371,978 TWh of which: renewables 7% coal 28% nuclear 18% gas 45% other fuels 1% imports 1% The renewables breaks down into: wind 11.6% large hydro 5.8 % landfill gas 23% other biomas – 57% Other (inc small hydro) – 1.8% All the figures should be in DUKES 2009 […]
Read MoreIndependent Power & Energy Europe conference NEC, Birmingham, 8th – 10th June 2010
The Conference on Independent Power Generation will be held at the NEC Birmingham, 8th – 10th June 2010. IP&EE – Independent Power & Energy Europe – is the essential biannual event for the Independent European Energy Sector. The Show provides an ideal platform for players in the energy industry to showcase the latest cutting-edge technology […]
Read MoreOFGEM report on problematic future energy supplies – admission of market failure in electricty supplies
The report is at: http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/WhlMkts/Discovery/Documents1/Project_Discove ry_FebConDoc_FINAL.pdf News articles at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8494899.stm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household- bills/7144386/British-households-risk-unaffordable-energy-bills-Ofgem- warns.html http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/sse-says-customers-using-less-gas-electricity-reuters_molt-20a544628846.html A little interpretation: Quote: “There is a need for unprecedented levels of investment to be sustained over many years in difficult financial conditions and against a background of increased risk and uncertainty.” To translate, “the fat cats and their shareholders have […]
Read MoreCommercial Opportunities for Back-Up Generation (including diesel generators) and Load Reduction via National Grid, the National Electricity Transmission System Operator (NETSO) for England, Scotland, Wales and Offshore.
This article written by: Mark Duffield Senior Account Manager Contracts and Settlements UK Transmission – Network Operations National Grid National Grid House Warwick Technology Park Gallows Hill Warwick CV34 6DA
Read MoreUsing standby diesel generators for short term reserve to support main power grids – potentially good news from National Grid
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Hi Dave
Firstly apologies for not getting back to you about Bernard’s note sooner. I read the attached email above with interest as it’s always good to see that there is interest out there in providing Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR, previously known as “Standing Reserve”) from new sources, whether someone is interested in approaching us directly or through an aggregator. I did note that in your last line you said that if contracts could be made available for a longer period of time then this might elicit more interest from parties. On that front there is potentially good news, the changes that we introduced to the STOR contract form a year or two back, allow users to tender for a contract of up to 10 years duration, and as part of the STOR review that my colleague Craig Maloney is undertaking at the moment we may potentially be looking to extend that capability to even longer term contracts.
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