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1. According to The Times on New Year's Eve there was a "near miss" of
a transmission blackout in the cold weather of Thursday 29.12.05 (see
APPENDIX A). We are assured however that the NISM (notification of
inadequate system margin) shows the control system is working.
2. Ian Paterson of Highlands Before Pylons announces a protest meeting
at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on 4 Feb against the Beauly -
Denny line proposal (APPENDIX B).
3. Snips from news@all-energy issue 59 of Jan 06 are at APPENDIX C.
4. More on the Highland Councillor's call for underground cables along
a railway on the Beauly -Denny line (APPENDIX D).
5. The Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee agreed 17.1.06 to
recognise a Cross-Party Group on Electro-Magnetic Radiation and Health.
The Group will consult stakeholders and is not expected to proceed
beyond the current parliamentary session. SAGE is aware.
6. "Wind farm industry in jeopardy due to financial demands of National
Grid", says Sunday Herald 23/1/2006. (APPENDIX E). NB: "the queue for
grid connections is now 10 years long" and "we are dealing with is an
extra 16GW of connections, or 200-250 requests".
7. Snips from Defra magazine Energy (etc.) Management Jan/Feb 06.
(a) Tony Blair announced a new review of British energy policy just as,
in Iraq, a deal was secured to hand over development of its oil
reserves, the third largest in the world, to US and British companies in
a 30-year binding agreement.
(b) A schedule for action includes: revised Climate Change Programme
(Jan); DTI microgeneration strategy (April); result of Energy Review
(summer); Stern review of economics of climate change (autumn);
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) (April 2008).
(c) The WWF has resigned "in despair" from the government's [ODPM's]
Senior Steering Group on building design, accusing the government of
backsliding on key environmental issues [and worse!].
(d) Scottish MP Mark Lazarowicz's Climate Change and Sustainable Energy
Private Member's Bill has passed its second reading. [It would
facilitate microgeneration trading on the grid, but also would revise
transmission charges for renewable generation on the Scottish Islands.
8. The much heralded DTI Energy Review was launched (!) 23.1.06. It is
to report this summer, especially on the future of nuclear generation.
There is a 12 week consultation period.
.
9. Another key review, Ofgem's fourth Transmission Price Control Review
(TPCR4), got under way last summer and expects to conclude at December
2004, and to take effect from April 07. The second consultation paper
came out in December with a 31.1.06 response deadline. I am sending a
short response emphasising the need for cost-reflectiveness in charges
to remote renewable generation and the environmental impact of
transmission lines. There are to be 6 consultation papers in all before
the end of the year. The TPCR4 web site is
10. A new £150 million 125-turbine 375 MW wind farm proposed on
Ladyland Moor in north Ayrshire, within Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park,
is claimed to be the world's first major windfarm capable of storing
excess power as hydrogen fuel. Wind Hydrogen Ltd, an Australian firm
with a UK base in Nairn, is due to lodge a planning application next
month.
*****
*****
APPENDIX A Grid alert as families face cold weather power cuts,
The Times 31.12.05. By Angela Jameson
Near-miss highlights fears that supplies may not be able to cope with
increased demand
HUNDREDS of thousands of homes across the UK came within hours of power
cuts after the
National Grid issued an emergency call for electricity companies to
reduce demand on one of
the coldest days of the year.
The companies were preparing to cut power or dim the lights on Thursday
by lowering the
voltage, after the grid issued a warning of a possible problem between
4.30pm and 6.30pm.
Power generators were told to make more power available on the system,
while distribution
companies were informed that if no more power were made available they
might have to cut
some customers off temporarily. The highly unusual shortage comes as
fears mount over the
security of Britain's energy supplies. There was also concern that there
was insufficient
capacity, even though most industry was still on a Christmas break.
Power cuts to households are supposed to be a last resort and the
National Grid said this year
that even in an extremely cold winter they could be avoided. Big energy
users in industry are
supposed to be cut off first in the event of a power crisis. The first
warning that the grid's safety
margin was depleted came early Thursday morning, but by breakfast time
the warning had
been increased to a high risk of demand reduction order. The order was
cancelled at 6pm on
Thursday when it became clear that demand would not be as high as
feared.
About 40 per cent of Britain's power stations will be due for retirement
in the next 15 years, as
all but one of the nuclear power stations are decommissioned and older
coal-fired power
stations are closed because of new European Union directives on
pollution. Britain has also
become a net importer of gas, because North Sea supplies have been
running out more
quickly than expected.
Gas supplies are extremely tight this winter and will be next winter, as
the new storage
facilities and pipelines are built to facilitate this transition.
The amount of electricity available this week has been lower than usual
after some power
generators temporarily shut down their gas-fired power stations because
of the high price of
gas. Wholesale gas prices have been 50 per cent higher than last winter.
Last month, the Prime Minister announced an energy review, which is
expected to report in
June. However, industry has said that the Government's last energy White
Paper, only two
years ago, ignored the challenges that were already becoming clear.
The emergency warnings on Thursday occurred because the safety margin of
available
electricity was about a third lower than it should be. The shortfall
fluctuated between 1,300 and
1,700 megawatts, between a third and a half of a typical safety cushion.
The grid needs a
comfort zone of between 2,000 and 4,000 megawatts available above peak
demand. On
Wednesday and Thursday it issued an NISM - notification of inadequate
system margin -
calling for 1,300 to 1,700 megawatts more, enough for up to 1.7 million
homes.
"The NISM demonstrates that the system is working. This is a standard
tool for us. The
warnings are just the control centre doing their job," a spokesman for
National Grid said.
Between 8 and 10 NISMs are issued a year, but only about one a year
becomes a high risk of
demand reduction order. The last such order was in December last year.
Power industry sources said that they came very close to cutting about
220,000 homes off for
a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon or lowering the voltage to all
their customers by 3 per
cent. This would dim the lights slightly, but would not generally be
noticed by most
homeowners.
A spokesman for Ofgem, which regulates the gas and electricity markets,
denied that the
warning showed that the energy network was fragile. "There was always a
margin of about a
gigawatt - enough for a million homes. This is a tool that National Grid
uses to send a signal to
the market to increase the available supply."
*****
*****
APPENDIX B Message from Ian Paterson re. protest 4 Feb.
The Clan group "Na Fir Dileas" (The Loyal Men) are calling on all other
clan groups, societies, communities and individuals opposed to this
monstrous power line to gather in protest. It is time to make a stand
and remove the threat of wild land desecration from Ullapool to Stirling
and beyond. (more lines are planned to march the length of Scotland and
northern England). It is time to save sites such as the Sheriffmuir
battlefield, from ruination. And it is time to prevent further cases of
power line induced illness and death. Alternatives exist that would
prevent all this destruction. Let us not allow the commercial interests
of developers to ruin our country. Bring banners, saltires and as many
like minded people as possible.
Meet outside the main entrance to The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood,
Edinburgh at 1300hrs Saturday 4th February.
*****
*****
APPENDIX C Snips from news@all-energy issue 59 of Jan 06.
3.4.New Beauly-Denny thought
A Highland councillor wants SSE to investigate running power cables
along parts of a railway track
instead of building replacement pylons
3.5.New from Ofgem
Transmission investment for renewable generation - Scottish Power
Transmission's submission to Ofgem to upgrade the Scotland/England
Interconnector: Ofgem's decision and other news from Ofgem at
.
*****
*****
APPENDIX D RAIL LINES ALTERNATIVE TO PYLONS IS URGED
FERGUS MACNEILL 09:00 - 12 January 2006
A Senior Highland councillor wants a power company to investigate
running
windfarm power cables along parts of a railway track instead of building
a
controversial line of replacement pylons from Beauly to Denny in
Stirling-shire.
Councillor Bob Wynd will put forward the proposal at a planning meeting
when
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) highlights its proposals to Highland
Council at a future date.
SSE has been dogged by persistent criticism over its £320million plans,
with
a number of Highland communities claiming their landscape will be
blighted
by the huge pylons, some of which are 200 feet high.
Many people want the line to be put underground in sensitive areas, but
SSE
claims that option would cost at least £3.6billion.
But Mr Wynd, vice-convener of the Inverness planning committee, wants
SSE to
seriously consider the possibility of putting lines underground beside
railway lines.
He said yesterday: "The route is already there and this seems to me to
be an
opportunity, but I don't know whether the power companies have
considered it
or discussed it with the Scottish Executive.
"It does represent best value and I am going to talk to the power
company
about it when it comes to the planning committee with its plans and ask
it if
it has thought about doing this.
"I also intend to ask if Network Rail has been approached by SSE about
joint
working utilising and upgrading the rail routes and if the possibility
of
such joint working has been raised with the Scottish Executive."
Executive ministers have already extended the consultation period from
November 20 to February 28.
The pylon upgrade is expected to result in 200 fewer pylons than the
current
800.
A spokesman for Highland-based Pylon Pressure said: "We welcome
Councillor
Wynd's idea of running new generation underground cable along railway
lines in
the Highlands.
"Let's hope Highland Council will be prepared to seriously explore the
idea
in its up-coming Renewable Energy Strategy debate."
*****
*****
APPENDIX E Wind farm industry in jeopardy due to financial demands of
National Grid
Sunday Herald 23/1/2006
http://www.sundayherald.com/53638
By Matthew Magee
Wind farm developers in Scotland are having to cancel future projects
because
National Grid is demanding millions of pounds in guarantees for
electricity grid
upgrades, while capacity is so limited that the queue for grid
connections is now 10
years long.
National Grid last year took control of the Scottish grid from
ScottishPower and
Scottish & Southern Energy and is a publicly quoted company operating
under
licence from regulator Ofgem.
Its connection contracts demand that wind farm owners take on final sums
liability,
which means providing a credit note for millions of pounds before they
can even join
the queue for a connection. In some cases, the demands almost equal the
total cost
of the wind farm project.
?We will have to decide soon if we get on the ladder at all, because the
amount you
have to make available rises every year and if you pull out you could
lose your
money,? said Michael Huntingford, owner of Farm Energy, a six-turbine
developer on
the Isle of Lewis.
If Huntingford does not sign up, he cannot continue the project, which
has been in
development for 10 years. To register, he must make £13 million
available to
National Grid in a bank-credit note, based on a grid connection in 2013
on a project
that will cost only £15m. He said he had ?no chance at all? of raising
the money.
Even relatively large developers, such as Airtricity which has spent
£65m on wind
farms in Scotland, are concerned. ?This is a significant business issue
for us,? said
Alan Baker, chief executive of Airtricity in Scotland. ?This is a cost
we have to think
about. It is a cost we can take on one development in the north of
Scotland, but it
could change how we look at future developments there. There is a cap on
how
much liability we could take on.?
National Grid said that it was only trying to cover the costs wind farms
impose on it.
?A developer could drop out at any time, even if we have spent £50m on
an upgrade,
and leave us high and dry,? said Nigel Williams, National Grid?s
customer
agreements manager.
?Final sums liability is about asking people to put up security so that
we, and the
electricity consumer, are not burdened with the cost of a stranded
asset, one that
won?t be used,? he added.
The length of the wait for a grid connection means that developers risk
losing
millions of pounds if they apply for a grid slot before planning
permission is granted
then subsequently fail to secure authorisation. If they wait until they
have planning
permission before applying for a grid slot, the long queue means that
the slot could
be useless. Planning permission only lasts for five years, but the slots
being offered
are currently 10 years down the line.
?My connection in 2013 is too far away. Planning permission only lasts
for five years,
so it will have lapsed in 2010 on this project and I don?t think I will
get planning
permission for this a second time,? said Huntingford.
?This additional burden of letters of credit will become an
insurmountable hurdle,?
said Steve Pottinger, a director of two Caithness family projects,
Bailey wind farm
and Spittal wind farm. ?You have to provide a letter of credit on costs
that change
every six months. Every six months you need more and more security. Then
if
somebody else in your area drops out, the cost rises again. The cost is
passed to
the other people in the area. It is a completely crazy system. The
figures ratchet up
to numbers no small company can sustain.?
Even ScottishPower, which only has to sign a contract for the liability
rather than
make cash available, believes change is necessary. ?We don?t argue
against the
principle, but would like the system to reflect the planning status of
projects, moving
projects with planning permission up the queue,? said a spokesman.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has asked National
Grid to look at
the problem. ?[The] approach does not take into account the relative
viability of
individual proposals, nor offer any certainty to developers in terms of
the potential
financial liabilities they may face,? said a DTI statement.
?DTI has been involved in discussions with National Grid, Ofgem and wind
farm
developers on ideas for resolving these issues. A number of ideas have
been put to
National Grid which they have taken away to consider.?
Ofgem, too, said that it has asked National Grid to examine queuing
issues and that
its own price-control review, due to be completed this year to cover
2007-2012,
could provide a solution.
Williams said that problems were caused by the level of demand. ?We have
never
had anything like it before. Scotland has 10GW of capacity and we are
dealing with is
an extra 16GW of connections, or 200-250 requests.?
*****
*****
--
Mike O'Carroll