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1. Problems of grid connection are slowing the UK rush for wind power
(APPENDIX A). NG have the risk of developing the grid only to find the
wind farms don't materialise as proposed, leaving wasted assets. They
therefore require wind farm developers to lodge payment up front for
grid development. Wind farms need grid connection agreements before they
can get planning permission. So the heavily subsidised and politicised
rush for wind power is realising some of the inherent problems of its
practical implications and infrastructure needs.
2. MP Mark Lazarowicz's Bill is progressing before parliament (APPENDIX
B). The Bill would require annual audits of measures to cut climate
change and would encourage non-wind measures such as microgeneration.
3. Snips from news@all-energy issue 62 of March 2006 are at APPENDIX C.
4. DTI issue a statement on microgeneration 31 March, as usual much
promoted in advance, yet BBC news suggests it has a low-key reception.
Comment from FT is at APPENDIX D.
5. Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has set out arrangements for grid
connection to offshore wind farms. A DTI press release is at APPENDIX E.
6. Local planning policies are radically changing in a new framework
(news194.9, 198.10, 201.1 etc.). Regional authorities are imposing
national policy to over-ride local authorities, especially on wind
farms. The draft Yorkshire and Humber Plan closed for consultation on 13
April . My short response to the YH Plan
objected to irrational wind power targets. APPENDIX F outlines the
latest stage in Hambleton DC, where I also responded.
7. Defra's review of performance on climate change came out in March,
showing the UK is not achieving the carbon emission reductions intended.
Separately DTI is conducting an Energy Review (news205.8), thought by
many to prepare for a policy change in favour of nuclear power. The DTI
review closed for consultation until 14 April, though I hear late
responses may be accepted up to Weednesday or Thursday; see . I made a personal response, raising questions about
population growth (should there be targets?!) as well as repeating the
call for re-classification of wind generation as non-renewable
(news184).
8. A rally near Stirling objecting to the Beauly-Denny line is reported
at APPENDIX G. Meanwhile a meeting held by Highland Council suggests the
Council will object to the line with reference to four locations:
Beauly, Kiltarlity, Dalwhinnie and Laggan (APPENDIX H).
9. BBC on-line Science/Nature news at Easter leads with three reports
of sustainability gloom for the UK (APPENDIX I gives headlines and
links): more gas power stations needed to prevent blackouts, "eating the
planet" and global warming disaster likely. Happy Easter!
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APPENDIX A 'Enough is enough': wind farm builder threatens to quit UK
By Tim Webb Published: 19 March 2006
One of the UK's largest wind farm developers has threatened to pull out
of the country as a storm blows up over the Government's plans for
renewable energy.
A logjam in the planning process for developers means that many wind
farms will not be operational for a decade. Unless financing rules are
changed, Wind Energy is warning that many will never even get built,
which could force the Government to miss its targets on renewable
energy.
The timing of the protest is embarrassing for the Government, which next
month will close consultation on its energy review on nuclear power. Its
previous review - only three years ago - was supposed to back renewable
energy such as wind power.
Wind Energy wants to build 800MW of onshore wind farms in Scotland,
enough to power a city the size of Edinburgh.
National Grid has told the company, and developers of around 100 other
wind farms in Scotland, totalling around 6,000MW, that they will not be
connected to the grid before 2016.
But despite the huge timelag, developers still have to table deposits
upfront to cover the cost of the upgrades to the grid - even if planning
permission for their site is not granted and the wind farm does not go
ahead.
Under the planning regime, developers have to apply for connection to
the grid before they can gain planning permission. Around half the
planning applications for onshore wind farms in the UK fail.
Even if a developer secures planning approval and does not lose its
deposit for connection, it is not home and dry. Should a nearby wind
farm plan fall through, the other developers sharing the planned upgrade
to the grid have to shoulder the failed developer's liabilities.
Mike Davies, managing director of Wind Energy, said developers should be
able to delay payment until a decision on planning permission is made.
He added that developers had earned a temporary reprieve, until
September, before they have to start paying millions of pounds in
connection fees to National Grid.
"We are relying on the Government to sort this out in the next six
months. Unless things change, we would have to say 'enough is enough -
we are pulling out'. We will move to other countries where these
projects are easier to develop instead. Trying to get through the
regulatory and planning system in the UK is like running in treacle. It
needs some movement from the top urgently."
The Government has set a target to generate a 10th of the UK's
electricity, or around 7,000MW, from renewable sources by 2010 rising to
a fifth by 2020.
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APPENDIX B MP's green Bill step closer to becoming law
Evening News, 18 Mar 06
EDINBURGH MP Mark Lazarowicz's Westminster Bill to try to reduce global
warming has taken a giant step towards becoming UK law.
Despite Tory opposition, it got its second reading, Committee Stage and
Report Stage on the floor of the House of Commons yesterday.
This means the proposed legislation is now likely to be passed by MPs
and proceed to the House of Lords where it is also likely to be well
received and approved.
The Bill would force the Government to conduct annual audits of moves to
cut climate change and make it take steps to encourage the
microgeneration of electricity, cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.
It also includes other measures to promote sustainable energy and reduce
emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that cause global warming.
The Bill will now go forward to its third reading.
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APPENDIX C Snips from news@all-energy issue 62 March 2006
3.1.Minister welcomes ENA publication
Speaking at the Energy Networks Association's Well Connected 3 event
Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks welcomed the first annual report into the
state of gas and electricity networks, saying: "The networks are vital".
ENA launched 'The state of our networks' - the full text is published
with the Annual Review of the ENA at:
.
The document will be continually updated and revisions will be posted on
the website at
.
3.2.Decentralised energy - a way forward
Remote power stations squander energy, but local decentralised plants
would capture losses and are a real alternative to going nuclear.
.
3.3.Well Connected for the Future?
ENA is calling for the Government to introduce new review structures to
ensure the security of
Britain's power supply for the rest of the century.
.
The association published its response to the Government's Energy Review
which recognises the emphasis of the review will inevitably be on the
"upstream" end of the energy supply chain, but stresses that the means
of delivery must be given serious consideration if the Government is to
deliver a coherent energy policy.
4.5.New-look wind turbine
With most wind turbines the blades rotate about a horizontal axis...
rival designers claim electricity can be generated even more cheaply, by
turbines that rotate about a vertical axis.
.
4.7.Highlands looking at re-write
Council chiefs conceded that the huge protest and "new information"
about onshore Highland windfarms had prompted a potentially significant
rewrite of their planning guidelines.
.
7.1.Vital step for Lazarowicz Bill
Micropower industry groups and environmental NGOs warmly welcomed the
next stage of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill, which
finally passed its Report Stage in the House of Commons, now goes
forward for its Third Reading.
13.2.New CHP sector announced
The Combined Heat and Power Association welcomed the Government's
announcement that it intends to create a separate sector for high
efficiency CHP schemes under the next phase (2008 - 2012) of the EU
Emissions Trading Scheme.
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APPENDIX D MICROPOWER SECTOR EXPECTS REVIEW FILLIP
By Fiona Harvey FINANCIAL TIMES - 27.3.06 (extracts)
The flourishing microgeneration sector expects a boost this week when
ministers lay out their strategy for cutting greenhouse gases.
Microgeneration companies make mini wind turbines, solar panels and
boilers that generate electricity as well as heat. Higher energy
prices and environmental consciousness among consumers have spurred
household demand.
(cut)
Mini wind turbines, which can be fixed to house roofs, are also becoming
more popular, says David Gordon, chief executive of Windsave, a company
that makes the machines. He had a backlog of 20,000 orders, and a
database of another 40,000 people who had expressed an interest in the
products which cost £1,500 and generate slightly more than 1 megawatt of
energy a year, saving about a third on electricity bills. The
government gives a £500 grant to purchasers.
The government is to announce measures to make it easier to gain
planning permission for mini turbines and solar panels.
David Sowden, chief executive of the Micropower Council, an industry
body, said 'You used to have to get planning permission for satellite
dishes, and that was changed. We think micro renewables should be the
same'.
Another important element of the government's policy will be to make it
easier for householders to claim the renewable obligation certificates
that large scale suppliers of renewable energy obtain to offset their
costs. These fetch about £50 per megawatt, but at present it is
difficult for households to sell them.
The government will also emphasise the role of combined heat and power
technology, large and small scale. Large scale means power plans that
divert the waste heat they generate to local buildings. At the
domestic scale, it means boilers that produce electricity as they heat
water.
The government plans to make it easier for households to export
electricity from their mini renewables back to the grid. This was
essential for the industry to prosper, said Philip Smith, finance
director of Disenco, a company with a prototype combined heat and power
boiler. Disenco's boiler produces 3 megawatts of power, enough for all
household electricity needs, allowing people to sell the excess back to
utilities.
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APPENDIX E WICKS UNVEILS CONNECTION REGIME FOR OFFSHORE WINDFARMS
Department of Trade and Industry Thursday 30 March 2006 10:48
The drive to increase Britain's offshore wind energy was given a
significant boost today as details were announced of how their
connection to the electricity network onshore would be funded and
operated.
Following a joint consultation with Ofgem, the Energy Minister, Malcolm
Wicks, has extended the existing principles of onshore electricity
transmission to offshore.
Commenting on the new regime, Malcolm Wicks said:
"This is an important step for Britain's offshore wind energy industry
as the measures I am announcing will increase its viability by spreading
grid connection costs over a number of years.
"My decision also gives developers vital certainty and ensures
consistency with the onshore arrangements.
"We are aiming for 10% of our electricity to come from renewable sources
by 2010 and windfarm projects such as those planned for the Greater
Wash, off the North West coast and in the Thames Estuary can potentially
make a significant contribution to that target.
"These projects alone have the potential to produce between 5.4 and 7.2
Gigawatts (GW), which is enough electricity for more than one in six UK
households.
"This regulatory framework can also benefit the future development of
wave and tidal marine technologies."
Whilst the majority of the costs of building the offshore connections
will ultimately be met by wind developers, they will be staggered over
several years and will be funded by a regulated rate of return - still
to be determined - which is likely to be lower than the market rate.
Ofgem will ensure that the investments in the connections are economic
and efficient. This is the system that applies to the connection of
onshore generation assets.
Extending the onshore-regulated price control approach to offshore
electricity transmission has a number of clear advantages for offshore
wind farm developers and the efficient operation of the transmission
system as a whole:
* it will ensure consistency with the regulatory arrangements onshore;
* it will provide a financial benefit to offshore developers by
spreading the costs they face to connect to the onshore electricity
system through annual transmission charges recovered over a number of
years and means that the responsibility for developing the offshore
transmission network will be shared by the System Operator and the
Transmission Asset Owners;
* this approach will help to deliver the Government's renewable energy
targets;
* the regulated price control approach will also have additional
environmental benefits, as it will help to ensure a co-ordinated
approach to the development of the offshore network, which will reduce
unnecessary duplication of transmission assets;
and,
* this was the option that was favoured by the majority of respondents
to the consultation exercise - including all the offshore developers
that responded.
A fuller consideration of the issues behind the decision can be found in
the 'Government Response to the Consultation', which is published today
alongside an updated Regulatory Impact Assessment.
-ends-
Notes to editors
* Copies of the documents "Government Response to the Regulation of
Offshore Electricity Transmission Consultation," an updated Regulatory
Impact Assessment and copies of the responses to the consultation are
available on the DTI website http://www.dti.gov.uk/renewables. Hard
copies of the Government Response and the Regulatory Impact Assessment
can be ordered from the DTI Publications Orderline on 0845 015 0010 or
by email from publications@dti.gsi.gov.uk
*****
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APPENDIX F Hambleton DC Core Strategy consultation.
The Local Development Framework (LDF) at Hambleton in North Yorkshire
follows national guidelines and no doubt reflects what is happening
across England and Wales in the wake of the Planning and Compulsory
Purchase Act 2004. There is a multiple document structure and a multiple
consultation process. The Core Strategy sets out the over-riding Core
Policies for the LDF, which are extended in more detailed Development
Policies. They all must conform with the Regional Spatial Strategy which
is where government policy is imposed.
Last year Hambleton consulted over Issues and Options and again over
Preferred Options, leading up to submitting a Core Strategy document to
Secretary of State. The same process for Development Policies is
staggered some months behind the Core Strategy. The submitted Core
Strategy was open for public consultation up to 31 March 2006, but the
scope of this consultation is dominated by questions of conformity. To
make a representation you have to show the document is "unsound" against
one or more of nine tests, most of which just concern procedures,
conformity with national and regional policies and internal consistency
in the complex framework.
I made a short representation, essentially to say the response to my
submission (30.8.05) at an earlier stage was inadequate. The "soundness"
tests (as printed on the response form) I cited were:
[7] The strategies/policies fail to represent the most appropriate (sic)
in all the circumstances, having considered the relevant alternatives,
and they are not founded on a robust and credible evidence base.
[9] The plan is not reasonably flexible to enable it to deal with
changing circumstances.
The tests are taken from national statement PPS12, so may be used in
other localities. In this case, I challenge the Regional Spatial
Strategy, as the allocation of excessive wind farm targets to Hambleton
is not founded on a robust and credible evidence base, and neither is
the presumption that wind farms will significantly reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
*****
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APPENDIX G from BBC news Scotland: Pylon battlefield protest staged
Saturday, 1 April 2006, 08:44 GMT 09:44 UK
A Scottish clan has held a protest against plans to build pylons and a
power line at a historic battlefield. The line will cross Sheriffmuir,
near Stirling, where the Clan MacRae was virtually wiped out in a battle
during the Jacobite rebellion. The remains of the fallen are still at
the site of the battle, fought by Royalist and government forces in
1715. Scottish and Southern Energy promised to make a fully informed
decision on the route of the 137-mile line. The transmission line is
planned to run from Beauly near Inverness to Denny near Falkirk. The
Clan MacRae Society held a protest on Saturday at Sheriffmuir to echo
calls for a public inquiry into the proposals.
Digging the battlefield
Society member Fraser McRae fears many of the dead which still lie on
the battlefield could be disturbed if plans to build a major power line
cut through the site. "The pylons will require foundations and that
will mean digging huge holes right across the battlefield," said Mr
McRae, 61, of Montrose. "Many of the men who died here still lie here
after almost 300 years and we don't think it's acceptable that they
should be disturbed at this time for this reason."
'Robust' application
The battle of Sheriffmuir, fought on 13 November 1715, is seen as a key
event of the rebellion.
The Jacobite forces, led by the Earl of Mar, and the government army,
under the Duke of Argyll, fought each other to a standstill. The
MacRaes, fighting on the Royalist left flank were virtually wiped out.
In a statement, Scottish and Southern Energy said: "We continue to
believe we have submitted a robust application and SSE will make a fully
informed decision about the route of the proposed overhead transmission
line and its potential impact on the landscape and archaeology related
to this area of historical interest."
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APPENDIX H Plan for giant pylons rejected (The Times April 13, 2006)
By Shirley English
COMMUNITIES the length of Scotland were celebrating a significant
victory yesterday after plans to erect giant pylons through 137 miles of
spectacular Highland scenery were rejected unanimously by councillors.
The decision by Highland Council to object to the application by
Scottish and Southern Energy to upgrade the Beauly to Denny electricity
powerline means that the £330 million proposal has now been turned down
by all four of the local authorities affected.
Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Perth and Kinross councils have all
lodged objections with the Scottish Executive to the plans that would
see 600 electricity pylons, each up to 213ft (65m) high (about three
times the present height) forming a grey, metal spine down the centre of
Scotland. They could be placed at intervals of as little as 275m (300
yards).
Campaigners against the powerline voiced cautious optimism yesterday
that ministers would be forced to place the issue before a full public
inquiry, causing delays of at least another year; but they said that the
battle to stop the overhead line would continue, with lobbying switching
focus from councillors to MPs and MSPs.
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APPENDIX I BBC on-line environmental news on Easter Sunday.
SCIENCE/NATURE
* Britain 'needs more gas power' *
The UK will need new gas power stations to prevent the risk of
widespread blackouts, MPs warn.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/uk_politics/4913296.stm
* Britain now 'eating the planet' *
On 16 April, the UK stops relying on its own natural resources and
begins living off imports, research claims.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4897252.stm
* Stark warning over climate change *
The world is likely to suffer a disastrous temperature rise of more than
3C, the UK's chief scientist warns.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4888946.stm
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--
Mike O'Carroll