Exploring this week's industry updates with ?????? ???????????????? as we take a look into the latest industry developments, from concerns over the governments proposed reforms to mass funding. Were taking a look at the key trends and developments that have happened this week which promise to shape the landscape of sustainable energy. ??????
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Catch up on the latest news, policy changes and trends.
- Concerns Over The UK Government’s Proposed Reforms to Electricity Market - The governments recent unveiling of proposed reforms to the electricity market has sparked controversy within the renewables industry, as Solar Energy UK and RenewableUK express scepticism and concerns. The proposed shift to zonal pricing, aimed at restructuring the wholesale electricity market, is met with apprehension by industry leaders. Read the full article here
- Innovate UK Launches the UK-South Africa Smart Energy Global Innovation Network - The innovation agency of the UK government, has launched the UK-South Africa Smart Energy Global Innovation Network this week. The announcement was made at the Africa Energy Indaba held in Cape Town and is spearheaded by Innovate UK’s Global Alliance Africa project based in South Africa. The network aims to connect energy innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors. Its goal is to stimulate the development and implementation of digital, smart and AI-enabled technologies in the energy sectors of both the UK and South Africa. Read the full article here
- Decision on ￡600m Sunnica Energy Farm Delayed until April - The government has delayed a decision on a controversial ￡600m solar farm for a third time. The proposed Sunnica Energy Farm on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border would span about 2,500 acres across both counties. Claire Coutinho, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, set a new decision deadline "of no later than 11 April 2024". Read the full article here
- UK Renewables Jobs Have Increased 29% Since 2015 - Office of National Statistics data reveals that the renewable sector booms in the face of restrictions, while the oil and gas sector continues to shed jobs despite massive spending. The UK now has nearly 30% more jobs in the renewable energy industry than it did in 2015.?In the same period, the UK’s oil and gas industry nearly 30% of its jobs, despite billions spent by oil and gas companies and a licensing blitz by the Conservative government. Read the full article
- UK to Offer Record ￡800m Support for Offshire Wind - The government set a budget of just over ￡1 billion ($1.3 billion) for renewable energy, with ￡800 million a year to support the next generation of offshore wind farms, according to a budget document that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report. The total is three times bigger than any previous support packages. Read the full article
- REA Raises 'Concerns' Over UK Gas Plant Plans
- UK Onshore Wind Hits 15GW Milestone
- Octopus Energy Launches Green Jobs ‘hiring festival’
- UK Government ‘must act fast’ on LDES Support
- Flagship Moroccan Energy Scheme Could Benefit Germany Instead of Britain
Discovering the cutting-edge technologies and innovations that are driving sustainability and reshaping the industry.
- ￡11m Funding to Expand Access to Renewable Energy research in North East - World-leading research from three North East universities to advance renewable energy technologies has received a welcome boost, with the announcement of almost ￡11.5 million to expand their work and include people from under-represented groups and non-traditional educational backgrounds to drive the transition to Net Zero. Read the full story.
- New High Performance Solar Cell Material - A new study at Dartmouth College reports the discovery of an entirely new stable, earth-abundant, high-performance material for solar absorbers - the central part of a solar cell that turns light into electricity. While identifying new solar materials is typically very time-consuming, the researchers used a unique high-throughput computational screening method to quickly evaluate around 40,000 candidate materials. Read the full story.
This weeks projects and initiatives that are making a positive impact.
- Major Solar Farm Energised in Somerset - Gloucester-based Blackfinch Energy, part of?Blackfinch Group, is announcing the official energisation of its Horsey Levels Solar Farm in Somerset, adding to the UK’s renewable energy efforts. The project, developed and constructed by Enviromena, is historic as it is the first in the country to benefit from the National Grid’s Technical Limits acceleration program, which aims to streamline the integration of renewable energy into the national grid. Read the full story here
- RWE Starts Construction of its First UK Solar Farms - RWE has taken a major step towards the realisation of its first solar farms in the UK, with seven projects, representing 330 megawatts (MW) of new, clean electricity capacity, now entering construction. The projects are the first to be constructed from the solar portfolio secured by RWE through its acquisition of JBM Solar, one of the UK’s largest independent solar and co-located battery developers. Read the full story here
- Fluence to Supply BESS to 300MWh UK Project at Decommissioned Coal Power Plant Site - Global systems integrator Fluence will supply batteries for a 150MW/300MWh battery storage project being developed by SSE Renewables at Fiddler’s Ferry, Warrington, UK. The 2-hour duration project will use Fluence’s Gridstack platform, the company’s modular battery energy storage system (BESS) solution, which is being used in multiple international storage developments such as an Australian 300MW grid-forming project. Read the full story here
- Lloyds to Buy Solar Power Under Deal with Low Carbon - Lloyds Banking Group Plc has agreed to procure 50 GWh of clean electricity annually under a long-term deal with domestic renewable energy company Low Carbon. The 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) was announced by the banking group on Thursday. Its signing is aligned with Lloyds’ participation in the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative and its commitment to buy 100% renewables power for its operations. Read the full story here
- SSEN wins ￡600,000 from Ofgem’s SIF for Solar and BESS - Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has won ￡600,000 from the third round of Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) for four clean energy projects. The Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for the north of Scotland and central southern England has sourced funding for four of its green initiatives, two of which focus on the potential of solar energy and energy storage. Read the full story here
- Higher rates impact on Foresight Solar NAV - Solar and battery storage investment firm Foresight Solar Fund has confirmed it achieved a record year for electricity production across 2023. Detailed within the fund’s annual results for 2023, Foresight declared that its 58-project strong portfolio, which has a total capacity of 969MW, exported 1,094GWh of electricity to the grid. Read the full story her
Highlighting this weeks hottest jobs in the renewable industry.
- Senior Building Physics Engineer | Cheshire | Up to ￡50k - View Job
- Senior Mechanical Design Engineer | Cheshire | Up to ￡60k - View Job
- Electrical Technician | Oxfordshire | ￡40k - ￡50k - View Job
- Electrical Engineer | Oxfordshire | ￡50k - ￡65k - View Job
- BDM - Renewables | Coventry | ￡40k - ￡50k - View Job
- Senior Electrical Engineer | Cheshire | Up to ￡60k - View Job
- Technical Manager | Cheshire | Up to ￡65k - View Job
- Project Engineer | Swindon | Competitive package - View Job
- Design Engineer | Swindon | Competitive package - View Job
- Fusion Design Engineer | UK | ￡50K -￡70K - View Job
- Data Engineer | Cambridge | ￡45k - ￡55k + Package - View Job
- Chief Commercial Officer | Estonia/Remote | Competitive package - View Job
- Senior Solar Manager | Bristol/Hybrid or Remote | ￡50k-￡60k - View Job
- Senior Scientist | Cambridge, UK | Competitive package - View Job
- Contracts Manager | Crawley | ￡60k - ￡70k - View Job
For all the latest roles, updates and help with hiring specialist, cleantech talent check out Zero Global
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