Energy roundup
Cardiff, Newport and Bristol are uniting under the title Great Western cities to rival the northern cities in their bid to attract economic investment including on infrastructure. In a 2014 report called Unleashing Metro Growth, the City Growth Commission identified the Severn region as one of six ‘power-house city regions’ on which the British economy will rely in the future.
HR Wallingford has announced a strategic partnership Siemens, to boost infrastructure monitoring solutions for the water industry. The technology partnership includes the development and delivery of innovative real-time solutions for dams and flood defence infrastructure.
Government has given the go ahead to the UK’s biggest windfarm, 130km off the Yorkshire coast. The Dogger Bank Creyke Beck wind farm will include up to 400 wind turbines that are expected to generate up to 2.4GW, or 2.5% of UK electricity demand. Only Drax coal fired station produces more output at 3.9GW. Promoter is Forewind, a consortium of SSE, RWE, Statkraft and Statoil.
Wandsworth Council has given planning approval to the London race of the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship to be held within the grounds of Battersea Park. The London ePrix will encompass two separate races – Rounds 10 and 11 – on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June, increasing the inaugural calendar by one additional race.
First project to benefit from the UK Green Investment Bank and Strathcylde Pension Fund’s £60M renewable energy fund is to be a run of river hydro power scheme on the River Allt Coire Chaorach near Crianlarich, Stirling, approximately 15km north of Loch Lomond. The UK Green Investment Bank is making up to £50 million available to help community-scale renewable energy projects, with the Strathclyde Pension Fund investing a further £10 million. The funding could help as many as 30 projects across the UK, generating approximately 24 megawatts of electricity - enough to power some 17,500 homes. The scheme will provide between £1 million and £10 million of equity funding.
DECC has unveiled the first 27 renewable energy projects to win competitive auctions for £315M contract for difference deals to supply power to the National Grid. The contracts being offered include two offshore wind farms, which could deliver over 1.1GW of new capacity, 15 onshore wind projects and 5 solar projects. In total, over 2GW of new capacity could be built, costing £110m per year less than it would have without competition.