The UK Government has issued a call for evidence to inform the UK’s transition to price-based competitive allocation for renewable hydrogen production. The British Energy Security Strategy sets out annual allocation rounds for electrolytic hydrogen, moving to price-based competition by 2025 as soon as legislation and market conditions allow. The purpose of this call for evidence is to gather evidence to understand more about market conditions needed for the UK to transition to price-based competitive allocation for electrolytic projects and potentially other specified non-carbon capture, usage and storage technologies.                The consultation also aims to understand the extent to which a price-based competitive allocation process could incentivise projects to support broader outcomes beyond cost reduction of low carbon hydrogen production. These could include harnessing electricity system benefits, economic benefits and supply chain development, security of supply of hydrogen as well as how price-based competitive allocation should be designed. The consultation closes on 2 August 2023. The Government expects this call for evidence to be of particular interest to developers of new electrolytic projects and other non-CCUS low carbon hydrogen production projects in the UK, businesses involved in low carbon hydrogen production supply chains, electricity suppliers, consumer and environmental groups with an interest in low carbon hydrogen production and trade bodies with an interest in low carbon hydrogen and renewables sectors. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will also hold a launch briefing event on the HAR2 market engagement document and the call for evidence on competitive allocation on 25 May.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Hydrogen Web]

                 Santander UK has provided £25m funding to Voltalia subsidiary South Farm Solar, to support its construction and operation of a new PV project that will deliver more than half of the City of London Corporation’s electricity. South Farm is a 49.9MW ground-mounted solar farm near Spetisbury, Dorset that has been developed, constructed, operated and maintained by Voltalia. On site grid connection has been secured with Southern Electric Power Distribution with an export capacity of 40MW, connecting to an existing tower with 132kV overhead line. The South Farm site is now complete having achieved grid connection certification in December 2022, and it began providing the City Corporation with electricity in January, powering iconic London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, Hampstead Heath, the Barbican Centre and its historic Guildhall headquarters. South Farm represents Santander UK’s further support of renewable energy generation assets that do not rely on Government subsidies. The bank’s funding package also provides South Farm Solar Ltd with Consumer Price Index (CPI) hedging, giving it more certainty over the amount of revenue the solar farm will generate over the next 15 years, according to the lender. 100% of the power generated by South Farm has been purchased by the City Corporation, which has a 15-year PPA with South Farm Solar Ltd.                The deal is part of the City Corporation’s Climate Action Strategy, which commits it to reaching net zero in its own operations by 2027, and in its investments and supply chain by 2040. It is also supporting the achievement of net zero for the whole Square Mile, one of London’s financial districts, by the same year. Voltalia has undertaken 23 new renewable energy facility projects with a combined capacity of 193MW in the UK. South Farm is its largest solar energy facility to date and is located near its other solar photovoltaics farms at Clifton Farm, near Yeovil, and Higher Stockbridge. UK country manager at Voltalia Simon Holt said: “Through our work with Santander UK in funding the South Farm project we have been able to fully realise a brand new, substantial green energy project at South Farm, Dorset. “We expect an increasing number of companies and organisations in the UK to be switching to cleaner, sustainable, renewable energy supplies and we will continue to deliver a net-zero power purchase solution as our portfolio grows. “The UK has the capacity, enthusiasm and the sunshine to deliver many more of these projects in the coming decades and we hope that projects like South Farm add to the bankability and confidence in UK renewables.”             Credits: renews.biz [Image: Santander UK]

                 Mineral-based specialty solutions supplier Imerys is collaborating with TotalEnergies to install a large-scale solar power system paired with battery energy storage at its Lompoc facility in Santa Barbara County, California. The move forms part of a long-term energy services contract.  Under the agreement, TotalEnergies will install, maintain and operate at its Lompoc facility an approximately 15MWdc ground-mounted solar array and 7.5MWh energy storage system for Imerys under a 25-year Power Purchase and Storage Services Agreement (PPSSA). The Lompoc industrial site began its diatomite mining and processing operations in the 1890s. The new renewable power installation will cover 50% of the current electrical energy demand of the site. Imerys vice president for performance minerals in the Americas Jim Murberger said: “This project highlights Imerys’ approach to reducing CO2 emissions and enabling us to produce clean, smart energy across our plants in the Americas.                “This is a pivotal step to combat climate change and to manage the energy we buy in the region as we continue to invest and develop low-carbon products for our customers as well as extract and transform minerals responsibly and sustainably.” The TotalEnergies Distributed Generation USA team first engaged with Imerys to evaluate which of the company’s US facilities offered the greatest viability for solar. Under the PPSSA agreement, TotalEnergies will finance, install and operate the Lompoc facility’s solar-plus-storage system. Managing director of TotalEnergies distributed generation USA Eric Potts said: “We remain committed to helping Imerys achieve its sustainability goals with projects around the world, now with a focus on their US operations. “TotalEnergies is proud to be one of Imerys’ energy transition partners, and we applaud the company for investing in solar power and energy storage to reduce its environmental impact.” TotalEnergies currently has more than 1GW of signed solar capacity with over 500 business and public agency customers worldwide. The deployment of this capacity is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. The solar-plus-storage system at Imerys’ Lompoc site, which is expected to be fully operational in three years, features a ground-mounted single axis tracker solar PV system with bi-facial modules to maximize energy generation and will produce roughly 30GWh annually.             Credits: renews.biz [Image: TotalEnergies]

                 RWE invested €8bn in growing its portfolio of renewable and green energy investments in the first quarter of 2023. As part of its Growing Green strategy, the German energy company expanded its green portfolio by 4.9GW in Q1, reflecting investments of €8bn. The €6.3bn acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses in the US represented the largest share of the investments. In addition, RWE acquired a hydrogen-ready gas-fired power station in the Netherlands and took over British solar developer JBM Solar. In the first months of the year, RWE also invested in new wind, and solar facilities and also commissioned further plants. Additional facilities with a capacity of 6.8GW are under construction.                The largest individual projects are offshore wind farms Sofia off the UK coast, at 1.4GW, and Thor in Denmark, at 1GW. Onshore, too, RWE is pressing ahead on the expansion of wind power with more than 17 projects totalling 600MW in Europe and the US. Solar energy represents the largest share of new-build projects, at 2.7GW, mainly in the US. In addition, RWE is expanding its global battery storage portfolio, with projects totalling 900MW under construction in Germany, the US and the Netherlands. Michael Müller, Chief Financial Officer of RWE, said: “The continuous construction of new renewable energy facilities and our acquisitions are paying off. In the first quarter of 2023, we generated 14% more green electricity than in the same period last year. “And we have the financial resources to continue investing strongly in organic growth this year. Our project pipeline is well filled, and the forthcoming auctions open up further attractive opportunities for us. Last month RWE released preliminary results for Q1 2023. Its offshore wind business achieved €473m in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to €420m year-on-year (YoY).           Credits: renews.biz [Image: RWE]

                 A “UK first” product is set to deliver more than 400MW of additional electricity capacity, as UK Power Networks announces the results of its latest flexibility tender. The new product is enabling UK Power Networks to efficiently connect more renewable energy to the network and avoids spending “substantial sums of customer money” on major network reinforcement for capacity that may only be needed for a few hours a year. For the first time, UK Power Networks has awarded contracts to distributed energy resources and aggregators to increase demand or turn down supply during periods of excess power.                The flexibility tender attracted more than 1000MW of flexible capacity against requirements of 426MW, providing competition that will drive down costs. As it has done previously, UK Power Networks also procured flexibility to turn down demand at times of peak consumption. In April this year, UK Power Networks established itself as the UK’s first independent Distribution System Operator (DSO). The DSO has committed to saving customers £410million over the next five years by using flexibility to deliver capacity on the network at lower cost than building new infrastructure. The company’s latest tender round saw it seek bids for flexibility from 1037 sites, up from just 28 in its first ever flexibility tender in 2018.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: UKPN]

                 German transmission system operator 50Hertz is working with LichtBlick and Granular Energy on a pilot to enable hourly transparency of the origin of green electricity. As part of the project, several of LichtBlick’s corporate customers can now use a platform set up by Granular Energy to track the hour at which they purchase green electricity from certain renewable generation plants. The certificates generated in this way can be purchased and managed in 50Hertz’s Energy Track and Trace Register. In order for an electricity supply to be declared as green electricity in Germany, it has had to carry a green guarantee of origin (HKN) since 2013. This certifies when and where green electricity was produced and must be purchased from electricity providers in addition to physical electricity. So far, however, it is sufficient that the proof was drawn up in the balance sheet in the year of delivery. There is no need for an hourly comparison between consumption and production. In Germany, the Federal Environment Agency maintains the Register of Guarantees of Origin. “Guarantees of origin are the birth certificate of green electricity,” said Enno Wolf, chief operating officer of LichtBlick.                “They create transparency and prevent the dual marketing of green electricity,” he added. “So far, however, the evidence usually does not guarantee that the green electricity assigned to a customer was also generated at the time of consumption. “This is where the system can and must be improved. With our project, we are demonstrating that it is possible to compare generation and consumption on an hourly basis.” In order to be able to purchase and manage the hourly certificates, 50Hertz, together with Elia Belgium, the Danish grid operator energinet and the Estonian grid operator Elering, has launched a system called the Energy Track and Trace Register, which has also been joined by the Dutch certification company VertiCer. Many companies will need more transparency about the origin of their electricity in the future for their carbon footprint. With the guarantees of origin on an hourly basis, they can ensure that they not only purchase green electricity on a certain scale throughout the year, but also verifiably at any hour. “Hourly energy tracking is crucial to increase confidence in green electricity products,” said co-founder of Granular Toby Ferenczi. He added: “It also creates a razor-sharp price signal that will accelerate investment in the technologies needed to deliver clean energy around the clock around the world. “This is because it allows companies to set more precise targets for matching production and consumption. This will also create financial incentives for the expansion of flexibilities and storage.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Unplash/Johanna Montoy]

                 SSE Renewables has taken a final investment decision to proceed with, and entered into contracts to deliver, its second battery energy storage system (BESS). The 150MW project is located at the site of SSE’s former Ferrybridge coal-fired power station in West Yorkshire, England. The investment is part of SSE’s £25bn Net Zero Acceleration Programme and means construction will now commence later this month at the iconic site.  For decades the Ferrybridge coal-fired power station was a prominent feature of the West Yorkshire landscape, before being decommissioned by SSE in 2016. Now SSE Renewables’ plans to build a new 150MW battery storage project at Ferrybridge will provide flexible generation for Britain’s national grid and a new era for the site.  With a grid connection confirmed for June 2024, the project is expected to be fully operational by late 2024 and is being developed in conjunction with battery technology supplier Sungrow Power Supply and construction partner OCU Services Ltd.                The news follows last week’s announcement that SSE’s solar and battery team is becoming part of SSE Renewables to progress the development of its near 2GW pipeline of battery and solar projects in the UK and Ireland. This development will also support SSE Renewables with its plans to expand into Europe to pursue new development opportunities. This will be SSE Renewables’ second battery storage project in delivery. The business has a 50MW BESS site already under construction in Salisbury, Wiltshire, due to be completed later this year.   Richard Cave-Bigley, director (solar and battery) at SSE Renewables, said: “Reaching Final Investment Decision for our Ferrybridge battery storage project is another exciting landmark for us. “Located next to the former Ferrybridge coal power station, this important new project demonstrates clearly the transition to net zero while supporting new green jobs. “SSE Renewables has almost 2GW of battery and solar projects currently in development or under construction. “These technologies are key to helping SSE deliver on its £25bn Net Zero Acceleration Programme to provide the green energy we need to decarbonise.   “By building out more battery storage, we can get more renewable power onto the Grid. That’s because batteries store power in times of surplus generation and release it when it’s needed the most – helping us bring flexibility and balance to the Grid.”           Credits: renew.biz [Image: Ads-Tec]

                 Engie Green has inaugurated a solar farm in France’s Haut-Rhin region. The 22MW Volgelsheim photovoltaic park was co-developed by Saem Vialis and Engie Green, which secured the project in the 2019 call for tenders for the “energy transition of the territory of Fessenheim” by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The solar farm required an investment of €15m and has been built on a former military ground, owned by the Municipality of Volgelsheim. The plot dedicated to the project is 22.3 hectares, including 19.7 hectares for the solar power plant itself.                The vegetation under and around the panels is preserved and maintenance will be provided by sheep grazing. Other measures conducive to the development of biodiversity include the creation of habitats favourable to lizards, the installation of two kestrel nesting boxes, the adjustment of fences to favour the passage of small fauna and the planting of hedges with landscape and environmental functions. Vialis and Engie Green will also commission a second solar power plant by 2024, which will recover degraded site used for waste storage in the past. The Ligelios solar power plant, located on the western outskirts of the city of Colmar, will have an installed power of 11.5MW.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Engie/Vialis]

                 TagEnergy’s 50MW Chapel Farm energy storage system near Luton, England, is now operational. The £30m development is a joint venture between TagEnergy and Yorkshire- headquartered Harmony Energy. After TagEnergy acquired a 60% stake in the project in November 2021, the project was supported by a £12.5m funding package from Santander UK. Construction commenced following financial close in March 2022. Now live, Chapel Farm is using a system of Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries, together with Tesla’s Autobidder AI software for real-time trading and control.                RES is overseeing operations as asset manager. Chapel Farm is the second TagEnergy renewable energy project to go online from its growing portfolio of close to 4GW across the UK, Spain, Portugal, France and Australia. Its first UK facility to go live, the 20MW Hawkers Hill Energy Park near Shaftesbury in Dorset, England, began operating in September 2022, following TagEnergy’s UK market entry in 2021. TagEnergy CEO Franck Woitiez said: “We are proud to work alongside our valued partner Harmony Energy and leverage our battery storage expertise to bring this important project to fruition quickly as we continue to drive momentum towards net-zero carbon emissions. “Importantly, with more than double the operational capacity of our first live facility, Chapel Farm will provide a significant clean energy boost to the national grid and help grow renewables’ share of it.” Peter Kavanagh, Harmony Energy’s CEO and Co-Founder, said: “The completion and energisation of the Chapel Farm scheme is another significant milestone for us especially as it is the first JV project we have delivered with TagEnergy which has been a great partner.” Energy Storage capacity from TagEnergy’s first two live projects, together with its other sites under construction, will bolster the UK grid by more than 350MW over the next two years alone.             Credits: renews.biz [Image: TagEnergy]

                 Akuo and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure have closed the financing and started the construction of a portfolio, composed of nine photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 80MW in Chile. Located in the Regions of Maule (VII), Ñuble (XVI), Araucanía (IX) and Biobío (VIII), the projects are all situated in the south of Santiago de Chile. The portfolio benefits from the country’s PMGD (Pequeños Medios de Generación Distribuida) regime. Akuo and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure are the equity sponsors whereby the debt financing is provided by DNB. Maire Group will perform the engineering, procurement and construction activities on the plants.                The Italian engineering company also acted as co-developer of the initiatives, through its Integrated E&C Solutions business unit. Martin Bocage, Akuo Country Manager for Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, said: “Akuo is a committed stakeholder to Chile’s energy transition and we stick to our words. “Construction is ongoing and we will soon inject electricity for the benefit of the citizens. “Chile’s renewable energy strategy encourages us to continue growing and investing on this country.” Antonio Merino, VP South America at Atlantica, added: “This investment increases Atlantica’s presence in Chile as we continue executing on our growth plan in renewables. “The portfolio is fully aligned with our long-term strategy and GHG emissions reduction targets. “Chile is one our core geographies in South America and we plan to continue devoting time and efforts to close new investments and contribute to the transition of the country towards a clean energy mix.”             Credits: renews.biz [Image: Akuo]