Still in Turmoil after Latest Court Decision

Last week, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the High Court’s decision (made earlier in January 2012) that the UK Government’s attempt to cut the Feed-in Tarriff (FiTs) subsidy before the end of its consultation period was illegal.

Rather than accepting the decision as final, however, DECC is considering its options – including lodging an appeal with the Supreme Court.

Many in the UK Solar industry are worried it will lead to many more months of second-thoughts and tentativeness from home and business owners thinking of installing Solar.

In a report on www.businessgreen.com last week, Energy and Climate Change secretary Chris Huhne is quoted as saying:

“……we cannot rule out the possibility that lower tariffs could be applied to installations which became eligible for FiTs on or after the proposed reference date. It is important consumers are aware of this.”

A Government spokesperson stated that the Government is very clear that from the 1^st April 2012, all tariffs will be 21p/kWh.

Last November, DECC announced that as of the 12^th December 2011, the Feed-in Tariff would be reduced to 21p/kWh on all installations, thus throwing the UK Solar industry into chaos and resulting in cancelled contracts, redundancies and bankruptcies.

Legal action was announced when Friends of the Earth, Homesun and Solarcentaury got together to take the Government to court over its decision. In December, the High Court ruled against the Government’s decision. DECC then mounted an action with the Court of Appeal, which was also unsuccessful.

Riello is continuing to promote Solar energy as a viable and cost-effective option for the future of power generation. Riello UPS supplies AROS solar inverters from 1.5 to 500kW for residential and commercial applications. They are fully customisable and can be monitored via the equipment we supply. For more information, visit our website.

The subject of renewables has taken up quite a few column inches in the press over the past couple of week, particularly Wind Power.

According to statistics for the third quarter of 2011, released just before Christmas by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the amount of fuel made in the UK dropped by 20%. Renewable energy sources, however, generated 9% of the UK’s electricity from July to September. Hydro energy saw the largest increase in that quarter, jumping 41.3% as a result of higher rainfall.

Combined with the first three quarters of 2011, the statistics show an increase of 64% in the amount of electricity generated by offshore wind than in the same three quarters of 2010 – despite increased activity from anti-wind protestors. The increase was all due to offshore wind generation. Onshore wind generation was down by 2.4%.

Meanwhile, energy provider E.ON is reinforcing its interest in renewable energy and offshore wind farms in particular by investing €7 billion over the next five years. One of the first projects using part of the cash to be built will be the Amrumbank wind farm in the German North Sea, which is aiming to supply 300,000 households with green electricity.

E.ON is also currently building the London Array in the Thames Estuary, off the UK coast, which when complete will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm so far.

Riello provides a range of power protection solutions for use in renewable energy applications alongside uninterruptible power supplies. For more detail visit our website.

It looks like controversial American entrepreneur Donald Trump’s plans for redeveloping a site on North East Scotland’s coast have been thwarted by the proposed installation of eleven wind turbines in Aberdeen Bay.

Mr Trump met with opposition from locals when he revealed plans some years ago to buy land, and a section of coastline in the area, to build a high-end, luxury golf course, grand hotel and executive housing. His plans were subsequently approved and building has started on the golf course.

BBC News Scotland reported that work has now halted on the development as Trump awaits the outcome of planning approval for the Wind Farm installation. Mr Trump has said openly and in a letter to First Minister Alex Salmond that the turbines would spoil the sea views for his customers.

The European Offshore Wind Development Centre is a £150m joint venture by utility company Vattenfall, engineering firm Technip and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group.

The plans took a step forward this week when councillors approved the consortium’s submission to Marine Scotland.

Wind farms on land can be unpopular. Many home owners view them as ugly, a blight on the landscape, noisy and unpleasant, which is one reason why basing them out at sea makes sense. At Riello UPS, we are keeping an open mind about all manner of renewable energy sources, particularly solar, as a key part of the future of energy generation and power protection.

Scottish Wind Farms Receive Record Constraints Payments

Wind power has received mixed coverage of late. First of all, Scottish online newspaper Scotsman.com ran an article last week reporting that wind farm operators in Scotland received more than £14 million in the past two years in return for switching off their turbines at times of high power generation.

To balance things out, however, the story was brought to light by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), a charity that has publicly spoken out in the past against wind farms.

REF released information that said that since 2010, a system of ‘constraint payments’ has been operated by The National Grid to compensate wind farms if they are taken off the grid when it cannot cope with high supply.

A spokesperson from Scottish Renewables stated that constraints payments are paid to all electricity generators, including coal and gas power stations and not just wind farms. Such payments are a standard practice in that suppliers are paid not to generate at times of lower than expected demand or when there is congestion on the grid.

At Riello UPS, we see renewables, of all types, as a key part of of the future energy generation landscape and are continuing to develop products and solutions that enable customers to take full advantage of those technologies alongside ensuring power protection for critical applications.

Majority of Renewable Energy Association’s members think tariff should be cut by 25%

So, there is still no clearer harmony over FiTs after the landmark legal victory in December 2011.

Since the Government’s announcement in December that it would slash the tariff for small-scale solar projects (up to 4kW in size) from 43.30/kWh to 21p/kWh, the industry has delivered a backlash of angry protest as installers have had contracts cancelled and companies have had to close or make serious redundancies.

But it would seem, from comments in the press by Gaynor Hartnell, the Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association, that there is disharmony in the industry. Hartnell responded to the high court decision by warning that the impact of the ruling could further increase instability.

The high court found that the proposed cut to the Feed-in Tariff Scheme for solar power by the UK Government in the middle of a consultation period was unlawful. The case had been brought by environmental organisation Friends of the Earth alongside solar groups. Following the ruling, DECC (Department for Energy and Climate Change) lodged with the Appeals Court and a hearing has been set for this Friday (13^th January).

I think it’s sad that it has come to this. It’s clear that the Feed-in Tariff scheme, which was meant to benefit individuals, small-scale energy users, schools and community projects has been exploited and often misdirected. In my view, there are faults on both sides (the Government and the industry). At the end of the day the ones who are suffering are individual energy consumers, who are missing out on the benefits of harnessing solar power and generating their own electricity, but the ones who are suffering the most are the honest, hardworking installers whose very livelihoods are being jeopardised.

I do believe, however, that the industry will bounce back. It has too much momentum behind it now to fade away and there are too many advantages solar power can offer (separate to the FiTs scheme), which is what the industry has to focus on now rather than relying solely on FiTs – irrespective of the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Aros Solar Inverter product range covers both domestic and commercial/industrial applications from 1.5 to 500kW and includes a host of monitoring and customisation options. Aros Solar Inverters are accredited for use in the UK market and are available from Riello UPS Ltd.

The National Grid is buckling under the pressure of increasing demand for electricity – and modernisation is not happening fast enough. In densely populated areas like large towns and cities, it is a real problem exacerbated by the fact that more and more renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar installations are being connected into the grid. These facts are introducing even greater instability into an already precarious system.

The primary purpose of a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and generator is to provide an immediate source of back up power in the event of a mains failure. A secondary, but increasingly important, purpose for a UPS is to condition the voltage that is delivered to connected loads, but this can only happen if UPS and generator are properly synchronised to work together.

Power Problems

Power problems associated with raw mains energy are defined as any variation in electrical power resulting in a malfunction or equipment failure. Power problems include: sags, surges, brownouts, electrical noise, spikes, transients and harmonics, alongside frequency variations and complete blackouts.

It’s not only problems brought about by external mains power, however, that can cause problems for connected loads. Certain types of power load that are connected internally to the site electricity distribution system – such as motor loads (lifts, mechanical machinery), certain types of lighting (Tungsten) and air-conditioning can cause problems for equipment upstream without the correct filtering and power conditioning.

A generator must be able to accept the load of the UPS and the UPS rectifier and static bypass supplies must be able to operate with (and synchronise to) the output of the generator. There are several elements that enable this to be achieved: correct generator sizing. In UPS installations, generators are typically larger than the installed UPS so that they can deal with the harmonics the UPS generates and any overload conditions that may occur during operation.

For load acceptance to occur, a UPS must be able to synchronise to the voltage waveform supplied by the generator. UPS normally have a wide input voltage window, which will more than accommodate most generator output but the frequency can vary and this potential problem can be simply overcome by widening the UPS operating parameters to accept wider frequency ranges.

There is a whole chapter on generators in The Power Protection Guide – the design, installation and operation of uninterruptible power supplies, which offers more information. Visit the Riello website for details of the power protection products and services we supply.

Friends of the Earth lawsuit against UK Government over its latest FiTs Decision

More on the latest Government announcement of cuts to the FiTs tariff: I read on energylivenews.com in November that Friends of the Earth issued the UK Government with an ultimatum: amend their latest Feed-in Tariff decision or face legal action.

The charity wrote to Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, and gave him until Friday 11^th November to make changes or face the consequences.

The Government has slashed financial support for solar under its FiTs scheme to over half what it was a year ago, from 43.3p/kWh to just 21p/kWh. This is for schemes 4kW or less and will come into force as of 12^th December 2011. Friends of the Earth claims that this date, which is two weeks before the consultation process the government brought into force earlier this year ends, makes their move unlawful.

The eco campaigning group carried out its threat and issued legal proceedings because they didn’t get a satisfactory response from the government by the appointed deadline. Friends of the Earth is calling for the Government to maintain existing tariff payments to all qualifying solar schemes completed by April 1^st 2012 and to extend the consultation period to Friday February 17^th 2012 at the earliest.

In a letter from the Treasury Solicitor to Friends of the Earth, the Government said: “The Secretary of State retains an open mind in respect of this proposal. Indeed, that is the reason why the proposal is out for consultation”.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

We offer solar inverters that provide maximum energy, efficiency and safety. They come with advanced communications, easy installation and maintenance, plus conformance to international standards. More information is available on our website or contact us if you have any questions.

The UK government has merely loosened the head collar but it hasn’t yet killed the beast.

There is plenty of life left in Solar but the industry needs to build business models centred on delivering real value and market the many benefits of Solar installations rather than simply relying in subsidies from the FiTs scheme.

There was serious industry backlash against the UK government’s latest announcement of a massive cut in feed in tariff for Solar energy on schemes up to 4kW in size, from 43.3p per kWh down to 21p/kWh, earlier this month.

Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association, Gaynor Hartnell, was reported in the Guardian as saying that she did not believe the department for energy and climate change was winning its argument with the Treasury on the benefits to the economy of renewables. She is also quoted as stating that the government chopping and changing its mind like this and not honouring its commitments (this is the second major cut this year) was undermining confidence in the industry as a whole.

Other industry experts quoted in press articles within hours of the announcement were stating that thousands of contracts had already been cancelled and some Solar companies had started laying people off and making redundancies.

I’m in two minds about this. Firstly, cuts to payments under the FiTs scheme will make some people think twice about Solar installations, but unfortunately much of the subsidy has already been diverted to large commercial energy companies rather than individual home owners or public sector projects as it was initially intended. In my mind the Government should have acted sooner and made a much clearer distinction between the different market sectors. Spending controls are unfortunately now a necessity.

Every fledgling industry needs a helping hand but there comes a time when it should be able to stand on its own two feet. Perhaps that time for the solar industry is now.

There are many benefits and reasons why residential or commercial customers should invest in solar technology. FiTs is just one of them. Alongside the many ‘green’ issues, an other benefit is security of supply and having more control over your energy supply and usage; solar customers can at least rest assured that they can generate energy for their own needs at times when mains electricity may be unavailable. And with talk of possible energy rationing at some point in the future and political unrest globally, that benefit is looking increasingly attractive. Once payback has been achieved, Solar energy is always going to be less costly than many other sources – or even free in certain circumstances.

We offer solar inverters that provide maximum energy, efficiency and safety. They come with advanced communications, easy installation and maintenance, plus conformance to international standards. More information is available on our website or contact us.

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is not shy about letting his feelings be known. We (the British Public) are used to reading about or listening to his latest verbal gaffe in newspapers and on the news.

In November, the Duke was reported in the Sunday Telegraph as having a pop at renewable technologies, specifically wind turbines, which he declared “Absolutely useless.” According to the newspaper, his comments were directed at a representative from a wind turbine manufacturer to whom he declared: “they are absolutely useless, completely reliant on subsidies and an absolute disgrace.”

His comments are unfortunate given the UK government’s widely broadcast renewable ambitions and support for onshore as well as offshore wind farms.

As you know, Riello UPS is a big fan of renewable energy, particularly as part of a mix of supply options, and particularly Solar. All new technologies need a subsidy to get them off the ground and solar is a case in point. In countries, such as Germany, where it has been subsidised for almost a decade, it has really taken off and as an industry will soon be able to stand on its own two feet. Wind farms (on and offshore) are the same and there are many instances where they are established and offering competitive enough electricity prices but there are many installations that still have some catching up to do and are reliant on subsidies.

On that note, I read an interesting article in Electrical Review talking about the ETI (Energy Technologies Institute) taking wave energy to the next level with a project to design and demonstrate a low-cost wave energy converter system.

Extracting energy from waves using wave energy converters (WECs) is one method of exploiting the energy potential of the seas around the UK – and as we are an island, why not? However, capturing as much energy from waves as possible while building technologies that will withstand the harsh environment is not easy and this project will identify areas for improvement and new developments. It is being commissioned in two phases, the first is looking for design concepts for wave energy converter systems and the second will see the designs being developed and demonstrated. Requests for proposals have been issued for any organisations wanting to get involved. Updates and more details are available at www.energyytechnologies.co.uk.

Electricity generated from renewable energy sources in the UK has increased 50% in the past year, according to statistics released by DECC (Department for Energy and Climate Change) in October 2011.

Electricity from renewables comprised 6.3% of the UK’s total energy consumption when the figures were announced in April 2010 and that figure rose to 9.6% this year, a healthy 50% increase.

Supplies from hydro and wind rose by 74.7% and 120% respectively but renewables still only supply around 10% of the UK’s total energy needs and that has got to change if we are to meet our carbon reduction targets alongside our growing energy needs.

However, the wind industry is making a tremendous contribution to the nations energy supply and is now providing enough power to supply nearly 3.25 million homes in the UK.

Electricity sourced from nuclear generation accounted for 21.3% of total according to DECC. So, despite the massive rises in low carbon energy and encouraging growth in the renewables industries, we are still relying on fossil fuels for two thirds of our energy needs.

As you know, here at Riello we are big fans of renewable energy and have developed our range of UPS and ancillary products to support renewable energy installations such as Solar (with our AROS solar inverters). We are continuing to bring products and solutions to market that support the drive towards renewables.