Tag Archives: Energy Security

Will GB Energy be keen on V2G?

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Just in case you missed the news, the Labour Party have been holding their annual conference this week. During his well received speech current Labour Party leader Keir Starmer had this to say:

We will set up Great British Energy in the first year of a Labour Government. A new company that takes advantage of the opportunities in clean British power. And because it is right for jobs. Because it is right for growth. Because it is right for energy independence from tyrants like Putin…

The exciting news about the potential “GB Energy” publicly-owned low carbon energy company seems to have been generally well received. For example the New Civil Engineer had this to say:

Labour leader Keir Starmer’s plan to create a publicly-owned renewable energy company is a positive step for the industry, according to Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit senior analyst Jess Ralston.

At the Labour Party conference, Starmer announced proposals to create the new company, named Great British Energy, if Labour wins the next general election.

The company would be similar to France’s EDF and aim to ensure an expansion in clean energy, focusing on offshore wind, onshore wind, nuclear, solar, hydrogen and tidal power.

Ralston told NCE that the clean power industry will be “boosted” by the plans.

“The devil will be in the detail but more broadly it does show that Labour clearly see clean power – whether it be nuclear or wind, solar and renewables – as the future of the energy system and putting government money behind it would help investors see the security there and help private investment be leveraged as well,” she said.

A few years ago, in the days when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader, John McDonnell had this to say concerning vehicle-to-grid technology:

Speaking on the Today programme, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell announced that Labour will introduce 2.5 million interest free loans for the purchase of electric cars.

The loans of up to £33,000 will allow low to income households, those living in rural areas and independent contractors and SMEs middle to save on new electric cars. The government will cover the £1,500 cost of interest on a loan, with individuals saving up to £5,000 over time.
The scheme will ensure that access to the Electric Car Revolution is broadened beyond elites, as part of Labour’s vision of clean transport for everyone.

The interest-free loans will require participation in a mass trial of Vehicle-2-Grid technology which will allow the UK to transition to renewable energy.

This new technology will allow electric cars to store excess energy from the national grid, smoothing energy supply from renewable sources.
The scheme will boost the British automobile industry and support the UK’s transition away from petrol and diesel cars.

One cannot help but wonder what views the current Shadow Chancellor,
Rachel Reeves, holds on the three letter acronym most dear to our hearts here at V2G UK?

Ditto for the current Chancellor of the Great British Exchequer!

Watch this space!

Fuelling the Debate About the UK’s Energy Future

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This morning the United Kingdom’s House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published its latest report, entitled “Fuelling the debate: Committee successes and future challenges”. The introduction to the report states that:

The Energy and Climate Change Committee plays a central role in scrutinising and improving the Government’s policy and legislation.

We look in detail at three case studies – electricity market reform, competition in the energy market and shale gas – each of which highlights the key role we have played in holding the Government to account and improving policy and legislation. Finally, we set out our future vision for the UK energy system, based on the views and evidence provided by the wide range of stakeholders that we work with. We also explore the challenges which will need to be overcome in the next Parliament if the UK is to achieve its ambitious long-term climate and energy goals.

The committee has also just released a video summary of their activities over the last 5 years. Here it is:

In the video Tim Yeo, who is chair of the committee, says amongst other things that:

The cheapest form of energy is the energy we don’t use in the first place. Yet despite the fact that energy efficiency is one of the cheapest ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security and end fuel poverty, they were neglected in the Government’s original proposals. So the committee recommended that demand reduction and energy efficiency be placed at the very heart of Electricity Market Reform.

Unfortunately today the Government is still putting too much emphasis on building new electrical generating capacity, instead of promoting demand-side measures that would improve security of supply and also reduce consumer bills.

Here at V2G we cannot help but agree with those sentiments. We also cannot help but agree with Catherine Mitchell, Professor of Energy Policy at Exeter University, who according to a “Tweet” by the ECC select committee itself at least, pointed out this morning that:

 

Professor Mitchell’s slides for her presentation this morning can be downloaded from the IGov web site.

Andrew Neil Tilts at “Windmills”

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In my capacity as a member of the FIX Protocol Limited working group on electrical energy pricing (now inactive) I attended the FPL EMEA Trading Conference at Old Billingsgate in London on Thursday. The keynote speaker at the event was Andrew Neil. Publisher, writer and broadcaster according to the delegate guide. As you might expect Andrew had many insightful and/or amusing things to say about the current state of the global economy in general, and the no longer AAA British economy in particular. It’s probably not much consolation to most of my readers when I say that he was far more optimistic about prospects for the United States than for the United Kingdom and Europe.  I’ve been waiting for someone to post a comprehensive overview of Andrew’s musings, but nobody seems to have done so as yet, so it looks as though I will have to pick up the baton. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

Neil Ainger over at bobsguide has briefly covered the first part of Andrew Neil’s speech, but for some reason neglects to mention the considerable amount of time he spent offering his different prognoses regarding the future energy security of us over here in Europe compared to our cousins over in the United States.  According to Neil:

In his opening speech, Neil [the other one] outlined the UK and European economic and political situation for the audience of traders, investors, technologists and financial market participants, warning that loose monetary policy in the UK has the potential to incubate a low wage, high inflation economy. In recent years, wage rises have not kept pace with the cost of living in the UK, depressing demand and creating a downward economic cycle in the country.

You get the idea! Please feel free to read the rest of Neil’s article should you feel the need to experience a pain in all the diodes down your left side. My ears really pricked up however, when Andrew start talking about what he described as an imminent “major geopolitical change” based upon the much improved outlook for United States energy security. He thought that the exploitation of large deposits of shale oil in North Dakota will, almost literally, change the world overnight:

When Mr. Obama was re-elected for a second term in November 2012 only 10% of US oil was imported from the Middle East.  When he leaves office not a single drop of oil will come from the Middle East.

Mr. Neil predicted that in the comparatively near future the US will actually become a net exporter of both Liquified Natural Gas and oil. Consequently Mr. Obama would become “the first Pacific President”, and the United States’ strategic interests and military muscle would move away from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA for short) towards a “Pan Pacific Pact“. As Mr. Neil put it:

Once that has happened who will keep the Strait of Hormuz open if not the Americans. Even the Chinese cannot do it. They don’t have enough planes.

With that sobering thought still ringing in our ears, Andrew offered to take a few questions from the floor. I waved my arm hopefully in the air, and was the second lucky recipient of the precious microphone. After announcing my name and affiliation I continued as follows:

You’ve already answered most of the questions I had about energy policy, but I do have a couple of supplementary questions. Tar sands, Keystone XL, renewables in the US and renewables in Europe?

Mr. Neil seemed convinced that both gas and oil would be flowing towards the Gulf of Mexico for export in significant quantities. However he didn’t seem optimistic that “windmills” as he called them would save our bacon over on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. I still had hold of the mic at that point, and took the opportunity to gently point out that the correct terminology is “wind turbines”. According to Mr.Neil renewable energy in general, and wind in particular, is far too variable to ever be more than a peripheral supplier of electrical energy, either in Europe or the United States.

By this time I had already handed the microphone back, so I had to bite my tongue while Andrew answered another question or two. After a well deserved round of applause he sat down.  At this point I stood up, jumped onto the podium, handed him my business card and suggested he get in touch at a more convenient time.

Here’s the thing. If Andrew knows anything about what the FPL EEP working group got up to, or what the rest of the United States smart grid working groups and committees are endeavouring to achieve, he gave a very good impersonation of someone who hasn’t got a clue.

Mr. Neil seemed to be similarly unaware that no less an authority than George Osborne recently suggested that low cost energy storage is vital to the UK’s future economic well being. As George succinctly put it last year:

Electricity demand peaks at around 60 GW, whilst we have a grid capacity of around 80 GW – but storage capacity of around just 3 GW. Greater capability to store electricity is crucial for [renewable] power sources to be viable. It promises savings on UK energy spend of up to £10 billion a year by 2050 as extra capacity for peak load is less necessary.