Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 8TH - 14TH NOVEMBER 2019 | 21 Finance & Investment The government has been urged to provide ring-fenced funding for innovative technologies bid- ding in Contracts for Difference auctions to enable the delivery of 2GW of floating wind capacity by the end of the next decade. In a report setting out their vision for its future, industry associations RenewableUK and Scottish Renewables say the floating wind sector could support 17,000 jobs by 2050 and increase the UK's economic output by £36.6 billion, with ELECTRICITY Industry calls for ring-fenced funding for floating turbines each pound invested at the early stage returning £15 further down the line. The report says floating offshore wind could compete on cost with other generation technologies as soon as 2030 and calls for potential sites to be made available. RenewableUK's head of policy and regulation, Rebecca Williams, said: "The renew- able energy sector has built its success on delivering innova- tion; floating wind is a prime example of what we can achieve. Our vision is to do much more at scale, securing further cost reduction and much-needed new capacity." Morag Watson, director of policy at Scottish Renewables, said: "Scotland's offshore energy experience and our deep water wind resource mean we're already a world leader in float- ing wind – technology which will be necessary to meet our net-zero emissions target. "This publication sets out how government, working Wind farms to supply Amazon and Tesco First pair of onshore schemes without subsidy to be funded by power purchase agreements Scottish Power Renewables has started work on two onshore wind farms in Scotland – the first to be developed by the company without a government- backed contract. They are instead being built on the basis of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Amazon and Tesco. Scottish Power will supply Amazon with power gen- erated from a 50MW wind farm on the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland consisting of 14 turbines. It will also con- struct a 15-turbine wind farm with a capacity of 30MW at Halsary in Caithness to provide Tesco with low-carbon electricity as part of the retailer's pledge to use 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Lindsay McQuade, chief executive of Scottish Power Renewables, said: "Fighting to stop the climate emer- gency is the defining challenge of our generation and a central part of Scottish Power's business model – we are delighted to partner with others who share our ambition. "As the world progresses towards net zero, collabora- tion between power suppliers and global companies like Amazon and Tesco is vital to deliver change on the scale required. "Onshore wind is the cheapest way of generating electricity, and power purchase agreements (PPAs) provide an important route to market for this green technology. "We're seeing an increasing number of progressive companies entering into PPAs to bring forward invest- ment in green energy to support their operations." AJ ELECTRICITY EDF buys battery and EV charging startup EDF has announced the acquisi- tion of British startup Pivot Power, which has been absorbed into the French energy giant's renewable generation arm. The company has previously revealed plans to spend £1.6 bil- lion building a nationwide network of rapid electric vehicle (EV) chargers supported by a 2GW fleet of batteries. Power Pivot has an "extensive portfolio" of projects at more than 40 locations across the UK. The batteries installed at each site will have maximum power output of 50MW and will be con- nected directly to the transmis- sion network. The firm also plans to install private wire infrastructure at each location to not only support EV charging stations, but also provide power to large shopping centres, logistics facilities, bus depots and park and rides. The first two storage systems at Kemsley in Kent and Cowley in Oxfordshire have land, plan- ning and connection agreements in place and are expected to be commissioned next year. The latter will form part of Scottish and Southern Electric- ity Networks' Local Energy Oxfordshire innovation project, which was awarded £13.8 million from the government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund in April. Matt Allen, co-founder and chief executive of Pivot Power, said: "EDF Renewables shares our vision and of course brings the expertise, resources and platform to make this a reality." ENERGY Contests to devise net zero industrial cluster launched Innovate UK has launched two competitions to help achieve the government's aim of creating the world's first net-zero industrial cluster by 2040. The deployment competition will initially offer applicants shares of up to £1 million to develop plans to achieve a "significant" reduction in green- house gas emissions from an industrial hub by 2030. Success- ful applicants will then compete for up to £131 million to deliver their proposals. Meanwhile, the roadmap competition will provide up to £9 million to develop plans for the complete decarbonisation of a major industrial cluster in the UK – £1 million in the first phase and £8 million in the second. The money will come from the government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and forms part of its pledge to provide £170 million to support the decarbonisation of heavy industry. The deadlines for applica- tions to the first phases of the competitions is 4 December. PPAs are 'an important route to market' with industry, as agreed in the offshore wind sector deal, can identify and deliver joint investments in the infrastructure which will underpin the devel- opment of floating wind and its supply chain". There are two operational floating wind farms in the UK, both in Scottish waters. The 30MW Hywind project – the world's first floating wind farm – and a single 2MW turbine installed for the first phase of the Kincardine project. This week

• Cover