NEWS


allowed to affect the UK’s energy systems


Brexit cannot be


GEL going underground in Cornwall


Lawrence Slade, CEO of Energy UK, has publicly


said that diverging from European energy schemes will not benefit consumers or industry. He goes further. He says that uncertainty around whether the UK will remain in the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) is “already having a direct impact on the day-to-day business of energy companies.” Mr Slade believes that it is “extremely difficult” to price


any thermal generation, resulting in “deep uncertainty” across the market, because companies do not know the carbon pricing mechanism that the UK will be in. The ETS secure and promote obligation, which applies


to larger emitters, will be extended to the winter period 2020/21 from the 1st October, 2018. The burden of the likely alternative to the ETS, a carbon


tax, would fall on energy suppliers, pushing consumer prices up and making carbon reduction “less efficient and cost-effective”. He calls for the UK to “certainly not” disregard the emerging targets in areas, such as the renewable generation, outlined in the EU’s emerging “clean energy for all’ package. Slade renews Energy UK’s calls to remain part of the Internal Energy Market, and says that withdrawal from this “risks jeopardising all the work that has been done and that lies ahead”. He concludes: “The next couple of weeks must provide


more clarity as to what the future looks like and for that reason I look forward to the publication of the Brexit white paper.” Across Britain, energy companies are hoping that Brexit just might just go away. Until now, energy has only been a sideshow in the


discussions about the UK leaving the European Union even though it’s a key part of the trade bloc’s single market. Power and natural gas companies say Britain’s existing relationship with the bloc on energy matters should remain in place even after the divorce due to be complete in a year. It’s not hard to see why. The UK is Europe’s third-biggest


energy user. Its gas imports are valued at more than €10 billion a year. It’s also a transit country, linking Norway, which is the region’s biggest gas producer, to continental markets and Ireland. Britain’s electricity network also is intertwined with the


EU, and the development of seven new cross-border cables is won’t be certain until there’s clarity on post-Brexit trading rules. “There is a real consensus across the energy industry


that it will benefit both the UK - and our European colleagues - to maintain the extensive links and co-operation that have been built up over many years,” Lawrence Slade, chief executive officer of Energy UK, the lobby group which counts Centrica Plc, SSE Plc and EDF Energy among its members.


4


Atlantis has announced that Phase 1A of the MeyGen project in Scotland has formally entered the 25 year operations phase. At 6MW rated capacity, MeyGen is the world’s largest tidal stream array. This achievement follows on from an extended period of array operation since the turbines were reinstalled in 2017. The array has generated approximately 6GWh of energy to date and in March 2018 set a new world record for monthly production from a tidal stream array, generating 1,400MWh. The completion of the construction of Phase 1A combined with the ongoing production and reliability levels achieved help to progress the viability of tidal stream energy as a clean and predictable energy source. Atlantis has an international portfolio of opportunities for further tidal array projects. The MeyGen project alone has 392MW of further development capacity, with consents and grid connection agreements in place to pave the way to exploit more of this potential. Tim Cornelius, Atlantis CEO and MeyGen Chairman, commented: “Seeing the MeyGen


project move into the operations phase is another major milestone on the path to commercialising tidal stream energy.” He continues: “We would like to thank all our funders, contractors and shareholders for their unwavering support and belief in the project over the years. I would especially like to thank Scottish Enterprise, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Crown Estate Scotland, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Morgan Stanley and Engie. We would also like to highlight the invaluable contributions made by the two turbine suppliers, the highly skilled local supply chain in Scotland and the MeyGen project team. Their commitment and dedication to deliver the project from concept design to commercial operation over the years has been truly exceptional. He concludes: “We are incredibly proud of this achievement and this provides a solid platform


for building out the full capacity at MeyGen and many other similar sites worldwide. This achievement is a triumph of public policy and a demonstration of what can be achieved when government and the private sector roll their sleeves up and decide to create a whole new industry together.”


JULY - AUGUST 2018 UK Power NewS


in August 2018 and be completed in February 2019. The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and will be the first geothermal power project in the UK.


A geothermal electricity generating plant capable of producing up to 3.15 MW of net power is being devel- oped at the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project located near Redruth in Cornwall. Drilling is expected to begin


Projected to be in full commercial operation by 2020 at the United Downs industrial estate, the plant will generate 10 MW of electricity to be sold to the National Grid; and 55 MW of thermal energy, to be distributed locally. The project is being developed by Geothermal Engineering Limited, a privately-owned British company founded in 2008 specialising in geothermal resources.


Although the UK is not actively volcanic,a large heat resource is potentially available via shallow geothermal ground source heat pumps, shallow aquifers and deep saline aquifers in the mesozoic basins of the UK.


total vertical depth of 2.6 km where the bottom-hole temperature was around 100˚C. In 1994, the Hot Dry Rock project was closed. Geothermal energy development in the UK had previously been limited, partly due to the lack of high enthalpy resources, but also due to the former availability of cheap fossil fuels.


Scottish tidal powerplant still holds world record for electricity generation


Geothermal energy is plentiful beneath the UK, although it is not readily accessible currently except in specific locations, such as Cornwall. A experimental programme, held 1977 - 1994, the Hot Dry Rock project involving drilling in the Carnmenellis granite of Cornwall. Three wells were drilled to a


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