The UK’s Levy Control Framework for renewable electricity support: effects and significance

There is a long-standing debate over price vs. quantity approaches to supporting the deployment of renewable electricity technologies. In the context of a a recent shift from quantity to price-based support, the UK has also introduced a new form of budgetary framework, the Levy Control Framework (LCF). The introduction of the LCF has been very important for investors but has received relatively little attention in the academic literature. The paper gives an overview of the LCF, explores its effects on renewables policy, on consumers and on investor confidence arguing that an unintended consequence of its introduction has been to increase uncertainty, through interactions with underlying support mechanisms. A number of problems with the current scope and design of the LCF are noted. It is argued that the LCF is best understood as aimed at avoiding a political backlash against renewable support policy in a context where the benefits of such policy are concentrated economically and socially. The paper concludes by placing the LCF within a wider context of a shift towards greater budgetary control over renewable energy support policy across European countries

Structural health monitoring for wind turbine foundations

The construction of onshore wind turbines has rapidly been increasing as the UK attempts to meet its renewable energy targets. As the UK’s future energy depends more on wind farms, safety and security are critical to the success of this renewable energy source. Structural integrity of the tower and its components is a critical element of this security of supply. With the stochastic nature of the load regime a bespoke low cost structural health monitoring system is required to monitor integrity of the concrete foundation supporting the tower. This paper presents an assessment of ‘embedded can’ style foundation failure modes in large onshore wind turbines and proposes a novel condition based monitoring solution to aid in early warning of failure. The most common failure modes are discussed and a low-cost remote monitoring system is presented

Transition pathways for a UK low-carbon electricity system: comparing scenarios and technology implications

The United Kingdom (UK) has placed itself on a transition towards a low-carbon economy and society, through the imposition of a goal of reducing its ‘greenhouse’ gas emissions by 80% by 2050. A set of three low-carbon ‘Transition Pathways’ were developed to examine the influence of different governance arrangements on achieving a low-carbon future. They focus on the power sector, including the potential for increasing use of low-carbon electricity for heating and transport. These transition pathways were developed by starting from narrative storylines regarding different governance framings, drawing on interviews and workshops with stakeholders and analysis of historical analogies. Here the quantified pathways are compared and contrasted with the main scenarios developed in the UK Government’s 2011 Carbon Plan. This can aid an informed debate on the technical feasibility and social acceptability of realising transition pathways for decarbonising the UK energy sector by 2050. The contribution of these pathways to meeting Britain’s energy and carbon reduction goals are therefore evaluated on a ‘whole systems’ basis, including the implications of ‘upstream emissions’ arising from the ‘fuel supply chain’ ahead of power generators themselves

Promoting community renewable energy in a corporate energy world.

Small-scale, decentralized and community-owned renewable energy is widely acknowledged to be a desirable feature of low carbon futures, but faces a range of challenges in the context of conventional, centralized energy systems. This paper draws on transition frameworks to investigate why the UK has been an inhospitable context for community-owned renewables and assesses whether anything fundamental is changing in this regard. We give particular attention to whether political devolution, the creation of elected governments for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, has affected the trajectory of community renewables. Our analysis notes that devolution has increased political attention to community renewables, including new policy targets and support schemes. However, these initiatives are arguably less important than the persistence of key features of socio-technical regimes: market support systems for renewable energy and land-use planning arrangements that systemically favour major projects and large corporations, and keep community renewables to the margins. There is scope for rolling out hybrid pathways to community renewables, via joint ownership or through community benefit funds, but this still positions community energy as an adjunct to energy pathways dominated by large, corporate generation facilities

Analysis of ground-source heat pumps in north-of-England homes

YesThe performance of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems for domestic use is an increasing area of study in the UK. This paper examines the thermal performance of three bespoke shallow horizontal GSHP systems installed in newly built residential houses in the North of England against a control house which was fitted with a standard gas boiler. A total of 350 metres of High Density Polyethylene pipe with an external diameter of 40 mm was used for each house as a heat pump loop. The study investigated (i) the performance of a single loop horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger (GHE) against a double loop GHE and (ii) rainfall effects on heat extraction by comparing a system with an infiltration trench connected to roof drainage against a system without an infiltration trench above the ground loops. Parameters monitored for a full year from October 2013 to September 2014. Using the double GHE has shown an enhanced performance of up to 20% compared with single GHE. The infiltration trench is found to improve performance of the heat pumps; the double loop GHE system with an infiltration trench had a COP 5% higher than that of the double loop GHE system without a trench

The Impact of Domestic Energy Efficiency Retrofit Schemes on Householder Attitudes and Behaviours

Retrofitting existing housing stock to improve energy efficiency is often required to meet climate mitigation, public health and fuel poverty targets. Increasing uptake and effectiveness of retrofit schemes requires understanding of their impacts on householder attitudes and behaviours. This paper reports results of a survey of 500 Kirklees householders in the UK, where the Kirklees Warm Zone scheme took place. This was a local government led city-scale domestic retrofit programme that installed energy efficiency measures at no charge in over 50,000 houses. The results highlight key design features of the scheme, socio-economic and attitudinal factors that affected take-up of energy efficiency measures and impacts on behaviour and energy use after adoption. The results emphasise the role that positive feedback plays in reinforcing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours of participants and in addressing concerns of non-participants. Our findings have implications for the design and operation of future domestic energy efficiency retrofit schemes

Assessing heat pumps as flexible load

In a future power system featuring significant renewable generation, the ability to manipulate domestic demand through the flexible operation of heat-led technologies such as heat pumps and micro-combined heat and power could be a critical factor in providing a secure and stable supply of electrical energy. Using a simulation-based approach, this study examined the linkage between the thermal characteristics of buildings and the scope for flexibility in the operating times of air source heat pumps. This was assessed against the resulting impact on the end-user’s comfort and convenience. A detached dwelling and flat were modelled in detail along with their heating system in order to determine the temporal shift achievable in the heat pump operating times for present-day and future dwellings. The simulation results indicated that the scope for shifting heat pump operating times in the existing building stock was limited, with time shifts of only 1–2 h achieved before there was a serious impact on the comfort of the occupant. However, if insulation levels were dramatically improved and substantial levels of thermal buffering were added into the heating system, sizable time shifts of up to 6 h were achievable without a significant impact on either space or hot water temperatures

Non-discrimination clauses in the retail energy sector

The British Energy regulator will soon review a non-discrimination licence condition which it imposed to ensure that energy retailers charge the same mark-up in different regions. Many consumers are loyal to incumbent firms, necessitating heavy discounting by entrants to attract customers, which had led to regional price discrimination. Matching characteristics of the energy market to models of discrimination, we identify the necessary conditions for the licence condition to have a positive effect for consumers, and explore whether the policy has helped potentially „vulnerable? consumers. We conclude that the most likely effect of the licence condition is to reduce competition in the mainstream energy markets, and welcome the regulator?s latest review of the retail market

Energy transitions and uncertainty: creating low carbon investment opportunities in the UK electricity sector

This paper examines how actors in the UK electricity sector are attempting to deliver investment in low carbon generation. Low carbon technologies, because of their relative immaturity, capital intensity and low operational costs, do not readily fit with existing electricity markets and investment templates which were designed for fossil fuel based energy. We analyse key electricity market and infrastructure policies in the UK and highlight how these are aimed at making low carbon technologies ‘investable’ by reducing uncertainty, managing investment risks and repositioning actors within the electricity socio-technical ‘regime’. We argue that our study can inform contemporary debates on the politics and governance of sustainability transitions by empirically investigating the agency of incumbent regime actors in the face of uncertainty and by offering critical insights on the role of markets and finance in shaping socio-technical change