A bid has been lodged to expand a wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills, taking its turbine total to more man 100. The Crystal Rig development straddles the boundary between the Scottish Borders and East Lothian. Developers Fred Olsen Renewables have submitted an application to the Scottish government to add another 11 turbines to the site. It has described the area as the “ideal location” to help meet national renewable energy targets.   The original 25-turbine Crystal Rig development became operational in 2003 ... Read more

£2bn of new funding to help UK businesses invest in a more sustainable future and increase productivity has been announced by Lloyds Banking Group.   The Clean Growth Finance scheme aims to deliver the most Inclusive UK green funding in the market by providing the incentive of discounted lending to help businesses Invest in reducing their environmental Impact as well as reducing their environmental impact as well as boosting productivity more generally.   The funding will support all Commercial Banking clients across multiple ‘green lending’ ... Read more

EDF Energy has said its plans for two major windfarms on the Isle of Lewis may need to reach heights normally preserved for turbines at sea, prompting an outcry from local opponents. The French company’s renewables unit said it may need to go higher for the project to be economically viable and win millions of pounds in government subsidies. Kerry MacPhee, who heads community liaison, told locals that one of the windfarms could be 200 metres (650ft) tall, with the other ... Read more

Lewis Wind Power wants to increase the maximum height of turbines at a site at Uisinis to 200m (656ft). The developer has also proposed increasing turbines to a site near Stornoway to a height of 187m (614ft). It said bigger turbines are more efficient and would help to attract subsidies to a subsea cable needed for exporting power to the mainland.   For more than 10 years, it has been planned to lay the cable, known as the interconnector, to link Renewable energy ... Read more

Oil prices hit their highest level since 2014, moving above $74 a barrel and lifting energy companies to the top of global stock indices.   Production cuts by Opec and Russia over the past 16 months have helped crude prices rally, with the latest increase spurred by rising risks to supplies, from Venezuela’s economic crisis to the threat of new US sanctions on Iran.   Brent crude has gained almost 8% this year. Read more

GE Renewable Energy and the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult have signed a five-year research and development agreement to test and develop next generation offshore wind technologies.   GE’s recently announced Haliade-X 12 MW offshore wind turbine and existing Haliade 150- 6MW will undergo advanced test and demonstration programs that accurately replicate real-world operational conditions to enhance performance and reliability.   Research and development activities will include cooling technologies, converters, loading conditions across mechanical and electrical components, grid testing and design validation.  This collaboration ... Read more

The oil and gas industry regulator has raised its forecast of what can be recovered from the waters around the UK over the next three decades. Changes in the way the sector operates are thought to have unlocked the potential for a further 2.8 billion barrels of oil or the gas equivalent.   It is now estimated that 11.7 billion barrels could be recovered between 2016 to 2050.   More than 43 billion barrels have been extracted from UK waters so far. Peak production was ... Read more

Derby’s Rolls-Royce factory has signed a contract with EDF Energy to provide heat exchangers for nuclear island systems at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Rolls-Royce was selected in 2016 as preferred bidder for the heat exchangers, along with the primary, liquid and gaseous waste treatment systems and ultimate diesel generators.   A team of 80 Rolls-Royce engineers and supply chain specialists are currently working on the projects at its Barnwood, Derby and Warrington bases.   Hinkley Point C is the first nuclear power plant ... Read more

Bans around the world on single use plastic items such as carrier bags will dent growth in oil demand over the next two decades, according to BP. The UK-headquartered oil and gas firm said it still expects the global hunger for crude to grow for years and not peak until the late 2030s.   The company’s energy outlook report, forecasts demand peaking at about 110m barrels per day between 2035 and 2040, up from around 97mb/d today. Much of the growth comes from ... Read more

  Renewable output rose by 27% over 2017 due to windier weather and new capacity coming online, according to the latest Electric Insights report from Imperial College London.   Wind, solar, biomass and hydro together produced 96TWh of electricity during the year – more than enough to power the whole of Great Britain in 1958.   The quarterly report commissioned by Drax shows low-carbon sources, including nuclear, accounted for half of all electricity production, as fossil fuel generation dropped by a tenth. 2017 was a “watershed ... Read more