Renew Extra Weekly

131 new renewable energy projects have been approved in the UK’s new Contracts for Difference auction, surpassing the 92 projects in the previous auction in 2023, when no offshore wind projects were backed. In the new round, 9 offshore wind projects (5GW in all) got contracts, including Hornsea 3 and 4 off the coast of Yorkshire- which when built will be  largest and second largest wind farms in Europe. Floating wind also got a 400MW project in Scotland.  With 3.3 GW in all backed, solar also did very well, better than in the previous round. With planning rules now changing, the new round backed over ninety 5MW or more PV projects, including some large solar farms (of up to 49MW). With planning rules also changing for on shore wind, it’s also did well, with 22 projects, 990MW in all, 1 in England, 3 in Wales, the rest in Scotland, including 120 and 130MW projects. And in terms of new technology, 28 MW of tidal stream got backed, with HydroWing set to deliver 10 MW in Wales, w...

A new Danish study comparing nuclear and renewable energy systems (RES) concludes that, although nuclear systems require less flexibility capacity than renewable-only systems, a renewable energy system is cheaper than a nuclear based system, even with full backup: it says ‘lower flexibility costs do not offset the high investment costs in nuclear energy’.  It’s based on a zero-carbon 2045 smart energy scenario for Denmark, although it says its conclusions are valid elsewhere given suitable adjustments for local conditions. ‘The high investment costs in nuclear power alongside cost for fuel and operation and maintenance more than tip the scale in favour of the Only Renewables scenario. The costs of investing in and operating the nuclear power plants are simply too high compared to Only Renewables scenario, even though more investment must be put into flexibility measures in the latter’.  In the Danish case, it says that ‘the scenario with high nuclear implementation is 1.2 bil...