UKDEA Media Release
UKDEA concerned as complexity of RHI limits progress
4th May 2012
Ofgem has recently released its first RHI Update, detailing progress with the Renewable Heat Incentive.
From 28th November to 31st March, Ofgem received 376 completed applications. So far, only 20 renewable installations have been accredited, resulting in RHI payments of £9,700 to date. This and more information can be found on the official update at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/E-SERVE/RHI/Documents1/RHI%20Quarterly%20Report%2030%20April%202012_WEB.pdf Read More ...
UKDEA welcomes Heat Strategy as an important step forward for District Energy
23rd April 2012
The UK District Energy Association (UKDEA) has openly welcomed the publication of the long awaited Heat Strategy from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).The strategy, titled 'The Future of Heating: A Strategic Framework for Low Carbon Heat in the UK' has been released following a period of research by DECC into the UK's heat consumption habits. With a large proportion of the UK's total energy consumption being used on heating for homes and businesses across the country, finding low carbon solutions to heating needs is going to be essential if the UK is to meet its carbon reduction targets. Read More ...
UKDEA Bids Fond Farewell to 'District Energy Visionary'
2nd April 2012
One of the UKDEA's founding fathers and a leading light in the development of district energy in the UK, Bill Clark, is to retire from his post as Southampton City Council's Sustainability Policy Manager after more than 30 years of service. Bill has been presented with a gift and a special award of thanks at his leaving ceremony on the 28th March 2012 by the UKDEA, in recognition of his outstanding services to district energy and significant contribution to driving forward the formation of the UKDEA. Read More ...
UKDEA provides district energy expertise at DECC Expo
14th March 2012
The UK District Energy Association participated in an active display at the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Expo last month, having been asked to attend as experts in their industry to help field questions about district energy. Read More ...
UKDEA going from strength to strength as more high profile organisations joins
11th January 2012
The UK District Energy Association (UKDEA) is enjoying a rapid increase in membership, as a further six high profile organisations join its membership base in the last month. Joining as Full members are leading green local authority, Leicester City Council along with district heating energy management company ENER-G Switch 2 and social housing provider Newport City Homes. Joining as Associate members, the UKDEA welcomes Scottish based FES Renewables, leading UK utility network provider the GTC and international consultancy Mace. Read More ...
UKDEA Positive About Opportunities For District Heating Infrastructure
1st December 2011
George Osborne’s Autumn Statement 2011 made much of the push for new infrastructure projects and the UKDEA is heartened to see that district energy is recognised to be an important part of the UK’s future infrastructure potential. In parallel with the Autumn Statement, HM Treasury published their updated National Infrastructure Plan, containing a section dedicated to “Heat Networks and District Heating”. Read More ...
UKDEA Applauds That DECC's Annual Energy Statement Re-affirms Commitment To Developing Heat Strategy
25th November 2011
Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, delivered the Annual Energy Statement on 23rd November.
Electricity may have had its own section within the Energy Statement but mentions of heat were almost at parity with mentions of electricity and power. It’s certainly clear that the Government has come a long way since recognising that heat accounts for nearly half of the UK’s CO2 emissions and is now putting in place strategies to deal with this issue. Read More ...
UK District Energy Association urges caution with lane rental properties
10th November 2011
The UKDEA responded recently to the Department for Transport’s Lane Rental consultation, urging that the unique challenges of installing district energy schemes should be given due consideration within the proposals.
The idea behind the Lane Rental scheme is to charge a daily fee for undertaking works on busy highways at peak times. Whilst not a new idea, the Government is looking again at the possibilities of such an approach, with a view to developing two pilot schemes before considering the potential for wider roll-out. Read More ...
The UK District Energy Association Applauds Scotland’s 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy
15th September 2011
Last month DECC published their UK Renewable Energy Roadmap - a key document which outlines key actions for eight particular renewable technologies over the coming years - the Scottish Government have also published their 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland.
Scotland’s ambitious plans are an example to the whole UK; ambitions which are backed up by specific plans of action. The UKDEA is encouraged to see that demand reduction underpins Scotland’s plans. Much of the current low-carbon focus in the UK is around the decarbonisation of electricity supplies, but advances in low carbon electricity generation risk being counteracted by significant increases in demand from traditional electricity consumers, as well as from the transport and heat sectors. Read More ...
UK District Energy Association welcome new members: E.ON, Newcastle City Council, CPV Ltd and REHAU Ltd
13th September 2011
The UK's District Energy Association (UKDEA) is going from strength to strength as E.ON, a major UK energy provider, forward thinking Newcastle City Council, district energy piping specialists CPV Limited and REHAU Limited, experts in polymer district heating pipe, join the ranks of organisations currently benefitting from membership of this rapidly evolving group. Read More ...
UKDEA’s AGM Marks The Conclusion Of A Successful First Year
5th July 2011
The UK District Energy Association celebrated a successful first year at the association’s first Annual General Meeting, held recently at Birmingham City Council offices.
In a very lively AGM Chairman Simon Woodward took members through the numerous achievements of the past year. New members Econergy and Shetland Heat, Energy and Power Ltd were formally welcomed, and discussions were held in relation to several organisations who have expressed interest in membership. Read More ...
UK District Energy Finally Has A Voice On The World Stage
30th June 2011
In a world first and after 102 years of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), the UK has finally found a voice on the world stage with an invite extended to the UK's newly formed UK District Energy Association (UKDEA) to make multiple presentations at the district energy world congress in Toronto in June. The UKDEA was proud to be invited to speak on behalf of District Energy owners, operators and local authority partners in the UK. This was in a year when the President of the IDEA commended the delegates to embrace the "I" in IDEA and his key note message was that "heat is the dominant factor in energy consumption and electricity is just a side show". Read More ....
UKDEA Asks DECC To Have Long Term Vision With FITs
14th June 2011
The government has now finalised reduced Feed-in Tariffs for medium to large scale photovoltaic installations, as well as improved tariffs for anaerobic digestion. There has been no change to the new tariffs since they were proposed in the Government’s fast track consultation documents.
Full details can be viewed online at: www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/fit_review/fit_review.aspx Read More ....
UK District Energy Association Applauds Scottish District Heating Loan Fund
11th April 2011
The Scottish government announced in March a new £2.5 million District Heating Loan Fund. Aimed at registered social landlords, local authorities, SMEs and ESCOs, the fund will offer loans of up to £400,000 to support low carbon and renewable district heating in Scotland.
The programme will be delivered by the Energy Saving Trust and the competitive bid process is expected to open in May this year. Read More ....
UKDEA welcomes signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the L G Group and DECC
28th March 2011
As Local Authorities have a key role to play in delivering against the low carbon agenda in their area, the UKDEA are delighted that a Memorandum of Understanding between the L G Group and DECC has been signed, recognising this pivotal role. This aligns fully with UKDEA recommended best practice, of local authorities taking the lead role in project development, being led by a local authority champion as shown by many of the UKDEA’s schemes across the UK, including Birmingham, Southampton and Woking. As district energy schemes are one of the main solutions to delivering significant carbon reductions in the UK, raising the importance of the local authority in this delivery, which is a clear aim of this MOU, is a key steps towards the wide scale implementation of district energy across the UK. Particularly as these are seen as complex infrastructure projects and need to be local authority led. Read More ....
UKDEA invited to Global District Energy Conference
21st March 2011
The UKDEA has been invited to represent the UK’s District Energy industry at the International District Energy Association’s (IDEA) annual conference in Toronto later this year.
Members of the UKDEA will be represented by Chairman Simon Woodward, who will contribute to a Global Leaders Plenary Panel at the conference on 27 June, sharing the UK’s vision and strategies in relation to District Energy. He will outline the work of the UKDEA and highlight the achievements of member organisations. Mr Woodward will be joined for the session by industry leaders from France, South Korea, Germany, the US, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Japan and China. Read More ....
UKDEA gives views on Electricity Market Reform Proposals
11th March 2011
The UK District Energy Association (UKDEA) has responded this week to DECC’s consultation on Electricity Market Reforms. The proposed reforms are intended to drive the growth of low-carbon energy industries through four key measures:
- Carbon Price Support, the Treasury’s proposals for which have already been scrutinised by the UKDEA which responded to the separate CPS consultation last month.
- Feed-in-Tariffs, providing long-term contracted revenues for low carbon generation.
- Capacity Payments, to encourage security of supply.
- An Emissions Performance Standard, limiting carbon emissions for coal power stations.
Whilst the proposals are aimed primarily at the large-scale generation sector, there are potential knock-on effects for district energy and decentralised scale energy industries. Most concerning of all is the lack of consideration given to these industries, which are of fundamental importance to delivery of the UK’s low-carbon economy. Read More ....
Shetland joins the UK District Energy Association
3rd March 2011
Shetland Heat, Energy and Power Limited has become the latest member of the UK District Energy Association (UKDEA), joining founder members Birmingham City Council, Cofely District Energy Limited, Enviroenergy Limited, Southampton City Council, Thameswey Limited and Veolia Environmental Services Limited.
Shetland Heat, Energy and Power Limited has provided district heating to businesses and residents of Lerwick since 1998. Heat used in the scheme is generated at a Waste to Energy incinerator burning waste from Shetland, Orkney and the offshore oil industry. This reduces land-fill and provides the customer with an efficient energy system. A radio transmitting system retrieves customer meter readings, further reducing the company’s carbon footprint. Read more ....
Treasury Carbon Price Support proposals set to damage investment in decentralised low-carbon generation
15th February 2011
The UK District Energy Association (UKDEA) responded last week to the Treasury’s consultation on proposed Carbon Price Support (CPS) mechanisms. Part of the wider government proposals for electricity market reform, the government consultation advocates the introduction of a new carbon tax on fuels used in power generation. The stated aim of this new carbon tax is to “support and give certainty to the price of carbon in the UK electricity generating sector.”
Unfortunately, the current proposals do not take into account the substantial benefits of gas-fired combined heat & power (CHP) and the importance of this technology to the UK’s district energy industry. Read more ....
The UK District Energy Association Looks to the Future of District Energy
25th November 2010
This November has seen a number of important developments which concern the future of district energy, the first of which was the release of DECC’s new annual business plan.
DECC’s Business Plan
The business plan marks out a new approach for DECC who will now prioritise support for the technologies that are most “effective” at meeting their objectives. The plan states: The Department will no longer … fund technologies unless we are confident that they are the most critical to meeting long-term decarbonisation and energy security objectives.
Exactly what material changes this will entail remains to be seen but it is unlikely to result in a particularly prescriptive approach from DECC, whose central tenet of delivering energy security is a diverse energy system, not a system reliant on any single technology or solution. Read more ....
The UK District Energy Association - "a good day for district energy"
21st October 2010
Hidden amongst all the bad news of the Comprehensive Spending Review is some extremely good news for district energy.
The UK District Energy Association (UKDEA) looks forward to the introduction of the RHI for 2011/12 and for it to be funded by government spending, rather than the previously mooted levy on fossil fuel users; though there is lots of detail still to come. One interpretation of the “efficiency savings” for this programme is that the tariffs are set at a lower level than previously expected, though this will become clear in due course. Read more ....
The UK District Energy Association is Launched
16th October 2009
The partners, owners and operators of the largest district energy schemes in the UK are aligning themselves in the creation of the UK District Energy Association (ukDEA); with the aim of not only promoting district energy as a means to deliver significant carbon savings, but also to establish a direct link between the Government and the industry’s small market base.
Yesterday (October 15) Greg Barker MP, Conservative Shadow Cabinet Member for Energy and Climate Change, officially launched the ukDEA at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham – and called the city a “beacon on decentralised energy” in his speech. Read more ....
