|
LONDON, England, November 15, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
The UK government wants to encourage a radical
shift from centralized to local power production, and wants to know
how it can remove obstacles to the growth of distributed power.
“More and more people want to generate their own electricity at
home, and people can now buy the products on the high street,” says
industry secretary Alistair Darling. “Solar panels, wind turbines
and greater energy efficiency can help cut emissions and the impact
on the environment.”
The Department of Trade & Industry has released a consultation
document, ‘Distributed energy: A call for evidence,’ to examine the
incentives needed to increase DG output. Working with utility
watchdog OFGEM, the process closes on January 2 and the outcome will
feed into the Energy White Paper next year.
DG, including small-scale green power systems, combined heat & power
plants and green heat sources, was promoted in the recent Energy
Review for efficiency and low impact on climate change. Another
benefit of locally-produced power is minimal losses in transmission
of electricity.
“I want a shift in the way we make our energy to low carbon, high
efficiency,” says Darling. “There is huge potential for us to make
energy a local issue, involving individuals, businesses and
communities.”
“It remains difficult for micro-generators to sell surplus power
back to the grid in a nationwide system still based on a centralised
power concept, where energy is transmitted in one direction only,”
the document explains. “More incentives are also needed for
low-carbon heat generation.”
“Ofgem has already taken action to help more locally-based
electricity generators connect to electricity networks; this
includes incentives for local network owners to respond to growth in
renewables and to invest in research and development to realise
their potential,” says Alistair Buchanan of OFGEM. "To continue this
progress, both Ofgem and the government need to understand what
barriers may exist to further growth of distributed generation.”
The government report on the energy review, ‘The Energy Challenge,’
was released in July, and a package of proposals included in that
document will require public consultations. Consultations have
already been launched on a new nuclear policy framework, a
commitment to energy efficiency, and proposals on banding and
amending the Renewables Obligation.
The review on incentives and barriers to DG will examine all aspects
including the economic incentives for suppliers to buy electricity
from distributed generators, options for resolving potential
barriers to the sale of electricity from small generators, the
economic costs and benefits for network operators to connect new
generators and to invest in upgrading distribution networks to
accommodate increasing amounts of DG, and incentives to minimize
costs and increase benefits of DG.
At the end of 2004, Britain had 78,470 solar thermal water heating
systems in operation, 1,301 solar PV, 990 micro-CHP, 650 micro-wind,
546 geothermal heat pumps, 90 micro-hydro, 150 biomass boilers and 5
fuel cells.
“It is generally agreed that cost remains a substantial barrier to
the large-scale take-up of these relatively new and innovative
technologies,” the report notes. “Good quality data on costs of
electricity from micro-generation technologies is limited; the lack
of data partially reflects the low penetration of these
technologies.”
“Mass-production of micro-generation will almost certainly be
required to achieve cost/price levels necessary to achieve
significant market penetration,” it adds. “We will need to see
rising and sustained demand for these devices in order to see
manufacturers making the necessary investment for the volume
production needed for cost reduction.”
General understanding and awareness of micro-technologies is still
quite low and many homes are “not even in a position to consider
micro-generation as a possible alternative to the much more
straightforward option of purchasing electricity directly from one
of the large UK-based electricity suppliers,” it notes. “There is
also a lack of independent information about the costs of
micro-generation options versus the costs of taking electricity
through the traditional route. Some argue that this lack of
information prevents potential purchasers of these new technologies
from having the information they need to make an informed choice.”
“If potential future consumers of these technologies are not aware
of the options, they are unlikely to create the demand needed for
this market to develop and grow,” it adds. “Without consumer
awareness, we are also unlikely to see investment in innovative
selling and packaging by suppliers to stimulate further demand and
growth of this market segment.”
Click here for more info...
Visit http://www.sparksdata.co.uk/refocus/
for your international energy focus!!
Refocus © Copyright 2005, Elsevier
Ltd, All rights reserved.
|
