Local Energy Matters | September 2019

Local Energy Matters Covering the EPN area

1 | P a g e Issue 28 | September 2019 Local energy news

Region’s largest windfarm generates first power East Anglia ONE, an offshore windfarm situated 30 miles off the Suffolk coast in the North Sea, generated power for the first time on 12 September. Power from one turbine is now flowing to the onshore substation at

Burnstall, Suffolk. This is the first of the 102 turbines that are planned to be fully operational in 2020. So far, 25 turbines have been constructed. Once operational, the 102 7MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbines will produce enough energy to power over 630,000 homes. Charlie Jordan, East Anglia ONE Project Director, said: “First power being generated at East Anglia ONE is a huge achievement. We are continuing to progress towards completion of the offshore windfarm and reaching this point is down to the incredible efforts of everyone involved, from local contractors and employees through to national and international businesses. We’ve worked hard to get to this point and look forward to continuing to work together to bring each turbine online. Once operational, East Anglia ONE will produce clean energy the UK needs, whilst also providing long-term jobs and opportunities to the people and businesses of East Anglia both now and in the future.”

Anaerobic digestion plant bought in Norfolk

Listed environmental infrastructure fund, JLEN, recently announced the acquisition of Warren Power Limited, which runs an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at Methwold, near Thetford. The deal, thought to be worth an estimated £14.8mn, signifies the long- term viability of green gas and marks the second AD plant in East Anglia, said a spokesperson for JLEN. Anaerobic digestion works by breaking down organic materials using micro-organisms to produce biogas. Biogas is a methane rich gas and can be used to provide power and heat to the plant. The vast majority of biogas produced by AD at the Methwold plant is put into the national gas grid. Chris Tanner, investment advisor at JLEN, commented on the investment and AD technology saying “AD plants are popular in farming areas such as East Anglia because they offer farmers the ability to derive an income from waste products, which are fed into the digesting plant, such as sugar beet pulp, grain husks and animal slurry, as well as break crops like rye and maize.” The by-products of the AD process can be used as fertiliser and a soil improver, lending itself to a resource that has multiple uses and that can utilise its potential to the maximum amount possible. There are currently over 40 AD plants in East Anglia and several hundred more across the rest of the UK.

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Offshore wind farm bids include East Anglian sites The Crown Estate released the seabed bidding areas for new offshore wind developments at the beginning of September. The North Sea off the East Anglian coast has been noted as a large area of potential development. Wind Leasing Round 4 will give developers will get the chance to bid on these areas. As well as East Anglia, the other released bidding areas are Dogger Bank, a sand bank in the North Sea, the South East, Northern Wales and the Irish Sea. These areas have the potential to power 6mn homes across the UK if wind farms are granted and developed. As well as a renewable energy supply to local homes, potential new windfarms in the East of England could generate hundreds of new jobs in the area with projects starting as early as next year. Huub den Rooijen, director of energy, minerals and infrastructure at the Crown Estate, said: "The UK is home to the world's largest offshore wind market, attracting global investment, meeting UK electricity needs, and playing a crucial role in the transition to a net zero economy. Leasing Round 4 is the next chapter in this remarkable transition, developed and refined through extensive engagement with the market and stakeholders, to deliver an attractive, fair, objective process, which helps to balance a range of interests in the marine environment.” Norfolk ‘Life Map’ to encourage clean energy use An environmental project, called the Life Map for Norfolk aims to improve wellbeing in Norfolk by mapping sustainability indicators. Launched on 10 September at the Enterprise Centre, University of East Anglia, the project will map land use, population and clean energy. The Life Map project aims to help people make informed decisions about the use of resources in Norfolk to encourage sustainability. Programme founder Edward Darling, also chief executive of conservation charity Redlist Revival, said he wants to give people access to information which can help them decide how to sustain the earth's resources for future generations - by understanding the balance of resources in their own area, divided into 10km x 10km grid squares.” The Life Map are working with Norfolk County Council, Natural England and the University of East Anglia.

Renewable Energy Centre to open in Cambridge On 4 September, Cambridge Science Park unveiled plans to establish an Energy and Renewables Centre on its campus. It is looking for innovative energy companies and start ups to locate to the new site. Cambridge CleanTech is leading the way to establish this project. They, along with the Cambridge Science Park, held a conference on 17 September with expert speakers in the fields of renewable technologies and energy storage. The project aims to recruit leaders in the field as tenants on the site, in areas such as battery storage and battery-based innovation, hydrogen fuel cells, electricity generation from hydrogen and smart energy technologies. The aim is to create a world leading centre for innovation with a forward-looking vision. The centre is planned to open in the Spring of 2020.

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Energy tariff headlines Suppliers get ready for 1 October price caps From 1 October the default price cap will fall by £75 to £1,179/year on average, while the prepayment price cap will fall by £25 to £1,217/year on average. At 30 August, five of the large suppliers (British Gas, E.ON UK, EDF Energy, SSE and npower) together with ENGIE had decreased the price of their capped tariffs ahead of the impending cap change. The large suppliers have all priced at or within £2 of the price caps. Since this date, at least a further 10 suppliers have all amended their prices (Scottish Power, Co-op Energy, E, Shell, Ovo, Utilita, Utility Warehouse, TitleRobin Hood Energy, Green Network Energy and Tonik Energy). We note three suppliers are yet to alter their prices as their standard variable tariffs remain above 1 October cap levels. Despite the decrease in the cap (and recent increase in wholesale prices), there continues to be a large range of savings available. Currently a customer on a default capped tariff can save £333/year if they switched to the cheapest tariff in the market, compared to a saving of £374/year at April. The cheapest tariff in both cases was offered by Outfox the Market.

Exiting supplier tariff positions

So far in 2019 there have been seven suppliers exit the market either through the supplier of last resort (SoLR) process or via acquisition. The figure below shows monthly price for the cheapest dual fuel direct debit tariffs offered by the suppliers that have exited the market so far this year. It shows that after a period of stable prices to June 2018, Solarplicity implemented a series of price increases before holding its price for four months prior to its exit. Eversmart Energy implemented a sharp price increase in August 2018 and then in the two months prior to its exit it sharply dropped its prices before increasing them again in the exiting month. Meanwhile, in the nine months prior to the exit of Our Power the supplier’s prices showed a rising trend. However, it should be noted that between April 2018 and October 2018 wholesale costs rose by around £180/year on our measure for dual fuel tariffs, with a rise in average fixed tariff prices of £132/year. Tariffs over time of exiting suppliers £1,500 £1,400 £1,300 £1,200 £1,100 £1,000 £900 £800

£700

01/09/2017 30/04/2019 11/01/2017 09/02/2017 24/02/2017 31/03/2017 14/04/2017 30/04/2017 12/05/2017 31/05/2017 09/06/2017 23/06/2017 07/07/2017 21/07/2017 31/07/2017 11/08/2017 25/08/2017 15/09/2017 29/09/2017 16/10/2017 20/11/2017 31/12/2017 28/02/2018 30/04/2018 29/06/2018 31/08/2018 31/10/2018 21/12/2018 28/02/2019 28/06/2019 30/08/2019 Brilliant Energy (Fixed) Solarplicity (Fixed) Eversmart Energy (Variable) Our Power (Variable) Solarplicity (Variable) Cheapest tariff in market Most expensive tariff in market 4 | P a g e

East of England energy tariffs Overview In this section, we illustrate the cheapest tariffs in August for various customer types (A-G) in the East of England. Customer types are described in our ‘Best buys’ section overleaf and are based on typical annual electricity and gas consumption. The three main types of tariff are explained in the table below.

August prices The average price of the lowest cost SVT decreased this month to £810. Outfox the Market and Symbio Energy were the cheapest SVT provider to the majority of customer types alongside Green and Orbit Energy. Lowest cost fixed tariff offerings this month averaged at £817. Symbio Energy and Outfox the Market have taken top place as cheapest fixed tariff providers. The best deals for PPM energy tariffs averaged £967 and were provided by two suppliers: Bulb and Nabuh Energy. There was an overall decrease in tariff prices across all tariff types in August. Monthly price changes This month, average prices across all customer types: • Decreased for SVT tariffs by £2 (0.2%) • Decreased for the cheapest fixed by £16 (1.9%), and • Decreased for PPM tariffs by £20 (2.03%)

Useful Contacts

Citizens Advice is able to independently advise on your energy supply (Contact: 03454 04 05 06)

The Energy Ombudsman can help to resolve disputes between you and your energy supplier (Contact: 0330 440 1624)

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Best buys in East England

Key

SVT Fixed PPM

A. Small electricity-heated B. Medium-large electricity-heated

Gas – 0kWh Electricity – 6,130kWh Gas – 0kWh Electricity – 8,912kWh

Outfox the market Symbio Energy

Symbio Symbio Energy Energy

£791 £1,121

£783 £1,107

£912 £1,276

Bulb Bulb

C. Smaller non-metered fuel-heated D. All other non-metered fuel- homes heated homes

Gas – 0kWh Electricity – 3,383kWh Gas – 0kWh Electricity – 4,814kWh

Symbio Energy Green Simplicity Energy Symbio Energy

£633 £472 £462 £629 £553

Bulb £740 Bulb

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E. Single adults in social rented flats F. Younger working families in medium-sized rented homes

Gas – 10,592kWh Electricity – 2,640kWh Gas – 13,595kWh Electricity – 3,491kWh

Outfox the Market Outfox the Market Outfox the Outfox the Market Market

£931 £735

£759 £958

£928 £1,145

Nabuh Energy Nabuh Energy

G. “Average” mains gas-heated households

Gas – 15,280kWh Electricity – 3,585kWh

Orbit Energy Outfox the Market

£986 £1,018

£1,212 Nabuh Energy

Switching Savings New-entry suppliers often enter the GB retail market with innovative Big Six and disruptive technology to attract customers away from Big Six suppliers. suppliers: This month, we have calculated the savings that an average customer British Gas switching supply from one of the Big Six suppliers to one of the cheapest EDF tariff suppliers would have made. E.ON The potential savings are as follows: npower ScottishPower • SVT customers switching could save £375 per year SSE • PPM customers switching tariff could benefit from savings of £215. • Fixed tariff customer switching is usually rarer due to exit fees. However, if switching this month, fixed tariff customers could make savings of £224 (excluding additional costs).

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Other local energy news

Mayor of London announces ‘London Power’

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced on 18 September that plans have been launched for a new energy company in partnership with Octopus Energy. The company will be exclusively available to residents of Lon don and will launch in December. The company will be 100% renewable and energy prices will be fair, aiming to reducing fuel poverty in London. This partnership is part of the Mayor’s wider Energy for Londoners programme, which aims to supply households with clean, renewable energy and make warm homes accessible to everyone in the city. Any profits made by City Hall as a result of this project will be reinvested into community projects focused on tackling fuel poverty. London Power will offer a competitively priced 12-month fixed tariff for electricity and gas, which will sit within the cheapest 10% of comparable tariffs. There will be no exit frees and customers will roll-over onto the cheapest tariff when the contract ends. The Mayor of London said: “It is a sad fact that millions of Londoners struggle to pay fuel bills and are subject to inflated rates from major energy companies. My Energy for Londoners programme has concentrated on tackling fuel poverty, expanding solar energy and retrofitting homes. Now I want London Power to give Londoners a better, fairer deal on fuel prices, as well as the knowledge they won’t be switched over to a rip-off tariff when their contract ends.”

Fund awards £500k to community energy

Five community groups with ideas for local energy innovation have been awarded almost £500,000 from Power to Change’s Next Generation Fund.The schemes vary from smart lighting and solar for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging to dedicated energy saving services in schools. These local innovation projects are the first five to receive grants from the new fund, which is committed to supporting community-based innovation. Next Generation, which is funded by the independent trust Power to Change, aims to support and promote sustainable and financially viable community focused businesses, with a particular focus placed on environmental innovations. One of the five successful groups, Chester Community Energy, put forward a funding application for their idea of a model that finances upfront costs of LED lighting installations for small community buildings. Community groups will repay the investment through the savings on their electricity bills. Funding applications for the second round of investments closed on 15 September. A date when applications are open for round three is yet to be disclosed.

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Community Energy Awards short list announced

On 19 September, Community Energy England (CCE) and Community Energy Wales (CEW) announced a shortlist of entries for the Community Energy Awards. The 2019 winners will be announced on 18 October at City Hall in London. Shortlisted schemes include Riding Sunbeams, Repowering London, Engi Coop, Bristol City Council and Power to Change, amongst others. Emma Bridge, chief executive, CEE said: “We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Community Energy Awards. Now in its fifth year the awards really do demonstrate the resilience and determination of groups, individuals and organisations to make community energy a reality in their area.” The schemes that have been shortlisted work towards community efforts to tackle global issues, such as climate change and pollution. Many of the schemes provide assistance in installing renewable energy in communities. Engi Coop have secured a Feed in Tariff subsidy for rooftop solar panels on over 250 sites in Wales and will have an installed capacity of 5,000kW. Power to Change also helps to bring renewable energy into communities by running a programme called CORE that invests in existing solar farms on behalf of communities. Another project in the shortlist is Riding Sunbeams that seeks to connect PV to railway tracks. Last month a pilot project was established in Aldershot. 100 PV panels have been installed to power the signalling system and lights. There will be a free conference and networking event during the day, before the ceremony. These sessions aim to look at some of the most innovative projects and gauge the replicability of them across other areas of the UK. Emma Bridge also said, “We will be using these awards to highlight the benefits community energy delivers despite the challenges being faced, and we will be calling for better central government support in the future, including access to Social Investment Tax Relief for community energy projects.” Sponsors for the community Energy Awards are Co-op Energy and Greater London Authority.

Devon celebrates safe and warm scheme success

361 Community Energy, a Barnstaple-based (North Devon) non-profit group, celebrated 500 home energy visits with its Safe and Warm scheme last year. The scheme helps local people to save money while lowering their carbon footprint. The Director of 361, Gwen de Groot, explained the company’s sense of achievement in knowing that over the last 12 months alone, the group has assisted residents in reducing their carbon emissions “by over 2,000 tonnes, “the equivalent of over 200 peoples total carbon footprint”. Over 69% of residents in North Devon currently qualify for a free energy visit, but, Ms de Groot added, if this was 100%, “we estimated local savings over £50mn” and carbons savings of “over 138,000 tonnes per year”. North Devon MP, Peter Heaton-Jones, added “361 Energy are doing vitally important work and they have my full support”. 9 | P a g e

Bristol City Leap Project to deliver net zero by 2030

Bristol has launched a financial plan aimed at raising £1bn of investment to create the first carbon neutral city in the UK. Bristol City Leap, a project being led by the Bristol City Council and local energy supplier Bristol Energy, is seeking global investment from organisations to invest in a joint venture. The aim of this venture is to deliver a net zero energy system in Bristol by 2030. The project is not in its infancy, as plans to develop this project have been over a year in the making, with an initial plan being outlined in May of last year. Since its introduction, more than 180 organisations have made contact expressing interest in becoming involved in the project with companies varying from technology to financial investors keen to take part. Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees is fully behind the project saying it is a “world first” and it would address “important social and economic challenges”. Bristol Energy will play an integral part in the success and implementation of the project in assisting the delivery of smart technologies and ensuring local companies will continue to deliver clean energy for local people. Mark Majewicz, Managing Director at Bristol Energy, was equally as optimistic about the project and said the project had “social value at its heart.” The official procurement process has begun and is anticipated to continue for several more months.

Bristol Airport switches to renewable electricity

Bristol Airport have announced that it has switched its electricity contract to Ørsted, a global renewable energy supplier. The movement towards reducing the airport’s carbon footprint follows the recent publication of a carbon roadmap which sets out how the airport will become carbon neutral by 2025 for emissions within its direct control. The three-year agreement with Ørsted will see the airport’s annual electricity use of 17GWh to be powered entirely by renewable sources, cutting the airport’s largest source of carbon emissions from on-site airport operations. Simon Earles, Planning and Sustainability Director at Bristol Airport, explained “from next month our terminal and other facilities will be powered by renewable energy – a significant step on our journey to carbon neutrality. There is more to do, but this is a clear statement of our intent to reduce our direct emissions”. Ashley Phillips, Managing Director at Ørsted Sales (UK) Ltd added “it’s exciting that an international airport like Bristol is placing such strong emphasis on sustainability.” The airport has also committed to offsetting passenger’s road journeys, as a way to address indirect emissions as well as their direct consumption.

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Electric vehicles update

Council to install charge points in Norfolk carparks

Follow us on North Norfolk District Council has approved a proposal which will include Twitter: the installation of 7 Electric Vehicle charge-points (EVCs) across the @pixie_energy district. The project, which will be jointly funded by the local Council and the Office for Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV) – are a cross-government team promoting the use of EVs – is expected to cost in the region of £250,000. The project is still subject to OLEV funding approval and is yet to commence. EVCs are expected to be deployed across car parks in Sheringham, Cromer, Holt, Fakenham, Wells and North Walsham. The proposal aims to meet the anticipated rise in the demand for EVs across the UK, from the current 200,000 to 6mn by 2030. Installing charge points in public locations are seen to decrease the reliance on home charging and stimulate the uptake of EVs by making charge points more accessible to residents and visitors in these areas. Cllr Sarah Bütikofer, Leader of North Norfolk District Council, said: “We are delighted to bring forward this new initiative which will see 38 electric vehicle charge points introduced across the District. This is just the first step on the Council’s path towards delivering our new ‘greener’ agenda. Whilst we are working to reduce our own Carbon footprints, we want to help residents and visitors to play their part too.”

BEIS fund smart meter EV charging

On 4 September, BEIS announced funding for two smart meter demonstration projects. The projects will demonstrate how smart meters can be used to automatically charge EVs when energy prices are at their lowest. Using smart meters enable a more flexible energy system and secure cheap and clean energy. The two projects commenced in April 2019 and aim to be completed in March 2021. They have been awarded £2.7mn towards the design, build, testing and trialling of demand management devices in over 100 households with EVs. The projects are from a EDMI-led consortium and an EDF-led consortium. These two projects will use two different types of smart devices. EDMI’s technical solution integrates SMETS2 meters with an auxiliary load control Switch (ALCS) which controls load within a smart meter. The EDF-led consortium is developing a home area network- connected auxiliary load control switch (HCALCS). HCALCS has a similar functionality to ALCS, the main difference being that the switch in a HCLACS is in a different device and is remotely connected to the EV charge point.

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London electric bus fleet becomes largest in Europe

On 5 September, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, that two of London’s bus routes are to become fully electric, making London’s electric bus fleet the largest in Europe. The capital currently has over 200 electric buses and plans have been approved to add 78 more double deck busses. Routes 43 and 134 will become the UK’s first bus routes to exclusively use electric buses. Visit The new vehicles will improve air quality in the city as well as reducing carbon www.pixie- emissions. 12 Low Emission Bus Zones have also been established ahead of energy.com schedule. These zones, that were originally meant to be created by 2020, have for your seen an average 90 per cent drop in bus-related Nitrous Oxide emissions, a feed of low- key cause of ill-health and premature deaths. carbon Gareth Powell, TfL’s Managing Director for Surface Transport, said: “London is news. a leading world city at the heart of global innovation and it is the latest green techno logy, like electric double decks, that will help tackle the air quality crisis. These new buses mark a major moment on the road to a fully zero-emission fleet. With more electric double decks buses to follow, and all new single deck buses required to be zero-emissions from next year, buses are helping to bring the capital’s air inside legal limits.” Transport for London is also investing £12mn in 20 new hydrogen double deck busses. These buses will be in London by next year.

BEV registration reach record levels across August

August saw a surge in EV Percentage change of car registration by registrations in the UK. The type between 2018 and 2019 Society for Motor Manufacturers 400

and Traders released figures for 350 August showing 3,147 battery electric vehicles were registered. 300 This is a 377% increase on last 250 August, where only 659 BEVs 200 were registered. 150 As a whole, the car market 100

remained steady with little change change(%)Percentage in diesel and petrol sales. 50 However, zero emission vehicle 0 uptake with registrations overall nearly up fivefold. -50 -100

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