Renew On Line (UK) 46

Extracts from NATTA's journal
Renew, issue 146 Nov-Dec 2003

8. UK Renewables roundup

£2m more for PV

A solar powered Tesco petrol station was one of the 21 projects to receive £2m funding in the latest round of solar photovoltaic funding from the DTI. The total capacity  installed will be around 580KW peak, spread geographically from the Western Isles to Cornwall and from London Llannelli.  The most ambitious scheme is a building fascade for the Co-operative insurance Society (CIS), Manchester, which, at 270kW peak, will make it the largest PV project in the UK so far.  Brian Wilson, then Energy Minister, commented: “These innovative projects are just the latest to benefit from funding and the growing market for renewable technologies. They are helping to change the way people think about and use energy.”

The funding is part of the DTI’s £20m Major PV Demonstration Programme. The 21 projects are the fourth set of proposals approved since the programme began in 2002. The first round of funding under the £20m programme supported 8 projects (08/02), 19 were approved in the second round (11/02) and a further 18 projects supported in the third round (10/03/2003). The DTI is also supporting the Domestic and Large-Scale PV Field Trials, providing £5.4m to develop 500 solar powered homes and a further £4.2m for 18 solar powered public buildings. Full details of the projects will be in Renew 147.

Yet more tidal ...

The DTI has provided R&D funding for yet another tidal current device- the Rotech Tidal Turbine, developed by aptly named Lunar Energy UK. This is a bi- directional turbine mounted in duct to augment the flow. A more detailed engineering study for a full scale prototype is now planned, with a commercial device being seen as feasible by 2007-8.

Hydrogen? No way

The London Borough of Havering has turned down proposals from BP for a hydrogen refueling station, on safety grounds. It was the be the UK’s first hydrogen pump, located at a petrol station outside of Romford. The site was earmarked to supply three buses powered by fuel cells.  BP told the Times ‘we have thousands of petrol stations selling LPG gas. It isn’t that different.’ 

NAREC grows

The New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) at Blyth Harbour in Northumbria was launched by (then) Energy Minister Brian Wilson last year, as the centre of excellence for new and renewable energy. One NorthEast, the Regional development agency, has allocated £10m to develop the centre which features research, development and testing facilities. Its recent allocation of £5.3m. will allow for the purchase of eight hectares of land and provide additional space for the creation of wind, wave and solar power research test facilities. Plans for expansion include  installing the largest wave tank in Europe, plus space to test blades for wind turbines. A new building to house a power network will also be constructed.

STP expands

Seven new projects and a fellowship have been provisionally funded under the latest round of the ESRC’s Sustainable Technology Programme. (STP)- see Renew 142/3. One new project will look at the role of partnerships at the local level in the uptake of technologies for managing the waste supply chain. Another will investigate partnerships and co-operative working within community energy initiatives.  New projects have also been funded on renewable energy innovation systems in Scotland, and new business models for micro-generation energy technologies in buildings. STP research related to consumption will be strengthened with new research seeking to understand how individuals pursuing different lifestyles make decisions about technologies, like more energy and water efficient consumer durables.

More details  from  www.sustainabletechnologies.ac.uk