United Kingdom

The latest edition of a clean power jobs survey produced by IRENA and the International Labour Organization has stressed the important role which will need to be played by the public sector if the energy transition’s employment benefits are to be shared equally.

U.K.-based Gravitricity is planning to deploy its gravity-based energy storage solution at a decommissioned coal mine in Czechia. The project is part of a plan to commence a full-scale, 4-8 MW prototype scheme in disused mines next year.

UK electricity retailers are ramping up their efforts to sign power purchase agreements for PV projects.

This week sees hydrogen pricing hit new highs, driven by simultaneous jumps in the price of natural gas and electricity. Elsewhere, project plans include green hydrogen production at a UK brewery and Ineos building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany, machinery manufacturers Rolls Royce and JCB making plans for hydrogen engines, and new investment agreements signed in Belgium, Sweden and Kazakhstan.

A new study from researchers at the universities of Lancaster and Reading in the UK has managed to quantify the economic boost provided by the symbiotic relationship between solar farms and honeybee hives.

One PV installer in Wales said he has experienced a 1,000% surge in demand for solar panels as rocketing gas prices have forced small energy suppliers in the U.K. to the wall and created uncertainty in households.

Industry body the Renewable Energy Association (REA) is calling on the U.K. government to reduce tax on various clean energy technologies and energy efficiency measures in the residential sector, with particular emphasis on battery installations. The association sees this as one of the most effective ways to protect consumers from volatile energy prices, as well as for the country to meet its stated decarbonization goals.

A consortium of investors is evaluating a hydrogen production project on the Orkney Islands to the north of Scotland, that would transform the island into a hub for hydrogen production, taking advantage of abundant wind resources nearby in the North Sea.

Octopus Energy and RES have announced a new partnership under which they plan to invest GBP 3 billion in the construction of green hydrogen plants throughout the United Kingdom by 2030.