1 Feb
‘Green’ biomass boilers may waste billions in public money
Posted on Feb 1, 2016
by D-ENERGi
Over £10bn could be paid in incentives for non-domestic biomass boilers despite a government study showing they are less efficient than thought and won’t help the UK meet clean energy targets.
The UK has pushed biomass boilers as a technology to help meet an EU target of getting at least 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, incentivising businesses and individuals to switch to them in return for payments under the RHI.
But “under-performance appears widespread in the UK biomass heat sector,” the paper admits, adding that the efficiency shortfall “also means emissions will be higher than laboratory test results suggest”.
Just £128.9m had been paid through the RHI as of November 2014, but the final cost in public money could be over £10bn because those installing biomass boilers under the scheme receive annual payments for several years, Decc’s own impact assessment shows. So far, most RHI payments appear to have been banked by wealthy landowners.
To be promoted as a renewable source of energy, the biomass boilers need to have a 85% efficiency rate for converting fuel to energy – but the Decc study reveals the average efficiency rate of installed boilers was 66.5%.
The target rate may be unreachable, as the report found that the biomass heating systems surveyed “can only achieve levels around 76% (on average)”.
Yet no field studies of biomass boiler efficiency were carried out before the RHI’s introduction because Decc viewed biomass as an established and internationally successful technology.
US electric carmaker Tesla Motors aims to move into the energy sector as it launches batteries that can power homes and businesses as it attempts to expand beyond its vehicle business. D-ENERGi director Zico Ahmed said “This is really an exciting innovation within the energy sector, the battery device would allow consumers to get off the power grid or bring energy to remote areas that are not on a grid.” Tesla plans to start shipping the units to installers in the US by this summer, and plans are underway for a launch in the UK early next year. In a highly anticipated event near Los Angeles, Mr Musk said the move could help change the “entire energy infrastructure of the world”. “Tesla Energy is a critical step in this mission to enable zero emission power generation,” the company said in a statement. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery unit would be built using the same batteries Tesla produces for its electric vehicles, analysts said. The system is called Powerwall, and Tesla will sell the 7kWh unit for $3,000 (£1,954), while the 10kWh unit will retail for $3,500 (£2,275) to installers. Energy comparison firm USwitch estimates that one kWh can power two days of work on a laptop, a full washing machine cycle or be used to boil a kettle 10 times.
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The energy industry is making key changes to the way gas is transported. All suppliers have to split aggregated meter points by 1st July 2015. Aggregated gas meters are created when two or more meter points are joined together to form one supply point. They are billed and priced together.
The de-aggregation process will help support the introduction of advanced and smart metering between late 2015 and 2020 which will allow more accurate usage data to be recorded. The industry believe that this will lead to more cost-reflective transportations charges for all meter points and therefore for all customers.
How will this affect Gas Customers?
Only customers with aggregated meter points will be affected by this.
This change will not affect your gas supply but it will change how you are billed. Instead of being charged per site you will charge by meter point. There could be an increase in transportation costs after the supply points have been split.
Once these changes are complete, we will be contacting those customers who require a smart meter at no extra cost to you. You will also be given the option of accessing a web portal which will allow you to view your consumption and keep an eye on costs.
Why does this need to happen?
The current system is outdated and this is an industry-wide gas initiative which all Shippers & Suppliers have been mandated to adopt, so there will be no way to avoid the change if you have gas meters that are aggregated.
It is important for all customers currently who have aggregated meters to plan ahead for de-aggregation of these supply points and understand the future billing impacts. We will be informing you as soon as possible of any changes to your contracted rates and monthly amount and we will be working to keep your invoices simple to understand for all of your sites
Removing aggregation will allow accurate data on all UK gas meters to be held in a single database, an important step in the overall goal of moving all UK gas customers onto Smart meters by 2020.
Find out more
Call 0161 237 3333 or email customerservices@d-energi.com
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