Jamie Horton

Scotland is a nation that has long been engaged on climate and new research, published just weeks after the Scottish Government's potential climate rollback, shows that this is not changing 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🌍 🍃 The findings reveal distinct support for climate policies and a deep mistrust in the North Sea oil and gas industry - notably from the SNP voter base, which consistently proved to be among the most concerned around climate. 🛢 💰 North Sea oil and gas companies are widely considered to benefit more from extraction in the basin than Scotland itself does currently. 🌳 More than half of young people across Scotland want the government to introduce policies that will encourage green investment - such as ending new oil and gas licensing. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Just one fifth of respondents in the UK’s oil capital, Aberdeen, trust the industry to ensure that Scotland’s workers and communities benefit from the green transition. Read more in The Herald Scotland

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[Open access] The UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has launched consultations on a proposed "Clean Industry Bonus (CIB)" to upcoming Contract for Difference (CfD) schemes. The CIB process will be run as a competitive allocation for extra revenue support before the main CfD Allocation Round 7 (AR7) auction. Under this scheme, fixed and floating offshore wind developers could get extra support if they choose to invest in more sustainable supply chains. The CIB makes extra CfD funding available if a developer chooses to make investments above the minimum standard that meet the sustainability criteria. Read more for further criteria, list of eligible investments, etc: https://lnkd.in/eh4Xs7dv #offshorewind #energytransition

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Good to see the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee highlight the importance of front-loading milestones to sort out the grid connection delays in their report on sustainable electrification of the UK economy published today. The report notes evidence from Low Carbon suggesting that bringing the milestones forward and ‘front-loading’ them would alleviate this problem and allow faster rollout of energy generation. Looking forward, the Committee recommends that the government and Ofgem actively monitor and streamline initiatives designed to deliver grid connections faster. It also recommends that Ofgem review its milestone queue reforms, with a focus on advancing demonstrably ready projects to the front of the queue. Once the dust has settled after the election it is important that the next government and the regulator move quickly to continue delivering these reforms so we can get more clean energy on the system. Link to the full report below. https://lnkd.in/eQikdy7w

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Delighted to publish the Scottish Renewables 2024 General Election Manifesto today. Our priorities across investment, infrastructure and innovation offer tangible steps the next UK Government can take to unlock the enormous potential for sustainable economic growth from Scotland’s renewable energy industry. Key priorities include: 🔋 Modernise the Contracts for Difference scheme to enable the stable deployment of Scotland’s renewable energy pipeline. 🏗️ Prioritise the delivery of strategic infrastructure for net-zero, including upgrades to our ports and new transmission infrastructure. 📈 Adopt an evolutionary, not revolutionary, approach to market reform to provide the policy certainty needed to incentivise investment. ✅ Deliver clearer coordination for net-zero delivery across the UK to scale-up supply chains, skills and green growth. Scottish Renewables have today also released fresh polling revealing most people in the North East of Scotland — the energy capital of Europe — believe renewable energy is the most important sector for their economic future. Big thanks to the team for their support in pulling together these recommendations. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e36PKkqD

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Key announcement from NESO today as Government prepares to deliver its ambitious target for clean power by 2030. This is an essential step in our mission to decarbonise. Government must ensure that all technologies available are utilised to their full potential to reduce our emissions and support a clean energy system. If we're going to deliver clean power by 2030, now is the time to unleash all of the innovative net zero technologies that we have at our disposal and become a world leader in clean energy that works for everyone!

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Companies focusing too heavily on climate transition may not recognise the synergies and trade-offs linked to adaptation, explains Kit England. This could store up trouble for the future. Think of an energy company looking to site a green hydrogen facility as part of its transition plan. The productivity of this asset relies on access to water, the essential ingredient for electrolysis. If the company does not factor in future climate-related water stresses at the chosen location, what should be a profitable green energy business may turn out to be a dud a few years down the line - imperilling the company’s decarbonisation. Louie Woodall writes about the need to remember climate adaptation in his latest piece, which is published both on Climate Proof and Real Economy Progress. https://lnkd.in/extb-P_P

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If Labour wins the election next week, it will attempt something so ambitious that some energy experts believe it cannot be done. In just six years it will try to transform Britain’s electricity grid from one reliant on gas to one powered almost entirely by renewables. The target has been variously described as "absurd" and "utterly ludicrous" but others think it is just about doable. Energy UK chief exec Emma Pinchbeck told me that it is feasible but added “they’ll need an absolutely cracking plan for infrastructure delivery, and that means we’d like to see a planning bill in the first red box.” I looked at what Labour's goal means for supply chains, the planning system, and the UK's gas fleet. Even those who think that Labour might hit its target are clear that it is a long shot but they argue that even if it is not met it will still have spurred the energy companies and grid operators into action. “If you set your north star to try and do it, then you may do it,” Tom Glover of RWE told me. “Whereas if you set your north star to 2035, it might slip to 2036 or 2037. “I believe that 90 to 95 per cent clean power is very much achievable by 2030. It’s that last 5 to 10 per cent that is really hard. It feels unachievable, it feels very difficult, but with a massive effort nothing is impossible.” Thanks for your help Joss Garman, Chris Hocknell, Tom Glover, Sam Richards https://lnkd.in/dDs59nxg

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Great article in the Financial Times on heat pumps, and retrofitting "If the UK is to meet its climate targets, one in 10 homes will need to phase out their gas boiler by 2030. But only 250,000 have transitioned so far. It’s an admittedly complex journey, but worth it." #retrofitting #retrofit #London #heatpumps #housing https://lnkd.in/enm3j2gC

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The TSI Scotland Network highlights the Scottish Government's 2025-2026 budget and its implications for the third sector. While noting increased public service investments, the analysis raises questions about funding fairness, infrastructure cuts, and reform strategies. Recommendations include multi-year funding models, enhanced sector collaboration, and community-driven approaches to support systemic change and early intervention. These measures aim to foster long-term sustainability and impact for third-sector organisations. https://lnkd.in/emWJeuy9 #Thirdsector #Funding #Sustainability

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The next Social Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway Network meeting will feature the Rural Social Enterprise Network, Social Enterprise Strategy for Scotland Overview - New Action Plan, and the Social Enterprise Census 2024. For more and to book: https://buff.ly/4ep69Ao

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In this week's ECM Pulse we look at National Grid and its £7bn rights issue and the benefits of getting on the front foot. A rights issue can be a painful process but biting the bullet early saves a lot of pain down the line. The worst case scenario is putting it off until it's too late while the market, and short sellers, start to speculate over your capital position and likelihood of a cash call. NG might just be the model for other corporates. Read all in this week's ECM Pulse.

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With only six weeks to go before the #generalelection, the direction of UK energy policy is going to be a crucial battleground for political parties After two years marred by an #energycrisis that rocked Europe, a worsening of the #climatecrisis, and an #energytransition that is still off track, the leading parties’ energy policies - and their effect on cost of living, inflation and the wider economy - will be under close scrutiny. Here is what the #oilandgas sector has been lobbying for, and how the main UK parties stack up in matters of energy policy, energy transition and climate change. with Iain Esau https://lnkd.in/dyVVy2-G

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Not a scoop, but a report with Emmet Mc Nally. I think an important component in the discussion around UK WaterCos is the wholesale re-evaluation of risk around companies, and now the entire regulatory framework, that were and was (until recently) considered quite secure/robust.

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Read RenewableUK's Head of of Strategic Communications Nathan Bennett's latest blog to Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary of State Claire Coutinho on how the UK has the opportunity to be a world leader in #floatingoffshorewind 🌍 🌬 👇 𝗜𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. https://lnkd.in/ej_ZrzGc #offshorewind #floatingoffshorewind #cleanenergy #energycrisis #energybills #investment

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Our latest Voices article in Cipher News ⬇️ Every author agrees to work with us on edits to make their articles the best they can be. Interested in contributing? Email us your one-headline + one-sentence pitch: [email protected].

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Using the “beneficiary pays” principle for new power infrastructure will encourage investment in the grid without causing disputes over cost-sharing, new research shows. @cornellchronicle https://lnkd.in/eGd2Rw3k

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The UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is set to launch a cap and floor scheme for long-duration energy storage (LDES), following a which ran between January and March 2024. DESNZ has proposed two routes for applying to this scheme: Stream 1 – established technologies with a supply duration of at least six hours at a minimum capacity of 100MW Stream 2 – novel technologies with a supply duration of at least six hours, minimum capacity not yet decided DESNZ has not set an overall capacity target for this scheme, describing it as "not necessary at this stage", observing that it could lead to "setting incorrect and therefore misleading targets, particularly as our understanding of system flexibility needs continues to develop". Full breakdown of the consultation response here: https://lnkd.in/eVQ-emWQ

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The new government has moved fast in delivering on their pledge to end the de-facto ban on onshore wind in England, with a new policy statement published which is effective today. The amendments disapply the footnotes to paragraph 163 of the NPPF. This comes ahead of the revised NPPF, with publication expected later this month. #planning #nppf #renewableenergy #onshorewind

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