DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Governments take action to keep offshore wind projects on track
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Scroby Sands offshore wind farm can be seen off of the coast at Great Yarmouth, Britain, October 24, 2018. Investors told Reuters governments have since shown willingness to pay higher prices, helping to restore confidence in the future of the industry. Britain's last auction in September failed to attract any offshore wind projects, with developers saying the guaranteed price on offer was too low. Britain's Octopus launched a dedicated fund with Japan's Tokyo Gas (9531.T) to invest 3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) in offshore wind projects by 2030. Soeren Lassen, head of offshore wind Research at WoodMac said more than 50 GW of offshore wind tenders globally are planned for 2024.

Persons: Chris Radburn, ”, Jonathan Cole, Corio's Cole, Keith Anderson, Anderson, Marc Hedin, Nathalie Gerl, Germany's RWE, Soeren Lassen, WoodMac, Susanna Twidale, Nichola Groom, Scott DiSavino, Simon Webb, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, Governments, Investors, Corio Generation, Power, New York, Energy, New York State Energy Research, Development Authority, Aurora Energy Research, Research, Ireland, Aurora, Gas, Thomson Locations: Great Yarmouth, Britain, U.S, New York State, China

Electric power transmission pylon miniatures and Iberdrola logo are seen in this illustration taken, December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Spanish utility Iberdrola is planning to make an offer for Electricity North West (ENWL) that could value the British power distribution network at a maximum of 3.5 billion pounds ($4.34 billion), two sources familiar with the matter said. Iberdrola (IBE.MC) declined to comment on any involvement in the ENWL sale process, which one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said is expected to start in December. Iberdrola is ramping up its investments in electricity networks, aiming to deploy 27 billion euros until 2025, with the goal of achieving 30% growth in core earnings of its networks unit to up to 8.5 billion euros. Iberdrola expects to receive around 6 billion euros from partnerships and asset sales by the end of the year that will help it close 2023 with a net debt of around 43 billion euros, roughly in line with 2022.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jefferies, KKR spokespeople, JP Morgan, Andres Gonzalez, Pietro Lombardi, Anousha Sakoui, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Electricity, Reuters, Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co, Macquarie, KKR, ENWL, Scottish Power, Colonial First State, Iberdrola, Thomson Locations: Manchester , Lancashire, Cumbria, Iberdrola, ENWL, Merseyside , Cheshire, North Wales, North Shropshire, England, Central, Southern Scotland

The company has provided more than 132 gigawatts (GW) of wind turbines as of the end of April this year to all global regions: 108 GW of onshore wind and 22 GW of offshore wind. The discovery of faulty components at Siemens Gamesa's onshore wind turbines had already caused a charge of nearly half a billion euros in January. Siemens Gamesa has provided wind turbines to some of the biggest power companies and oil and gas majors worldwide. Shares in European wind turbine producers Nordex (NDXG.DE) and Vestas (VWS.CO) also fell as confidence in the industry was shaken. Many wind power developers have already seen delays in projects due to the availability of components and rising costs.

Persons: Siemens Gamesa, Spain's, Denmark's, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, Susan Fenton Organizations: Siemens Energy, Siemens, SIEMENS, WHO, Scottish Power Renewables, East Anglia, Poland's PGE, Siemens AG, Thomson Locations: Spain, Europe, Americas, Britain, North, Baltica, Baltic

☆ Energy firms lose UK legal challenge over sale of collapsed rival Bulb
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A British Gas sign is seen outside its offices in Staines in southern England, July 31, 2014. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File PhotoLONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Centrica's British Gas, Scottish Power and E.ON on Friday lost a court challenge over the British government’s handling of the sale of collapsed energy firm Bulb. The three other energy suppliers had argued the government had unlawfully committed billions of pounds of taxpayers' money to prop up Bulb, without considering the potential impact on the wider energy market. "It's clear that the case was a desperate attempt by those organisations to defend their waning market positions against a more efficient and customer-focused rival," Octopus Energy said in a statement. The addition of Bulb's customers catapulted Octopus to become the country's third largest domestic energy supplier behind British Gas and E.ON.

☆ More than 94,000 prepayment meters forcibly installed in Britain in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - More than 94,000 prepayment meters were installed in homes in Britain using warrants and without customer consent in 2022, the government said on Monday, adding that British Gas, Scottish Power and OVO Energy accounted for 70% of them. Prepayment meters allow customers to pay for gas and electricity on a pay-as-you-go basis. British Gas, Scottish Power and OVO Energy forcibly installed 66,187 prepayment metres under warrant last year, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said. Scottish Power was the worst offender when taking its customer base into account, force-fitting more than 24,300 meters, BEIS said. The company is not currently installing prepayment meters or recovering debt from those customers on new prepayment meters unless requested by the customer, the spokesperson added.

☆ UK to extend energy bill help for 3 months - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Government subsidies are scheduled to be scaled back from next month, meaning average annual bills would rise to 3,000 pounds ($3,600) from 2,500 pounds now. Hunt is due to deliver a budget statement on March 15, when any extension to the level of support could be announced. "The Chancellor has been clear that we will keep all our support under review... we are already doing all we can to support people struggling with high energy bills," a spokesperson for prime minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday. Hunt can count on a roughly 30-billion-pound windfall as he prepares his budget, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Keeping the current level of energy subsidies would cost 2.7 billion pounds until the end of June, based on current energy price forecasts, the IFS estimated this week.

☆ Bulb bailout exposes UK’s pseudo power market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Bulb is the biggest of dozens of flaky British power suppliers which opted not to hedge their future costs when energy prices were cheap. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the saga to cost taxpayers 6.5 billion pounds. Octopus itself thinks the loan could be more like 2.4 billion pounds, as wholesale prices have recently fallen. If that’s correct, regular payments by Bulb customers will cover the cost. With retail power prices fixed and the government on the hook for higher wholesale costs, Britain’s privatised power industry is operating in anything but a free market.

Search resuls for: "Scottish Power"

7 mentions found