This week’s briefs

There are some good brief items for you this week.

 

• New eceee report

This week the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee) launched an analysis paper entitled “What we will gain from more ambitious energy efficiency goals in the EU”. The analysis presents and explains the findings of the Commission’s 2030 energy policy framework impact analysis from this summer. The conclusion is that more ambition is cheaper for the EU as a whole and helps EU meet a number of difficult challenges.

On October 24th, the European Council agreed to a non-binding target for an energy efficiency increase of at least 27%, to be reviewed by 2020, having in mind an EU level of 30% for 2030. This was a lower target than the European Commission had proposed. Yet, as analysed by the eceee, the Commission’s own impact assessment shows that it would have brought many additional benefits to have had an even more ambitious target.

For more information on how to download the report, go to the eceee website.
 

• National Grid in UK encourages more plant shutdowns

John McKenna writes on the Process Engineering website about grid management using demand side measures in the UK.

National Grid is encouraging more energy-intensive businesses to reduce their demand when electricity supplies are constrained.

Having already launched its Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) scheme in September, the grid operator is now launching dedicated demand-response version of its Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) scheme.

Many plant owners already take part in STOR via electricity aggregators, and to encourage this National Grid has committed to 200MW of capacity in its next STOR tender round being dedicated to demand response providers, as opposed to the electricity generators that make up the bulk of STOR’s 2GW capacity.

“At the moment, we get more tenders to STOR than we need, which is positive as it drives down costs,” said National Grid head of commercial operations Duncan Burt.

“On the flip side makes it harder for new demand side entrants to get involved, as they have to sign up companies or sites willing to reduce demand with no guarantee they will get paid for it. That’s why we’re aiming for 200MW of our next tender round (for delivery during 2015/16) to come exclusively from demand side response. We’ve called this STOR Runway, as it helps new entrants get off the ground.”

The Invitation to Tender for STOR Runway was issue on Friday, and companies interested in participating can find out more information here.

Tenders must be submitted by 16 January 2015.

 

• Website of the week

The website www.germanclimatefinance.de, jointly hosted by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Oxfam Germany, Bread for the World and Germanwatch, offers background information, up to date analysis and a project database (database currently in German only) on Germany’s contribution to international climate finance. It is well worth reviewing.

They have added their database on German climate finance which until now was only available on the German version of the website. This database aims to improve transparency and provide an independent monitoring of German climate finance. The English website now includes interactive info graphics on selected issues around German climate finance which are linked to the database and are continuously updated. It also includes the results of an analysis carried out in July 2014 on qualitative aspects of German climate finance.

It is well worth reviewing.

 

• Albanian deputy minister sacked over power bills

Associated Press writes that Albania’s deputy environment minister has been sacked for allegedly not paying her electricity bills — just as the government is striving to persuade Albanians to settle old power debts.

In a statement on his Twitter social network account Wednesday, Prime Minister Edi Rama said there can be no justification for non-payment, a major headache for the country’s dysfunctional state-run power sector.

The dismissed deputy minister, Diana Bejko, had no immediate comment. Her removal followed local media reports that she owed money for power consumption in a holiday home.

The two state companies responsible for electricity generation and distribution lost $550 million (433 million euros) this year, largely due to unpaid bills. Some 600,000 consumers have had their power cut off over the past year due to debts.

 

• Teaching energy efficiency at a Punjab girls school

The Business Standard website writes that a Punjab girls school is to be first to study energy efficiency.

In a major decision impacting inter-connected sectors of energy, education and women, Power Minister Piyush Goyal Sunday announced that a government girls’ school in Punjab would be the first in the country to introduce energy efficiency as a subject in the school curriculum.

“The Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar will be the first school where energy efficiency will be introduced in the school curriculum,” Goyal said at the awards function on National Energy Conservation Day, where the girls from Punjab, along with students from other schools across the country, interacted with the minister via video link.

Displaying a startingly novel mode of decision-making, Goyal along with senior officials, in response to the student Simran Kaur’s suggestion, said he would immediately put up to union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani the proposal to have energy efficiency as a subject in schools.

“There could be a period once a week, or even in a fortnight where ideas and techniques on energy efficiency can be taught,” Goyal said.

“This is the way to go on energy efficiency. There is to be no compulsion because energy efficiency is most efficacious when it is voluntary. It should come from the heart,” he added.

A Punjab school being designated to be the first to implement a curriculum on energy efficiency is specially significant for a state which is saddled with one of the lowest female sex ratios in the country.

Responding to a suggestion from another school, Goyal promised that by Jan 31 every state will have a toll-free number to report cases of street lights staying on during daylight.

“Now it a challenge for the states to take these numbers to mobile connectivity so that calls to it can be logged to be followed up by the time taken to act on the complaint,” the minister said.

More importantly, Goyal announced his ministry’s resolve to have all municipal lighting in the country switch over to the much more energy- efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs) by 2016. The target was set, on the minister’s request, by the school representing Andhra Pradesh where Visakapatnam’s street lights have been fully converted to LED after the Hudhud cyclone havoc.

Earlier, Goyal and the officials gave away the National Painting Competition Awards for school children organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

The competition, which attracted around 100,000 schools, saw a record participation of six million children this year — up from 4.5 million last year.