Latest news with #DepartmentofEnergySecurityandNetZero
Sustainability Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Sustainability Times
'13 Times More Power From Space': UK Company Achieves Historic Solar Breakthrough Beaming Massive Energy Back to Earth
IN A NUTSHELL 🌌 Space Solar has developed a groundbreaking power-beaming technology to deliver wireless solar energy from space. has developed a groundbreaking power-beaming technology to deliver wireless solar energy from space. 🛰️ The Cassidi project confirmed the technical and economic viability of using pre-fabricated solar reflectors to capture and beam solar energy. confirmed the technical and economic viability of using pre-fabricated solar reflectors to capture and beam solar energy. 🔋 The system can electronically steer the energy beam 360 degrees, enhancing cost-effectiveness and efficiency without the need for moving parts. 🌍 Space Solar aims to deploy a megawatt-scale commercial system within five years, revolutionizing the global transition to renewable energy. In the fast-evolving world of renewable energy, UK-based startup Space Solar is making waves with its innovative approach to harnessing solar power from space. The company's groundbreaking power-beaming technology promises to revolutionize how we think about energy generation, offering a reliable and uninterrupted source of clean power. By beaming solar energy wirelessly from space, Space Solar aims to overcome the challenges faced by traditional renewable sources, such as weather dependency and the day-night cycle. This ambitious venture has the potential to transform the global energy landscape, providing a sustainable and efficient alternative to conventional energy sources. Comprehensive Assessment of Key Technologies The 'Cassidi' project, a significant milestone for Space Solar, involved a thorough evaluation of the company's core technologies. This $2.26-million project was funded by the UK Space Agency and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Over an 18-month period, Space Solar conducted a comprehensive assessment of its wireless power beaming, in-space assembly process, and ground receiver technologies. The result is a detailed 1,700-page sub-system design document that outlines the blueprint for their modular solar power satellite, Cassiopeia. This satellite, also known as the Constant Aperture Solid State Integrated Orbital Phased Array, represents a significant step forward in the development of space-based solar power. This Nordic Power Move Changes Everything: Sweden's 740 MW Electrolyzers Set to Transform Global Steel Into a Zero-Carbon Industry The success of the 'Harrier' demonstrator, which enabled the development and testing of power-beaming technology, was a key achievement of the project. This demonstrator has paved the way for further advancements in the field, showcasing the potential of space-based solar power to deliver clean energy around the clock. Fusion Power Just Got Real: New Method to Remove Heat From Tokamak Plasma Solves One of Nuclear Energy's Biggest Obstacles Using Pre-fabricated Solar Reflectors One of the most exciting aspects of Space Solar's approach is the use of pre-fabricated solar reflectors. These reflectors are part of a system that can electronically steer the energy beam through a full 360 degrees, eliminating the need for moving parts. This solid-state approach is central to the projected cost-effectiveness of the Cassiopeia satellite. The power beam itself is designed to be low intensity and safe, transmitting through the atmosphere and weather with minimal loss in efficiency. This makes it a highly attractive option for integrating with other renewable energy sources, enhancing grid resilience and delivering power where it's needed most. AI-Powered Driving Arrives: Chinese Firm Unleashes Hybrid EV With Nvidia Chip to Ignite the Smart Vehicle Race The Cassiopeia satellite, equipped with thousands of lightweight photovoltaic modules, will capture solar energy in orbit and beam it down to ground-based receivers using high-frequency radio waves. This method promises to provide a consistent and reliable energy source, unaffected by weather conditions or the day-night cycle. By overcoming these limitations, Space Solar's technology could play a crucial role in the global transition to renewable energy. Viability Confirmation for Clean Energy The collaborative nature of the 'Cassidi' project, which involved 22 partner organizations, has confirmed both the technical and economic viability of Space Solar's system. The success of this demonstration not only strengthens the company's position but also sets the stage for an ambitious timeline. Space Solar plans to deploy a megawatt-scale commercial system within five years, with aspirations to expand to a full product range from 30 MW to GigaWatt-scale within twelve years. This breakthrough could herald a new era in clean energy generation, offering a viable pathway toward a future with continuous and globally accessible energy. The successful completion of the 'Cassidi' project brings us one step closer to realizing the dream of harnessing the sun's power directly from space, potentially transforming how we meet our energy needs. As Space Solar continues to innovate and push the boundaries of what's possible, the potential impact on the global energy landscape is profound. With the promise of reliable, clean, and uninterrupted energy, the question remains: how will this revolutionary technology reshape our approach to sustainable energy in the coming decades? Our author used artificial intelligence to enhance this article. Did you like it? 4.6/5 (20)
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Reform mayor outlines his position on green energy
The new mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire has said he would always put the region before party politics. Asked during a meeting of the combined authority's executive board about his position on green energy, Reform UK's Luke Campbell said: "I represent the people of this region, and if that can create local jobs and help local businesses that is what I will do." Campbell also told the meeting that all types of energy – including nuclear and hydrogen power – should be considered. Reform UK previously said it would impose taxes on the renewable energy sector under its plans to scrap the country's net-zero target. In February, deputy leader Richard Tice claimed net-zero policies were to blame for higher energy bills and deindustrialisation, adding that renewable energy was a "massive con". Campbell previously said he did not think net-zero was achievable. However, in answer to a question from a member of the public at Wednesday's meeting, the former Olympic gold medallist boxer said: "I have consistently supported the region in green energy for local business, creating local jobs. "I will keep on that same track – I was brought in by the people of this region." At the meeting, the board approved a bid to enter into a funding agreement with the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and bid for up to £1.6m for public sector renewable energy projects, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The meeting was attended by Mike Ross, leader of Hull City Council, and Anne Handley, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Campbell described them as "two very good, strong leaders" who were "ready to fight for this region", adding: "Including myself, you've got the third one." As head of the combined authority, Campbell is responsible for housing, public transport, infrastructure, economic development, business, skills and regeneration. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Renewables leaders urge mayors to back industry Reform UK sets out plan to tax renewable energy Reform's Luke Campbell elected East Yorkshire mayor Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority Local Democracy Reporting Service
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK firm beams solar breakthrough: 13x more power sent from space down to Earth
UK-based startup Space Solar has successfully completed crucial tests of its power-beaming technology, with an aim to deliver wireless power from space. The company said that space-based solar power could provide reliable, uninterrupted clean energy around the clock and in any weather, addressing the intermittency issues faced by traditional wind and solar sources. 'A solar panel in space delivers 13x the amount of energy that the same panel on Earth generates, because there is no night, no weather and no atmosphere in space.' The company has recently concluded its 18-month, $2.26-million "Cassidi" project, which was funded by the UK Space Agency and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The Cassidi project involved a comprehensive assessment of Space Solar's key technologies. 'In a remarkably short timeframe, the project has advanced key aspects of the design, including the wireless power beaming, in-space assembly process and the ground receiver,' added the press release. The project has resulted in a comprehensive 1,700-page sub-system design document outlining the blueprint for its modular solar power satellite, named Cassiopeia (Constant Aperture Solid State Integrated Orbital Phased Array). Space Solar's "Harrier" demonstrator successfully developed and tested their power beaming technology, which was a key achievement of the project. This system has the ability to steer the energy beam through a full 360 degrees electronically, eliminating the need for moving parts. This solid-state approach is central to the projected cost-effectiveness of the Cassiopeia satellite. 'The power beam is low intensity and safe, and transmits through the atmosphere and weather with almost zero loss in efficiency,' highlighted the press release. 'It works exceptionally well in combination with other renewables, with the potential to contribute to grid resilience by delivering power where it's needed most, cost competitive with terrestrial renewables.' Space Solar's ambitious concept involves launching the Cassiopeia satellite, equipped with pre-fabricated solar reflectors and thousands of lightweight photovoltaic modules, into orbit. This orbiting power plant will then capture solar energy and wirelessly beam it down to ground-based receivers using high-frequency radio waves. The company claims this method will provide a consistent and reliable energy source, unaffected by weather conditions or the day-night cycle. The Cassidi project was a collaborative effort, involving 22 partner organizations, and has reportedly confirmed both the technical and economic viability of Space Solar's system. This successful demonstration paves the way for the company's ambitious timeline. 'Space Solar is now accelerating towards deployment, with plans to deliver a megawatt-scale commercial system within five years and expand to a full product range from 30 MW to GigaWatt-scale within twelve years,' remarked the company. This breakthrough could offer a promising pathway towards a future with clean, continuous, and globally accessible energy. The successful completion of the Cassidi project signifies a tangible step closer to making wireless power from space a reality. 'The breakthrough project heralds a paradigm shift in clean energy generation, and gives further confidence that space-based solar power (SBSP) can be deployed on a commercial scale from 2030,' concluded Space Solar.
Scotsman
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Clean power official 'disappointed' by scrapped offshore wind farm plans
Warning of storm facing sector Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The decision by a major Danish energy firm to cancel plans for a huge offshore windfarm partly reflects the 'reality' facing the sector in a global market being hit by a 'force nine gale of events,' according to the man tasked with delivering the UK government's clean energy plans. Chris Stark, head of mission control for Clean Power 2030 at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, told a key industry conference in Glasgow that Ørsted's move to scrap the vast development off the coast of East Yorkshire highlighted the pressures facing the renewables business. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It comes as a new report from the offshore energy trade body, OEUK, warned that without action to address price inflation, capital cost, and supply chain competitiveness, the UK government's clean power target of 2030 will not be met. Chris Stark, the UK Government's head of 'mission control' at the department for energy security and net zero, addresses the conference | PA With a potential capacity of 2.4GW, the Hornsea 4 project would have become one of the biggest offshore developments in the world, but the firm behind it cited a range of reasons why it was pulling the plug, including adverse macroeconomic developments, continued supply chain challenges, and increased execution, market and operational risks. 'A difficult couple of weeks for us' In a keynote address to the All Energy conference in Glasgow on Thursday, Mr Stark, said: 'It is a force nine gale of events happening right now around us. This has been a difficult couple of weeks for us. Ørsted's decision to delay Hornsea 4, despite securing a CFD (contract for difference award) last year, is definitely a blow for us, particularly because it displaced other very good projects that would otherwise be in full development right now. 'I'm very disappointed that has happened. We can debate the specifics of it. It's partly about a company that's very exposed to that global gale. But it's also partly about the reality of offshore wind development in today's global market. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'There's no dressing it up - we need to acknowledge the challenges that face this industry. I want our clean power plan to be key to making the UK a safe port for investment in a storm.' Ørsted's Hornsea One Offshore Wind Farm. | PA Mr Stark, a former chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, stressed that 'no single project throws us of course,' and said the Ørsted decision had given the government fresh impetus. 'If anything it's strengthened our resolve that we need a mission around this stuff to get it moving, and I do think we've got some very good tools in the box, which we'll bring out shortly,' he added. Mr Stark, a former director of energy and climate change at the Scottish Government, said that after feeling 'gloomy' following the Hornsea 4 announcement, he travelled to Inverness to visit offshore wind projects, an experience which left him 'full of renewed conviction that this should be a guiding mission for this country.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Miliband plots surge in wind farm subsidies to rescue net zero
Ed Miliband is plotting a surge in the wind farm subsidies added to electricity bills to prop up his ailing green power target. The Energy Secretary is preparing to ditch key limits on the cash diverted from bills to turbine developers, The Telegraph can reveal. The manoeuvre, uncovered in official documents, is expected to allow Mr Miliband to bankroll thousands of extra turbines in the next few years. He has pledged to make Britain's electricity supply 95pc carbon-free by that date. The target has been attacked as a 'fantasy' by the Conservatives, partly because there are too few offshore wind projects in the pipeline. That problem was exacerbated last week with Ørsted's decision to abandon its massive Hornsea 4 scheme to build 180 giant turbines off Yorkshire, giving 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity – enough for 2.6m homes on a windy day. To accelerate wind farm construction, Mr Miliband wants to scrap limits on the total subsidy on offer to offshore developers in Whitehall auctions. Instead a target would be set for the amount of electricity to be generated, with the cost to households only worked out afterwards. A Whitehall insider agreed costs could rise initially, suggesting that the investment in renewables now would bring prices down in years to come. 'It means short-term pain in energy bills, for long-term gain,' he said. The scheme was revealed in a paper from Mr Miliband's Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). 'In place of a budget, the Government would publish a capacity ambition,' it said. Mr Miliband wants between 43GW and 50GW of offshore wind by 2030. Only 16GW is operational so far, with another 12.6GW in planning. That leaves a shortfall of about 15GW just to hit the minimum, which would broadly mean adding an extra 1,500 giant 10-megawatt turbines to the 1,500 already planned. These must all be commissioned in the next couple of years to be working by 2030 – but developers are demanding extra subsidies to undertake the massive challenge. The main vehicle for such subsidies is the UK's contracts for difference (CfD) scheme, under which energy developers are guaranteed an inflation-linked minimum price for each megawatt hour of electricity their schemes produce. Ørsted won a bid last autumn to build the wind farm under the CfD scheme. The £85-per-megawatt-hour price approved by Mr Miliband is now deemed to be too low to cover the costs of Hornsea 4. It implies he will have to offer much higher guarantees to secure more wind farms. Analysts estimate that commissioning enough wind farms to meet the 2030 target could cost up to £11bn a year. They also estimate that the increase would add £135 a year to the average domestic energy bill. Mr Miliband's own officials also warned of potentially surging energy bills from his latest move. An impact statement said: 'This proposal may increase the subsidy (levy) cost of the Contracts for Difference scheme as it may facilitate buying increased capacity. 'Additionally, it is possible that the proposal may increase the subsidy cost of the CfD scheme if it leads to developers increasing their bid prices.' The Renewable Energy Foundation calculates that CfDs added £7.8bn to bills last year. John Constable, its director, estimated that hitting the 2030 target could require an additional £7.9bn subsidy to offshore wind and £3bn to onshore developers. Mr Constable said: 'With a small tweak to the green subsidy rules Ed Miliband can give himself the freedom to quietly and quickly add many billions of pounds a year to national electricity bills. 'If the Chancellor were to propose tax increases of this scale affecting every household and business in the country there would be a storm of criticism in Parliament and elsewhere. 'How much longer will the Prime Minister allow the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero to operate without democratic accountability?' A DESNZ spokesman said: 'We need to build clean energy infrastructure now to get bills down in the long-term and protect family finances from volatile fossil fuel markets that have caused the biggest cost-of-living crisis in memory. 'These reforms will pave the way for clean power by 2030, taking control of our energy system with home-grown power that we control and giving industry more certainty to build here in Britain. 'The contracts for difference scheme balances the need for significant renewables deployment to deliver the benefits of a low-cost clean power system, whilst providing best possible value for money for consumers.' The UK has about 3,000 offshore turbines, with a capacity of 16GW – plus 9,200 onshore wind turbines with a capacity of 15GW. The next CfD auction, the repeatedly delayed Round 7, is slated for the autumn. Ana Musat, from RenewableUK, the wind industry trade body, said: 'We have an opportunity to secure a record amount of new renewable energy capacity in this year's auction. 'It's good to see the ministers looking at some of the key reforms which are needed to unlock this.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
