End subsidy for big biomass

A Scottish Government consultation ends soon on policy proposals that could see the final demise of Forth Energy's proposed Leith power plant on Leith docks.

Although we were initially delighted to see some of the policy proposals outlined in the consultation, as we looked into them in more detail some loop holes in the proposals emerged. These currently allow operators of large biomass plants to continue to claim public subsidies even if a very small proportion of the heat they generated was used.

Therefore, we have modified the draft response we published before Christmas to call on the government to close these loop holes. We believe the Scottish Government should make sure that its policies comply with European Union directives to ensure that all biomass plants will be at least 70% efficient.

We have also supported the recommendations of a new report, which was comissioned by the Scottish Government itself, to place a cap on all the size of biomass plants that should be eligible for subsidies at 10Mw. This cap will help to ensure that local wood resources are used - rather than forcing a reliance on extensive, and possibly unsustainable, foreign imports. 

We have also called on the Scottish Government to consider the scope for enhanced subsidies for non-profit community owned projects too, as there is plenty of evidence to suggest that they deliver much more public good than purely private schemes. 

You can read the full submission here: 

Greener Leith ROC Consultation Response

Leith Biomass plan could go up in smoke if subsidy cuts approved

A multi-million pound hole may have appeared in the Forth Energy buisiness plan for their proposed Leith power plant. 

Last week, the Scottish Government announced proposals that could see large, electricity-only biomass fueled power plants, such as the one proposed by Forth Energy on Leith docks, lose their entitlement to claim renewable energy subsidies entirely. 

Whilst Forth Energy have never put a figure on the level of subsidy they expect to receive for their proposed Leith plant, we have previously calculated that the firm could have expected to earn at least £800m - £1billion in subsidies over the twenty year lifespan of the power plant. This is over and above the income they would receive for selling the electricity it would generate.

Last year, Greener Leith called on the Scottish Government to remove subsidies for large electricity-only biomass plants on the basis that their economic and environmental impacts were less than clear cut, to put it mildly.

Therefore, we are delighted that the Scottish Government appears to share our view that the best way prevent large companies proposing schemes that do little to support Scottish Government policy for biomass is to withdraw subsidy for them.

Calum Wilson, Chief Executive of the firm behind the Leith biomass plan has said in local public meetings that without the public subsidy the Leith project is far less likely to go ahead.  If the Scottish Government does decide to proceed with these proposals it could potentially bring a swift end to the Leith plant plan.

You can find details of the Scottish Government consultation here.  

If you, or an organisation you are involved in responds to this consultation, please do share it with us.  

For a limited amount of time you can view and comment on the draft version of our response to this consultation here. 

Update on October 30, 2011 by Ally

Whils the consultation process runs until January the 13th, it would seem that Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has wasted no time in highlighting the merits of the stance taken by the Scottish Government, when compared to proposals by the government south of the border, where biomass subsidies are to be retained.

In a government annoucement made this week he said: 

"I have grave concerns about the UK Government's ambition for biomass electricity. Large-scale woody biomass used for electricity generation is much less efficient than smaller scale neighbourhood plants.

"Huge electricity-only biomass plants require vast quantities of wood - far more than the UK can provide. Even if every stick of wood grown commercially in the UK went to biomass, it would supply less than a third of the fuel we will require by 2020 if the UK Government's plan for biomass goes ahead.

"Large scale electricity-only biomass will make us reliant on overseas timber markets for our energy. Both oil and gas prices have shown us the importance of a secure, local supply, and if we rely too heavily on imported timber there is a risk of energy security problems in the future.

"Extensive use of large scale biomass for electricity only is likely to push up timber prices and risk hundreds of jobs in traditional wood industries.

"That is why I am urging the UK Government to join the Scottish Government in removing subsidies from large-scale biomass electricity generation."

So, his views are pretty clear then.

And as if that weren't bad news enough for the Leith Biomass plant, it would seem that in the unlikely event that the developers do manage to find a heat customer, the additional subsidy they may have been expecting to receive for distributing the heat has just been cut by nearly two thirds by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.  

Although we hear rumours that Forth Energy staff are hopeful that the City of Edinburgh Council will delay the planning application hearing for a further six months, so far we understand that the planning committee still intend to consider their application in December. After all this subsidy news, it will be interesting to find out whether Forth Energy still have a business plan that would make it worthwhile.

Back our Energyshare bid to boost community power

 A unique partnership between two Edinburgh community groups has been established to develop a community owned wind turbine on the coast between Portobello and Leith.

PEDAL – Portobello Transition Town and Greener Leith have joined forces to conduct detailed feasibility work on a site within the Seafield Waste Water Treatment Works. Early surveys suggest a wind turbine on this site has the potential to generate enough renewable energy to supply the annual electricity needs of 300 - 1300 households, depending on the size of turbine installed.

The generator would be the first community-owned urban wind turbine in Scotland.

The project would see substantial sums raised for local community projects over the lifetime of the project. The two groups have now launched a campaign to raise funding to develop the project, and are urging local residents to help win funding by supporting a bid to the Energyshare Fund.

The projects with the most supporters on the Energyshare website have the greatest chance of winning funding. Therefore, both community groups are urging Edinburgh residents to register their support on the Energyshare website before the 30th June at:

http://tiny.cc/porty-leith-wind

Jane Lewis, Chair of PEDAL – Portobello Transition Town said:

“"We have been working hard to find suitable renewable energy projects that will deliver carbon savings, a long-term source of funding for local community projects, and also provide a visible demonstration of the renewable resources to be found locally. We think this proposal has real promise, and we’re asking for community support to take it forward.”

Charlotte Encombe, Chair of Greener Leith said:

"This project could create a community fund to help thousands of local people for many years into the future. Whilst there's still a lot of work to do before the project gets the final green light, we hope that the proposed wind turbine will become a landmark and a source of local pride, as well as power.”

Kenny MacAskill, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern said,

“I fully support this excellent proposal from Pedal and Greener Leith which chimes well with our national moves to develop Scotland as the Green Energy Powerhouse of Europe, and to encourage community ownership of renewables. I’m pleased to hear that Pedal will be seeking local residents’ views.”
 

 Everybody is quite clear that the project will only be able to go ahead with the backing of local residents, and many details of the project remain to be worked out, including the size of the turbine, the way any financial surplus is distributed from the project, and what types of activities the money would be used to fund.

 

The images above illustrate what the turbine would look like if the largest feasible turbine was supported by the public. You can see a larger version of the images by clicking on them.

We should add that these images are just to give you an idea of what the turbine would look like and the final appearance could vary depending upon the outcome of the public consultation process that we intend to announce shortly.

You can find out more details about the project in this Frequently Asked Questions document that we have prepared:

Portobello & Leith Community Wind Energy Project FAQ Final

Lastly, you may think that building a community owned wind turbine is an off the wall idea that could never happen. Well you may be surprised to learn that this week, the first ever community owned wind turbine project on mainland Scotland is about to start generating power, after five years work by local volunteers in the Aberdeenshire area of Udny.

Alastair Tibbitt from Greener Leith managed to catch up with two of those volunteers, Brian MacDougall and Mike MacDonald, after they'd been speaking at a meeting on energy policy called by Friends of the Earth Scotland. They shared their thoughts on their five year journey from idea to turbine construction in an audio interview that you can listen to below: 

Would you like to get involved in helping to develop a community wind turbine project at Seafield? The first thing you need to do is back our bid on the Energyshare website here: http://tiny.cc/porty-leith-wind

Introducing the Eco Brand

20% of Planet Earth's energy is used in electric lighting. If we converted all of our lighting to LED bulbs the figure would decreased to just 4%! Leith resident Chris Gulland set up Eco Brand to make 'the switch' possible. We interview Chris to find out more:

1) Tell me more about Eco Brand?

The Eco Brand started in 2010 to develop and distribute energy saving LED lighting technology. The technology has been around for decades but has only just developed to the stage where it is seen as a viable alternative to more traditional light sources in terms of cost, colour temperature and performance. The products that we supply are LED tubes that replace fluorescent tubes, LED high bays (for industrial units), LED spotlights and LED street lights.

2) What's the difference between an energy saving bulb you buy in a shop and your LED bulbs?

With LED bulbs there is no warm-up time, they are instantly on. There is also a greater energy saving (40-80% - depending on the retro-fit) and no mercury content. LED lifespans are also normally around 50,000 hours which is higher than compact fluorescents (8,000 hours). This obviously comes at a premium which has steadily come down.

3) Two of my energy saving bulbs died 6 years earlier than they said. You say your bulbs last 50,000 hours, did you leave one on for that long to check?  

No, that would be 5 ½ years of continuous use ...a long time! It's possible to stress test products to replicate the life cycle. On the design side you might also notice the heat sinks on the products, they never get hot but this is to keep the LEDs as cool as possible to extend their lifespan. The Eco Brand will also cover products with a good warranty structure.

4) Do you have any famous clients?

We are working on this, there are a few big names who have products on trial...

5) Can we buy Eco brand bulbs for our homes?

We are talking to distribution partners here for this but if parties want to club together for a bulk order we would certainly consider this.

6) I'm a fan of the light bulbs with a wiggled coil on top since I think they look like ice creams, what's your favorite bulb and why?

The eco brand has a spotlight that look a bit like a jet engine..... they're pretty cool and futuristic!

7) What led you to set up Eco Brand here in Edinburgh?

We were already living here but there is a lot happening in the renewable technology space in Scotland and being part of that is important. Leith is an especially good place to be based as there's so much going on and a lot of other new and diverse businesses. Edinburgh is a great city that gives a good balance of a city life with access to the outdoors. Whenever possible we are outside climbing  and canoeing.

8) If you changes all the bulbs in Edinburgh Castle to Eco Brand bulbs how much would it cost and how much of a difference would it make in terms of energy bills and energy savings?

I couldn't give an accurate answer unless we carried out a free survey - but we would be more than happy to do this! The average cost to replace 100 x 60W bulbs with 7W LED bulbs would be in the region of £2k.

Generally the lighting / energy bills are reduced by 50-80% depending on the retro-fit. On cost savings this depends on the hours of usage and unit cost of electricity but a return on investment is normally around 24 months for a commercial building. Maintenance costs are also reduced due to the longer life of LEDs and energy savings are made in buildings where air-conditioning is used - this is often ‘kicked-on’ by heat given off by more traditional light sources.

9) Why did you call it Eco brand? 

It is an ambiguous name I know! The goal is on developing green technology for energy efficiency and LED lighting is the initial focus but there are other green technologies that can and need to be developed, this will keep the door open to new possibilities.

10) What do you love about Leith?

I'm originally from the Isle of Man, I moved to Leith in 2008 with my wife Kelly. I love Teuchters, King’s Wark, Whisky Society….the characters!

11) What's next for you?

We are now working with Scottish Enterprise to develop some new products – watch this space! To find out more log on to www.theecobrand.com or email info@theecobrand.com

Brilliant, thank you for talking to Greener Leith and keep us posted!

Lastly, here's a wee poem about making the light bulb switch:

Subsidies for big biomass to be reviewed by Scottish Government

A small victory for the campaign against the Leith Biomass plant has been won today, as the Scottish Government announced a detailed review into the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) subsidies available to large, electricity only biomass power plants. According to a statement released by the Scottish Government today the review will look at:

• Whether to make large scale biomass for electricity plants ineligible for ROC support;
• Whether there should be a threshold set for electricity only biomass plants to ensure that relatively small scale plants did remain eligible for support; and
• What that threshold should be

Greener Leith responded to the consultation that preceeded the review, calling for the removal of all public subsidy to large, electricity only biomass power stations. In this response, we also took the opportunity to highlight some of the convenient assumptions that are made in the Forth Energy Environmental Statements that serve to massively over inflate the carbon savings that underpin their proposals.

Forth Energy will be concerned, because the proposed Leith Biomass plant that the company is currently seeking permission to build was set to attract at least £1billion in public subsidy from the Renewables Obligation scheme over the first 20 years of the plants operation. This is now in question, and even the uncertainty over the level of subsidy will make the project harder to finance.

Alastair Tibbitt, Development Manager for Greener Leith said

"We are delighted that the Scottish Government appears to share our concerns over the serious environmental impact that large, electricity only biomass plants are likely to have. The latest research shows that these huge power plants, like the one proposed by Forth Energy on Leith Docks, have the potential to seriously undermine Scotlands attempts to meet our national climate change targets. We will continue to argue that these types of plant should not be given permission to operate, or receive any public subsidy for generating energy, until genuinely independent research has fully explored the real environmental impacts of these plants."

"A decision to remove public subsidies from these types of plants could save millions of pounds of public money that could then be invested in renewable energy technologies that we know will actually deliver."

Update:

Today, local MSP Malcolm Chisholm gave a mention to Greener Leith when he invited Alex Salmond to support our call for a Moratorium on all large biomass plants, during first ministers questions at Holyrood. You can hear the question, and Alex Salmonds response about 24 minutes in to the recording here:

Whilst Alex Salmond declined to explicitly support a moratorium on all large biomass plants, he did indicate that he tended support the conclusions of research released last week by Garrad Hassan. That research identified that the Scottish biomass resource would be best used in small, off gas grid, combined heat and power applications. Whilst this isn't a decisive dismissal of the Forth Energy proposals - it does look as though Forth Energy have got a lot of work to do to persuade the Scottish Government that their plants are a good idea. Possibly starting from the top down.

You can sign the No Leith Biomass campaign petition and lobby your MSPs to support the National Moratorium campaign by following the links on the www.noleithbiomass.org.uk website.

You can read our detailed assessment of the Forth Energy proposals for a biomass plant in Leith here.

New research: Forth Energy biomass plans not needed

There are many reasons to oppose the giant power plant proposed by Forth Energy for Leith Docks, and we've rehearsed many of them on this blog over the last year. As time goes by, many of the myths promoted by Forth Energy to justify the plant are slowly being exposed. This week another new piece of independent research was released that has decisively exploded another one. 

Anyone who has had the dubious pleasure of an audience with the Forth Energy sales staff, will be familiar with the energy security argument they use. Forth Energy claim that Scotland needs giant biomass plants because other forms of renewables are too intermittant. If we are to close fossil fuel power stations we must have biomass instead - otherwise - and they actually say this, "how will the lights stay on if the wind drops and those wind turbines stop moving?"

The Power of Scotland Secured report, has been produced by Garrad Hassan,  the largest independent renewable energy consultancy in the world, on behalf of a coalition of environmental NGOs, including the RSPB, WWF and Friends of the Earth Scotland.

This report shows, that by continuing to invest in renewable energy like wind, hydro, wave, solar and tidal - we can close most of the large coal or gas power stations in Scotland, maintain security of supply and continue to export power. And - in fact, the report shows that Scotland can do this without any of the huge, inefficient biomass plants proposed by Forth Energy, let alone the largest of the lot - the Leith one.

Commenting on the report, Duncan McLaren from Friends of the Earth said:

"We already know that renewables can grow to comfortably exceed our electricity demand by 2020. What this report shows is that, contrary to popular myth, the variability of renewable power need not pose a threat to the reliability of our supply in Scotland.

"The transmission infrastructure required to keep the lights on at times of low renewables output will be easily justified by the value of exports which it will make possible at times of high output. Costs to consumers are unlikely to exceed those in other future scenarios.

In fact, with achievable demand management, and if home heating and transport are electrified in line with our recommendations, a 100% renewable grid system in Scotland could make overall household 'triple fuel' bills lower than in conventional scenarios."

This report provides further evidence that the justification for this huge proposed blot on the Edinburgh landscape is tenuous to say the least.

The Forth Energy proposal is currently in the planning sytem, with the 28 day period where members of the public can sumbit objections likely to begin in January. In the meantime, you can add your name to the petition against the proposal, which is now hundreds of names strong.

Recently, Friends of the Earth Scotland launched their own national campaign to stop the Forth Energy biomass proposals.

Image Credit: Rennies Isle Residents Association

More millions for Leith docks improvements

At the Renewable UK 2010 conference this week, Alex Salmond announced a new £70million fund to help Scottish ports benefit from the huge potential investment arising from the off-shore wind power industry in the North Sea. Interestingly, this fund is £10million pounds larger the equivalent English fund, and it will be available 12 months earlier - so this initiative could prove important in giving Scotland a 'first mover advantage' in the competition for jobs in the manufacture and servicing of North Sea off-shore wind turbines. In the outer reaches of the Firth of Forth alone, there is already consent in place for an offshore windfarm with around 600 turbines and plans for a total of 5.9GW of energy production. Its suggested that around 7000 offshore wind turbines are likely to be installed in UK coastal waters in the coming years.

This announcement is important, as Leith has previously been identified as the most promising base in Scotland for both the manufacture and maintenance of the off-shore wind turbines. Leith is also mentioned amongst the sites almost certain to benefit from this new money announced this week. A plan on the Scottish Enterprise website, suggests that Leith may be in line for around £35million from the fund, which will be used to improve the infrastructure of the site - including a plan for a berth on the tidal side of the docks, outside the lock gates. 

We're sure that most people would welcome the opportunities this could bring to diversify the local economy into highly skilled, well paid, green manufacturing jobs.

This week the council also discussed a report that outlines proposals for a £84million Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) investment in the docks area - designed to kick start regeneration around the docks too. It seems that speculation that this TIF money could be used to ensure that the tram line is completed all the way to the docks has come to nothing. Instead the report focusses on four infrastructure projects that have previously been announced. These are:

• A new link road between Seafield Road and Salamander Street. This will help to remove through traffic from Commercial Street and Bernard Street.
• A Public esplanade and 'events hub' at Ocean Terminal.
• A new finger pier for the Royal Yacht Britania and visiting cruise liners.
• New lock gates for Leith Harbour.

Local councillor Gordon Munro called for local representatives to be included in the management arrangements for the project. However, the motion was not supported by other councillors.

Instead, the TIF money will be managed by an 'executive group' comprised of 1 person from the Scottish Futures Trust, 3 Council Officers and 2 employees of Forth Ports plc. Given that this group are responsible for spending £84million worth of public money, we'd be interested to know whether you think that there should be, at the very least, one local elected politician on the group?

How Forth Energy Could Win Friends and Influence Leithers

Yesterday, Greener Leith representatives joined industry experts and community representatives at the Community Energy Scotland conference to discuss the future of community owned renewable energy. It was an inspiring day, and demonstrated that, although complex, these types of projects are about more than just generating power. There's another kind of power they create - they give local residents the opportunity to own, operate and share in the profits of a significant money making asset. And with money, comes the power to decide what to do with it.

The confrence opened with the story of the Udny Community Wind Turbine Project. Over a number of years, a small group of committed volunteers have managed to put together a project that will generate somewhere between £100,000 and £250,000 surplus each year for a local community trust that will then be used to support a whole load of other community development activities. We learnt that the biggest problem facing the community now is working out how to spend all the money! A nice problem to have in a national economic climate of cutbacks and funding cuts.

You can find out more about the Udny project by clicking here (pdf).

We also discussed the scope for community organisations to enter into joint ventures with private companies. This can take many forms, and in fact it became clear that the kinds of partnership arrangements that are possible, and the pitfalls that are out there, are limited only by a corporate lawyers imagination. But nevertheless, joint ventures seemed to be an almost untapped way for communities to invest in renewable energy projects, without needing to spend years and years of volunteer time on risky project development. The Fintry Development Trust is an early example of a community sector joint venture.

Now, here in Leith, the opportunities to stick up a big huge wind turbine are somewhat limited. We're still pursuing the development of a small micro-hydro plant on the Water of Leith. But, the Community Energy Scotland conference got us wondering whether there are opportunities that could be developed on the docks, as a positive alternative to the giant biomass plant that has generated so much opposition.

Planning Permission

Forth Ports already has outline planning permission to develop two energy centres as part of the regeneration of the area around Ocean Terminal. As a partner in Forth Energy, they claim that it is not economic to develop these energy centres, and that the only economically viable option is to build a giant biomass plant, import wood from abroad, claim hundreds of millions of subsidy, distribute this to their shareholders and then dump the majority of the energy produced, as heat, into the sea. The evidence suggests that during this process they'll make very little impact, if any, on tackling climate change.

However, those same subsidies could be used to support the development of smaller energy plants, and extra money could be found from both the public sector and the community sector to help pay for it. Not only would this do more to tackle climate change, it would also generate funds - and therefore power - for the local community. How?

Local Authorities Can Now Sell Renewable Energy

This year the Scottish Government changed the rules to allow Local Authorities to generate and sell renewable energy. Therefore, The City of Edinburgh Council has a real incentive to invest in renewable energy technology with a view to making a profit. Instead of talking cuts - should the council be speaking to Forth Energy about investment opportunites, that would allow both the council and local residents to share in any financial surplus to be gained from generating renewable energy in the area? The money made could then support local services.

Tax Incremental Financing

The City of Edinburgh Council are currently trying to work out how to build a tram line all the way to Newhaven, kick start regeneration on the docks and make £90million pounds worth of spending cuts over three years. The problem seems pretty much intractable. However, the council has also been given the go-ahead by Holyrood to take out a £80million+ mortgage to support regeneration on the docks. Surely it would be a wise use of this money if it were used to support the development of these revenue generating, smaller scale renewable energy plants?

We understand that council officers are currently working on detailed proposals for the £80million loan. It will be interesting to see what those proposals turn out to involve.

The Renewable Heat Incentive

Amidst the gloom of the Westminster Comprehensive Spending Review, one piece of good news was announced. There will be a subsidy for renewable heat production. Whilst the detail of how this will work hasn't been released, this further subsidy will go a long way to helping to support the economic case for smaller scale biomass plants, integrated into the developments around ocean terminal. Conversely, it makes the Forth Energy plans to dump most of the heat from their giant biomass plant look even more wasteful.

Community Finance and Social Enterprise

Communities can access funding that private companies and local authorities cannot. There are low interest or ethical loan companies that provide funding for community ventures. There is grant funding to support the development of social enterprises and to help locally controlled charities to develop revenue generating assets, and then there are the combined funds of lots and lots of local people. For example, The Edinburgh Community Energy Co-op has a whole load of local members looking for a project to invest in.

What does this all mean?

Many of the factors we've highlighted above are new. It's a fast moving sector. But we believe that there are opportunities now for Forth Energy, the City of Edinburgh Council and local residents to work together to explore whether they can work together to build a new sustainably powered quarter of the city, combining the strengths of the public, community and private sectors in a more equitable way.

In order to get planning permission for their big unpopular biomass plans, Forth Energy must demonstrate that they've assessed all the other options, and found them wanting. Given how quickly things have changed in the last twelve months - we don't think they can credibly claim to have done this.

If the numbers can be made to stack up then a partnership that delivers real community benefit, at the right scale, and using genuinely renewable energy could turn Forth Energy into a neighbourhood hero overnight. Will they take the opportunity and sieze the initiative, or are they going to press ahead regardless?

We're waiting for the call.