Green boiler collaboration to accelerate low-carbon heat in social housing
Alongside project partners UK Power Networks, Stonewater, Social Energy and Passiv UK, SGN has announced that it will be installing new hybrid boilers – using both gas and electricity – solar panels and batteries in 25 homes across the south east to create a template for green heating in social housing.
The project’s hybrid heating systems work by using smart controls that can automatically switch between gas and electricity to counter factors such as fluctuating energy costs and meaning that residents will use less natural gas. Solar panels will also provide renewable energy while the batteries will store excess power for periods of increased demand.
The pilot is slated to run until March 2023 and follows UK Power Networks’ HyCompact project, which is testing hybrid heating systems in seven homes across Wales and London.
Work begins on £30m South West Water and University of Exeter water research centre
On 21 January a turf cutting ceremony took place on the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus to launch the construction of a new facility for the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste – a partnership between the University of Exeter and South West Water.
Part funded by a £10.5 million UK Research Partnership Investment Fund grant from Research England and investment from both partners, it’s claimed that the facility will be the first purpose built, transdisciplinary research centre in the water sector.
The development will combine expertise in geography, biosciences, engineering, economics, and psychology from the University with South West Water’s industry experience to develop solutions to pressing environmental challenges of our time – including how to protect and adapt communities and habitats vulnerable to climate change and population growth.
The new centre will also host state-of-the-art, specialist laboratory facilities, and designated space to encourage collaborative research and training between academics and experts from the water industry, government and NGOs.
Veolia launches Ecoservices to tackle hazardous commercial waste
Resource management company Veolia has launched a new service designed to help a wide range of businesses producing small volumes of potentially hazardous waste.
By accurately identifying and compliantly collecting waste, Ecoservices has been created to efficiently dispose of and treat of small amounts of hazardous and non-hazardous material.
According to Veolia’s announcement, the handling process segregates each item based on potential hazards, physical and chemical properties to ensure correct classification, storage and movement in accordance with UK legislation, and includes batteries, aerosols, paints, resins and other chemicals, light bulbs, and disposable PPE.
The service also generates required regulatory paperwork to demonstrate that the necessary pre-acceptance and disposal considerations have been completed.
Once collected, the materials are delivered to one of Veolia’s licensed facilities where items undergo further checks prior to treatment, disposal or recycling.
Britishvolt and Glencore to develop UK ecosystem for battery recycling
Battery cell technology and research firm Britishvolt, has entered into a battery recycling joint venture with strategic partner Glencore.
The project aims to develop a world-leading ecosystem for battery recycling at a new plant found at Glencore company Britannia Refined Metals in Northfleet, Kent.
Once complete, the plant will be Glencore and Britishvolt’s first battery recycling facility in the UK with an expected processing capacity of at least 10,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries per year – including but not limited to valuable battery manufacturing scrap, portable electronics batteries and full EV packs.
The facility is expected to be operational by mid-2023 with the long-term aim of being 100% powered by renewable energy.
The partnership will also look to develop other recycling activities such as black mass refining into battery grade raw materials.
Electricity networks get green light for £17.9bn of investment
As reported by Utility Week, electricity transmission networks have welcomed the approval of £17.9 billion of investment across 54 major projects as part of the latest annual Networks Options Assessment from National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO).
The ESO said the majority of the projects, which are not covered by baseline spending allowances under the RIIO T2 price controls and are still subject to regulatory approval by Ofgem, will be delivered by 2031.
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has received the green light for around £10 billion of investments, all of them in England after no new projects were approved in Wales.
Meanwhile, £7.9 billion of investments have been given the go-ahead in Scotland – almost £5.7 billion by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and more than £2.2 billion by SP Energy Networks (SPEN).
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Anglian earmarks £680m to manage climate change and population growth
Anglian Water has laid out its largest ever investment for a single year with a focus on climate resilience and driving down leakage in 2022-23, as per reports by Utility Week.
The company will spend £680 million over the year, including large sums on preparing its region for the effects of climate change and population growth.
“This is the biggest investment we’ve ever made in a 12-month period and it comes at an incredibly challenging time for everyone,” Anglian’s wholesale director Pete Holland said. “Our customers can be reassured that we invest every pound in doing the right thing now and for the long term. We believe our responsibility is to them, their communities and to the environment we look after.”
Funding will include £157 million towards protecting and enhancing the environment by removing chemicals from wastewater and restoring rivers and chalk stream habitats.
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