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‚¬235 million every year. That’s the amount which EirGrid, the system operator in Ireland, will be able to spend on balancing services when the “‘Delivering a Secure, Sustainable Electricity System’ or “‘DS3’ programme is implemented. At almost four times the current spend (‚¬60m), this will open up new revenue streams for renewable generation, conventional plants, and emerging technologies like energy storage. Ireland has a legally binding target of 16% renewable energy generation by 2020, and currently achieves around 8%. This also covers heat and transport, but renewable electricity will be critical to achieving this, and there is a separate target of 40% by 2020. However, the annual build rate of renewable generation will need to increase from an average of 180MW per year to at least 250MW per year. To incentivise the development of renewable energy in Ireland, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCNR) is developing a

Accessing the most value from a renewable energy development has never been more important. The extremely challenging market conditions require resilience and innovative thinking to ensure that you can maximise the potential from all of your assets. Integrating energy storage alongside generation and co-locating different technologiesis likely toplay a key role incontinuing to bring forward viable developments that make a strong investment case. The interaction between different technologies and electricity storage options is complex and requires expert understanding ofthe regulatory, electrical and environmental implications.TNEIis working with clients considering a wide range of development options and is at the forefront of the transition to more integrated and efficient renewable energy schemes. By combining the expertise of our power systems and planning and environmental specialists we can deliver projects from initial feasibility and concept design through to operation. If you would like further information on the services we can provide,please contact Chris

TNEI have ended 2015 with a string of successesincluding: Gaining planning consent for 13.5MW across large scale solar PV developments for Solar Securities; Gaining planning consent for2 hydrogen refuelling stations for ITM Power Limited; Winning a framework tender to provide ad-hoc expert technical advice to Ofgem on electricity transmission projects; Gaining planning consent of the 15MWe Drakelow Energy from Waste site for Future Earth Energy; Supporting 3 successful Network Innovation Competition bids under the for a total of £24.3m of funding (Angle-DC, Celsius and NeSTS); Gaining planning consent for the Bankend Rig II Wind Farm for Wilson Renewables; Winning a project providing grid export advice to a renewable developer in South Africa; Gaining planning consent for a single medium scalewind turbine atBryn Banl in Carmarthenshire for Norvento; Leading the technical contribution for the Active Network Management Good Practice Guide; and Submission of the Environmental Statement and planning application for a

On behalf of Wilson Renewables II LLP, TNEI Services Ltd. have secured planning permission for the Bankend Rig II Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire. The 3 turbine, 126.5m to tip scheme was approved by South Lanarkshire Council’s Planning Committee on 15th December 2015 following a recommendation for approval. In conjunction with our project team, TNEI co-ordinated and inputted to the design layout and provided planning services, noise, shadow flicker and socio-economic assessment as well as full EIA co-ordination and post-submission support and negotiation. Given the site’s proximity to the Muirkirk and North Lowther Uplands SPA and Muirkirk Uplands SSSI, careful consideration was given to environmental constraints and challenges from the outset. Once operational, the scheme is proposed to generate up to 10.2MW of renewable energy to supplement the operational Bankend Rig Wind Farm. Should you require any assistance with EIA and planning for onshore wind, please do not hesitate to

On the 17th December the UK Government published the results of the Consultation into the Feed in Tariff which has resulted in the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reducing the scale of the cuts which were originally proposed back in September 2015. The Proposed Tariffs represent good news for the medium wind sector and small solar schemes which have seen their tariffs increase significantly from the proposed levels outlined in September 2015. However stand alone solar and hydro schemes have seen further reductions to the tariffs that were proposed in September 2015. The full details of the proposed tariffs can be seen in the table below: Tariffs (p/kWh) Installed capacity Consultation tariffs New tariffs (Jan 2016) Solar 1000kW 1.03 0.87 Stand alone 1.03 0.87 Wind 1500kW 0.00 0.86 Hydro 2000kW 2.18 4.43 With regard to the Feed-in Tariffs, Government has also announced: Deployment caps will be set to

TNEI have secured planning permission for an 11MW solar farm on 25 hectares of “‘Agricultural Grade 2’ land at Bobbing in Sittingbourne, Kent. The approval was issued by the Planning Inspectorate in December 2015, having conducted an appeal Hearing and site visit in September. The appellant, Solar Securities (Group) Ltd, appointed TNEI following a refusal of planning permission by Swale Borough Council on the grounds that the proposal amounted to an inappropriate use of the“‘best and most versatile’agricultural land (i.e. Agricultural Grade 1, 2 and3a) in conflict with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and national Planning Practice Guidance (PPG). The Council found the appellant had failed to demonstrate that poorer quality agricultural land had been used in preference to higher quality land,but the Inspector did not accept this argument. Prior to submitting the application, the Inspector found that the appellant had conducteda substantialSequential Searchfor suitable alternative sites elsewhere within