Our energy specialists look at what's happening in the energy market in 2024.
25 July - British seabed owned by the Crown Estate will be used to help build wind farms. It is the first big announcement by Great British Energy, Labour's new publicly owned energy company. Their plans are aimed at making the UK more self reliant for energy. The firm's aim is increase renewable energy projects, boosted by £8.3bn in state funding, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
17 July - The newly elected Labour government has set out its plans for the next parliament in the King’s Speech. Among a number of Bills put forward is one that proposes a new state-owned energy company called Great British Energy.
The firm will invest in renewable energy projects, including emerging technologies like offshore floating wind farms and clean hydrogen. Although it will not be a retail company that sells energy directly to consumers, Labour says it will generate power in its own right, as well as owning, managing and operating clean power projects alongside private firms.
Ministers have also promised legislation to set up a National Wealth Fund, which will invest £7.3bn over five years in infrastructure and green industry.
8 July - The UK government, led by the newly elected Labour Party, has reversed a ban on onshore wind farms. The planning policy change means that decisions should be taken nationally and not locally.
1 July - Ofgem's new price cap comes into force seeing unit prices dropping for most customers until 30 September. However, a volatile energy market has seen wholesale price rises in the first half of 2024 which could mean a rise in the price cap from October.
28 June - In a track test an electric car battery, developed by UK start-up Nyobolt, has successfully charged from 10% to 80% in four minutes and 37 seconds in its first live demonstration. The sports car the Nyobolt battery was fitted to achieved a range of 120 miles after four minutes.
13 June - The National Geothermal Centre (NGC) has launched with support from its collaborators Durham University, Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC), SHIFT Geothermal and The Reece Foundation. The NGC is bringing together key stakeholders to enable geothermal development at speed and at scale in Britain. The non-for-profit organisation is looking to develop technology, drive the creation of policy, regulation and investment frameworks for geothermal, and maximise the impact of research and innovation.
11 June - The National Grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) has proposed to expand the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), financially rewarding consumers and businesses in Great Britain for reducing consumption at times of peak demand. The ESO first introduced its DFS in the winter of 2022-23 as a contingency service, following the rise in international gas prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For 2024 and beyond, the ESO does not plan to bring back DFS as only a winter contingency but has instead proposed a year-round Demand Flexibility Service that would operate as a normal commercial service.
6 June - The National Grid electricity system operator for Great Britain (ESO) has published its ‘early view’ on the electricity demand and capacity for winter 2024/25. The ESO expects to have sufficient operational surplus throughout winter in their Base Case, even when considering the expected natural variation of demand, wind and outages. As with previous winters, there may be some tight days where the ESO says that it may need to use standard operational tools, including the use of system notices.
6 June - Scientists in Scotland have developed a home heating system that draws its energy from water and works using the same technology as an air source heat pump. The equipment can extract warmth from sea, river and pond water to provide homes with heating.
5 June - The next UK government has been urged to capitalise on 30GW of untapped tidal stream energy. The UK Marine Energy Council (MEC) has published recommendations for the country to utilise the tidal and wave energy capacity that the UK possesses.
24 May - The energy regulator Ofgem announces that the price cap will change to £1,568 from 1 July 2024 for the annual dual-fuel bill of the typical household.
14 May - The energy regulator Ofgem has started a statutory consultation on whether to remove the Ban on Acquisition-Only Tariffs (BAT). A ban is currently in place until 31 March 2025 but Ofgem are looking to consult on ending the ban sooner on 1 October 2024. The BAT was originally brought in by Ofgem at the peak of the energy crisis which saw more than 20 energy firms go bust.
16 April - The UK government has set out proposals to utilise energy flexibility and encourage the adoption of smart devices. The regulations are aimed at enhancing the Grid’s stability and to help consumers benefit from the best energy deals via a smart, flexible electricity system.
9 April - A report from Friends of the Earth concludes that England could produce 13 times more renewable energy, using less than 3% of land. Research by Exeter University, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, suggests that onshore wind and solar projects could provide enough electricity to power all the households in England two and half times over.
5 April - UK-based company Space Solar plans to power more than a million homes by the 2030s with a mile-wide complex of mirrors and solar panels orbiting 22,000 miles above the planet.
31 March - Two government energy discount schemes, the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) and the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) ended on 31 March 2024.
25 March - The energy regulator Ofgem launches a consultation into varying the price of energy by the time of day. Ofgem are to consider introducing ‘dynamic’ pricing based on ‘time of use’ so as to encourage consumer flexibility.
12 March - The UK government says that the country needs to build new, gas-fired power stations to ensure the nation’s energy security. The Prime Minister said that the new stations would replace the existing plants, some of which are soon to be retired but said that the plans do not include measures for climate change limiting carbon capture.
23 February - The energy regulator Ofgem announces that the price cap will change to £1,690 from 1 April 2024 for the annual dual-fuel bill of the typical household.
22 February - The UK government confirms its withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty after efforts to agree vital modernisation fail.