National Grid wants the batteries to help it cope with the challenges of more wind and solar power (Image: PA)

New batteries to help Britain keep the lights on

Eight new battery storage projects are to be built around the UK after winning contracts worth £66m to help National Grid keep power supplies stable as more wind and solar farms are built. EDF Energy, E.On and Vattenfall were among the successful companies chosen to build new lithium-ion batteries with a combined capacity of 200

The floating solar farm on Godley Reservoir near Manchester (Image: A. Cooper/Guardian)

If wind and solar power are cheaper and quicker, do we really need Hinkley Point?

Nuclear energy’s cost, and a focus on alternative technology, including research on a new generation of hi-tech battery storage, is leading observers outside the green lobby to question the project’s value Should Theresa May take the axe to the troubled Hinkley Point nuclear project, it will propel wind and solar power further into the limelight.

DECC Minister Amber Rudd visits UK Power Networks ‘Big Battery’, in Leighton Buzzard (Image: DECC)

National Grid sees major boost for solar, electric vehicles and batteries

The UK could adopt solar, electric vehicles and batteries much faster than expected just a year ago, according to the National Grid. The new outlook is part of a rapidly changing landscape for the UK energy system, laid out in the 2016 Future Energy Scenarios. Marcus Stewart, National Grid’s head of energy insights, says in

The installation comes as Nissan celebrates 30 years of manufacturing in the UK

Nissan switches on solar farm to power UK car production

Nissan has switched on a new solar farm at its plant in Sunderland, its biggest manufacturing site in Europe, and the latest landmark in the company’s journey towards Intelligent Mobility. Made of up 19,000 photo-voltaic panels, the new 4.75 MW facility is now fully operational at the Sunderland Plant, as Nissan strives towards its twin

Drive like the wind: Electric Highway

“Five years ago, it was said that one of the main reasons people weren’t buying electric cars was because of a lack places to charge them – and the main reason more places to charge weren’t being built was because not enough people were buying electric cars – classic chicken and egg stuff,” says Dale