There have been a lot of plans to establish a Gigafactory in Northumberland. This has recovered after the bid for Britishvolt. They went into administration around January. They are owned by Scale Facilitation and they are working hard to try and develop the first large-scale lithium production facility. They also want to try and invest in research more, while ensuring the development of next-gen solutions. They want to do this by harnessing the new energy storage solutions that are hitting the market. The BritishVolt project wants to try and push the UK’s first Gigafactory and this is going to be in Northumberland. David A. Collard who is the founder of Scale Facilitation has said that it is their proposal to try and combine manufacturing capabilities along with commercial tech. They want to do everything they can to get a credible plan and they also want to try and get feet on the ground as much as possible. The tech happens to include an exclusive license when it comes to intellectual property and it also has a lot of battery technology as well. This has been validated a lot over the last few years. It is being backed by the current supply chain and they also have a lot of customer agreements in place. The sale of the business is going to help support the demand of tech and it is also going to support the general infrastructure movement. This is going to mean great things for the future and it just goes to show how much things have changed for the better. If you want to find out more about this sale or if you want to learn about the sale in general then make sure that you do your bit to keep up with the latest industry information.

UKAEA have been given a contract that is worth millions. This has been given to 18 different organisations and they have the aim of trying to overcome any technical or specific challenges. They want to try and make fusion energy a reality for commercial companies. The contracts are being funded by the fusion industry programme and they are also being run through the Small Business Research Initiative. The projects aim to tackle a lot of challenges that have been linked to the general commercialisation of energy. This ranges from novel function to manufacturing techniques. Things such as innovative heating and cooling systems are also going to be included so that future fusion power plants can be benefitted. Contracts have been given to enterprises, established companies and even academia. 6 of the organisations are now going to be getting funding for the very first time. The contracts are the second part of the programme and they are going to have their first cycle in the year 2021. As the industry grows and as knowledge transfers, it is so important that the fusion industry is able to collaborate and that a wider, much more collective approach is adopted. This is going to help to tackle any climate change issues and it is also going to allow faster access when it comes to energy security. The UK has seen a lot of advancement and there looks to be a lot of potential for the sector. This is going to mean great things for the UK energy sector and it would seem that things are only going to get better from here. There have been a lot of technical challenges so far but things should improve soon and this should translate to even bigger benefits across the board.

American Electric Power have agreed that they are going to sell the renewable energy portfolio that they have. They are going to sell it to IRG Acquisition. This is a partnership that is owned by Invenergy  and the funds are going to be managed by Blackstone Infrastructure. The sale is expected to close right around the second quarter and they are expected to net over $1.2 billion in cash. The portfolio is going to include around 14 projects and this is going to consists of 1,200MW of wind and over 165MW of solar. This is going to happen across 11 different states. At the end of the day, renewable power is going to be contracted under the long-term agreement and it is going to happen with other utilities as well. AEP have said that they are well and truly committed to de-risking the company. The projects are going to be linked with other corporations as well as municipalities. AEP have said that they are trying to do everything they can to help those who need it and they also intend to invest billions over the next five years. They are doing this with regulated wires as well as generation business. They want to try and add a focus of adding new generational resources and they also want to be as resilient as possible. They want to be efficient with the distribution infrastructure and it is also their aim to launch a competitive bidding war. This is going to help them to fetch the best possible price and it is also going to assist them in making sure that they get the result that they want out of their work. Who knows what the future holds but right now it seems that there’s a lot of potential for the company.

Even though the MISO testimony to congress states that MISO is a fuel that is policy-neutral it would seem that they are now favouring transmission owners rather than energy providers. The regulator has said that they want to try and do their bit to distribute energy resources properly and to do this they have to conduct studies while also estimating the potential of the market. Unlike the transmission studies that have been done, it seems that the energy projections aren’t lining up. On top of this, it is obvious that MISO have to do more to try and be more flexible with their load. Unless regulators remind MISO about their system and their responsibilities in regard to staying neutral, they think that it is only natural gas and transmissions that are going to solve the deficiency with capacity. It is very difficult for someone who does not follow the guidelines to connect all of the dots, while ringing the alarm bells. It would seem that MISO have taken steps to try and have attribute discussions with all of their stakeholders and they have also undergone a close examination of the attributes that lead with the natural gas aspect being a good fit. Today the only thing that they are aware of that is going to provide these attributes would be gas units.

MISO have said that this is not the case and that they are going to be doing everything they can to try and favour everyone but this is difficult given the current situation. MISO do seem to favour transmission owners when you look at their planning efforts and this is something that really does have to change. Who knows what the future holds but right now, something has to change.