admin, Author at News and Events

“Is it raining?” and other strange election result predictors…

6 May 2015 admin 0

In a break from our usual focus on carbon reduction and renewable energy investment, this week I’ve hijacked Renewable Money with a prediction about the UK general election tomorrow. You might not know that old hands from the politics circuit often used some very strange (but often accurate) election result predictors, and in a too-close-to-call election, they might actually work... When the polls & data won’t cut it: These days the polls are pretty good (the closer you get to the election) but in a neck and neck tie, the poll margin of error means they’re no help at all in [...]

Election Special: How to vote for lower carbon emissions?

29 April 2015 admin 0

As Britain is gripped by election fever it seems the issue of climate change and CO2 reduction has taken a back seat. But rising global CO2 emissions will have a significant impact on the nation’s future health and economic prosperity, so although the c-word isn’t high on the campaign agenda it remains a key underlying issue for the next government. More importantly, assuming the objective of a modern environmental policy should be (in part at least) to reduce carbon emissions, it should be pretty easy to work out which party has got the best offering… right? The story so far: As [...]

Solar 350 News: 2015 shaping up to be a huge year

24 April 2015 admin 0

Hot on the heels of bringing on our new CFO, Justin Passfield, Solar 350 can announce we’ve signed agreements with 3 major independent power producers, all of which are exchange-listed entities and of Chinese origin. Obviously we can’t say too much at this point, but we are pleased to confirm we have signed NDNCNS (that’s non-disclosure, non-circumvent, non-solicitation) agreements with a view to developing, building, financing and refinancing utility-scale solar energy projects in Chile and various prime solar locations round the globe. This news means we’re now able to action our Solar 350 staged development & value creation model: Stage 1 [...]

Justin Passfield joins 350 Team

21 April 2015 admin 0

We’re delighted to announce Justin Passfield has joined the team to take on the role of Chief Financial Officer. As 350 gears up for a busy 2015/2016 project programme, Justin’s experience and industry insights will prove invaluable as we continue to build on our clean energy development track record. Justin's role will be driving 350's financial engagement with utility-scale power generation projects, complex international deal structures and renewable energy initiatives for our clients. “Having known and worked with Nick over the last couple of years I am looking forward to joining the 350 team, and helping to realise the [...]

Living the good life: off-grid home tech… and pigs.

1 April 2015 admin 0

Last week we wrote about the emerging home battery scene, and how Nissan and Tesla have been developing interoperability between EVs and domestic home systems. A great way to go off-grid and devised (originally) by enterprising DIY energy geeks with a salvaged Nissan LEAF. But away from the big corporate spotlights on cutting edge tech, did you know some German energy companies are providing battery kits now? This started when the German Government reduced the Feed In Tariff it provides to domestic solar when dispatching electricity to Germany’s grid. And it tells us something about the chaos [...]

Solar 350 at the British Chinese Energy Association

30 March 2015 admin 0

Last week it was great to be a speaker at the British Chinese Energy Association event "Away from the coal face and towards the light - renewables from a practitioner's point of view" in London. In a packed day with great hospitality from the hosts (Smith & Williamson Financial Services in Moorgate) I enjoyed presenting to an audience of energy professionals and renewables tech experts, focusing on our Chilean project progress, experiences in the Chilean energy market and the wider opportunities presented by renewable power projects in South America. The BCEA is a non-profit organisation that connects [...]

Disrupting the grid: Nissan and Tesla EVs for home energy

25 March 2015 admin 0

Clean renewable home energy has an arch nemesis. It’s not (as some green narratives might suggest) powerful oil lobbies holding it back for the sake of profits though, it’s much more boring than that. The supervillain of clean energy is infrastructure: The electricity grids of the modern world are based on old fashioned technologies and ideas of how to ship electricity from power stations to your plug sockets at home. But over the last couple of years a bit of lateral thinking to solve the grid problem has emerged from a surprising area. It’s not from city electrical engineers, or solar [...]

Renewable subsidies destroyed the UK electricity market?

19 March 2015 admin 0

A couple of days ago, The Centre for Policy Studies released a report titled: Central Planning with Market Features: how renewable subsidies destroyed the UK electricity market. (You can read the report here). The UK press jumped onto this story and it's fair to say I agree with the findings of the report. I have known the root cause of the problem with renewable subsidies for a while: How can solar power really work in the UK market? We don’t get much sun anyway (when it’s not cloudy) and you never really know when it’s not going to be cloudy, which [...]

Electricity markets and politics appear complicated?

17 March 2015 admin 0

You’d be forgiven for thinking that green energy, electricity markets and politics appear complicated. A couple of weeks back we saw Greenpeace criticising the UK Government’s UK Export Finance scheme’s decision to loan $1bn in funding packages to a deal including Pemex (the Mexican oil group) calling the coalition government's green credentials into doubt. Last week German electricity giant (and UK ‘big six’ energy supplier) E.ON posted record annual losses blaming subsidised wind and solar for the downward trend in wholesale electricity prices. But we also know the EIS / SEIS tax breaks for investors that [...]

Building renewable energy in Colombia and Panama

5 March 2015 admin 0

Good news from Solar 350 this week as NASDAQ listed Chinese renewables investors gave the "green light" for two of our 100MW solar development projects in the S. Atacama desert, Chile. (You can learn more about this project in detail in our EIS Investors section here). Never satisfied, Solar 350's MD Nick Dimmock set off on a mini trade mission to explore further opportunities for building renewable energy in Colombia and Panama. His visit was hot on the heels of Ken Clarke (former UK Chancellor and Justice Minister) who is very keen to help UK companies take advantage of these [...]

Author: admin