Glasgow-based Synaptec has developed new technology designed to tackle the issue of cable failures on offshore wind farms that can cost operators millions. The company’s Greenlight provides automated monitoring of the joints and terminations in a cable network, delivering early warnings of emerging faults before they become failures. The system is based on Synaptec’s Distributed Electrical Sensing (DES) technology, which was Synaptec previously deployed on the latest phase of the Dogger Bank wind farm. Cable failures are a major issue facing offshore wind farms, with a single fault in transmission networks and offshore wind developments capable of costing up to £1m per day in lost revenue. Allianz, the insurer for UK offshore wind projects including Dogger Bank and East Anglia Three, warned that damage to cables is the main cause of offshore wind insurance claims, accounting for 53% of claims across its global portfolio from 2014-2020. Around 70% of these failures originate in the joints and terminations rather than the cables themselves. The Global Underwater Hub (GUH) recently launched a forum to tackle rising costs and reliability issues facing subsea cable systems on the UK’s offshore wind farms. Synaptec vice-president of applications, Dr Steven Blair, said: “Greenlight gives operators control over the most unpredictable and expensive aspect of offshore cable operations and maintenance. “It’s a system designed not just to collect data, but to deliver clear, early, and location-specific insight that finds the early warning signs of failure. “The return on investment is immediate – it pays for itself the first time it pre-empts an issue that would otherwise shut down a wind farm.” Synaptec has made the first commercial installations of Greenlight with offshore wind operators and transmission systems internationally. There are plans for further large-scale installations throughout 2025. The firm previously raised £6.5m in funding last year, with

Roughly half of the SNP’s voters believe nuclear power should be part of Scotland’s mix of clean energy generation, a poll suggests, despite the party’s longstanding opposition to it. Polling for the campaign group Britain Remade found 52% of those who voted for the party in 2021 believe nuclear power should be included in Scotland’s energy mix to meet the 2045 net zero target. Meanwhile, 57% of those who voted for the party in last year’s general election felt the same way, the poll found. A total of 56% of Scots thought nuclear power should be part of Scotland’s clean energy mix to meet the targets, while 23% disagreed, and 21% said they did not know. Opinium surveyed 1,000 Scottish adults between April 22 and 25. Britain Remade describes itself as a grassroots campaign for economic growth. Founder Sam Richards said: “The message from our polling is clear: when it comes to safe and reliable nuclear power, the SNP is not just out of step with the majority of Scots – they’re at odds with a huge number of their own supporters. “It’s time for the SNP to stop saying ‘no’ to new nuclear and start listening to the people, the experts, and the communities who know what’s at stake. “Investing in a new generation of nuclear power is not just critical if Scotland is to hit its 2045 net zero target – it is essential for Scotland’s economy. Grangemouth could be transformed by SMR (small modular reactor) technology, but the SNP’s opposition is standing in the way.” Scotland nuclear energy Scotland has one remaining active nuclear reactor, at Torness in East Lothian, which is due to shut down in 2030. Last week the deactivated Hunterston B power station was declared “nuclear free” as all fuel elements were removed ahead

Oil settled below $60 a barrel for the first time in three weeks as signs emerged that the Saudi-led OPEC+ alliance may be entering a prolonged period of higher production. West Texas Intermediate fell as much as 4.2% on Wednesday after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabian officials have been telling allies and industry experts that the kingdom can endure a sustained period of depressed prices. The most-active contract capped its biggest monthly decline since November 2021. The report added to existing concerns that Saudi Arabia planned to steer OPEC+ to agree on another supply surge next week. “This confirms the market’s fears that Saudi Arabia’s accelerated unwinds were not temporary, but a long-term strategy shift,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. It raises the question of whether “Saudi is going to repeat the 2020 playbook to dramatically increase production.” OPEC+ rocked the crude market in early April, with a surprise decision to increase supply in May by 411,000 barrels a day, the equivalent of three monthly tranches from a previous plan. Morgan Stanley has said it expects a “meaningful surplus” to develop over time, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. warned the cartel may accelerate planned production increases at a meeting next week. Beyond OPEC+, non-cartel nations are also expected to add supplies, including drillers in Canada and Guyana, feeding concerns about a global glut. At the same time, hopes are fading that there will be quick breakthroughs in US-led trade negotiations, weighing on the outlook for energy demand. The US economy contracted for the first time since 2022 in the first quarter as a result of a surge in pre-tariff imports and softer consumer spending. In China, factory activity slipped into the worst contraction since December 2023, revealing early damage from the trade war.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith challenged Mark Carney to strike a better deal for her oil-rich province, saying she would not allow the “status quo” to prevail in its relationship with the federal government. While congratulating the Liberal prime minister on his election victory, Smith said a large number of Albertans are deeply frustrated that a government that “overtly attacked” her province’s economy has been returned to power.  “I invite the prime minister to immediately commence working with our government to reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric,” she said in a statement. “Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa.” Alberta has been in conflict with Canada’s Liberal government since Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, was elected in 2015 and began rolling out environmental policies, including an emissions cap, new pipeline regulations and a ban on tankers off the northern British Columbia coast. Smith says those measures encroach on the province’s jurisdiction and hamper oil and gas development.  The growing hostility has prompted some Albertans to call for greater autonomy from the federal government, and even fueled a small but simmering secession movement.  The Alberta government will hold a caucus meeting on Friday to discuss the province’s future within a united Canada, Smith said.  ‘Pivotal Moment’ Carney said in his victory speech early Tuesday that he intends to govern for all Canadians. He has pledged to turn the country into a “superpower” in both clean and conventional energy, and said it needs to produce more oil while reducing the associated emissions. “My optimistic view is a Carney win is status quo for a sector that’s dealt with significant challenges over the past 10 years,” Eric Nuttall,

Dive Brief: A group of nine Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states plans to issue a request for information to gauge the potential for building “no regrets” transmission projects between New England, New York and the PJM Interconnection, according to an action plan released on Monday. No-regrets interregional transmission needs grow to 4 GW between PJM and New York and to 3 GW between New York and New England by 2040 — and could be higher depending on load growth and decarbonization developments, the Brattle Group said in the action plan, which the consulting firm wrote for the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission. “We believe that there are likely low-hanging fruit, no-regrets interregional transmission projects that current transmission planning approaches are failing to identify,” Katie Dykes, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said during a presentation Tuesday on the action plan. Dive Insight: The collaboration intends to break down barriers to interregional transmission development, but the effort may require state and federal legislation, according to Dykes. The states in the collaborative that was formed in 2023 are: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. “The focus is really on … identifying beneficial transmission that states can collectively pursue in order to reduce costs for our consumers and increase the security of our system, because each region going it alone … is inherently more expensive in terms of the overall build of resources, but also less secure because you do not have the benefit of the increased resource diversity that interregional transmission can help provide,” said John Bernecker, director of the Transmission Center of Excellence at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The Brattle Group recommended that the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states work with PJM, the New York Independent System Operator

Hannah Bascom is chief growth officer for Uplight As electricity demand soars — driven by AI-powered data centers, the rise of electric vehicles and beyond — the U.S. grid is feeling the strain. Experts estimate that AI alone could drive a 67 GW increase in energy demand over the next five years, a challenge the U.S. grid is not currently equipped to handle. And while new generation is in the works, building supply fast enough to keep up is a near impossibility. Fortunately, there is a massive but largely untapped resource at utilities’ disposal that doesn’t require years of lead time to start producing: customers and their growing number of distributed energy resources (DERs), including everything from residential solar to home and commercial batteries to combined heat and power systems, are at the ready. Utilities currently tap these DERs to deliver load flexibility through a variety of demand response programs, but there is significant room to expand the impact of these assets through the creation of virtual power plants (VPPs). VPPs operate a portfolio of DERs, comprising multiple technology types, as a cohesive resource to accurately predict and deliver grid flexibility. Aggregating DERs and programs into a coordinated portfolio allows VPPs to unlock substantially more flexibility and economic potential from customer-sited DERs compared to single-technology demand response programs.  By now, many are familiar with the promise of VPPs: the Department of Energy estimates that deploying 80 GW to 160 GW of VPP, enough to serve 10% to 20% of peak load, by 2030 could support rapid load growth while also reducing the cost required to serve new load. Unlocking flexibility and economic potential from customer-sited DERs through VPPs will transform a grid challenge into a grid opportunity, create firm, clean capacity, reduce customer and utility spend and support our journey