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Electricity

Two rectangular battery storage units outside

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29/11/2023 Feature / Gordon Feller

Why microgrids have a vital role in sustainable power generation

How can microgrids help solve updated electricity grids, ready to handle the intermittent supply issues of solar and wind renewable energy? Gordon Feller, Global Fellow at The Smithsonian Institute, explains the latest developments in the US.

Net zero

View along water course with electricity pylon to right, transmission lines running right to left of picture, and industry city with three tower blocks topped with cranes in the background

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17/9/2025 Feature / Jens Kastner

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan to push energy independence

Although China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (FYP) will not be finalised until March 2026, energy experts suggest that this 2026–2030 policy umbrella will pressure Chinese ministries and state agencies to move its energy transition forward rapidly, writes Jens Kastner.

Energy policy

View from space of UK and Europe at night, with bright lights of main city conurbations showing

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12/2/2025 Feature / Will Dalrymple

Home Office and Foreign Office: What are the priorities for the UK climate agenda?

On 5 February, at separate London events, two key figures laid out details of the UK government’s climate agenda ambitions, both within the UK and outside its borders. They were Chris Stark, Head of the UK’s Mission for Clean Power, UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Rachel Kyte HonFEI, UK Special Representative for Climate and Professor in Climate Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Stark returns to the stage at International Energy Week on 26 February. New Energy World Senior Editor Will Dalrymple reports.

International Energy Awards

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20/3/2024 Feature

Winners of the 2024 International Energy Awards

The Energy Institute exists to create a better energy future. In its 25th year, these prestigious awards recognise the best the sector has to offer, and for the first time were presented at the International Energy Week Dinner on 29 February 2024 at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London. This year’s outstanding winners are profiled below.

Power generation

View of lots of offshore wind turbines in calm blue sea set against blue sky

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29/1/2025 Feature / Katie Hore

How a new generation of power electronics will sit at the heart of the energy transition

Power grids and electrical consumer needs are changing radically. Dr Katie Hore, Innovation Director at power electronics R&D consortium REWIRE, explains how UK researchers are developing a new generation of semiconductors that will be key to boosting device performance in the energy transition, with higher voltages and improved energy efficiency.

Power generation

Three head and shoulder photos, set side by side, of Alice Barrs, Ben Godfrey and Rachel Fletcher

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7/5/2025 Feature / Will Dalrymple

Is the UK’s Clean Power 2030 Plan achievable?

‘Yes, but…’ was the answer given to that question by RWE’s Alice Barrs, National Grid’s Ben Godfrey and Octopus’ Rachel Fletcher FEI to a packed Energy Policy Debate held at the Energy Institute at the end of April. New Energy World Senior Editor Will Dalrymple reports the highlights of a timely and provocative discussion about the UK renewables targets – where flexibility will be key.

Power generation

Wreckage of power plant destroyed by bomb, twisted pipework and metal, collapsed roof, and three workers clearing debris

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26/3/2025 Feature / Maxim Timchenko

Power on the front lines of war

Maxim Timchenko, Chief Executive of private Ukrainian utility DTEK, spoke at International Energy Week about the company’s experiences of surviving, and surprisingly even expanding renewable energy initiatives in a time of war, against all odds. Timchenko was interviewed by International Energy Week Board Member and former US Department of Energy Senior Advisor Melissa Stark. Below is an edited version of this fascinating discussion.

Solar

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2/4/2025 Feature / Claire Cortis

Shining a light on solar capacity factors

By 2029 solar PV is on course to be the largest source of renewable generation worldwide. But that does not mean all solar panels are as effective in generating power as others. Claire Cortis, Digital Knowledge and Information Manager at the Energy Institute, compares solar capacity factors of the top 20 solar PV generating countries and looks at the technologies being developed that could improve them.

Electrification

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18/6/2025 Feature / Jonathan Radcliffe

Research update on… electrification

As the UK progresses towards its net zero targets, electrification is emerging as a vital pathway for industrial decarbonisation. The findings from IDRIC’s electrification projects highlight clear opportunities for decarbonising industrial processes but also expose critical gaps that must be addressed to enable widespread implementation, writes Jonathan Radcliffe, Professor of Energy Systems, University of Birmingham. Below is an edited and abridged synthesis of UK research on these topics commissioned by the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) over the last few years.

Electricity

EI Member only

11/5/2022 Feature / Kristina Carlquist

Synchronous condensers deliver vital inertia for grid stability

The increasing penetration of renewables in power grids is reducing the inertia that is essential for their stable operation. Here, Kristina Carlquist, General Manager – Synchronous Condensers, ABB, explains how synchronous condensers can restore the balance for both urban networks and remote islands.

New Energy World™

Search results:

Why microgrids have a vital role in sustainable power generation

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan to push energy independence

Home Office and Foreign Office: What are the priorities for the UK climate agenda?

Winners of the 2024 International Energy Awards

How a new generation of power electronics will sit at the heart of the energy transition

Is the UK’s Clean Power 2030 Plan achievable?

Power on the front lines of war

Shining a light on solar capacity factors

Research update on… electrification

Synchronous condensers deliver vital inertia for grid stability