Shared Responsibility - Npower

EnvironmentRenewablesIncreasing renewables capacity plays animportant part in the reduction of greenhousegases. The Renewables Obligation (RO) onelectricity suppliers was introduced in April 2002.The Obligation sets a target for electricity suppliersto source a percentage of their electricity fromrenewable generators or to pay a buy-out priceif this is not achieved. Between April 2002 andMarch 2003 our RO and Scottish RO were a totalof 1.9TWh of which we redeemed around 23% asRenewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) andmade buy-out payments against the remainder.The money from buy-out payments is recycledback to help the renewables industry to fund moreprojects. Across Great Britain as a whole 59% ofthe total RO was met by the supply of certificates.In 2003 we generated a total of 469GWh fromrenewable resources compared to 621GWhduring 2002. Low rainfall and lower than averagewindspeeds during the year were the main causesfor the reduction in generation during 2003.Wind PowerThe introduction of the RO has provided astimulus to the development of renewableenergy generation. During 2003 we worked onthe construction of Causeymire, a 48MW windfarm in Scotland which will be one of the mostpowerful onshore wind energy projects in theUK. We also gained planning consent for a new20.8MW project in South Wales.Stephen Tindale, Executive Director of GreenpeaceUK, welcomed North Hoyle’s completion stating,‘The launch of the North Hoyle wind farm isthe beginning of mainstream wind powerdevelopment and the dawn of a new clean energyera for Britain. Global warming is the greatestthreat facing the planet, but the power flowingashore today demonstrates we have the solutionsto tackle it. It’s great news for all our futures’.In December 2003 the Government announcedsites for the next round of offshore winddevelopment. We were successful in our bids fortwo sites: one off the North Wales coast close toNorth Hoyle and the other in the Wash. The site inthe Wash, known as Tritton Knoll Offshore WindFarm, is the largest proposed offshore wind farmsite in the world, with a potential capacity of900–1200MW.HydroIn 2003 several hydro sites across the UK were inthe planning process while construction began attwo new sites in Scotland – Braevallich (2.19MW)and Garrogie (2.3MW).EnvironmentTo continuously improve environmentalmanagement and to ensure that our activitiesdo not cause harm to the environment.Targets for 2003Optimise SO 2 emissions per unit of output.Improve energy efficiency, resource useand recycling in office accommodation.ProgressEmissions of SO 2 remained belowauthorisation limits. Generation from ourportfolio increased and emissions per unitof electricity generated decreased.We started to implement a new buildingmanagement system in our Swindon offices.npower introduced a number of resourcesaving measures as part of their EMS.21