Ofgem approves early investment in three UK electricity ‘superhighways’
Three major UK electricity “superhighways” could move ahead sooner than expected to help limit the amount that households pay for windfarms to turn off during periods of high power generation.Current grid bottlenecks mean there is not enough capacity to transport the abundance of electricity generated in periods of strong winds to areas where energy demand is highest.The new high-voltage cable projects linking windfarms in Scotland and off the North Sea coast to densely populated areas in the south of the country could start operations by the early 2030s rather than towards the end of the decade, according to the sector regulator.This should help to cut the rising cost of paying windfarms to turn off when they generate more electricity than the grid can transport.Without better interconnection these payments, which consumers cover via their energy bills, are expected to reach more than £12bn a year by the end of the decade.
Under Ofgem’s plans, National Grid and SSE will be allowed to begin early investment on two Eastern Green Link subsea power cables to transport offshore windfarm electricity to the south by 2034.They will also be allowed earlier investment for the 75-mile (120km) GWNC electricity link between Grimsby in Lincolnshire and Walpole in Norfolk to help transport the energy to consumers from 2033.Ofgem says bringing forward the superhighway projects will mean consumers are between £3bn and £6bn better off compared with the later delivery date, in large part because it will reduce the almost £2bn paid each year to generators to cut their output when the grid is overloaded.Fast-tracking the projects is expected to bring forward higher costs on consumer energy bills to pay for the work, however, days after the regulator gave the green light for companies to spend £28bn on Great Britain’s gas and electricity grids.An Ofgem spokesperson was not able to say what the direct impact would be on energy bills, or when it would take effect.
The regulator’s decision is also expected to put the energy industry on a collision course with disgruntled local communities that have opposed the grid projects over concerns about the expected disruption of the building work and the long-term industrialisation of the countryside.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionOfgem’s director of major projects, Beatrice Filkin, said: “We’re neither handing [energy companies] blank cheques nor greenlighting the projects themselves, that is rightly for the relevant planning authorities to decide.Through intelligent use of early investment and setting realistic but ambitious timescales, we are helping shield consumers from unnecessary costs.”She said fast-tracking the projects would put them in a prime position to compete in the global race for the supply chains needed to upgrade grids as all major economies turn away from fossil fuels to power their economic growth.The European Commission is poised to unveil a €1.
2tn (£1.05tn) plan to upgrade the EU’s electricity grids later this week, according to Euronews, including eight key projects designed to strengthen the bloc’s energy security.The commission expects to spend about €730bn on distribution networks and €477bn on transmission grids, the report said, citing a leaked document.
Rachel Reeves’s test from the bond markets starts now
Good news for Rachel Reeves: the cost of government borrowing has fallen a bit relative to the US and eurozone countries. Better news: the chancellor may have something to do with it. Better still: some economists think there’s more to come.Let’s not get carried away, though. The UK is still paying a painful premium on its borrowing costs, as the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank illustrates
Bank of England expects budget will cut inflation by up to half a percentage point
The Bank of England expects Rachel Reeves’s budget will reduce the UK’s headline inflation rate by as much as half a percentage point next year.In a boost for the chancellor after last month’s high-stakes tax and spending statement, Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the central bank, said its early analysis showed the policies would lower the annual inflation rate by 0.4 to 0.5 percentage points for a year from mid-2026.Reeves made cutting inflation a central ambition of her budget alongside a sweeping £26bn package of tax increases to cover a shortfall in the public finances and fund scrapping the two-child benefit policy
Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China
Donald Trump has cleared the way for Nvidia to begin selling its powerful AI computer chips to China, marking a win for the chip maker and its CEO, Jensen Huang, who has spent months lobbying the White House to open up sales in the country.Before Monday’s announcement, the US had prohibited sales of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China over national security concerns.Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday: “I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security. President Xi responded positively!”Trump said the Department of Commerce was finalising the details and that he was planning to make the same offer to other chip companies, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel. Nvidia’s H200 chips are the company’s second most powerful, and far more advanced than the H20, which was originally designed as a lower-powered model for the Chinese market that would not breach restrictions, but which the US banned anyway in April
AI researchers are to blame for serving up slop | Letter
I’m not surprised to read that the field of artificial intelligence research is being overwhelmed by the very slop that it has pioneered (Artificial intelligence research has a slop problem, academics say: ‘It’s a mess’, 6 December). But this is a bit like bears getting indignant about all the shit in the woods.It serves AI researchers right for the irresponsible innovations that they’ve unleashed on the world, without ever bothering to ask the rest of us whether we wanted it.But what about the rest of us? The problem is not restricted to AI research – their slop generators have flooded other disciplines that bear no blame for this revolution. As a peer reviewer for top ethics journals, I’ve had to point out that submissions are AI-generated slop
20-year-old charged with attempted murder over shooting of Jets’ Kris Boyd
A Bronx man has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of New York Jets player Kris Boyd, police announced Tuesday.The New York police department said Frederick Green, 20, was charged late Monday night. Police had revealed Monday that a “person of interest” was in custody but didn’t name them. It was not immediately clear if Green has an attorney. He also faces additional charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said
Questions over Champ playoffs with only two clubs applying for promotion
Arguments behind the scenes about the proposed transformation of the top tier of English club rugby into a franchise-based league are intensifying with just two Champ clubs seemingly now eligible for promotion this season. Only Ealing Trailfinders and Doncaster Knights have applied formally to be promoted to the Prem, with Worcester Warriors understood to have missed the deadline.A Rugby Football Union spokesperson suggested on Tuesday that the absence of Worcester’s name reflects the reality that the club is still “getting back on its feet” after its financial collapse in September 2022 with debts of more than £25m. But with Ealing unable to satisfy the Prem minimum standards for the past two seasons, and with Doncaster off the pace in 10th place, it raises fresh questions about the raison d’être of the scheduled new end‑of‑season Champ playoffs, unveiled this year amid much fanfare.Originally it had been intended that the playoff winner should qualify for a merit-based, two-leg showdown with the Prem’s bottom side, but other scenarios have since emerged
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