UK’s First Car Battery ‘Gigafactory’ To Be Built By Two Startups
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Guardian.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Two British startups have announced plans to invest as much as £4bn in building the UK’s first large-scale battery factory, in a move that could prove a major boost to the country’s struggling car industry.
AMTE Power and Britishvolt have signed a memorandum of understanding saying they will work together on plans for a plant to make lithium ion batteries, the key component in electric cars as well as energy storage products.
So who are AMTE Power And Britishvolt?
AMTE Power
The AMTE Power web site, has this mission statement.
The cell market demands flexibility in design and chemistry, AMTE has focused on supporting niche customers who want to develop and build solutions where standard cell options fail to deliver against their business design objectives.
The forecast demand for cells production, will see delivery shortages as Automotive and Energy storage markets develop. AMTE can supply its customers with bespoke solutions eliminating the need to accept second best in cell choice.
Give the customers, what they want is rarely a bad philosophy.
Britishvolt
The Britishvolt web site, has this mission statement.
We have identified the United Kingdom as the potential location to build our first Gigaplant. Britishvolt is looking to produce high performance batteries better than anyone else, establishing the country as the leading force in battery technology and the center of sustainable energy storage. We are ready for the World 2023.
Having read both companies web sites, I think the two companies have more than a little in common.
So why not team up and move forward.
Zopa Resumes Lending To ‘C Risk’ Borrowers
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Peer2Peer Finance News.
Zopa, the first peer-to-peer lending site, rates all borrowers as to risk, between A (the best) down to E.
Certainly, since they introduced this policy, my invested money gets lent out more quickly.
Hopefully, the risk won’t have been increased by an amount, that is unacceptable to lenders.
Renewable Roundup: Big Banks Lining Up To Finance Big Batteries
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Red, Green and Blue.
This is the introductory paragraph.
We’ve reached a significant tipping point in how the battery storage market is financed, shifting from expensive private equity investments to ordinary bank finance. Which will be another factor leading to a terawatt of storage by 2040.
The article contains an impressive graph showing the growth of energy storage world-wide, broken down into China, United States and the Rest of the World, showing that by 2040, there’ll be that terawatt of storage.
There are also some stories of companies trying to get funding for battery projects in the United States, which enforce the message of the title.
But then, I wrote World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant in 2018, where I said this.
Aviva will have a billion pounds invested in wind farms by the end of the year.
As ever, it looks like, it has taken longer for the penny to drop on the other side of the pond.
But at least it seems to have finally done so!
Zopa And COVID-19
As regular readers of this blog will know, I invest my spare savings in the peer-to-peer lender Zopa.
I have a feeling, from my experience of reading the statistics of my lending on the site, that money is slow to be lent out!
But there are people out there, even in these insecure times, who have a guaranteed cash-flow and a good credit rating.
And some of these may need a loan to perhaps replace a car, that has expired and they need to get to their essential job or to furnish a spare room as a home office or schoolroom.
If I needed a sensible loan, which I don’t, I’d check out Zopa.
UK To Raise Contactless Card Payment Limit To 45 pounds In April
The title of this post is the same as that of this report on Reuters.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Britain will raise the spending limit for contactless card payments to 45 pounds ($52) from 30 pounds on April 1 to support consumers during the coronavirus outbreak, the UK Finance industry association said on Tuesday.
I think this is a good thing.
When I go to Marks and Spencer to get my food, I have found that for the goods I buy, their average cost is two pounds. It is annoying the number of times I buy sixteen or seventeen items and I am just over the thirty pound limit.
So from April the first, I will be using chip-and-pin less often.
Surely, you’re more likely to pick up COVID-19 with chip-and-pin!
Blackstone Acquires Battery Energy Storage Firm NRStor
The title of this post is the same as that as this article in IPE Real Assets.
The Blackstone Group is on of the largest alternative investment firms in the world, so the title of the post says it all.
I believe that we need masses of energy storage to fight global warming and it looks like Blackstone are building a portfolio.
Is The COVID-19 Having An Affect On Lending At Zopa?
I lend money on Zopa and at the moment no-one seems to be borrowing any money.
I put some of my pension in my lending pot into the peer-to-peer lender each month and it’s still there sitting safely in the queue for a borrower.
Perhaps everybody is being cautious because of the COVID-19 alert
I’ve Gone Cashless
I have now setup my bank account, so that I can make small payments using from my phone, using the contactless facility.
These are a few short observations.
- The thirty pound limit may be a little too low.
- You can’t be cashless on the Blackpool tramway. I was allowed to go free!
- Some small shops still won’t accept them or apply a minimum spend. Obviously, they don’t want my business and didn’t get it.
- I never have any change for beggars. I follow TfL’s advice and give to the Whitechapel Mission, who look after the genuine homeless.
- Some estabishments have gone cashless only!
The only time I use cash, is for tips in restaurants and paying black cabs.
Was Gordon Brown Partially Responsible For Labour’s Defeat In The 2019 General Election?
When automatic enrolment into pensions came in, I was very much in favour, as I feel everybody should have a pension.
There is a section called Automatic Enrolment in the Wikipedia entry called Pensions in the United Kingdom.
If you read the section, this is the last paragraph.
Between the introduction of auto enrolment and April 2016, “the overall proportion of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension increased from 55% to 78%” with the largest increases found in the private sector.
Consider.
- When I started work in the 1960s, the average man and the few women on the factory floor weren’t very well educated. But now, they are much more likely to have a few good qualifications.
- Most too will be computer-savvy to a level, that would have been unimaginable to their forerunners in the 1960s.
- Newpapers too, from the Sun and the Mirror to the Times, \guardian, Telegraph and FT, now offer easy-to-read financial advice to help everyone manage their money better.
Many working people today have a pension, that although some didn’t want it, they probably feel could be a help in retirement.
So did Labour’s reckless or ambitious spending plans, frighten many of their traditional supporters?
They certainly frightened me!
Would the election result have been different, if Gordon Brown hadn’t started the modern pension with the Pensions Act of 2008 and had left well enough alone?
As my quote said earlier in 2016, just over three-quarters of eligible employees are saving into a workplace pension.
Some may have been subscribing for over ten years now and they will feel protective of that amount pf money!
Call For Bank of England Executive To Quit Over Security Breach
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
A former member of the Bank of England has called for the resignation of its chief operating officer after it emerged an audio feed of sensitive information had been leaked to traders.his is the introductory paragraph.
In any form of speculation or betting, information is key and I would suspect, that some have made a lot of money, with this information.
Betting, is full of stories, where information has been used to advantage.
In one, well-known punters, had access to the team sheet of a famous football club before the players.
So I’m not surprised at the shenanigans at the Bank of England.
The Anonymous Widower 