The UK could add enough renewable energy to power a million homes by channelling water from the Scottish Highlands, yet two large-scale projects aiming to do that will be tangled in government red tape until at least 2024.
Drax Group Plc and SSE Plc need approval for their revenue-sharing model before building hydropower plants that would turn local lakes into giant storage batteries, able to supply the grid when consumption jumps. The stations could generate as much as two gigawatts of clean power to help satiate demand while the UK electrifies its economy.
The companies propose spending as much as £2 billion ($2.4 billion) combined and have submitted financing applications to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The government intends to make a decision by 2024, a spokesman said. Given that construction may take six years, the extra capacity wouldn’t be online until at least 2030.
“We’ve got an energy emergency here, and we need to get cracking on these things,” said Alex Campbell, head of research and policy at the International Hydropower Association, an industry group. “This is a chance to show the UK can think seriously about these long-term, difficult challenges.”
The model at issue is called cap and floor. It guarantees a minimum annual income, even if taxpayers have to contribute, and caps the maximum that can be earned before profits are shared with the government treasury.
The mechanism gives confidence to investors by ensuring they’ll see a return for financing construction.
“It protects consumers and allows us flexibility,” said Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Scottish assets director. “We need the support to de-risk it for our investors.”
The Selby, Britain-based company wants to double the capacity of its existing station in a dynamite-blasted cavern at Ben Cruachan, a mountain overlooking a 90-metre-deep lake. Drax will spend £500 million and take as long as six years to build Cruachan 2. The current plant opened in 1965.
SSE may spend as much as £1.5 billion on its larger Coire Glas project, 137 kilometres north of Cruachan. It was approved by the Scottish government after the producer took such steps as tagging local golden eagles to study the potential impact on their behaviour.
Scotland has consistently called on the UK to adopt a financing mechanism that would encourage hydropower, a Scottish government spokesman said.
Given the fever in energy markets and the unpredictability of demand, it will be challenging for the government to set income parameters. Once the arrangement is in place, companies earn profits even when plants are offline or only used sporadically.
“It puts all the risk on to the taxpayer,” said Emma Woodward, a project leader at Aurora Energy Research Ltd. “It’s quite an attractive business case to investors.”
Britain’s economy is being pummeled by Russia’s decision to throttle natural gas exports. Inflation hit a 41-year high, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said the nation is already in recession. The government is spending billions of pounds to help Britons cope with soaring energy bills.
That should be sufficient motivation to increase renewable generation and mirror the energy flexibility of hydro powerhouses Norway and Austria. The UK’s power demand is set to soar 50 per cent by 2035, according to McKinsey and Co.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
The five pillars of Islam
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
WORLD CUP FINAL
England v South Africa
Yokohama International Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday, kick-off 1pm (UAE)
How to volunteer
The UAE volunteers campaign can be reached at www.volunteers.ae , or by calling 800-VOLAE (80086523), or emailing info@volunteers.ae.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Tree of Hell
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
