Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH JULY 2018 | 17 This week Investment trumps dividends at Thames External shareholders will receive no dividends and CEO will not be paid bonus until 2020 Thames Water will not pay external shareholders dividends for the next two years and its chief executive will not receive a bonus until at least 2020 as the company plans to "prioritise investment" to improve services. Steve Robertson, who became CEO at Thames in September 2016, will have two years without a bonus and his 2020 bonus will be linked to meeting customer commitments, not financial performance. Half of Robertson's maximum £3.75 million bonus will be based on Thames Water's leakage performance, for which the company has been criticised. Aer an investigation by Ofwat, which found Thames Water's board did not have "sufficient oversight and con- trol" of leakage performance, the water company agreed to return a total of £120 million to customers last month. Ian Marchant, chairman of Thames Water, told Utility Week the remaining 50 per cent of Robertson's bonus will be based on factors including environmental solu- tions, customer service, asset health and the general price review process for PR19. Robertson confirmed that no external dividends will be paid this year – or for the rest of the AMP – to provide a strong platform for the board to look at where it needs to take the business. A spokesperson from Ofwat said: "We've been clear that senior executives' performance-related pay should be related to how well they deliver for custom- ers. We want to see all water companies step up and do this." KP ELECTRICITY Nuclear sector to cut cost of new plants The nuclear industry has com- mitted to a 30 per cent cut in the cost of building new plants by 2030 under the sector deal unveiled by the government. As part of the £200 million deal, one of a number being rolled out with different sectors as part of the government's industrial strategy, the nuclear industry will cut costs through better economies of scale and advanced production techniques. The sector has also com- mitted to a 20 per cent cut in decommissioning costs over the same timeframe. Investment proposed in the deal includes up to £44 million for research and development to support the development of advanced modular reactors. ELECTRICITY EDF gets £701m in windfarm deal EDF Renewables has sold a 49 per cent share in 24 UK wind- farms, with a total generating capacity of about 550MW. The minority stake has been bought for £701 million by fund manager Dalmore Capital Limited and the Pensions Infra- structure Platform, which have invested on behalf of local gov- ernment retirement schemes. EDF Renewables will still own a 51 per cent share in the portfolio of windfarms and will continue to operate and main- tain the sites under the deal. Bruno Bensasson, EDF group executive vice-president in charge of renewable energies, said the sale would help the French-owned utility imple- ment its 2030 target to double its renewable energy generation by freeing up capital for new development. ELECTRICITY BP to buy EV charger firm Chargemaster Oil giant BP has signed a £130 million deal to buy electric vehicle (EV) charging company Chargemaster in an "important step" towards rolling out a network of ultra-fast chargers across its forecourts. Chargemaster operates Polar – the UK's largest network of public EV chargers. The firm also designs, builds and sells charg- ing units, some for home use. BP Downstream chief execu- tive Tufan Erginbilgic said: "At BP we believe that fast and convenient charging is critical to support the successful adoption of electric vehicles." The company said the charg- ers will start appearing at its 1,200 service stations in the UK over the next 12 months. The Polar network has more than 6,500 chargers and is used by 40,000 customers. Thames wants to emphasise investment Stock watch 80 60 40 20 UTILITYWISE SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY Aug 2017 Oct 2017 Dec 2017 May 2018 UTILITYWISE SHARE PRICE, FULL YEAR Utilitywise shares shot up more than a fih over the course of Monday evening and Tuesday morning aer the consultancy unveiled plans to build a new energy and building management platform in partnership with Vodafone and Dell. As Utility Week went to press, the share price stood at about 33p compared with 68p a year before. 34 32 30 28 26 29 Jun 3 Jul Finance & Investment pence pence

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