Utility Week

8 | 20TH - 26TH JULY 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation This week Nuclear waste could go to national parks Minister tells BEIS committee all possible sites would be considered for waste disposal facilities Nuclear waste plants could be built in national parks and other treasured landscapes, a minister has told MPs. Richard Harrington, junior business and industry minister, was grilled by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee last week on whether the government's new dra nuclear waste dis posal guidance should permit such facilities in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. The committee is conducting an inquiry into the new guidance, which is designed to govern the determination of nuclear waste disposal planning applications. The government has asked local areas to volunteer to host the facilities, which will be required to store waste material from the planned new wave of nuclear plants. Harrington said: "We have to look at all possible sites where communities want it. It would be very wrong to exclude them at the moment." But he said the accept ability of the individual facilities would depend on the impact it had on the landscape of the area. He cited a new potash mine in North Yorkshire, which has involved very little surface development, as an example of what can be achieved in an environmentally sensitive loca tion. "If it was a huge 1km industrial building in the middle of a national park, that wouldn't be acceptable." The minister also rejected concerns that the govern ment is gambling on communities' willingness to host the nuclear waste facilities. "Having a bottomup approach might lead us to no facility at all," said Peter Kyle, a member of the select committee. DB ENERGY Brexit paper signals staying in EU ETS The government has signalled that it wants to remain in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to maintain the efficient flow of energy along its inter connector links with the rest of Europe postBrexit. The move for continued par ticipation in the ETS is outlined in the Brexit white paper, which was published on 12 July. The chapter on electricity and gas says continued participation in the internal energy market (IEM) would maintain the existing "efficient" trading relationships along the interconnectors, which are projected to supply a rising share of UK energy needs as reli ance grows on more intermittent sources of renewable supply. To remain in the IEM, the UK would need to maintain a consistent approach to carbon pricing with the UK, which the white paper says could be delivered by remaining in the EU ETS. Another condition would be continued adherence to the com mon rule book on technical rules for electricity trading, such as the market coupling mechanism. WATER Governance changes mooted for Ofwat Ofwat has revealed four proposed changes to its 2014 principles for board leadership, transparency and governance. The regulator says its princi ples aim to bring the water sector in line with the high standards of corporate governance expected of a monopoly provider of an essential public service. A new consultation, which forms part of a programme of work set out by the regulator in April this year, also includes potential changes to water com panies' licences. The four pro posed revisions refer to: purpose, values and culture; board leader ship and transparency; being a standalone regulated company; and board effectiveness. GAS Ofgem gives green light to taskforce Ofgem has approved the crea tion of a taskforce to tackle an ongoing issue over the allocation of unidentified gas. The body will be charged with reducing the extreme vola tility in daily allocations that has emerged since the introduction of a new gas settlement system last July. Explaining the regulator's thinking in a decision docu ment, programme director for consumers and markets, Rachel Clark, said Ofgem agreed with industry stakeholders that "more needs to be done to identify and address the root causes of unidentified gas volatility". National park: 'would be wrong to exclude them' Political Agenda David Blackman "The PM will be reluctant to pick any fight she can avoid" The stifling heat in central London has no doubt contrib uted to the fractious mood that has consumed Parliament over the past week as the summer session hurtles to its conclusion. Ministers were so desperate to get it over that they tried to bring forward the end of term date, a move that looked set to backfire as Utility Week went to press following a wave of oppo sition from Conservative MPs. Some bullets have been bitten since Parliament last idea though is the Conservative grassroots support in the Shires, who have been so inflamed by Theresa May's concessions to the so Brexit lobby. In her current vulnerable position, the PM will be reluctant to pick any fight she can avoid. And business secretary Greg Clark's attention will be focused this autumn on fighting the pro so Brexit corner within the Cabi net. But the sweltering heat is a reminder that the onshore wind issue can't be ducked forever. reconvened aer its Easter break, notably on the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. But while some items have been cleared, the intray is still filling up. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) laid out a series of steps last month that it says the government must make if it wants to achieve its long term carbon reduction plans. Its chair Lord Deben also called on the government to spell out the costs of its ban on onshore wind and solar farms. A poll published this week showed a clear majority of voters back a liing of the ban on onshore windfarms. The one group that really dislikes the

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