Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH AUGUST 2018 | 5 WATER Gove challenges firms on leakage Michael Gove grilled water companies during a meeting with chief executives at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs this week about why leakage targets had not been met. Recent statistics for all water companies in England and Wales show average water leakage was 3,183 million litres a day for April 2017 to March 2018, an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year. The meeting was attended by South Staffordshire (also represent- ing its subsidiary Cambridge Water), Bristol, Severn Trent, Thames, Yorkshire, Essex and Suffolk (via its parent company Northumbrian), Portsmouth and United Utilities. Richard Flint, chief executive of Yorkshire Water, called the meeting "constructive" and said it gave the company "a chance to highlight our leakage reduction plans". ENERGY 'No decisions' about UK job cuts, says Eon Energy giant Eon claimed "no decisions" had been made about staff numbers after reports sug- gested the company was preparing to announce hundreds of UK job cuts next week. The company is expected to reduce its UK operations by around 500 employees ahead of the impending energy price cap, according to The Times. Eon employs more than 9,000 staff in the UK and neither confirmed nor denied the number. However, it revealed it was talking with trade unions about how it might "respond" to challenges in the UK energy market. A spokesperson for the German- owned provider said colleagues "will be the first" to hear of any proposed changes. In March, Eon revealed that up to 5,000 jobs could be cut globally as part of a major asset swap with RWE, which would Utility- Week_030818_000 see Eon acquire Innogy, the par- Scotland's biggest sewer has become operational in a feat of engineering hailed as "extraordinary" by Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham (pictured with Mark Dickson, director of capital investment, Scottish Water). She said the Shieldhall Tunnel in Glasgow would benefit communities for centuries to come. "If energy policy was a horse race, nuclear would have been sent to the knacker's yard a long time ago, but the government just keeps flogging it" Kate Blagojevic, head of energy at Greenpeace UK, as EDF Energy insisted that the construction of its Hinkley Point C nuclear project remains "on track" after fresh delays to the French plant using the same pioneering nuclear reactor. "The Isles of Scilly will be a global test bed for batteries, electric vehicles and smart heating systems" Chris Wright, Moixa chief technology officer, talking about a multi-million pound energy storage and renewables project on the Isles of Scilly, for which Moixa is installing smart batteries. 6,874 The rate of switching in the water retail market in June 2018 dropped to almost its lowest level since the market opened. The lowest was May 2017, when 5,758 supply points switched. 97% Emissions of sulphur dioxide have dropped by 97 per cent since 1970, with the energy system's switchover to low-carbon sources of generation contributing to improved air quality. 155GWh Octopus Investments recorded the highest ever level of generation output of its portfolio of photovoltaic arrays in the UK during the 30 days to 22 July.

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