Utility Week

4 | 7TH - 13TH SEPTEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Health scare hits Detroit schools' water The 50,000 students returning to public school classrooms in Detroit following the summer break will find the drinking fountains dry, aer elevated levels of lead and copper forced the district to shut off the water supply. Aer test results evaluating all water sources, from sinks to fountains, for 16 schools showed higher than acceptable lev- els of the chemicals last month, the Detroit public schools community district announced it was turning off the water at all its schools. The Guardian, 4 September Chinese demand fuels coal price surge Coal prices in Europe are on track to surpass $100 a ton, the highest since 2013, as China's demand for electricity draws in more cargoes of the dirtiest fossil fuel. The gains have already pushed up electric- ity prices from Britain to Italy and, coupled with the highest prices in a decade for carbon emissions, have prompted utilities to burn more natural gas. China is the world's biggest coal-consuming nation. Its demand for the fuel and supply glitches at the main coal hubs across the Atlantic basin have driven up prices this year. Bloomberg, 3 September Egypt pays out $2bn in natural gas dispute A joint venture between Spain's Naturgy and Italy's Eni has been awarded a $2 billion settlement from Egypt over gas supplies by a World Bank arbitration body, in a move that could accelerate the resumption of the country's liquefied natural gas exports. The ruling by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes comes aer Egypt stopped sup- plying gas to the JV because of the political turmoil unleashed by the Arab Spring. Financial Times, 3 September STORY BY NUMBERS National media Water companies submit PR19 business plans to Ofwat A ll water companies across England and Wales submitted their five-year business plans for the next price control period to Ofwat this week (3 September). As part of the regulator's 2019 price review, PR19, all water companies must set out a detailed business plan outlining how they will meet the needs of their customers from 2020 to 2025 and beyond. The regulator has set out four main themes for PR19: great customer service; affordable bills; resilience in the round; and innovation. It will scrutinise all the business plans before publishing an initial assessment of each company's strategy on 31 January 2019. Ofwat will categorise companies' plans according to the level of quality, ambition and innovation they have demonstrated. The best could benefit from incentives through the price review process, while those that fall short will face closer scru- tiny and interventions. The categories water com- panies will be placed into are "exceptional", "fast-track", "slow-track", and "significant scrutiny". Exceptional and fast-track business plans will benefit from procedural and financial incen- tives, through an early determi- nation with early certainty on specified components of costs and outcomes. Business plans categorised as significant scrutiny will receive reduced cost-sharing rates and potentially capped outcome delivery incentive out- performance payments. In March/April next year, Ofwat will publish dra deter- minations for companies with exceptional and fast-track plans. Companies categorised as significant scrutiny or slow-track must submit revisions to their business plans by April 2019, addressing the shortcomings Ofwat has identified. In July 2019, Ofwat will publish dra determinations for companies categorised as slow- track or significant scrutiny. KP Onshore wind projects to 'drop sharply' The delivery of onshore wind projects will "drop sharply" this year following a record- breaking rate of new installations in 2017, according to a report by Renew- able UK published last week. 2.6GW of onshore wind came online in the UK last year. 1.8m Number of homes this capacity could power. 20% Percentage of the UK's total fleet of onshore windfarms accounted for by 2017 projects. 1.7GW was installed in Scotland, 356MW in Wales and 247MW in Northern Ireland. £7.69bn The capital cost of 2017 projects. "With this decision the government has undermined its own energy policies by attacking biomass yet again" Benedict McAleenan, head of the Renewable Energy Association's Biomass UK arm, attacks the reduction in the greenhouse gas threshold for new biomass.

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