Utility Week

4 | 28TH SEPTEMBER - 4TH OCTOBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... China and India lead the solar surge This year emerging markets will overtake developed nations in the amount of renewable wind and solar power they have installed, according to Moody's, the credit rating agency. In the decade to 2016 the amount of solar power generated across the world has risen by 50 per cent, while wind has increased by 22 per cent, according to BP's annual review of world energy. While advanced economies have been leaders in the develop- ment of renewable power, much of the recent momentum has come from developing nations — and from China and India in particular, which are now the biggest and the third-biggest renewable electricity markets, respectively. Financial Times, 25 September Campaigners fear creeping privatisation of El Salvador's water When a local government ruling in the Salvadoran town of Nejapa stopped Coca-Cola from drilling wells in the community, residents thought their campaign against the drinks giant had ensured their con- tinued access to clean water. But that 2015 success now seems under threat aer the Salvadoran national assembly took steps activists believe will lead to the privatisation of the country's water supplies. The Guardian, 25 September Burkinabe farmer wins 'alternative Nobel' fighting drought A farmer from Burkina Faso who popularised an ancient farming technique to reverse desertifica- tion is among the winners of Sweden's "alternative Nobel prize", announced this week. Yacouba Sawadogo shared this year's award with three Saudi human rights activ- ists and an Australian agronomist. Reuters, 24 September STORY BY NUMBERS National media Yorkshire Water fined for 'wholly avoidable' fatality Y orkshire Water has been fined £733,000 and ordered to pay costs of £18,818 aer a worker suffered fatal burns during a job in Tadcaster. Leeds Crown Court heard how Michael Jennings' clothes caught fire while removing valve bolts at the Tadcaster sewage works on 20 July 2015. He suffered whole body burns and died in Pinderfields Hospital two days later. Jennings was a mechanical fitter in the engineering reli- ability team and had worked for Yorkshire Water for eight years. Yorkshire Water pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the valve at the water treatment plant was half open and sparks reacted with high oxygen levels. John Micklethwaite, HSE inspec- tor, described the incident as "wholly avoidable". Yorkshire Water chief executive Richard Flint said the company "must ensure" it does everything possible to prevent something like this from happen- ing again. Jennings was working at the bottom of a dry well at the end of disused Lane One of the brewery trade waste treatment plant at the Tadcaster sewage treatment works. The adjoining Lane Two was still in service. The brewery trade waste plant was the only Yorkshire Water Services effluent treatment plant to use oxygen gas injection to assist the clean-up process, according to the HSE. Jennings and a colleague had been tasked with changing the stop valve on the end of the Lane One drain pipe, which emerged into the bottom of the dry well. He was using an angle grinder to cut through corroded bolts when sparks from the grinding wheel impinged on to his overalls, bursting into flames. The HSE said it found that the drain valve was half opened and the atmosphere within the dry well was oxygen-enriched, greatly increasing the risk of fire. A near miss report had also been recorded at the same location in September 2014. AJ Scotland performs well on emissions Scotland is outperforming the rest of the UK on emissions cuts but needs new meas- ures to meet its recently introduced targets, according to parliament's Climate Change Committee. 41.5 MtCO2e Scottish net emissions were 41.5MtCO2e in 2016, the last year for which data is available – below the target of 44.9MtCO2e. 45% Net emissions are 45 per cent below 1990 levels. 2020 Scotland is outper- forming its interim target of a 42 per cent reduction by 2020. 17.8% Amount of electricity demand in Scotland met by renewables. "We are building into auctions the construction of power stations we will rarely use" Colin Calder, chief executive and founder of PassivSystems, says the UK may never see demand flexibility come to market because "we continue to build capacity".

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