Utility Week

18 | 16TH - 22ND NOVEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK This week RWE shelves energy storage and gas plant Company concludes current market conditions and costs make the scheme economically unviable RWE has halted development of its Tilbury Energy Centre project in Essex, which was set to feature up to 2.9GW of gas generation and energy storage. The company has concluded the scheme is not currently economically viable as a result of market conditions and costs. "The decision to freeze Tilbury Energy Centre has not been taken lightly," RWE said in a statement. "It will be a disappointment for those who have been working so hard to get us to the stage we have reached. "We would like to sincerely thank the local authori- ties and community for their support during the past year. As always, RWE will constantly explore options for how best to develop our site in Tilbury, which remains a good location for future energy options." The project would have been built on the former site of the Tilbury B coal-fired power station, which was mothballed by RWE in 2013 part-way through being con- verted to run on biomass. Demolition began in January 2016 and was scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. The Tilbury Energy Centre was expected to consist of a 2.5GW combined-cycle gas turbine power station, a 300MW open-cycle gas turbine plant, a 100MW energy storage facility and a 3km gas pipeline to connect it to the National Grid gas network. The proposals were unveiled by RWE in July 2017; it was hoped the power station would provide electricity for around three million homes. TG RENEWABLES UK falls one place in investment ranking The UK has slipped one place to eighth in the latest edition of EY's biannual Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) due to a slowdown in investment ahead of the planned departure from the EU. EY said spending in the third quarter of 2018 was down 46 per cent year on year amid specula- tion over the impact of Brexit on power exports and the price of imported equipment. The firm said there were "few positives" to draw from the recent Budget, noting a lack of further encouragement for investment in renewables or low-carbon transport. EY global power and utilities corporate finance leader and RECAI editor Ben Warren said: "An uncertain world market has characterised the latest index, with some of the majors waiting to see how geopolitical fortunes play out – including Brexit and ongoing trade hostility." GAS Grid profits dip due to cancelled pipeline National Grid profits have dipped slightly due to the can- cellation of a new gas transmis- sion pipeline in Avonmouth. Last year Ofgem decided to lower the company's RIIO spend- ing allowance by £168.8 million aer concluding the project was no longer necessary as part of a mid-period review. National Grid has blamed the loss of these revenues for a drop in its underlying operating profit for the six months to the end of September, which fell 6 per cent year on year to £1,285 million. Underlying pre-tax profit fell 4 per cent to £816 million. Accordingly, the gas trans- mission business posted a 37 per cent reduction in underlying operating profit, to £91 million; electricity transmission profit rose 3 per cent to £556 million. ELECTRICITY Ofgem grants licence for Dudgeon link Ofgem has granted a 20-year licence to Transmission Capital Partners to own and operate the £297.9 million transmission link for the Dudgeon offshore windfarm. The licence is the first to be awarded as part of the fih offshore transmission owners (OFTO) tender round, which began in September 2016. Transmission Capital Partners – a consortium comprising Inter- national Public Partnerships, Amber Infrastructure Group and Transmission Investment – will acquire the connection from the owner of Dudgeon – a consortium comprising Equinor, Masdar and China Resources. Tilbury Energy Centre: out of the picture? Stock watch 400 300 200 100 0 UTILITYWISE SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 UTILITYWISE SHARE PRICE, FULL HISTORY Utilitywise shares have plummeted nearly 40 per cent aer founder Geoff Thompson dumped his 6 per cent stake in the energy consultancy. The news was revealed in a stock market update on 6 November. Shares were still trading at almost 10 pence until 9 November, but at the time of writing were selling for little more than 6p – an all-time low for the company and a 60th of its 2014 high of 370p. 10 9 8 7 6 5 8 Nov 9 Nov 12 Nov 13 Nov Finance & Investment pence pence 2018

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