Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 16TH - 22ND NOVEMBER 2018 | 5 "We led the world in privatising energy. We led the world by introducing climate change legislation. Could we lead the world again by pioneering economy-wide carbon pricing?" George Day, head of policy at the Energy Systems Catapult, discusses options to harmonise carbon pricing in the UK. On Sunday 11 November, Scottish Power lit up its Glasgow head office in red in support of Poppy Scotland's "light up red" campaign commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended the First World War. Scottish Power's head quarters was one of 150 sites in Scotland to commemorate the centenary in this way. Scottish Power Renewables volunteers also hit the streets of Glasgow with collection buckets and raised around £1,600. ELECTRICITY WPD to use AI to identify electric vehicle hotspots Western Power Distribution (WPD) has started a trial examining the impact of low-carbon technologies on its network that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify hotspots for electric vehicle (EV) charging. The AI uses data provided by Electralink to identify areas with high concentrations of electric vehi- cles, solar panels and heat pumps. This will allow planners to assess network capacity and decide where and when reinforcements are needed. The data will be crunched using IBM's artificial intelligence platform Watson Studio. Roger Hey, future networks manager at WPD, said the Low Car- bon Technologies Detection project will be a "game-changer" for distri- bution network operators: "Through analysis of historic data and identification of future trends, the project will deliver a virtual monitor- ing capability that will allow network planners to forecast the locations of hotspots of electric vehicles, solar panels and heat pumps." GAS SSE's Keadby 2 the 'most efficient CCGT on the grid' Work has begun on an 840MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant in North Lincolnshire. The £350 million Keadby 2 project is being developed by SSE and built by Siemens, which will also service the power station under a 15-year contract. Once complete, SSE says it will be the most efficient CCGT on the grid, converting 63 per cent of the heat produced from burning gas into electricity. The power station will be constructed alongside the company's existing 735MW CCGT plant at Keadby and will feature a "first-of-a-kind" H-class turbine supplied by Siemens. Construction proper is scheduled to start in January 2019. Accelerating moves to decarbonise the econ- omy, including speeding up the phase-out of petrol and diesel vehicles, would cut the cost of eradicating net emissions by 2050. That is the recommendation of a report by the Green Alliance, an umbrella body of environmental pressure groups. The report says reducing emissions to net zero by 2050 would require a 70-120 per cent increase in efforts to reduce carbon in the 2030s and 2040s. But lowering emissions using policies already implementable means a 2050 target is "achievable". 'Net zero is achievable' Acting now makes net zero relatively easy Source: Green Alliance 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Annual reduction (MtCO2e/year) Acting now means reductions are just 13% faster than current carbon budgets Reductions planned by government Target set by current carbon budgets Target needed for net zero by 2045 Target needed for net zero by 2050

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