Utility Week

4 | 23RD - 29TH NOVEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... UK investors back Swedish EV scooter Swedish electric scooter company VOI has won $50 million (£39 mil- lion) in funding from two UK-based investors. The funding comes as European investors seek to back a home- grown competitor to well-funded US scooter businesses Bird and Lime. VOI currently operates its electric scooter sharing service in Stock- holm as well as Madrid, Zaragoza and Malaga in Spain. The service allows customers to pick up the electric scooters in the street, ride them to their destination and then leave them on the pavement. The Telegraph, 18 November Options traders suffer from gas volatility The first casualty has publicly surfaced from last week's mayhem in energy markets, when a sharp decline in crude oil futures was followed by an explosive rise in US natural gas. Accounts managed by Option- sellers.com "had to be liquidated as a result of these moves", said INTL FCStone, the company's futures bro- ker. Optionsellers.com specialises in selling options contracts to earn income for its investors. Financial Times, 20 November California fires: death toll rises Strong winds on Sunday 18 Novem- ber were expected to hamper pro- gress for crews battling California wildfires, which have now claimed at least 79 lives. Gusts of up to 50mph were threatening efforts to control the blaze, which was still only 55 per cent contained ten days aer it brought devastation to northern California. The fire, which destroyed nearly 10,000 homes and has spread across 233 sq miles, is already the deadliest US wildfire in a century. The Guardian, 18 November STORY BY NUMBERS National media Capacity market suspended after EU court state aid ruling T he capacity market has been suspended until further notice aer an EU court overturned a 2014 decision by the European Commission authorising the scheme under state aid rules. The General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union said in its decision the commission had failed to prop- erly establish the technological neutrality of the mechanism. As a result, future auctions and payments under existing contracts have both been halted until the scheme receives fresh approval. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said it was work- ing closely with the European Commission to resolve issues. The case was brought by Tempus Energy in 2015, which argued that the capacity market discriminated against demand-side response (DSR), for example, due to the shorter contract lengths available to DSR aggregators when compared with generators. The company later claimed it was paradoxical for the com- mission to clear the UK scheme without conducting a formal investigation and then launch a general inquiry into capacity markets in 2016. In its ruling, the court said the commission should not have "simply relied" on information provided by the UK to reach its conclusion without undertaking its own analysis, and found in Tempus's favour. Tempus Energy chief execu- tive Sarah Bell heralded the judgement, saying: "A customer revolution is on the cards. This ruling opens the door for cheaper energy – greater use of DSR would change the way we use electricity in practice, and place customers at the heart of the system for the first time." Responding, BEIS said: "The ruling does not change the UK government's commitment to delivering secure electricity at least cost, or our belief that capacity market auctions are the most appropriate way to do this." TG See analysis, p6 Wales using more renewables Nearly half of Wales' electricity consumption last year came from renewable sources, according to the Energy Generation in Wales 2017 report. 48% The equivalent of 48 per cent of the country's electricity in 2017 came from renewable sources, compared with 43 per cent in 2016. 22% of all the electricity generated last year was from renewable sources, up from 18 per cent in 2016. 67,000+ The number of renewable energy projects in Wales, with a combined capacity of almost 3,700MW. 2.1TWh amount of usable renewable heat Wales produces – 10.5 per cent of its domestic demand. "[Renewables will be] cheapest full stop. Trilemma well and truly over. Shout it from the rooftops" Business and energy secretary Greg Clark says renewables will be the cheapest source of power by the mid-2020s in a speech to the Institute of Directors.

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