Utility Week

12 | 14TH - 20TH DECEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation Analysis lished technologies such as onshore wind and solar. In an interview with The House magazine in May, Perry said they will be able to com- pete again in future, but there has been no further update since. With the final grace period for securing support under the Renewables Obligation ending in January and the feed-in tariff due to close to new applicants in March 2019, developers will soon be le almost com- pletely reliant on merchant revenues to secure investment in new capacity. The solar sector will have taken relief from the recent announcement by Perry that the export element of the feed-in tariff will be retained in some form. However, the government has ultimately failed to explain how these supposedly mature technologies will be delivered in the coming years. The future is no more certain for the nuclear sector, with Toshiba announcing in November that it was finally pulling the plug on Moorside. The government has given assurances this is not an omen for the rest of the industry, but Hinkley is looking increas- ingly lonely. It's now more than two years since EDF gave the final go-ahead and still no others have signed on the dotted line. Then there is the capacity market. In February, the T-4 auction cleared at a record-low price of £8.40/kW as large-scale gas was once again pushed out – this time by interconnectors – perhaps explaining why RWE decided in November to abandon its plans to build 2.8GW of gas turbines at Tilbury in Essex. Coal continued to be driven off the sys- tem, with 2.8GW of capacity failing to win contracts in the T-1 auction as it too cleared at a record-low price of £6/kW. This proved to be the final straw for Eggborough power station, which closed for good in September. The next auctions were due to take place in early 2019. However, these have now been postponed indefinitely aer the European Court of Justice annulled a 2014 decision by the European Commission to approve the capacity market, saying the commission had failed to properly establish the compliance of the mechanism with state aids rules. The government has vowed to reinstate the capacity market as soon as possible, but before this can happen the scheme will need to be reapproved by the European Commis- sion, and this may require reforms. With regards to networks codes, there were several other key developments in 2018, the most significant being that Ofgem plans to hold a code review examining forward- The year in brief "Climate change is not just a problem affecting distant countries" £58.6m shortfall in Renewables Obliga- tion late payments for 2017/18 £1,137 final level of the incoming energy price cap, just £1 higher than the proposed amount IN OUT Martin Cave appointed as Ofgem chairman MOSL CEO Chris Scoggins makes a sudden exit on 19 November Thames Water spokesman on news Abbey Mills pumping station will run on 100 per cent renewables Lewis Shand Smith steps down as chief ombudsman after 10 years Moves Former Eon chief Tony Cocker becomes Energy Innovation Centre chairman Tim Stone appointed as new chair of Nuclear Industry Association UK Power Networks finance director Richard Roberts retires after 18 years "STEP UP" Water companies were told to improve their water retail market performance "We're extremely proud to be an industry leader in producing electricity from renewables." continued from previous page Eon UK chief executive Michael Lewis calls for action on climate change 'It would be really good to see the shape of the post-Brexit energy relationship with the EU' Joanne Wade, chief executive, Association for the Conservation of Energy

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