Utility Week

8 | 3RD - 9TH MAY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Interview efficiency says Anderson, from controlling the level of output from a turbine – and managing the grid in a smart way – to installing charging points at the consumer end for EVs and helping users optimise cost with time-of-use tariffs. He says the old-fashioned model was to just built a wind farm and connect it to the grid. The system opera- tor could then tell you to switch it off if the power wasn't needed. That model is changing. "What we're now see- ing is the capability to move away from that model and say 'actually, if you hand over the minute-by-minute monitoring of the wind farm and its output to the distri- bution system, we will manage the project on and off '. "That means the owner of the wind farm is getting to connect to the system constantly, and is constantly get- ting a degree of output as opposed to being switched off the system." He says greater interconnection with other countries developing in the North Sea also provides a means of capturing more of the renewable energy, so generation capacity is not wasted. "Soon you're getting to a point where projects being built by the UK, in the UK's part of the southern North Sea, are nearing the borders of projects being built by Germany, by Holland and Denmark. And then you can start to move towards having an integrated system and start feeding the power in all directions." What about onshore wind? Anderson praises the recent offshore sector deal which he helped launch in March, setting out how government and industry can work together to grow the offshore wind sector so it can provide one-third of UK electricity by 2030. However, the lack of support for onshore wind in the contracts for difference mechanism is something of a sore point. He says it's essential to protect investment in existing sites, and bring new ones on stream as well. Though the market for offshore wind is much larger, onshore wind can play its part. "We're looking at all the options. Our preference would be for onshore to be on the same contracts for dif- ference mechanism as offshore, and that would be the simplest and easiest way of delivering it. And we're still in lots of conversations with the government about that." Another avenue it is exploring is doing deals directly with big corporates that want to make sure they are "helping to deliver a sustainable future". Anderson says that having gained ground in the US, this market is start- ing to develop in the UK, and Scottish Power is in discus- sion with a number of companies. He says the next big challenge is tackling climate change and transport. "Our role, and my vision, is how we start investing and developing and rolling out a grid system that is capable of allowing an exponential rise of EVs – possibly by the mid-2020s." Anderson says Scottish Power is looking at where to install a whole series of strategic charging locations across the country, so people can charge at home, work, or various strategic locations across the road network. "Another great thing for consumers is that it drives down the cost of owning a vehicle, and the cost of trans- portation. To fill your car up with petrol is probably £70/80. To fill up with electricity is £5." Was being a first mover in renewables a big risk? "Taking steps like shutting down a coal plant or selling off your gas, those are huge, massively important strate- gic decisions. But if you keep looking at the future, your belief in the future, your belief in the need to tackle cli- mate change, and belief in the model that you set out, then it helps you to manage and mitigate that risk. "But absolutely, if you go faster, you do it before oth- ers, you gain the benefits. And that's exactly the same with the start of the renewables." "Why were we so successful with onshore wind in the UK? Because we got involved before nearly everyone else. Why did we manage to build the largest onshore wind farm in the UK? Because we went out and found the sites before anyone else. Why is it we're in the pro- cess of building a 700MW offshore wind farm, and why is it we're going to build a 1.2GW offshore wind farm? Because we got involved early in the process. "I was asked the other week if I was frightened that competitors might catch us up. And I said 'well they can keep trying if they want.' But we're going faster than them right now, and we're pushing ahead, and we're delivering, we're showing that we're different, and customers are responding to that." U lity Week Live takes place on 21-22 May at the NEC in Birmingham. To find out more go to: h ps://www.u lityweeklive.co.uk Keith Anderson on… … the future for nuclear I can understand why any government wants to make sure it manages and balances the portfolio. Right now nuclear is a big chunk of that in the UK and you don't want to lose all of that at once. When the government announced the contract for Hinkley, we didn't criticise the contract, although there was criticism about the cost of the contract. Our challenge then, and it remains the same challenge we would give nuclear power today, is show us how you're going to bring the cost down. Because for onshore wind, we've brought the cost way down, down to about £40 MWh. For offshore wind, we've taken it from £150MWh, to the last auction which settled at £57MWh. But with nuclear, you've got a contract at £95MWh, show me how you can bring the cost down? … alternative technologies We'll continue to keep an open mind about other technologies. The challenge for those technologies is showing how they can deliver volume on to the system, how they can do it quickly, and in a cost-competitive way. In terms of areas like wave and tidal, wave in particular has struggled to dem- onstrate reliability, let alone bring down costs. For tidal, I think they're very close to demonstrating reliability, their challenge now is showing us how they can bring down the cost. … the price cap The price cap is there, it's been implemented. Our absolute view and belief is that in some way, shape or form, we need to get back to a fully functioning market. That's going to involve several things happening around making sure we, the industry, are seen to be dealing with the issue of vulnerability, and making sure that those people who need to be protected are being looked aŠer, in a competitive market. It's incumbent on us, and everyone in the sector, to come up with a way of doing that. Conference call Keith Anderson is speaking at Utility Week's Energy Summit, in London on 13 June. For more information go to https://event.utilityweek.co.uk/summit/

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