Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH SEPTEMBER 2019 | 21 Finance & Investment Zero-carbon industry hub eyes £170m fund Consortium behind zero-carbon industrial cluster in Humber region campaigns for government funds Drax, National Grid and Equinor have launched a campaign to secure government backing for a zero-carbon industrial cluster in the Humber region. The consortium was formed in May in response to the govern- ment's announcement that £170 million of funds would be avail- able to support the development of the UK's first such scheme by 2040. The cluster would be anchored around a carbon cap- ture and storage network linked to Drax's power station in Yorkshire, where the firm is already capturing emis- sions from one of its biomass units as part of a £400,000 pilot project. To launch the campaign, the consortium has met MPs and policymakers to explain the benefits to the Humber – the most carbon-intensive industrial region in the UK – in terms of decarbonisation, jobs and export opportu- nities. It warned that if industrial businesses across the Humber failed to decarbonise, they would face between £1.4 billion and £4.2 billion in carbon taxes by 2040, making them less attractive to global investors and put- ting jobs at risk. The consortium is also inviting expressions of interest from businesses in the area to sign up to the campaign. It has already partnered with CATCH – a regional trade body for industrial businesses – and the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership. Drax Group chief executive Will Gardiner said: "By working together, the Humber region can become the world's first zero-carbon economy and thrive again as a British industrial powerhouse. "We can help Britain become a world leader in emerging technologies like carbon capture, preserving and creating jobs, and rebalancing the economy." Jon Butterworth, chief operating officer for global transmission at National Grid Ventures, said: "This campaign is about tackling carbon so that we can keep major industrial business across the Humber open. If we get it right, we will help put the region back on the world stage and attract the industries of the future. "The power industry has already made great strides to decarbonise the sector and continues to do so through the growth of renewables, battery storage and intercon- nectors. Today's [9 September] call for support repre- sents the next critical step in helping us make sure we also get our plans right for industry. I urge them to join us and help shape a better future for the Humber." The consortium is currently conducting feasibility studies and aims to have the cluster up and running by the mid-2020s. TG PAN-UTILITY Breaking ground: Thames Water, SSEN and other investment A roundup of projects happen- ing in the utilities sector. SSEN Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has completed a £2.8 million investment in Perth's electricity network. Engineering teams have ener- gised a new electricity substa- tion in Inveralmond Industrial Estate. The project will connect about 3,000 more homes, a school and other amenities at the Bertha Park development. Some 3.5km of underground cables have also been installed to increase the security of supply to properties in the area. EDF Reactor 3 at EDF's Hunterston B nuclear power station will need "additional technical analysis" to support its ongoing safety case assessment. The work is expected to be completed over the next six weeks. In an open letter, site director Colin Weir said: "A¨er discus- sions with Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) we have agreed that some additional technical analysis will be com- pleted to support the reactor 3 safety case assessment. "Through our interactions with ONR, the steps required to complete the assessment of the reactor 3 case have become much clearer, this has allowed the additional work and the assessment timescales to be bet- ter estimated." The reactor is now due to return to service on 15 Janu- ary 2020, pushed back from 1 October. Orsted The Danish renewable devel- oper opened the Hornsea Two Offshore Construction Base (HTOCB) at Humberside Airport in Lincolnshire. About 30 Orsted employees will be based at the airport and will be working to construct another offshore windfarm. Specifically, workers at the base will support the logistical project planning. They will also be able to move between the mainland and the windfarm via Humberside's heliport. Hornsea Two is 89km off the coast of Yorkshire and will power more than 1.3 million homes when completed in 2022. Muirhall Energy and WWS Scottish renewables devel- opers Muirhall Energy and WWS Renewables have begun construction of a 46MW onshore windfarm that could become Scotland's first subsidy-free pro- ject of its type when completed. Crossdykes windfarm, in Dumfries and Galloway, is thought to be the first subsidy- free development to be project- financed, with merchant bankers Close Brothers Leasing funding the scheme and turbines sup- plied by Nordex. Yorkshire Water Yorkshire Water has completed a £1 million scheme to stop eels swimming from the River Derwent into its water treatment works at Lo¨some Bridge in East Yorkshire. The treatment works abstracts water from the river to treat and supply as drinking water, but its previous inlet ena- bled fish to occasionally swim into the site. European small eels are now critically endangered. The EU Eels Regulations orders water companies to ensure their screens and inlets are designed to protect this species. Severn Trent Severn Trent has imported a type of biomass from Brazil to reduce ammonia in wastewater in Birmingham. Importing the anammox from a significantly warmer climate has the advantage of multiply- ing quicker and working more efficiently than biomass from temperate regions. Anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) is used to remove nitrogen-rich effluents. Humber industry faces increasing carbon taxes This week

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