Utility Week

4 | 27TH SEPTEMBER - 3RD OCTOBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Google commits to $2bn renewable spend Google's chief executive has revealed plans for the biggest renewable energy deal in corporate history. Sundar Pichai said the clean energy deal will include 18 separate agreements to supply Google with electricity from wind and solar projects across the world. The search engine's green energy portfolio will grow by 40 per cent, giving the company access to an extra 1.6GW of clean electricity – the equivalent capacity of a million solar roo€ops, the company said. The Guardian, 20 September Oil CEOs push carbon- capture efforts ahead of climate talks A group of 13 major oil companies have charted out a plan to promote investments in carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), ahead of a gathering in New York. Oil chiefs grappling with grow- ing demand for action to fight cli- mate change have looked to invest in carbon capture and sequestration techniques that some executives, including Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub, say could make drilling carbon neutral. Reuters, 23 September Wave energy 'to power subsea equipment' A company trying to commercialise the use of a small wave energy machine to power subsea equip- ment has set up a base in Aberdeen. Edinburgh's Mocean Energy hopes its Seabase project will attract oil and gas industry interest. Seabase is described as a small wave energy machine that is robust enough to generate power in the harsh North Sea environment. The company said it could initially be used to provide backup power. A prototype of Seabase has undergone tank testing in France. BBC, 23 September Around the world Labour commits to net zero by 2030 and wind bonanza L abour party members have backed a pledge to reduce greenhouse emissions to net zero by 2030 – two decades earlier that the government's current target. The commitment is part of the Green New Deal motion, which delegates at the party's conference in Brighton voted to adopt by an "overwhelm- ing majority" earlier this week (24 August). Lauren Townsend, trade unionist and spokesperson for Labour for a Green New Deal, said: "The Labour movement has voted to take leadership on the climate emergency witgh a response which puts people and planet before profit. "Now the ambition has been set, it is time for our movement to come together to build a Green New Deal from the ground up in every town, village and city." The motion also commits the party to take Great Britain's energy networks and biggest energy suppliers back into public ownership, introduce a complete ban on fracking and make large-scale investments in renewable and low-carbon energy. The previous day, shadow business and energy secretary Rebecca Long Bailey announced plans for a Labour government to build 37 new offshore wind- farms by 2030. Under the "People's Power Plan", Labour would deploy 52GW of offshore wind by 2030, providing enough electricity for 57 million households. The party aims to use a one- fi"h share of all profits from the publicly owned stake to invest between £600 million to £1.02 billion each year in the infra- structure of coastal communities such as harbour fronts, leisure centres, libraries and parks. The remaining 80 per cent of profits from the public stake would be reinvested into new renewables generation, improvements to the wider energy system and climate transition. DB 'A complete restructuring of the energy sector would not only be costly and unnecessary, but would also lead to significant disruption and delays to achieving net zero by 2050" David Smith, chief ENA executive, responds to a Frontier Economics report. STORY BY NUMBERS Ofgem acts on worker's complaints Ofgem accepted 76 reports from workers in the energy sector in the year to March 2019, its second annual whistle- blowing report has revealed. 25 of the reports submitted did not lead to the regu- lator contacting the employer. 20 are still subject to enquiries. 2 were referred to another body. 5 led to direct contact with employer and were resolved at first contact. 10 led to direct contact with employer and were resolved but not at first contact.

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