Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH NOVEMBER 2019 | 15 Finance & Investment Nottingham City Council will lend Robin Hood Energy £9.4 million to pay off its Renewa- bles Obligation payments. The retailer, which was set up by the council, was named by Ofgem as one of four suppliers that failed to meet the initial obligation payment deadline, owing a com- bined total of £14.7 million. Robin Hood Energy's chief executive, Gail Scholes, said: ENERGY Robin Hood Energy borrows £9.4m for Renewables Obligation bill "We have agreed an arrange- ment with Nottingham City Council that will see us paying our Renewable Obligations certificate payment in full by the [31] October deadline. The arrangement will see us paying our shareholder back over the next six months with interest." The loan was first reported by the Nottingham Post. Speaking to Utility Week previously, the supplier said it understood it had been given until March 2020 to pay what it owed a"er asking Ofgem for a payment plan. This, it said, was to help it manage business better amid the uncer- tainty caused by several factors, including Brexit. In addition, Robin Hood Energy said it will have to make a further multimillion-pound payment bow that the capacity Scottish isles power lines denied funding SSEN asked to submit revised needs cases after some windfarms fail to secure CfD agreements Ofgem has withheld funding for two new transmission connec- tions to Shetland and the West- ern Isles a"er several proposed windfarms on the archipelagos failed to secure agreements in the latest contracts for difference (CfD) auction. In March, the regulator provisionally approved a request by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) to spend £709 million connecting the Shetland Isles to the mainland power grid by 2024 via a 600MW subsea cable. SSEN has since cut its cost estimate to £649 million. However, final approval was conditional on the 457MW Viking Energy windfarm securing a contract in the auction, which it was unable to do. Ofgem has invited SSEN to submit a revised needs case for the connection. It said the firm may wish to consider "whether its current plans for the transmission link remain appropriate or if an alternative size of link or alternative conditions for approval should be proposed". SSEN is also seeking funding for a 600MW connec- tion between mainland Scotland and the Western Isles by 2023. In its final needs case, it estimated the cost at £663 million but has since cut this to £624 million. Ofgem declined the request in March due to concerns that the power line might be under-utilised, but said it would be minded to approve a smaller 450MW connec- tion if the Stornoway and Uisenis windfarms won CfDs. The 189MW Uisenis project succeeded in the auction, but the 180MW Stornoway project did not. Ofgem has therefore invited SSEN to submit a revised business case. Ofgem expects to publish an "in-principle" decision on the company's funding proposals for the Shetland link this month. TG ELECTRICITY Largest jack-up ship to install turbines at Dogger Bank SSE and Equinor have announced the world's largest jack-up installation vessel has been secured for the Dogger Bank windfarm. The Voltaire, which has a li"ing capacity of 3,000 tonnes and stands taller than the Eiffel Tower, will transport and install the world's largest offshore wind turbines, GE's Haliade-X, at Dogger Bank, which lies some 100km off the Yorkshire coast. The announcement marks the first contract placed for Voltaire, which will enter into service in 2022. The vessel is fitted with a highly advanced exhaust filter- ing system by means of a selec- tive catalytic reduction system and a diesel particulate filter, which the companies say makes it the first seagoing installation vessel of its kind to be an ultra- low emission vessel. When complete, the Dogger Bank windfarm will generate sufficient energy to power more than 4.5 million homes every year – around 5 per cent of the UK's electricity needs. ELECTRICITY Upgrade work starts on Islay and Jura SSEN commenced work last week on essential electricity net- work upgrades on the Hebridean islands of Islay and Jura. The work, worth approxi- mately £1 million, is to refurbish the existing network on Jura, which has been delivering power for around 60 years. SSEN expects to complete this by the end of November. The project forms part of a multimillion pound programme of investment to upgrade the electricity network serving the islands. Works on Jura will refur- bish the wooden electricity pole circuit from Lagg towards Islay, which is exposed to salt water that can erode the equipment. ELECTRICITY Power transformers for new garden city Two new power transformers weighing 68 tonnes each have been delivered to serve the new Garden City being constructed at Ebbsfleet in north Kent. The equipment was unloaded at a substation on site and will be connected and tested by UK Power Networks (UKPN) over the coming weeks. UKPN is delivering the electrical infrastructure project for the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. The corporation, which plans to invest £30 million in the electrical infrastructure, was set up by the government to acceler- ate the delivery of thousands of new homes and create a city connected by the high-speed railway to London and Paris. UKPN said the investment will provide power to 15,000 new homes and businesses. Shetland: 600MW subsea cable to mainland market has been reinstated. According to the Post, an auditor had warned the city council that its accounts could not be signed off until an annual audit of Robin Hood Energy was published. This was believed to be dependent on a "letter of comfort" being provided by the council, which it had not yet done at the time of the auditor's comments. This week

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