Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH NOVEMBER 2019 | 5 WATER Scarsella tipped for Thames top job According to press reports, Basil Scar- sella is the leading candidate to take over as chief executive of the UK's biggest water company, Thames Water. Scarsella, who is currently the chief executive of distribution net- work operator UK Power Networks and whose previous roles include serving on the executive committee of FIFA, football's world governing body, is said to be among a small number of people in contention to run Thames Water. The water and waste group, which has a total of 15 million cus- tomers, has been searching for a new chief since May, when it ousted Steve Robertson a… er less than three years in the job. An announcement is expected by the end of the year. Regulatory uncertainty, technical challenges and a lack of visibility over future revenues are impeding the development of flexibility services, a new report has found. Of the nine northern European markets examined in the Energy Transition Readiness Index com- missioned by Drax and Eaton, Great Britain ranked eighth in terms of its attractiveness to investors in flexibility. The report said there was "good political and public consen- sus" within Britain on the need to decarbonise but "this has not ENERGY Ofgem announces Brearley's replacement Cathryn Scott has replaced incoming Ofgem chief execu- tive Jonathan Brearley in his role as executive director for systems and networks. Scott joined Ofgem in 2013 as the legal director for E-Serve environmental schemes and the regulator's o• shore transmission tenders regime. Between 2016 and 2018 she was partner for wholesale markets and legal in the energy systems division, leading on the provision of legal advice and on Ofgem's oversight of the wholesale energy market, gas systems issues and set- tlement reform. In April 2018, she was appointed director of wholesale markets and commercial. Brearley replaces Dermot Nolan, who leaves on 31 January next year. Labour will not completely decarbonise the power sector by 2030, despite its party conference vote to push for net zero emissions by that date, a member of the shadow cabinet has said. Barry Gardiner, shadow secretary of state for international trade, told the Today programme on Radio 4 that Labour was committed to ensuring that 90 per cent of electricity generation is from renewable sources by 2030. Book your table Table bookings are open for this year's Utility Week Awards. The full shortlist is available at: https://utilityweekawards.co.uk APPOINTMENT translated fully into regulatory and market change". Markets are "generally open to all forms of flexibility" but are "highly fragmented and complex, with speci™ c products essentially targeted to speci™ c technologies". The Netherlands came ™ rst. Britain lagging behind European neighbours on fl exibility Britain lagging behind European neighbours on fl exibility Source: Energy Transition Readiness Index Netherlands Finland Sweden Denmark Ireland Norway Germany GB France 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ENERGY 'Hydrogen boilers should be mandatory' Replacing existing gas boilers with hydrogen-ready devices should be mandatory when they reach the end of their life, the Energy Networks Association (ENA) has urged in its general election manifesto. Global wind speeds have increased rapidly since 2010, a new study has found, reversing a 30-year decline in 'global terrestrial stilling' that it was feared could diminish renewable generation. The research was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

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