Utility Week

4 | 29TH NOVEMBER - 5TH DECEMBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... National Grid and SSE go offshore Two leading power companies have shi ed ownership of their British operations into o shore companies to protect against Jeremy Corbyn's threat of cut-price nationalisation. National Grid and SSE, which together own Britain's entire gas and electricity transmission spine, con• rmed they had created overseas holding companies in recent months to seek shelter from Labour's renationalisation agenda. SSE has put its UK business into a new Swiss holding company; National Grid has shi ed its gas and electricity businesses into subsidiar- ies in Luxembourg and Hong Kong. The Sunday Times ScottishPower plans windfarm expansion ScottishPower is planning a major expansion of onshore windfarm projects across Scotland in anticipa- tion of a government U-turn on support for wind power projects. Its renewable energy arm has considered almost 100 sites for a new generation of windfarm, using fewer, more powerful wind turbines to generate clean electricity. Most of the sites are in Scotland, but it is also considering plots in Ireland. ScottishPower expects the Con- servative party's block on onshore generation to be cast aside in the next parliament due to the growing need for cheap, clean energy. The Guardian Solar farms can keep UK lit up even at night Solar farms could soon play a vital role in the energy system 24 hours a day, a er a breakthrough trial proved they can help to balance the grid at night. National Grid used a solar farm in East Sussex to smooth overnight voltage fluctuations for the • rst time earlier this month, proving solar farms don't need sun- shine to help keep the lights on. The Guardian In the media Suppliers owe £38m in capacity market payments The rst list of unpaid invoices from the restarted capacity mar- ket has shown a £38.2 million de cit so far. A summary of missed pay- ments published by the Electric- ity Settlements Company (ESC) listed 33 suppliers who had so far failed to make a payment. Nine of these have already ceased trading. A mutualisation process to recoup the lost funds will start next month and ESC has con rmed there is already a shortfall of at least £8 million. The invoices, submitted earlier this month following the reinstatement of the capacity market, cover a year of uncol- lected charges totalling £1.2 billion. The list is topped by Hudson Energy, which owes c£9 million. The group was acquired by Shell last month. Co-Op Energy is also listed as owing £6 million. Last month Octopus Energy acquired the customer base of Co-Op Energy and sister brand Flow Energy, which is listed as owing £3 mil- lion. Octopus said the responsi- bility for the payment lies with the Midcounties Co-Operative, which has yet to respond to Util- ity Week's request for comment. Also with outstanding payments over £1 million are the now defunct Toto Energy (£1.1 million), Eddington Energy (£1.5 million), Eneco Energy (£1 million), Foxglove – the Outfox the Market operator (£1.3 million), PFP (£1 million), E (gas and Electricity) (£2.9 million), Economy Energy (£2 million) and Pozitive Energy (£3.8 million). The total amount owed equates to 3.3 per cent of total capacity market payments. A spokesperson for the ESC told Utility Week this included sev- eral direct debits the organisa- tion is currently waiting for. The rst mutualisation process starts next month, with a potential second round to be held in spring 2020. The spokesperson said: "ESC will be taking every step we can to reduce the outstand- ing amount prior to issuing the mutualisation invoices on 13 December." JW "This should be a wake-up call for policymakers and sea space planners" The UK needs to install 80GW of offshore wind in the North Sea by 2050, a new report from Wind Europe says. STORY BY NUMBERS Reaching net zero The UK will miss its 2050 emissions targets unless government supports renewables, Aurora Energy Research's John Feddersen warned at a "deep decarbonisation" event held by Moody's. £4-9bn Amount UK will need to spend per annum to reach net zero. 190TWh Figure Feddersen said excess power could amount to under National Grid's Two Degrees Scenario – more than half the UK's current annual electricity demand. 3.6TWh Amount needed to maintain supplies during occasional "wind- droughts" that can last up to two weeks. 50% According to Moody's own forecast, the share of electricity production in Great Britain that renewables will account for. Source: Energy Settlements Company £10m £9m £8m £7m £6m £5m £4m £3m £2m £1m 0 Suppliers owing more than £1m Foxglove (Outfox the Market operator) E (Gas and Electricity) Eneco Energy PFP Economy Energy Eddington Energy Toto Energy Hudson Energy Co-op Energy Pozitive Energy Flow Energy

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