Utility Week

4 | 17TH - 23RD JANUARY 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... 'Green energy' from eastern Europe relies on fossil fuels Some UK energy providers have turned to eastern Europe to buy cheap green energy certificates that let them claim they provide 100 per cent renewable energy while continuing to rely on fossil fuels. Such schemes are known in the industry as "dirty REGOs", in reference to watchdog Ofgem's Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) plan. These certificates let firms market their tariffs as completely green, when they might actually be buying electricity from a coal-fired power station. The Sunday Telegraph Bickerstaffe steps away from SSE Retail chief Katie Bickerstaffe's short-lived career leading major energy supplier SSE's household division is to end within weeks. The former Dixons Carphone executive will quit her role chairing SSE Energy Services when the company's sale to Ovo completes, which is likely to happen this month. Daily Telegraph Octopus Energy looks to fund expansion Octopus Energy is preparing to raise hundreds of millions of pounds of fresh funding to bankroll expansion in Scandinavia and as far afield as Japan. The company is one of Britain's fastest-growing energy newcomers and hired KPMG last year to advise on its expansion plans, which market sources said could secure a valuation approaching £1 billion. The loss-making business is eyeing opportunities to enter as many as four new markets over the next 18 months, Octopus Energy's founder and chief executive Greg Jackson said. The Sunday Telegraph Press roundup Treasury hints on nuclear and climate commitment T ackling climate change will be a "central priority" of March's upcoming Budget, a Treasury minister has told the House of Commons. Exchequer secretary Simon Clarke was quizzed during Treasury question time in the House of Commons last week on whether this year's set-piece tax and spending announcement, which will take place on 11 March, will be a "Budget for the climate emergency". Responding to a question by former energy and climate change secretary Sir Ed Davey, Clarke said: "We are clear that this is a central priority for the Budget in March." And he revealed that prime minister Boris Johnson gave a presentation on the COP 26 summit, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow later this year, at the first meeting of the Cabinet a"er the Christmas break. Describing the UN climate change summit as the "centre- piece" of the government's work on climate this year, Clarke said the UK has "maximum ambi- tion" regarding climate change. "We are committed to the Paris Agreement and delivering on it in full, and by committing to net zero we have led the world in this area." Clarke also provided MPs with the government's first post- election statement of support for the role of nuclear power. Responding to a call by Scottish National Party MP Alan Brown to scrap subsidies for nuclear power and reinvest them in onshore wind, he said: "We clearly need a diverse energy mix to help to deliver on that, and nuclear has a clear role to play within that settlement. We are very clear that we obviously monitor all projects to make sure they deliver maximum value for money, but we do need some baseload power." Clarke, who pressed ex-prime minister Theresa May to adopt the net zero target when he was a backbench MP in the last parliament, also dismissed a call by Labour for the government to adopt its Green New Deal strategy. "The electorate obviously gave their verdict on the relative credibility of our manifesto," he said. DB "There were a few moments of waking up in a cold sweat worrying about whether the final determinations would be worse" Fitch senior director Maria Fassakhova says Ofwat made some positive moves between the draft and final determinations. STORY BY NUMBERS Low-carbon vehicle surge Last year saw a surge in the registration of low-carbon vehicles, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 144% Growth in registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in 2019, overtaking plug-in hybrids for the first time. 37,850 Total number of BEVs registered, the biggest increase among alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs). 220% Increase in BEV registrations in December. 97,850 Number of hybrid electric vehicles in 2019, showing these still dominate the sector, with registrations increasing 17 per cent.

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