Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 13TH - 19TH MARCH 2020 | 5 "I would think water and grids will be seen as relatively safe havens" Dominic Nash, utilities analyst at Barclays, pointed to the resilience of water companies and National Grid on Monday as the latter's shares saw only a relatively low decline of 3.7 per cent as global stock markets suffered a bloodbath due to fears about the Coronavirus. Five House of Lords committees have banded together to mount a joint inquiry into the actions the government is taking to tackle climate change and its preparations for the COP26 summit later this year. International carbon markets will be one of the issues under the microscope during the inquiry, which will also hear from soon to step down Bank of England governor Mark Carney in his new capacity as green finance ambassador. The inquiry will culminate on 25 March, when members from the five committees will conduct a joint grilling of Alok Sharma, secretary of state for business and energy and president of COP26. WATER Anglian to power Grafham Water site with 42,000-panel solar array Anglian Water has announced plans to install an 11.6MW solar array at its Graam Water site in Cambridgeshire. The nearly 42,000 solar panels are expected to generate more than a quarter of the 45GWh of electricity used annually at the site, which contains a reservoir, a water treatment works and a pub- lic park, and cut carbon emissions by 3,500 tonnes a year. Anglian said it has already reduced emissions from construction by 58 per cent since 2010 and emissions from operations by 35 per cent. It is aiming to reach net zero by 2030. David Riley, head of carbon neutrality at Anglian Water, said: "We supply over six million cus- tomers across the East of England with water and water recycling services and the population continues to grow rapidly – in fact this region is one of the fastest growing in the UK and one that is at risk from climate change. "Our challenge is to address this increasing demand for services sustainably, and it's that challenge which underpins our ambitious renewable energy strategy," he added. ELECTRICITY Networks launch scheme to unlock spare capacity A scheme to make greater use of network capacity in southern Eng- land has been launched by National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), National Grid Electricity Trans- mission and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN). An active network management (ANM) system is being introduced in the region that will allow distributed generators with flexible connection agreements to continue providing power during periods when they previously may have been required to switch off in anticipation of a fault or to avoid overloading the network. They will instead be able to adjust their output in real time to stay within the necessary limits. "It either means that those existing generators get greater access without network investment or it allows you to connect more generators to fill that network capa- bility," said ESO head of networks Julian Leslie. He said connecting customers will be provided with data indicating to what extent they are likely to be required to curtail their output, which they can then run through their business models and make a decision on whether to accept a flexible connection. Leslie told Utility Week the scheme is "unique" in that "it's one of the first that transitions between distribution and transmission, so it's truly a whole-system solution". Stewart Reid, head of future networks at SSEN, said: "It is great to see ANM being applied at scale in the south of England. "The concept of ANM-enabled 'smart-grids' originated in Orkney, about as far as you can get from these latest installations, and shows how the combination of renewables and smart network management techniques can help the UK meet its net-zero goals." The ESO said ANM systems offer "vast improvements" over the traditional intertrip systems used to switch off generators during adverse network conditions. The system is expected to go live in the first quarter of 2021. ESO's first chief engineer National Grid Electri- city System Operator has appointed Roisin Quinn as its first ever chief engineer. It said the new role will ensure there is a significant focus on engineering at a senior level of the organisation, while strengthening its efforts to attract new talent. Quinn, who is already respon- sible for operating the electricity control room as the ESO's head of national control, joined the Grid in 2004 as an electrical engineering graduate. She is one of six women in its leadership team of nine. APPOINTMENT £1.2bn Value of Severn Trent's investment plan over the next five years: £700m to be spent on improving the natural habitat; £250m on managing water scarcity; £200m on decarbonisation and £50m on strengthening its role in society.

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