Utility Week

4 | 27TH MARCH - 2ND APRIL 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Energy storage boom stalls in Europe Europe's energy storage boom stalled last year due to a slowdown in large-scale schemes designed to store clean electricity from major renewable energy projects, accord- ing to the European Association for Storage of Energy (Ease). A study by consultants Delta-EE for Ease found that the European market grew by a total of 1GWh in 2019, a significant slowdown com- pared with 2018, when the energy storage market exceeded expecta- tions to grow by 1.47GWh. The slowdown in 2019 has emerged amid rising concern that the outbreak of the coronavirus may stall the rollout of clean energy tech- nologies in 2020, dealing a double blow to the clean energy industry. The Guardian Is hydrogen the future of home heating? Hydrogen is abundant in the natural world and according to its advocates could power the next generation of gas appliances cleanly and efficiently. "The attraction of hydrogen is that for a lot of consumers, they wouldn't notice any difference. Customers would continue to use a boiler to heat their homes in a similar manner to natural gas," says Robert Sansom of the Institution of Engineering and Technology's energy policy panel. He is the lead author on a study conducted by the institute called Transitioning to Hydrogen. The Guardian Crude oil price plunge hits Aberdeen In Aberdeen, the home of the UK's oil and gas industry, workers have been sent home or put on short- term working, and companies that exploit the North Sea basin have cut spending. North Sea oil producers require a breakeven price of about $40 a barrel. The price is currently around $27. The Times Press round-up Southern pleads guilty to EA charges and says jobs will go S outhern Water has pleaded guilty to all 51 charges brought by the Environ- ment Agency in relation to a series of incidents at wastewater treatment sites between 2010 and 2015. Meanwhile, the com- pany said it would have to cut jobs to "meet the tough financial challenge" set by Ofwat. Following the guilty plea, a hearing has been scheduled to decide on technical evidence relating to factual discrepancies that the court decided would make a difference to sentencing. The charges include 46 counts of contravening the requirements of an environ- mental permit and five charges of causing poisonous/noxious waste/pollution to enter con- trolled waters. Last year Ofwat ordered the company to pay £123 million in fines and customer rebates for non-compliance in its sampling processes and sample reporting. In a statement at the time, the company said it was "com- mitted to being as open as possible about these historic issues", adding: "The new management team at Southern Water is continuing to imple- ment change and is committed to improvement." Those improvements include £26 million being invested directly in Southern's waste- water treatment sites and a fur- ther £800 million to be invested in the environment over the next five years. Separately, the company will be cutting jobs across the business as it prepares for the financial challenges of the next regulatory cycle, which begins on 1 April. The job losses are understood to be fewer than 100 and will not affect frontline workers or services – but they will come from across the business. A spokesperson said any staff affected would be supported by the company. RW Energy companies should "not be afraid to do the right thing for their customers" Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, says the energy regulator will take a "pragmatic" view to rule bending in areas where it leads to the protection of vital services during the coronavirus crisis. (See Policy & Regulation news, p9) STORY BY NUMBERS Energy efficiency on the rise Figures released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show a small rise in the number of energy efficiency installations in 2019 compared with the previous year. 22,000 Energy measures installed through Energy Company Obligation and the Green Deal framework in 2019. 5% Percentage increase on the previous year. 2.8m Measures installed as of December, in 2.1 million properties. 30% Percentage of installations in 2019 that were new boilers, up from 16 per cent in 2018.

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