Utility Week

The Month in Review UTILITY WEEK | MAY 2022 | 7 32GW Current pipeline of UK battery projects – compared to 16GW a year ago. 35% of people polled by CCW in December 2021 cited untreated sewage as the "main cause" of river pollution, up from 21% in May 2021. £323m Amount awarded to 10 green inertia projects as part of National Grid ESO's stability pathfinder project. 2055 Proposed new closure date for the Sizewell B nuclear power station, which is currently due to shut down in 2035. 34% of new car registrations in March 2022 were electrified vehicles. £3bn Value of Orsted's 50% stake in the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm, which it has sold to Axa and Credit Agricole. 100 Number of wet wipe products that now meet the Fine to Flush accreditation. Little Hero Toilet Training Wipes were the 100th brand to sign up since the campaign began in 2019. Ofwat considers extending innovation competition and expanding its scope Ofwat has proposed running its innovation competi- tion beyond the original five-year timeframe and changing rules around background intellectual property (IP) in a new consultation. The £200 million competition began as part of PR19 to encourage the water sector to collaborate on developing ideas that could solve shared sector challenges around net zero, managing demand and supply, reducing leakage and improving services for billpayers. More than £43 million was awarded to entries in the first year of the scheme and submissions have been made for year two, which is divided into two parts depending on the size and scale of the proposed project. The regulator is now seeking input to make the most of the remaining allocated funds by attracting an even more diverse range of sectors to partner with water companies. It said it wants to hear from individuals, companies and representative bod- ies across academia, construction, the UK's space sector, chemical and pharmaceuticals, the digital sector, agriculture and fisheries, the energy sector, the marine sector, manufacturing and logistics, retail banking and fintech sectors. Ofwat plans to run the challenge again this year, in 2023 and again in either 2024 or 2025. It said it could potentially extend the competition beyond then and also wants to make it easier for participants from outside the sector to enter. The regulator has proposed an annual £4 million contest for early stage ideas in or outside the sector that would not require a partnership with a water company to enter. It plans to continue the main com- petition but change the rules to allow the licensing of background IP. Ofwat said the smaller of the two streams – for entries seeking £250,000 to £1 million – would not require water company partnership. It proposed mak- ing around £30 million available in the larger stream that offers projects funding of up to £10 million. • To explore how collaborative innovation can be brought to life, register for Utility Week Live 2022 on 17-18 May. For more details, see p26-27. The Month in Review April saw some major changes to the boardrooms of the utilities sector. Here are a few of the biggest moves: Yorkshire Water Chief executive Liz Bar- ber has announced her retirement ažer almost 12 years with the company. Former National Grid executive director Nicola Shaw will succeed Barber from 9 May. Shaw brings chief executive experience from High Speed 1 and as director of First Group. Currently she is a non- executive director at International Airlines Group. Barber joined Yorkshire in 2010 as group finance director, before becoming chief financial officer then chief executive in 2019. Ofwat The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has named Iain Coucher as its preferred candidate to succeed Jonson Cox as chair of Ofwat. Coucher is currently the chief executive of the Atomic Weapons ON THE MOVE Establishment and formerly of Net- work Rail between 2007 and 2010. Subject to approval by a select committee, Coucher will take the post from 1 July. Cox has agreed to stay on as chair until 30 June. Meanwhile, the regulator has appointed David Black as its permanent chief executive ažer 12 months in the role on an interim basis. Black has worked for Ofwat since 2012 and was previously chief regulation officer. Electricity North West Peter Emery has announced his retire- ment from Electricity North West ažer six years as chief executive. The distribution network opera- tor said Emery had made the deci- sion for personal reasons and that he would continue in the role until his successor is appointed. Having joined ENW in 2016, Emery's previous roles include group operations director at Drax and as refinery operations manager at multinational oil and gas com- pany Exxon Mobil. The ENW board thanked Emery for his "outstanding leadership of the company, and for his extraordi- nary contribution during a period of significant evolution in this industry". Energy UK The trade body has announced Siobhan Kenny will step in as interim chief operating officer while chief executive Emma Pinchbeck is on maternity leave. Kenny, who previously served as chief executive of the industry body for commercial radio, Radiocentre, will support the existing team of directors and members throughout 2022. Prior to her time at Radiocentre, Kenny was director of communica- tions and chief of staff to the chief executive at HarperCollins, VP com- munications for EMEA Walt Disney TV and director of strategy and communications at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. SES Water Jeremy Pelczer has stepped down as chair of the water company ažer nine years in the role, with Dave Shemmans to take over the non- executive position. Shemmans, former CEO of Ricardo, has sat on the SES board of since 2014 as a non-executive direc- tor with a wealth of management and consultancy experience.

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