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4 | 28th February - 6th March 2014 | utILIty WeeK National media The Green Deal the latest Green Deal statistics revealed that the government's flagship energy efficiency scheme was still strug- gling at the end of January 109 total number of Green Deal plans agreed in January 145,110 Green Deal assessments lodged by the end of last month 1,721 households have Green Deal plans in progress 746 "live" Green Deal plans £2.6m value of the Green Deal cashback vouch- ers that had been paid Shell hits out at Brussels energy policy Royal Dutch Shell has launched a broadside at what it said was a "European energy crisis" that could drive a ra of new coal power plants across the continent at the expense of cleaner alternatives such as gas. Policy confusion in Brussels means as much as 11 gigawatts of coal-fired generating capacity could come on line in Europe over the next four years, according to the company, one of the world's largest natural gas producers. The Financial Times Davey: North Sea more important than shale Too much em- phasis has been placed on UK shale gas at the expense of the North Sea, which offers greater and quicker potential for home-grown energy than fracking, Ed Davey has said. But urgent action was required to stem steep falls in North Sea output, and the Scottish people could not rely on the sector as a "money tree" capable of funding an independent Scotland, the energy secretary warned. The Telegraph Nuclear power needs flood defences Managers of a nuclear waste dump on the Cumbria coast have been or- dered to prepare to defend the site against floods and erosion, amid fears that radioactive material could one day leak into the sea. The Envi- ronment Agency fears that climate change could put at risk much of the waste, whcih is buried in vaults. The Independent on Sunday sTory by NUMbErs Ofwat will be shedding staff as it seeks to cut its budget by 10 per cent, in line with the government's Comprehen- sive Spending Review. The regulator has launched a voluntary exit scheme and said that at this stage it did not know what the headcount reduction would be. It said it hoped it would be met by voluntary exits. If not, redundancies could be made at a later date. Ofwat has been told it must cut its budget by about 10 per cent on a like-for-like basis by 2015/16. Cathryn Ross, Ofwat's chief executive, told Utility Week: "We won't be able to make that reduction without a reduction in headcount. What exactly that percentage is, is something we are not clear on yet and will become apparent over time." Ross said the price review would not be hit. "PR14 is abso- lutely, unequivocally, our top priority and we will do nothing to compromise that," she said. "If people working on PR14 want to be part of the voluntary exit scheme then obviously we will consider that, but there is no guarantee that we will accept applications or voluntary exit." Ross said the job cuts were part of a wider plan to stream- line and work more efficiently. "Even without budget pres- sures we would have certainly been looking at the skills mix of the organisation, the shape of the organisation, and the way we work," said Ross "By offering voluntary schemes we are giving staff the opportunity to take control and come and have that conversa- tion about what they want to do in the future, about the financial settlement they might get, and make an informed choice at an early stage," she said. CM Seven days... "Europe's early good intentions haven't been backed by policies and incentives that can deliver in the real world" Professor Stuart Haszeldine, professor of CCS, the University of Edinburgh The proportion of the UK's energy needs that could be met by homegrown biomass by 2050, according to the Tyndall centre for climate change research 44% Ofwat to make job cuts