Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/374674
UTILITY WEEK | 5TH - 11TH SEPTEMBER 2014 | 5 National Grid is taking extra measures to guard against the heightened risk of blackouts, as a string of recent unplanned outages threatens to halve the expected supply margins for this winter. National Grid said on 2 Sep- tember that it would manage the increased risk of a supply shortfall this winter through a precautionary tender process for supplemental balancing reserve (SBR). "This is a sensible precaution to take while the picture remains uncertain," said National Grid's UK market operations director, Cordi O'Hara. "At this stage we don't know if these reserve services will be needed, but they could provide an additional safeguard." Utility Week reported in last week's issue that the UK's safety margins could halve after the unexpected loss of 3GW of genera- tion capacity in recent months. SBR-contracted generation will be required to ramp up output between 0600hrs and 2000hrs between November and February to meet peak demand. ELECTRICITY Photon Energy has completed the installation of a large-scale, roof-mounted photovoltaic system at a high-tech waste management facility in Basildon for Essex Waste Partnership. It comprises 1,230 solar modules mounted on a steel trapezoidal roof above one of the halls. The system should meet 10 per cent of the electricity demand of the treatment facility and associated visitor and education centre. National Grid steps up fight against blackouts £250k The fine levelled against Thames Water for polluting a brook in Newbury in September 2012 16 years Gas-fired power burn fell to 16-year lows in Q1, according to government data. See the full story on page 28 "Everyone knows the Tories have been an obstacle to our greener vision" Lib Dem energy secretary Ed Davey on his party's decision to ban electricity generation from unabated coal in its 2015 general election manifesto "Decarbonising the power sector would be £23 billion cheaper for consumers" A group of ten charities, including WWF and the National Trust, has called on the UK's political parties to make setting a 2030 decarbonisation target a general election priority £450m Anglian Water has named more partners that will deliver £450 million-worth of contracts during the AMP6 period (2015-2020), including Barhale, Clancy Docwra, Kier MG, and Morrison Utility Services 10MW Total capacity of the Skerries Tidal Array Project in Anglesey, which was suspended by developer Siemens on 2 September 5% Draft proposals would cut UK water and sewerage bills by 5 per cent. See page 20