Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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4 | 26th september - 2nd OctOber 2014 | UtILItY WeeK National media £26 million deal to supply solar power St Peters Basin-based UK Sustainable Energy has secured a lucrative £26 million contract to provide BT with power for its Adastral Park research campus in Suffolk. The energy solutions firm, which was originally formed in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Centre, will supply its key UK research facility with all of its power for the next 20 years. The firm also has £425 million worth of funds available for other solar projects and is hoping to encourage North East firms with high energy consumption to take advantage of sustainable power at low rates. The Journal, 23 September Lab aims to prevent energy blackouts A multimillion-pound laboratory that could help prevent future energy blackouts across the UK opened its doors on Tuesday. The first of its kind, the £2 million Smart Grid Laboratory will allow experts to tap into the country's electricity grid, simulating events such as energy blackouts and power cuts due to severe weather. A joint project between Siemens Energy Automation Division and Newcastle University, the lab allows staff to test these future worst-case scenarios in real time, without any risk to customers. Newsnortheast.org, 23 September Drax move 'could harm forests' The UK's biggest coal power station has been accused of causing environmental damage as it moves to produce electricity from "renewable" resources by converting half of its boilers to burn wood. Environmentalists are worried the huge demand for wood pellets from Drax and other UK power stations will damage forests in the US. Dismissing the claims, Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson said: "We would only deal with pellet producers who deliver biomass from areas that are not protected. "By turning us into a renewable power station, biomass gives us a long-term future and it preserves jobs in Yorkshire." The wood pellets are to be shipped from the US because there are not enough UK trees to supply the power station. BBC, 22 September T he UK's opposition party drew its battle lines this week in the final Labour party conference to be held before the general election, and promised to wage war on utility bills if elected to power. One year on from Labour's dramatic energy price freeze pledge, the party returned its attention to the affordability of household bills, saying it would tackle both energy and water bills through a radical overhaul of existing energy efficiency projects and the introduction of mandatory social tariffs for vulnerable water customers. "The cheapest energy is the energy we don't use," shadow energy minister Caroline Flint told the conference. She then outlined a five-point election manifesto, promising that energy efficiency would be treated as a national priority (see page 12). Shadow environment secre- tary Maria Eagle echoed the call for a "new deal" for consumers, saying Labour will force water companies to offer compulsory social tariffs to vulnerable customers (see page 26). Labour's focus on the cost of living crisis reached its peak in leader Ed Miliband's speech on Tuesday aernoon where he laid the blame for a steady decline in living standards on the cur- rent government and outlined a six-point schedule of change for the next ten years. One of these points will be an increased focus on the green economy through the creation of 1 million "green jobs" which would help to achieve a near-zero carbon power sector by 2030. "Under this government, Britain lags behind Germany, Japan, the United States and even India and China when it comes to green technologies and services," he said. "We're going to commit to taking all the carbon out of elec- tricity by 2030," he promised, adding that he would empower the Green Investment Bank to borrow money and communi- ties to roll out Flint's plans for a wide-ranging insulation programme. JA Labour draws its battle lines around utility bills "The UK's energy sector was not looking forward to having to digest the impact of an independent Scotland" EY's environmental finance leader Ben Warren following the No vote in the 18 September referendum on independence Seven days... $76.10/ tonne The market price for European coal has fallen 10 per cent year on year to four-year lows ➟