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UtILItY WeeK | 10th - 16th OctOber 2014 | 5 The chief executive of Scotland's largest provider of non-domestic water services has stepped down, according to a state- ment from the company. Business Stream's Mark Powles was appointed as the company's inaugu- ral chief executive in 2007, and will be replaced by the company's finance director, Johanna Dow, as interim chief executive. Chairman Ronnie Mercer said the company thanked Powles for his contri- bution and wished him the best for the future. The company did not offer a reason for Powles' departure. WAter Business Stream chief exec exits Icis published its latest quarterly report for the power market this week show ing that the Icis Power Index has risen over the third quarter due to increasing concern about winter gas supplies via Ukraine and nuclear availability from EDF Energy's UK fleet. "Going into this winter, concerns over nuclear availability and gas sup plies have boosted UK energy prices, although the Icis Power Index has trended downwards over the year as a whole," the report said. For more on this story, see page 28. Power prices up in Q3 "We found two bricks with a new crack, which is what we predicted" EDF Energy said the cracks found in the Hunterston B-4 nuclear unit during its most recent maintenance period fall well within the plant's safety limits and are not unexpected at this stage of the plant's lifetime. 52.4GW National Grid has approved 52.4GW of derated power generation capacity in its pre- qualification round for the UK's first capacity market auction. More on page 13 3 months Regulatory veteran Roy Field will take over Open Water Markets as chief operating officer for the next three months to manage the winding down of the company before it is taken back into Ofwat in January 2015. Northumbrian Water has won a contract to design, build, finance and operate a new wastewater treatment works in Gibraltar. The company said the construction value of the project was £22 million, after which a 20-year operation and maintenance phase would start. "It will require unique innovative technology because there are two water systems in Gibraltar, one supplying drinking water and the other using seawater for all sanitary purposes," the company said. The saline seawater content of the wastewater presents an additional challenge to the normal sewage treatment equipment and processes, Northumbrian Water said. 210 days Time remaining until the general election after the close of the Lib Dems' conference last Wednesday. 2 Jan 14 2 Mar 14 2 May 14 2 Jul 14 2 Sep 14 54 52 50 48 46 44 42 £/MWh Source: Icis 3 March: Ukraine's interim prime minister says Russia has in effect declared war 27 March: Seasonal changeover; 2015 season prices include higher carbon price support level 7 April: Ukraine rejects Russian gas price 25 July: EU pro- poses sanctions against Russia 4 September: UK nuclear reactors offline for longer than expected 29 September: seasonal changeover; 2015 season prices include higher carbon price support level 30 July: EU sanctions on Russia avoid gas industry 13 June: Ukraine military plane shot down; 17 June: CEE governments reassure markets on EU gas supply 2 May: European com- panies support flows to Ukraine from EU 28 August: rumours circulate that Russian troops have entered Ukraine Icis Power Index value £/MWh 20-day rolling average £/MWh Linear (Icis Power Index value £/MWh)