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National media Fears of Sellafield radioactive leaks Hundreds of radioactive fuel rods at Sellafield nuclear power station have sparked concerns over poten- tial leaks aer images of the storage ponds containing them revealed cracks. Sellafield has hundreds of radioactive rods in two storage ponds that are 60 years old. The images reveal the ponds have cracked concrete and weeds growing around derelict machinery. The Telegraph, 30 October Low oil prices threaten energy projects Sliding oil prices threaten to choke off some of the billion-dollar pro- jects around the world drilling for fresh energy supplies destined for Asian consumers. These include costly shale gas exploration in the US, expensive drilling that's hundreds of metres deep in the ocean and oil sands pro- jects in Canada. These risky projects were launched when oil prices were well above $100 a barrel on a bet that prices for conventional energy would stay high. Wall Street Journal, 4 November Chile could look to Scottish marine power Experts in Scotland think renew- able energy from the sea – wave and tidal energy – could provide cheap electricity to Chile's remote communities and be used to power desalination and water pumping. Gareth Davies, managing direc- tor of Scottish renewable energy consultancy Aquatera, said: "In terms of wave energy resource, Chile is one of the richest, if not the richest countries in the world. "Its coastline receives more wave energy than any other." The total available wave resource in Chile is estimated to be 240GW – ten times more electricity than it currently uses. The Guardian, 29 October T he transmission and dis- tribution networks will be opened up to competition by the regulator, according to the Ofgem chief executive. Giving evidence to the Energy and Climate Change select com- mittee (ECCC), Dermot Nolan said the regulator would "make more elements of these compa- nies open to competition". He told MPs this was "very much a goal for Ofgem" and that it would increase the efficiency of the energy networks and lower the costs ultimately paid by consumers. Nolan added that while regu- lation of the sector had "very much delivered", increased com- petition would "force [network operators] to deliver even more". He offered the Caithness Moray subsea transmission link as an example of a project that would have been "much better if we could have tendered that process out publicly". The regulator approved plans for a subsea power cable, but at a funding level 16 per cent lower than requested by SSE's Scottish Hydro Electricity (SHE) Transmission company. Nolan said: "The most obvi- ous case for further competi- tion is on larger projects, what we have called strategic wider works – major transmission projects designed to bring parts of the grid together." He added that the types of projects that would be ripe for competition include the grid connection for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, which is set to be built by EDF Energy by 2023. MB Networks will face greater competition, says Nolan Seven days... Emissions must be cut sharply Global green- house gas emissions must fall "sharply and rapidly" to limit the impact of climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 40-70% Cuts needed in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 zero or below Total carbon emissions by 2100 0.06% Percentage point impact of the required mitiga- tion measures on 21st global economic growth, which is estimated at 3 per cent. story by NUMbErs £8,276 Amount raised by Sembcorp Bournemouth Water, Ports- mouth Water and Sutton and East Surrey Water for WaterAid through a fundraising event at Goodwood racecourse 28 March UK gas price for prompt delivery was at its highest since March on 30 October as Norwegian deliveries fell before a cold start to November "This is the highest number of suppliers we have seen since we began regularly reporting on supply competition in 2005" A report from Cornwall Energy found that there were 19 suppliers selling dual fuel tariffs to households in July. 4 | 7Th - 13Th November 2014 | UTILITY WeeK