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UtILItY WEEK | 13th - 19th March 2015 | 5 EnErGY This week, SSE warned of a skills shortage in the energy industry, saying that around 208,000 people need to be recruited by 2023 to plug the gap. ahead of national apprenticeship Week – which runs from 9 to 13 March 2015 – the energy company said it would boost its number of apprentices (pictured) by 20 per cent through an investment of £11.68 million. "Apprenticeships put young people on track for a first- rate career, and with around 50 per cent of the sector's workforce set to retire by 2023, there is a need to invest now," said SSE director of hr John Stewart. Scottish Power to resume sales but it may face more penalties Ofgem has proposed moving ahead with the funding for three new interconnectors connecting the UK to the wider European power grid. The projects set to move ahead include two power links to France total- ling 2.4GW and a 1GW link to Denmark. Missing out on inclusion in the regulator's cap and floor funding regime is the 500MW interconnector to Ireland. Currently, the UK has 4GW of capacity in place, half of which links the country to France through one power link. A second 1GW cable connects the UK to the Netherlands and two 500MW links connect the UK to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The first new interconnector to be approved by Ofgem will connect the UK to Belgium through a 1GW link, and will be developed by National Grid and Belgium's Elia to begin operation in 2019. Full story, p18 Ofgem agrees funding for three new interconnectors Scottish Power will resume its sales activities on 16 March after Ofgem's 12-day ban concludes, but the supplier could face further penalties as the regulator's probe into its customer service issues continues. Ofgem forced the big six energy supplier to halt all proactive sales from 4 March after uncovering evidence that it failed to meet its agreed performance targets put in place in November last year. The supplier has been plagued by billing problems since implementing a new IT system last year, resulting in an increase in complaints. "We will continue to report our service performance on our website on an ongoing basis. We will also continue to work constructively with Ofgem to support the ongoing investigation," said Scottish Power chief executive Neil Clitheroe in a statement. A spokesman for Ofgem said the supplier could face further penalties once the full investigation had concluded. £100k a year The Drinking Water Inspectorate is seeking a new chief inspector, on a salary of £100,000 a year, as long-time boss Jeni Colbourne comes to the end of her tenure "It's disruptive, and the big energy companies don't like it" Energy secretary Ed Davey told a MoneySavingExpert. com event that collective tariff switching is on the up Greenlink 500MW FAB 1,400MW FAB2 1,000MW Viking 1,000MW Denmark United Kingdom Ireland France