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4 | 2ND - 8TH OCTOBER 2015 | UTILITY WEEK National media Balfour Beatty becomes Humber Gateway Ofto Ofgem has named the preferred bidder to become the offshore transmission owner (Ofto) of the link to the Humber Gateway offshore windfarm as Balfour Beatty Equitix Consortium. £173.3 million Cost of link to Humber Gateway offshore windfarm 20 Number of years the deal will last 8km Length of the transmission link 73 Number of turbines at the windfarm 220MW Total installed capacity Shell stops Arctic activity after 'disappointing' tests Royal Dutch Shell has stopped Arctic oil and gas exploration off the coast of Alaska aer "disappointing" results from a key well in the Chukchi Sea. In a surprise announcement, the company said it would end explora- tion off Alaska "for the foreseeable future". Shell said it did not find sufficient amounts of oil and gas in the Burger J well to warrant further exploration. The company has spent about $7 billion (£4.5 billion) on Arctic offshore development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. BBC News, 28 September Greece seeks alternative to grid sale Greece wants to make its power grid operator ADMIE independent instead of privatising it, energy minister Panos Skourletis said ahead of an expected bailout review by international lenders. Under its latest EU/IMF bailout, Athens has agreed to start the privatisation of ADMIE in October or find alternative ways to open up its electricity market. ADMIE is owned by dominant power utility PPC. Skourletis said ADMIE should become a state-owned independent entity with its fixed assets remain- ing under the ownership of PPC. Cyprus Mail, 28 September Nasa finds evidence of flowing water on Mars Liquid water runs down canyons and crater walls over the summer months on Mars, according to Nasa researchers, who say the discovery raises the chances of the planet being home to some form of life. The trickles leave long, dark stains on the Martian terrain that can reach hundreds of metres downhill in the warmer months, before they dry up in the autumn. The Guardian, 28 September STORY BY NUMBERS E nergy supplier British Gas has lost its appeal to tighten price controls for five of the six distribution network operators (DNOs) and has been ordered to pay the costs incurred as part of the investigation. The inquiry into the multi- billion pound price control for the most part upheld Ofgem's RIIO-ED1 verdicts for the networks, calling for only marginal adjustments to prices over the eight-year period. It is not expected to have a mate- rial impact on the companies involved. British Gas called for tougher controls for the networks, while Northern Powergrid argued the case for greater leniency from the regulator. The CMA dismissed four of the five grounds of appeal brought by British Gas but upheld one, reducing the amount of revenue the five DNOs are allowed to recover through charges by around £105 million over the eight-year price control period. It also dismissed two of three grounds of appeal by Northern Powergrid (NPG) but upheld one relating to Ofgem's adjustments to reflect potential savings through smart grids and techno- logical innovations, increasing NPG's allowable revenue by about £11 million. As a result, British Gas has been ordered to pay 80 per cent of the costs incurred by the CMA, and Ofgem 20 per cent. In addition, British Gas has also been ordered to pay 60 per cent of Ofgem's costs in connection with the appeal. British Gas Trading, a subsidiary of parent company Centrica, referred Ofgem's price settlement to the CMA in March this year amid growing pressure on suppliers to reduce the costs they pass on to consumers. At the same time, NPG, one of the five companies affected by the British Gas referral, also sought permission to appeal against its RIIO-ED1 settlement on the grounds that the price control was too tough. The investigation was carried out alongside a wider probe into the energy market, the findings of which are now expected in April 2016. LV, JA CMA backs Ofgem in £17bn DNO price control appeal Seven days... "Banks are super-keen…" Swansea Tidal Lagoon chief executive Mark Shorrock is confident about financing the project, and told Utility Week that he was working towards final closure for next summer. More p17