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4 | 18TH - 24TH DECEMBER 2015 | UTILITY WEEK National media 'Record numbers' choose small suppliers Record numbers of customers have switched to smaller electric- ity suppliers this year, according to Energy UK's chief executive Lawrence Slade. 3.5m number of cus- tomers who have switched electric- ity supplier in 2015. 29% percentage above the average num- ber of electricity switches for November. 113,780 number of people who switched supplier in November this year. 50% rise in market share for inde- pendent energy suppliers. Ford to expand EVs Ford will invest $4.5 billion to ex- pand its range of plug-in and hybrid electric vehicles and will have 13 new electric models on the market by 2020. The fleet will include a new Ford Focus that will take an 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes with an estimated range of 100 miles, the US car giant said. The initiatives are part of an effort by chief executive Mark Fields to counter firms offering alternatives to car ownership and regulators who want vehicles to emit less carbon dioxide. BBC, 11 December EU funds hydrogen storage project An EU-funded project is aiming to develop hydrogen storage that can be used with smart grids to balance intermittent renewables. The storage facility, dubbed the Ingrid project, will be located in Puglia, Italy, the Italian region with the largest amount of renew- able power. European Commission, 10 December Unilever aiming for sustainability by 2020 Consumer goods giant Unilever aims to halve its carbon footprint and use sustainable raw materials by 2020. Unilever chief executive Paul Polman said: "Consumers are demanding sustainably sourced products, sometimes it might be because they want to save the orangutan or because they feel very worried about air pollution." To reach its target, Unilever wants to ensure that all palm oil bought by the company – estimated to be 3 per cent of global produc- tion – will be sustainably sourced. Unilever last month opened a $202 million palm oil facility in north Sumatra, to ensure that all palm oil which goes through that facility is traceable to mills. Straits Times, 14 December STORY BY NUMBERS Auction fails to foster new large generation Seven days... "Silage, slurry, chicken litter and beet" The UK Green Investment Bank and Foresight have committed to invest £1.7 million in the construction of an anaerobic digestion plant in Northern Ireland developed by a farming family and using local waste. T he UK government's second capacity auction has failed to bring forward fresh large-scale generation capacity for use in 2019/20, instead awarding the bulk of its support to existing generation and interconnectors. The reverse auction cleared at £18.00/kW/year, lower than last year's auction price and at a level too low to bring forward much-needed investment in new large-scale gas-fired capacity. Of the 46.3GW secured through the auction, just 2.4GW of successful capacity is from new or refurbished generation, said auction administrator National Grid. And the only "new" units larger than 30MW to succeed were SSE's Ferrybridge multi- fuel plant, which already secured a one-year contract for 2018/19 through last year's auction, and Carrington Power's CCGT, which is due to begin commercial operations in June next year. The remaining new-build plants fell below 30MW and are understood to include a significant number of gas and diesel-fired generators, which critics say undermines the gov- ernment's bid to decarbonise the energy sector. National Grid said that of the 57.7GW that entered the auction, 80.3 per cent received capacity agreements. Of the 46.3GW of successful capacity, 42GW is existing capacity and 1.8GW is existing interconnector capacity. Last year the auction cleared aer three days of declining bids from participants, falling below the £25-40/kW predicted by analysts to £19.40 per kilowatt per year to secure 49.3GW for 2018/19. JA For Utility Week's full analysis see page 25. 2004 The last time that Brent crude prices were this low. See p21 for news.