Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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4 | 15th - 21st January 2016 | utILIty WEEK National media Climate change could cut power generation researchers at Wageningen university in the netherlands have studied how water-dependent generation will be affected by changes in streamflow and water temperature. 24,515 hydropower plants examined in the study. 1,427 thermo electric plants the researchers looked at. 61-74% hydropower plants expected to lose power in 2040 to 2069. 81-86% thermoelectric plants predicted to suffer reduced capacity during the period. Fracking triggers Oklahoma earthquakes Seismologists in Oklahoma have warned that a spate of earthquakes in the past seven years was triggered by fracking. Significant tremors measuring 4.7 and 4.8 on the Richter scale last week could signal a more dangerous earthquake to come as the drilling destabilises the bedrock. The Guardian, 10 January Hydro dams threaten Amazonian fish Plans for large hydroelectric dams in the Amazon, Congo and Mekong basins could put a third of the world's freshwater fish at risk, according to aquatic ecologists. Rising demands for clean electricity and new roads to remote areas has sparked plans for more than 450 dams across the three mega- diverse river basins. Very few dams have so far been built in the world's three great tropical rivers because of their remoteness and vast catchment areas. The Guardian, 8 January Scots wind power hits record levels Wind power output hit record levels in Scotland last year, generating enough power to supply all the domestic households in Scotland with capacity to spare on 29 out of 31 days in December. Turbines provided 10,392,439MWh of electricity to National Grid, enough on average to supply 2.34 million homes, up 16 per cent compared with the previous year. For homes fitted with solar panels, there was enough sunshine in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Inverness to generate an estimated 100 per cent or more of the electri city needs of an average home during April and May. The Scotsman, 11 January story by NUMbErs Foundation meters 'not a problem', says DCC chief Seven days... T he Data and Communi- cations Company (DCC) has dismissed industry concerns that a large number of foundation meters installed before its network goes live jeopardises the smart meter rollout's long-term future. In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with Utility Week timed to coincide with the release of the DCC's first four-year business plan, its managing director Jonathan Simcock dismissed claims that foundation meters, which are being installed across the country, pose a "massive risk" to the programme. He said the meters, which meet the first set of technical specifications for the smart meter rollout but not the second, could be integrated into the DCC's network, despite technical limitations. He promised to publish a feasibility report in the second half of this year outlining ways to prevent foundation meters becoming "stranded assets". However, the business plan reveals that customers who have had foundation meters installed will be locked out of the DCC network until at least 2018, limiting their capabilities to switch supplier and keep smart functionality. Simcock insisted the DCC is on track to go live in August 2016 – the latest in a series of start dates – although he acknowledged remaining "risks and uncertainties" that mean the date could still be pushed back. He said the DCC is work- ing "really hard" to meet the timeframe, but the network would not be taken live "unless it is right". LD The full interview with Jonathan Simcock will appear in next week's issue of Utility Week "[The CMA] have completely failed to substantiate the evidence they have got and I think they have overestimated what they have done" SSE chief executive Alistair Philips-Davies slams the CMA in an interview with the Financial Times. News, p23