Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/659239
4 | 1ST - 7TH APRIL 2016 | UTILITY WEEK Supply chain 'slavery' risk Utilities are at risk of non- compliance with the Modern Slav- ery Act obliging them to protect vulnerable supply chain workers, according to a worldwide survey of utilities carried out by Achilles. 39% of utility busi- nesses have no plan to find out who is in their supply chain. 19% admit they do not have a way of finding out contact details for their suppliers. 42% say it is likely they will be exposed by their suppliers in relation to mounting legislation. 31% award contracts to main suppliers without anti- bribery and corruption policy. STORY BY NUMBERS Don't let SMRs go the way of CCS, says Greatrex Seven days... N uclear Industry Associa- tion chief executive Tom Greatrex has warned the government not to repeat the mistakes made with its failed carbon capture and storage (CCS) competition process as it launches the first phase of a competition to encourage the development of small modular reactors (SMRs). Former shadow energy secre- tary Greatrex told Utility Week: "I think, broadly speaking, the government is taking exactly the right approach and there are a number of essential SMR technologies and vendors that are interested." However, he cautioned: "There are some very obvious warning signs about unsuccess- ful competition processes there have been in the past, and I'm thinking particularly of the CCS one." The government scrapped a £1 billion competition to develop CCS at the last minute in November, claiming "the economics really aren't working". The move was widely criticised for damaging investor confidence. Greatrex said a roadmap for SMRs set to be published by the government over the summer will be key to the success of its efforts. SMRs are smaller versions of conventional nuclear reactors, pre-fabricated before being transported on site. The mod- ules can be strung together to form larger power plants. In November last year, chancellor George Osborne pledged to spend £250 million on nuclear research and devel- opment, including a competi- tion to find the best value SMR design for the UK. The first phase of the competition was launched last month alongside the chancellor's budget. TG See analysis, p19 National media Fusion needs a 'Wright brothers' moment Nuclear fusion needs a "Wright brothers" moment to convince the world of its promise of unlimited clean and safe energy and so unlock significant private investment, ac- cording to a physicist who says his company is closing in on that goal. David Kingham, chief executive of Tokamak Energy, has announced his company's target of producing its first electricity by 2025 and feed- ing power into the grid by 2030, as well as investment from the UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The Guardian, 24 March I Squared targets UK after Viridian deal US infrastructure fund I Squared Capital is buying Viridian, the Irish power company, in a €1 billion deal that will serve as a springboard to enter the turbulent UK energy market. Viridian, owned by Bahrain- based Arcapita since 2006, provides 20 per cent of domestic energy supply across Ireland and owns gas-fired power stations and windfarms. Financial Times, 29 March America's water crisis 'goes beyond Flint' America's water issues extend far beyond the current crisis in Flint, Michigan, and it's going to take a massive infrastructure investment to protect citizens from serious pub- lic health dangers, say experts. In light of World Water Day, on 22 March, the White House, along with about 150 other institutions, pledged more than $5 billion to improve water accessibility and quality across the nation, acknowl- edging that "water challenges are facing communities and regions across the United States, impacting millions of lives and costing billions of dollars in damages". CNBC, 24 March "Cybercrime is a key concern for the water sector" Bournemouth Water managing director Bob Taylor issues a stark warning at WWT's Smart Water Networks Conference about the threat of cybercrime Photo: Kaeri