Utility Week

utILItY WeeK | 24th - 30th June 2016 | 5  The campaign behind the smart meter rollout – Smart Energy GB – launched its latest advert on television on 16 June. The 60-second ad sees the campaign's mascots, Gaz and Leccy, cause mayhem with familiar household appliances alongside the message: "Let's get Gaz and Leccy under control." Oscar- winning British actor Jim Broadbent voices the advert. £1,209.81 Ofwat has ordered Southern Water to pay a refund to a customer after a dispute about con- nection costs to a residential premises. "Ofgem's proposal… should have the big six scared" Price comparison site Gocompare says a proposal from Ofgem to introduce a "safety net" for con- sumers' credit balances would likely encourage more consumers to switch to smaller suppliers. Grid charts Euro pickups the national Grid infographic shows electricity demand spikes during the euro 2016 football match between england and Wales on 16 June. Demand spiked both during half time and as soon as the match had ended. engineers in the Grid control centre – who monitor surges in electricity demand – call these times "tV pickups", as kettles and lights are switched on and fridge doors opened. Grid said the equivalent of about 73 million fridge door lights were activated during the england vs Wales match. Tideway 'will learn from other projects' Welsh Water invests in demand-side response Tideway has said it will learn from the recent ex- perience of other major infrastructure projects, such as the Lee Tunnel, Crossrail and the Olym- pics, to ensure it delivers the Thames Tideway Tunnel on budget and ahead of schedule. Chief operating officer Mark Sneesby told Utility Week that the company's confidence is "based on the rigour of the procurement pro- cess to appoint the main works contractors, as well as the systems integrator contract". "Equally, we are also working hard to ensure the project comes in ahead of schedule. The existing target is late 2023 or early 2024, but we are aiming to take up to two years of this programme," he said. The main works contractors are "setting up shop" at three major sites, and construction is due to begin in October. The project has been slammed in recent months for being an "outdated and expensive folly", which is not needed to maintain the Tide- way's water quality. Welsh Water has signed an agreement with Open Energi to roll out demand-side response technology across its network to manage peaks and troughs in electricity supply and demand. The water firm said it expects to aggregate about 5MW from 25 of its sites during the first phase of implementation. The "dynamic demand" technology auto- matically adjusts a pumps' power consumption, but has no impact on Welsh Water's operations. Open Energi commercial manager Chris Kimmett said: "The water sector consumes a lot of energy, but much of it is not time-sensitive, so there is huge scope for water companies to be flexible about when they consume energy and shift their demand intelligently." Welsh Water said that installing the technol- ogy supports its wider strategy to protect the environment and reduce its carbon footprint. Open Energi and Welsh Water plan to expand the partnership to include extra equipment and processes across its network. WAteR WAteR

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