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UTILITY WEEK | 16TH - 22ND SEPTEMBER 2016 | 5 Dong Energy has installed the world's largest offshore wind turbine, at the Burbo Bank Extension in Liverpool Bay. Standing 195m high, the MHI Vestas 8MW turbine is taller than the Gherkin building in London. Once completed, the 256MW windfarm will feature 32 turbines, providing enough power for 230,000 homes. A report into the decarbonisation of heat by think-tank the Policy Exchange has urged the Department for Business, Energy and Industri- al Strategy to abandon plans to install electric heat pumps in four out of five homes by 2050 – describing the strategy as a "colossal waste of money". The study said the government could get the most bang for its buck through green gas and energy efficiency measures. Heat pump drive would be 'a colossal waste of money' High Low Decarbonisation potential CCS needs a government champion A government-owned company should be set up to co-ordinate the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK, a new report has found. A CCS obligation system – similar in nature to the Renewables Obli- gation – is also needed to create a market for the storage of carbon dioxide. CCS is "essential for lowest cost decarbonisation", according to the independent report, which was commissioned by the government and led by Lord Oxburgh. It highlighted a "policy discon- nect" between the government's scrapping of a £1 billion commer- cialisation competition in Novem- ber and the advice it received from "a number of independent policy bodies" about the importance of CCS for reducing emissions af- fordably. The study said the high cost estimate used to justify the cancel- lation reflected the design of the competition, rather than underlying costs of the technology. Contrary to the "widespread view", CCS is not expensive and "even the first CCS projects can compete on price with other forms of clean electricity". A government-owned company, "tasked with delivering full-chain CCS", could deliver CCS-enabled power at or below £85/MWh. The company would comprise two "linked but separately regulated companies", one to deliver the plant and the other the transport and storage infrastructure. Irish crypto outbreak Irish Water has yet to identify the cause of cryptosporidium contami- nation at its Lough Mask Water Treatment Plant, which supplies 46,600 people in County Mayo. A boil water notice has been in place since Friday, after the crypto parasite was detected in a routine sample of treated water. It may not be lifted before early next week. ELECTRICITY WATER "A lobbyist's paradise" Oxford economist Dieter Helm has criticised the implementation of energy policy in recent years. £57K Southern Water has been fined for failing to meet the conditions set out in its environmental permit for Tunbridge Wells North wastewater treatment works. £72m Leeds Council has approved Yorkshire Water's proposed sludge treatment and anaerobic digestion facility at its Knostrop works in the centre of the city. Cost/impact High efficiency gas appliances (inc hybrids) Biogases Hydrogen conversion Heat pumps Solar thermal Biomass Low High Key Demand reduction Gas Electric Heat networks Renewables Cavity/loft insulation Solid wall insulation Storage heaters Heat networks