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UTILITY WEEK | 7TH - 13TH OCTOBER 2016 | 5 "The water industry must raise its game" Business Stream chief executive Johanna Dow "Core business risk" The World Energy Council says an uptake in digitisation through devices such as smart metres may be opening new avenues for cyber-attacks. Schneider Electric has launched a project to deliver electricity to rural communities in 12 countries in Asia. The Light It Up project will see more than 1,800 Mobiya portable solar-powered LED lamps distributed to 1,300 families, connecting them to electricity and lighting and helping to improve their living conditions. Gaelectric names new chief executive Barry Gavin has been appointed chief executive of Gaelectric. He succeeds Brendan McGrath. Speaking about his appoint- ment, Gavin said: "It will be a privilege to lead Gaelectric as we embark on the next phase of our development as a renewable energy solutions provider, devel- oper and operator of generating assets. Our mission is to empower next generation energy users with power from nature. "I am excited about leading our team of skilled professionals across Gaelectric's business divi- sions to deliver on this mission commercially, for our customers and investors." Gavin is a founding shareholder of Gaelectric and has held senior positions as chief financial officer and chief operating officer. PEOPLE MOVE 3 Oct The date on which the shadow water market officially opened. Energy prices 'among lowest' in EU UK domestic energy prices were "among the lowest" in the EU in 2015, according to BEIS. However, this was only the case when adjusting the prices to take account of the purchasing power of the pound relative to other Euro- pean currencies. Domestic gas prices were twelfth cheapest out of 28 when compared using the market exchange rate, putting them 5.3 per cent above the median for the region. Compared on the basis of the purchasing power standard per kWh, only Luxembourg had cheaper gas. Using this metric, UK prices were 29 per cent below the median. Industrial gas prices were twelfth cheapest in the EU when judged according to the exchange rate but third cheapest when adjusted for purchasing power. Scrapping CPS would boost coal Scrapping the carbon price sup- port (CPS) would "shake up the power market" and lead to one last hurrah for coal, Cornwall Energy has warned. There would be a return to the market conditions seen in 2014 "when coal-fired generators were running baseload and gas-fired stations were pushed to the margin". CPS currently costs coal genera- tion around £15.5/MWh, compared with £6.60 for gas. ENERGY ELECTRICITY Government must push for small reactors Small modular nuclear reactors could be generating power for British homes by as early as 2030, the Energy Technologies Institute has claimed in a new report. However, it said the ambitious timeline is not achievable without the help of government, which needs to build confi- dence among early investors. SMR factory production can accelerate cost reduction UK SMRs should be designed and deployed as 'CHP ready' UK SMRs should be designed for a range of cooling systems including air-cooled condensers There is a range of sites suitable for earlier UK SMR deployment Including options for the UK first-of-a-kind site Extra costs are small and potential future revenues large There is economic benefit in deploying SMRs as CHP to energise district heating networks; this depends on district heating rollout © 2016 Energy Technologies Institutes LLP