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UTILITY WEEK | 20TH - 26TH JANUARY 2017 | 5 SGN has recognised John Brady, 24 (front left) as its Apprentice of the Year. Three other apprentices have also been recognised in SGN's annual talent awards: first-year apprentice Stuart Reynolds, 20, carried off the company's award for Best Maintenance Apprentice in SGN's southern region; and final year apprentices Tom Storey, 26, and Kris Duff, 23, won the awards for Best Depot Apprentice in SGN's southern region and Best Maintenance Apprentice in Scotland respectively. The World Economic Forum's annual Global Risks report details the likelihood, impact and interconnections between trending social, environmental, political and technological risks. This chart shows the top five risks in terms of likelihood for the past five years. For 2017, the risk of extreme weather events tops the chart. The report also tracks the top risks to doing business around the globe. For 2017 the second biggest perceived risk is of energy price shocks. 1 2 3 4 5 Topfiveglobalrisksbylikelihood £3 million Ten wave energy development projects have been awarded a total of £3 million by Wave Energy Scotland £15 million Northumbrian Water invests in treatment works upgrade 78% Ovo Energy's customer satisfaction score in the Which? energy supplier survey 2017 (See story p25) "Hendry's support is by no means the end of the story, with two crucial hurdles outstanding" Gareth Phillips, energy and planning manager, Pinsent Masons, on tidal lagoon power in the UK Dr Dame Sue Ion named NSAN president Dr Dame Sue Ion has been appointed president of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN). Ion is one of the UK's foremost nuclear engineers and in 2016 was named in the Daily Telegraph's Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering list. APPOINTMENT DNO storage 'mustbean option' The option for distribution network operators (DNOs) to own and oper- ate storage must be retained until it is proven that a commercial mar- ket can meet the needs of network operators, the Energy Networks Association (ENA) has warned. In its submission to the govern- ment and Ofgem's smart systems call for evidence, the ENA said its members support flexibility, includ- ing storage, being procured from the competitive market. However, it is not yet known if a commercial marketplace can provide viable storage in the "highly specific" manner networks need. "[Ownership by DNOs] should not be precluded at this stage," it said. On launching the call for evidence, Ofgem's Andy Burgess reiterated the regulator's desire to see "competition thriving" and said that DNO ownership "might stifle the development of competition". He also said DNOs must "clarify and improve the connection pro- cess" to meet the "strong interest" in developing storage. ELECTRICITY 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Large-scale involuntary migration Extreme weather events Rising GHG emissions Unemployment and underemployment Failure of national governance Failure of climate change mitigation and adaption Major natural disasters Chronic fiscal imbalances Extreme weather events Extreme weather events Extreme weather events Large-scale involuntary migration Water supply crises Climate change State collapse of crisis Interstate conflict with regional consequences Large-scale terrorist attacks Mismanagement of population ageing Cyber attacks High structural unemployment/ underemployment Major natural catastrophe Massive incident of data fraud/ theft Severe income disparity Income disparity Interstate conflict with regional consequences