Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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14 | APRIL 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk W ater companies are one of the biggest consumers of energy in the UK, accounting for around 1.5 per cent of the entire country's electricity usage. As part of their plans to reduce energy consumption, cut costs and also meet their pledges to cut carbon emissions, water companies are looking to increase on-site generation. Indeed, many have embraced renewable technologies, with solar farms and wind turbines to add to the anaerobic digestion plants which are relatively commonplace in the sector. And in order to make the most of this Powered by Water companies mull the energy future in store Round table participants Robert Barker, Sector Development Manager (Water), Distributed Energy, Centrica Jo Broad, Procurement Category Manager, Southern Water Andrew Burley, Corporate Business Manager, Energy Supply, British Gas Steve Kaye, Head of Innovation, Anglian Water Maxine Mayhew, Commercial Director, Northumbrian Water Anne-Marie McDonald, Optimisation Manager, Southern Water Mike Pedley, Head of Energy, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Ester Rus Perez, Sludge and Energy Innovation Manager, Thames Water Fraser Purves, Renewables Project Delivery Manager, Scottish Water Alastair Tawn, Wastewater Energy and Efficiency Manager, Northumbrian Water Ivor Whittle, Project Manager, Energy Management Group, Wessex Water Rob Wild, Demand Side Response Manager, Severn Trent Events Round Table: Energy Storage In AssocIATIon WITh generative capability, one further next step is the adoption of energy storage, which was the topic of discussion at the WWT roundtable, held in association with British Gas on Thursday 9 March. The delegates around the table agreed that energy storage – specifically, battery technology – is something all of the water companies are looking at, but are yet to develop and adopt. The main blockages to this happening were said to be the capital cost and policy uncertainty, making it difficult currently to build a compelling business case. It is certainly not a lack of willingness or a lack of interest, with the delegates agreeing that storage could offer substantial benefits to the integration and optimisation of their current renewable generation portfolios, as well as potentially boosting network resilience. The water companies, in particular those dealing with wastewater, have a huge and variable energy demand. Many are a long way down the road of on- site generation, adopting a number of renewable technologies and even creating their own green gas reserves. Storage is seen as the next logical step, but the utilities say they are still working out how to implement it, and whether it makes economic sense to do so at the moment. The participants felt that while there are short term incentives to deploying on- site storage, the long-term focus and risk averse nature of their companies means they are not attractive enough to hold sway in their decision. Some storage developers have won contracts under National Grid's enhanced frequency response tender, whilst some have been successful in the Capacity Market auction process, but the delegates concluded that these initiatives are likely to only be available for the short term, and could be removed at short notice, meaning that unless the base business case makes sense, then battery storage still remains Participants debate the issues at the WWT round table last month By Mathew Beech