Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | MAY 2017 | 15 stages to refurbish bits of kit or replace them if they are completely beyond repair. That's a big advantage in terms of energy efficiency." The second major benefit of ISO50001, says Rose, is the effect on staff engagement with energy saving. In the 19 years Rose has been at South West Water, he has seen and used a variety of methods for getting operational workers on board with the energy agenda, and implemented other accredited standards; in his experience, committing to a formal programme with regular dialogue and an element of external oversight tends to be the most effective approach. "We've had staff engagement programmes for many years prior to having ISO50001, but they can die away once you stop promoting them and then you have to reinvigorate it and start again. The advantage of ISO50001 is that it gives you that structured framework behind the programme, so that you can go and say that we need to do this because we are certified to ISO50001 and this is what it tells us we should be doing. I've been pretty impressed with the staff reaction: they've really bought into it, and to me it is a much more powerful tool than just doing an ad hoc energy efficiency campaign." As for its wider energy policy, South West Water has been an enthusiastic adopter of renewable energy generation schemes, with an AMP6 target to get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. However, since the severe reduction last year of the incentives available under the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT), solar and wind power installations have largely ground to a halt. SWW has not approved any further solar projects since the FIT changes, and of 22 wind projects it had previously identified as financially viable, only two remain likely to go ahead. Rose says that even the most attractive wind power installations can now be expected to pay for themselves in 8-10 years rather than the 3-4 years that might previously have been the case. He admits to being frustrated by the uncertainty of government policy in this area, but says the company has been able to look at different options in pursuit of its energy and renewable goals. "We are still going ahead with a few own- and-operate projects, like the wind turbines, but beyond that, we are looking at third party private wire opportunities, and community energy," says Rose. "We are looking at buying in energy from our partner company Viridor under a green tariff; we are looking at all the options really. "We have capital available for investing in renewable energy, but not necessarily the projects to invest it in any more. So we are also looking at other alternative methods of energy security. Battery storage is something that we are pretty interested in." He says that recent price changes in peak periods by Western Power Distribution – the local distribution network operator in the South West – have made the financial case for batteries less clear cut, but he believes they could have a role to play in frequency response and also in building resilience of supply. On demand response, he says that South West Water is involved in the STOR scheme at several sites, and also participating in the capacity market, but is more cautious at the prospect of frequency response and other initiatives that involve third party control of assets. Overall, he feels that ISO50001 has helped raise the profile of energy management initiatives in the company, but insists that awareness of energy issues has always been strong amongst SWW colleagues. "It's a bit of a stretch to say that the company has gone through a cultural change, but it has helped operational staff engage more with the energy agenda and I feel now that we've got a bit of leverage, a bit of a framework as well to talk to operational managers and staff," he says. "It's well understood that energy is the second biggest cost to the company next to salaries… and when I go out on site and talk to people they have bought into it, which is really encouraging." David Rose is speaking at WWT's Water Industry Energy Conference on June 13th in Birmingham. Details: http://events.wwtonline.co.uk/energy • CV: David Rose ● A er completing an environmental engineering degree from Cardiff University and an MSc in Environmental Science from Bath University, David Rose chose to specialise in energy, first working as a Research Associate at Imperial College's Centre for Energy Policy and Technology. ● Since joining South West Water in 1998 as an energy analyst, he has been promoted several times and took over in his current role of Energy & Carbon Manager in 2013. ● A chartered engineer and chartered environmentalist, his role includes responsibility for the strategic and tactical management of carbon along with managing the company's energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes. ● He is also chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Energy and Environmental Management Group, which provides development, knowledge sharing and networking for South West energy and environment professionals ● South West Water has committed to getting 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and has 56 existing renewable energy generating projects. ● David Rose is speaking at WWT's Water Industry Energy Conference on June 13th in Birmingham. Details: events. wwtonline.co.uk/energy. The removal of government incentives has meant a marked slowdown in renewable energy projects