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4 | 2ND - 8TH JUNE 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Sustainable switch-on Pressure group Friends of the Earth has released a report called Switching On, which sets out how renewables could power the UK by 2030. 75% The proportion of the country's demand for electrical power that could be met by renewables. 65% The proportion of the UK's power that could come from intermittent sources. 10% The contribution that could be made by less variable sources, such as tidal, hydro and geothermal. 0 A zero-carbon energy system will be achievable shortly after 2030. 25% Proportion of the UK's electricity currently sourced from renewables. STORY BY NUMBERS Seven days... National media Brussels all set to approve Areva rescue Brussels is expected to approve the takeover by French state-controlled EDF of Areva's reactor business, clearing the path for a state-backed rescue deal that will reshape the country's nuclear industry. The EU's competition watchdog is likely to sign off the deal, according to two people familiar with the situation, a green light that is needed before the French state can carry out the wider restructuring of Areva. Financial Times, 28 May UK 'lobbying against energy-saving targets' The UK is lobbying Europe to water down a key energy-saving target even though it will not take effect until aer Brexit, according to leaked documents that sparked warnings that energy bills could rise and jobs be put at risk. On the day Theresa May triggered article 50, government officials asked the European Commission to weaken or drop elements of its energy efficiency law. Green campaigners warned that the efforts to undermine the energy efficiency directive were a sign the Conservatives would dilute or abolish European energy and climate policies aer Brexit. Guardian, 28 May Water renationalisation cost 'unknown' The full cost of the Labour pledge to renationalise the multibillion- pound water industry has not yet been worked out, one of its election campaign chiefs has admitted. Ian Lavery, campaign co-ordinator, acknowledged that the "financial implications of the policy are yet to be set out" despite the party's claim to have produced a "fully costed" manifesto. Labour's manifesto claims the move will cut average household bills by up to £100 a year. The Times, 29 May Transmission chief 'sure' that Moorside plant will go ahead T he director of the electricity transmission owner at National Grid has said he is "sure" that the Moorside nuclear plant in Cumbria will go ahead, despite big question marks over financial backing for its construction. "I personally talk a lot to Tom Sampson, the chief executive of [plant developer] NuGen, and I am sure the project will continue once they get new construction backers," said David Wright. Nevertheless, National Grid recently announced that it was mothballing a £2.8 billion project to provide a transmission link for Moorside, given the uncertainty over the future of Toshiba, which is now NuGen's sole shareholder. Wright stood by this "tough" decision, saying: "It's not right for us to carry on spending money – consumers' money as well as National Grid's shareholders' money" on the project while struggling Toshiba undertakes a "strategic review". "We've had to take the significant decision to stop that major project and to put it on pause," Wright conceded. He said it had had "a huge, huge impact" both on the communities affected by the link and on the 150 or so staff at National Grid, who had "put their lives and souls" into the project. The company had to relocate and find new roles for them "over night". The transmission chief 's comments came at a question and answer session at the Utility Week Live Keynote conference in Birmingham last week where he spoke about the importance of organisational flexibility in a volatile industry environment. Summing up, Wright said: "That project will come back I am sure, but you have got to be flexible, you have got to be agile, you can't hold on to how the world was yesterday. That is the key lesson to be learned here: make the big, brave tough calls, and very much listen to your customers." JG "No words can explain our sadness at this time" Peter Emery, chief executive of Electricity North West, responds to the Manchester terror attack (see p13)