Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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UTILITY WEEK | 14TH - 20TH JULY 2017 | 15 Policy & Regulation Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive, EDF Energy "[New nuclear] is a major and exciting industrial opportu- nity, but to earn the right to do it, we know that we must offer the best value for money for taxpayers. And we will make it happen." Views from the speakers: Security of supply. Batteries, demand- side response and interconnectors all have a role to play, but there must be more urgency about the development of green fuels and other long-term storage solutions. Gas gen- eration will continue to be needed in the meantime. Equity. Transform- ing the energy sys- tem will be expen- sive and debate is needed about how to recover these costs in an equitable way. Policy clarity. Ministers must to do more to clarify policy and reassure inves- tors. Heat. Among the greatest challenges facing the industry is how to decar- bonise heating. The solution will likely involve a variety of different technolo- gies and more trials are needed to inform policy decisions. Key themes Keith MacLean, chair, UK Energy Research Centre "The idea that we're going to have time-of- use tariffs to encour- age people to switch on the heating in the summer when its cheap and switch it off during the winter just doesn't add up at all." Keith Anderson, chief executive, Scottish Power Renewables "[Offshore wind] has driven the costs down from £150/MWh to £120/MWh. The next auction… is likely to deliver a price below £90/MWh." Dermot Nolan, chief executive, Ofgem "I think it will be ter- ribly interesting to see what the strike price is for the upcoming offshore wind. I find Keith's £90/MWh resolutely unambi- tious and we will be hoping for £70MWh or less." Basil Scarsella, chief executive, UK Power Networks "Probably the most challenging issue [on Brexit] will be access to skills in the future… Skills requirements will be paramount, especially engineering skills." Sponsored by Felix Lerch, UK chairman, Uniper "We are on our fourth energy minister in the past 12 months. This uncertainty, from an investor perspective, is not encouraging."