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4 | 1ST - 7TH SEPTEMBER 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Macquarie buys GIB The Green Invest- ment Bank has been sold to Mac- quarie, sparking concern over the future of invest- ment in riskier green projects. £2.3bn Amount Macquarie paid for the GIB, including £500 mil- lion in outstanding commitments. £3bn Amount Macquarie says will flow into green energy projects in the next three years. £186m Profit to the taxpayer from the sale. £10bn Since its establish- ment in 2012, the GIB has led more than £10 billion of investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-carbon projects in the UK. 70MW Two days after the bank was sold, the GIB offloaded 70MW of bioenergy assets. STORY BY NUMBERS Seven days... National media UK coal power in July lowest in 135 years The UK's remaining coal-fired power plants made their lowest ever con- tribution to Britain's electricity grid in 135 years last month, and could fall further in August. The proportion of coal-fired generation in the power mix halved from last summer to an average of just 2 per cent of the total power generated over the month, analysts at Aurora Research have found. Daily Telegraph, 25 August Fuels made from rubbish to get funding Airline passengers could fly to their destinations on jets fuelled by industrial waste or the contents of people's dustbins if a government scheme succeeds in creating a new green energy source. The Department for Transport is offering £22 million of funding for projects to develop low-carbon, waste-based fuels for aircra and lorries. The move follows plans to ban all new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. About 70 groups want to bid. The Guardian, 28 August LME considers starting lithium contract The London Metal Exchange is considering introducing a contract for lithium, a mineral that is in heavy demand because of its use in electric cars. Demand for lithium, the world's lightest metal, is set to soar fourfold by 2025 as ownership of electric cars increases and more batteries are used to store power from renew- able energy such as wind and solar, according to consultancy Roskill. Financial Times, xx August MPs urge May to legislate on energy price caps for SVTs E nergy suppliers braced for further government inter- vention this summer as the confirmation of the govern- ment's cost of energy review, to be led by prominent economist professor Dieter Helm, was fol- lowed by renewed pressure for a market-wide price cap. Helm's appointment to lead the review was announced in early August. He will be joined by a panel of experts including former National Grid executive director Nick Winser and former Conservative MP Laura Sandys. He has been asked to review the entire electricity supply chain of generation, transmis- sion, distribution and supply, in light of the government's ambi- tion to have the lowest energy costs in Europe. Meanwhile, more than 90 MPs, including 50 Conserva- tives, signed a letter to prime minister Theresa May calling on her to introduce a price cap for all customers on standard vari- able tariffs (SVTs). The letter, which is set to be sent to the prime minister aer the summer recess, was organised by former Conserva- tive whip John Penrose MP, who said on Twitter: "If Ofgem won't grow a spine, there's cross-party support in parliament to insert one." It follows claims earlier in August from Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan that legislation would be "the most effective way" to cap prices. Speaking to the Financial Times, Nolan defended the regulator's ongoing consultation on the merits of a limited "safeguard tariff ", which would extend the price protection currently given to prepayment meter customers to around 2.2 million vulner- able customers. He said wider intervention would have to be a "policy matter for government", because suppliers would have a "substantive appeal route" if the regulator acted without legislation. The letter, whose signatories include Iain Duncan Smith, Caroline Spelman and Caroline Flint, says: "We urge you to extend Ofgem's proposals… to protect all of the 17 million fami- lies currently on expensive SVTs, not just the two million vulner- able ones. While these proposals are a step in the right direction, we must do more to protect the further 15 million households who continue to be preyed on by the big six energy firms." EB See Lobby, p12 "It appears insufficient attention has been paid (by regulator and regulated company) to future-proofing levels of service" Wics sets out its expectations for Scottish Water's next price control