Utility Week

"The government seems to be turning its back on renewables" James Court, head of policy and external affairs at the Renewable Energy Association, responds to the news there will be no new low-carbon electricity levies until 2025. 4 | 1ST - 7TH DECEMBER 2017 | UTILITY WEEK STORY BY NUMBERS Seven days... National media Wall Street mixed as energy shares fall US markets were mixed on Monday, as share price increases at Amazon and Alphabet were offset by declines in the energy sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.7 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 23,580.78, hitting another record. The S&P 500 slipped one point, or 0.04 per cent, to 2,601.4 and the Nasdaq index fell 10.6 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 6,878.5. Chevron and ExxonMobil were among the losers as oil prices fell 1 per cent amid uncertainty over new supply. BBC News, 27 November Costa Rica relies on renewables Costa Rica's electricity has been produced entirely using renewable energy for 300 days since the start of January. With more than a month of 2017 to go, the Central American country is set to smash its own annual record of green energy use. In 2015, the nation went for 299 days using only renewables. According to the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity, the nation of five million people has also clocked up 201 consecutive days of total renewable energy production since 1 May. The Independent, 23 November Bitcoin mining uses more electricity than the whole of Ireland Bitcoin's "mining" network uses more electricity in a year than the whole of Ireland, according to statistics released as the currency broke $9,000 (£7,000) for the first time. The network's estimated power use also exceeds that of 19 other European countries, consuming more than five times the output of the continent's largest windfarm. The Guardian, 27 November Thames Water to make transparency overhaul T hames Water has appointed Ian Marchant as chairman, asking him to lead a review of the company's corporate structure and governance. The review will be conducted with the intention of closing Thames's Cayman Islands sub- sidiaries as the water company looks to ensure "best possible transparency" for customers and stakeholders. Thames Water said its subsidiaries have always been "fully registered" in the UK for tax purposes, but "no longer serve" their original purpose of enabling "smoother access" to the global bond markets. Marchant is the former chief executive of SSE and led the company for more than ten years. He will join Thames Water's board on 1 December and will take over as chairman from Sir Peter Mason on 26 January 2018. Earlier this year, Ofwat's chairman, Jonson Cox, called for a radical reform of Thames Water, writing exclusively in Utility Week. He said the company needed to make an urgent "step change in the way it operates and behaves" and set out a challeng- ing plan for reform for the UK's largest water company. Responding to the criticism, Mason, who became chairman of Thames Water in 2006, said the company made no excuses for its highlighted failures on leakage reduction and pollution. He delayed his retirement last year to oversee a "tran- sitional phase" following the arrival of chief executive Steve Robertson and chief financial officer Brandon Rennet. "As chairman, I will be ensuring that the governance of Thames Water is best in class. We will conduct a thor- ough review and implement any changes needed," said Marchant. KP EVs could provide 11GW of flexibility by 2030 Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to provide more than 11GW of flexible capacity by 2030, according to new analysis by Open Energi. 1.6m EVs are expected to be on the road by 2020. 200- 550MW of demand turn-up could be unlocked by smart charging. 400MW- 1.3GW of demand turn- down could be unlocked by smart charging. 3GW of demand turn-up could be created by nine million EVs on the road by 2030. 8GW of demand turn- down could be cre- ated by nine million EVs by 2030.

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