Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH FEBRUARY 2018 | 13 This week Network firms join Nissan in V2G trial BEIS announces £9.8 million e4Future project to trial 1,000 vehicle-to-grid chargers Energy network firms National Grid, Northern Powergrid and UK Power Networks have joined forces with a Nissan-led consortium to roll out a "world- first" £9.8 million trial of 1,000 vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers. The e4Future project was announced by the Department for Business, Energy and Indus- try Strategy (BEIS) as part of a drive to fully integrate electric vehicles (EVs) into the grid, increasing their abil- ity to use and integrate renewable energy plus alleviate pressure. V2Gs can empower business fleets or private motor- ists to charge their batteries during low-demand, cheap tariff periods. They can either use the electricity or feed it back into the grid in return for revenue or lower bills. The consortium also includes V2G technology experts Nuvve, and researchers from Newcastle University and Imperial College London. At present there are too few EVs to make an impact, and it is estimated that two million will be needed to reduce carbon emissions. This project is part of a £30 million investment by BEIS – working with the Office for Low Emission Vehi- cles and Innovate UK. It wants nearly all cars to be zero emissions by 2050. Francisco Carranza, managing director of Nissan Energy at Nissan Europe, said: "Our electric V2G-ready vehicles will be used as clean mobile energy units. V2G introduction will change the rules of the game and make energy cheaper for everyone." CR WATER Water sector 'at risk' from PR19 The UK's regulated water sector has been classed "at risk" by global credit ratings provider Standard & Poor's (S&P), which also identified the upcoming price review and subsequent asset management plan as a key cause for concern. The finding comes as part of the S&P Industry Top Trends 2018 report for regulated utilities in Emea. Generally, this report suggested regulated companies are likely to "mostly retain their excellent business risk profiles" thanks to regulatory reviews that have put "additional, but man- ageable, pressure on the sector". But in the case of UK water companies, S&P described elements of Ofwat's final framework for the 2019 price review (PR19) as "challenging". In particular it raised concerns about the impact of a signifi- cant cut in the allowed cost of capital, as well as more rigorous benchmarks on cost efficiency and service performance. "These elements could lead to pressure on the ratings of UK water utilities," said the report. WATER Business Stream signs Veolia contract Business Stream has signed a three-year contract worth £10 million to provide retail water services to more than 300 of Veolia's sites in England, including at Luton Airport. Resource management com- pany Veolia formed a separate partnership with Business Stream ahead of the English retail water market opening in April last year to provide an "end-to-end, customer focused", resource management service. The companies said the con- tract is expected to help more than 300 water and energy users to reduce their consumption and waste, manage risk, increase sustainability, reduce costs and "recover the maximum value from their waste streams". ENERGY Together takes on Future Energy's staff All 20 staff who faced redun- dancy when Newcastle supplier Future Energy collapsed last month have been taken on by small supplier Together Energy – and have received a 20 per cent pay rise in moving on to the Living Wage. Scottish company Together Energy also acquired Future's office building in Newcastle city centre, which will now lead the firm's northeast operations. Ofgem revealed last week that Green Star Energy will act as supplier of last resort for the 10,000 customers of Future Energy. EV: full integration into the grid is the goal Stock watch SSE SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY 9 Jan 16 Jan 23 Jan 30 Jan 6 Feb SSE SHARE PRICE, ONE MONTH SSE shares got a brief bump last Wednesday following the release of a third-quarter trading update. The company said it expects to deliver adjusted earnings per share of between 116p and 120p for 2017/18 – down from 125.7p in the previous financial year – and revealed it has begun talks with the CMA regarding the proposed merger of its retail arm with Innogy's Npower. The shares have since fallen lower and as UW went to press, were trading at 1,213p. 1,350 1,300 1,250 1,200 1 Feb 2 Feb 5 Feb 6 Feb Finance & Investment 1,350 1,300 1,250 1,200 pence pence

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