The Energyst by The Energyst

theenergyst.com

London calling: £500m energy tender bids for carbon and social benefits

February/March 2019

Happy medium: Gas plus battery storage could solve MCPD headache

Sage council: Nottingham lays ground for major vehicle-to-grid trial

“ I don’t think Ofgem’s targeted charging review will kill good projects ” – p24

WHY FLEXIBILITY IS THE KEY TO OUR ENERGY FUTURE

To find out more, turn to pages 12 & 13. edfenergy.com/energysolutions

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

08 News

Utilitywise calls in the administrators

16 London calling

London Energy Project set to launch £500m tender that it hopes will change delivery for good

24 Energy efficiency

Onsite generation is set to mirror the boom of LED lighting, despite Brexit, charging regime change and anything else that comes along, says specialist investor

Onsite generation

Positive outlook

Solar and storage stack up despite uncertain market outlook, reckons BSR Energy’s David Peill

Hybrid gas and battery system could solve MCPD issue, according to Ylem Energy

The era of singlepurpose batteries is dead. Time to do energy storage properly

53 Viewpoint

theenergyst.com

London calling: £500m energy tender bids for carbon and social benefits

Electric vehicles

Nottingham City Council is about to tender for a battery plus special chargers ahead of a vehicle-to-grid trial that could pave the way for EVs to help balance grids and maximise local generation

February/March 2019

Happy medium: Gas plus battery storage could solve MCPD headache

Sage council: Nottingham lays ground for major vehicle-to-grid trial

“ I don’t think Ofgem’s targeted charging review will kill good projects ” – p24

WHY FLEXIBILITY IS THE KEY TO OUR ENERGY FUTURE

Gas insight

How can you plan for gas network charge increases if you don’t know whether they apply to your business?

News & comment

To find out more, turn to pages 12 & 13. edfenergy.com/energysolutions

14 Cover Story

EDF Energy on energy flexibility

DSR & battery storage

Viewpoint

Insight

Electric vehicles

Products

Energy procurement

Gas & electricity

Q&A

Unlocking energy efficiency

Energyst Event preview

To subscribe please visit: theenergyst.com/subscribe theenergyst.com

February/March 2019

COMMENT

Regime change begins at home There’s some concern in industry that major changes to electricity network charging and access could undermine the case for flexibility. Trade associations believe that Ofgem’s two major charging reviews will end up out of kilter, with rewards for some forms of decentralised generation – or actions taken by businesses to avoid peak periods – being taken away before new incentives are put in place for actions that help the system as a whole. They are also dismayed at plans to apply balancing charges (BSUoS) to embedded generation.

It will be interesting to see whether the department gives the energy regulator its head, or heeds the call from business The ADE, BEAMA, the REA, Renewable UK, the STA and Tech UK have called for business and energy secretary Greg Clark to step in. Failure to take “urgent action” threatens to kill off the nascent battery storage market, they suggest, while damaging the low carbon and flexible power sectors and undermining government ambition to create a smart, flexible energy system.

of charging regime change, and that Brexit could be just as much a tailwind as a headwind. “There are always two sides to these coins, and differences of opinion make a market,” says Jonathan Maxwell, chief executive of Sustainable Development Capital Limited. “Brexit does create uncertainty. It will slow decision making at a corporate level. On the other hand, it may increase issues with energy security: we have a degree of reliance on international gas and interconnectors. Those problems do not go away, they are no easier to solve,” says Maxwell. While Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review is “complex”, Maxwell does not think it poses an existential threat. “You have to pick the projects that make sense and I don’t think the TCR will kill good UK projects,” he says. Meanwhile, Centrica’s business division thinks there is still a market for onsite generation and flexibility. Filing annual results in February, the company stated it is “focusing I&C acquisition and retention activity on those that have a greater propensity to take our Distributed Energy & Power offers”, i.e. firms interested in installing onsite generation or providing demand-side response.

Given the diminishing new nuclear programme, the suspension of the Capacity Market, and of course, Brexit, Clark’s in tray is pretty full. But it will be interesting to see whether the department gives the energy regulator its head, or heeds the call from business.

That the UK’s biggest energy company sees more of a future in selling firms kit to generate their own power than selling them output from its fleet of big power stations arguably underlines a shift too powerful even for Ofgem to unwittingly derail.

Either way, others believe there is still huge potential growth for onsite generation in the UK, regardless

Brendan Coyne Contributing editor

Editor Tim McManan-Smith tim@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4450 m: 07818 574308

Sales director Steve Swaine steve@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4451 m: 07818 574300

Contributing editor Brendan Coyne brendan@energystmedia.com t: 020 3771 1267 m: 07557 109724

Commercial manager Daniel Coyne daniel@energystmedia.com t: 020 3751 7863 m: 07557 109476

Design & Production Paul Lindsell production@energystmedia.com m: 07790 434813

Circulation enquiries circulation@energystmedia.com

4 February/March 2019

Energyst Media Ltd, PO BOX 420, Reigate, Surrey RH2 2DU Registered in England & Wales – 8667229 Registered at Stationers Hall – ISSN 0964 8321 Printed by Warners (Midlands) plc No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. The Energyst is a controlled circulation magazine available to selected professionals interested in energy, who fall within the publisher’s terms of control. For those outside of these terms, annual subscriptions is £60 including postage in the UK. For all subscriptions outside the UK the annual subscription is £120 including postage.

theenergyst.com

NEWS & COMMENT

Energy efficiency driving UK’s clean economy Energy efficiency remains the bedrock of the UK’s low carbon industry, according to latest government data. Meanwhile turnover in the renewable heat sector saw the largest absolute growth across the low carbon economy. The figures are for 2017 and are obtained via a survey sent by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to 24,000 businesses in the UK’s low carbon and renewable energy sector. The ONS said the sector’s turnover was £44.5bn in 2017, employing 209,500 people. Of those, two thirds worked in the energy efficiency sub-sector, and were responsible for almost half of turnover (£20.7bn). Renewable energy, where renewable heat and

£21bn -35% Turnover of the energy efficiency sector in 2017

Decrease in onshore wind employment

alternative fuels are grouped together with renewable generation such as bioenergy, (including biomass CHP), wind, solar and hydro, was the next largest sector. It accounted for more than one-third of all UK low carbon and renewable energy

industry turnover and about one-fifth of employees. Turnover increased by 10% to £15.3bn in 2017. Renewable heat drove growth and saw the largest absolute growth in turnover in the industry between 2016 and 2017, of £1.2bn. The data underlined the decline in onshore wind and solar sectors as fewer projects came forward as a result of policy decisions and subsidy scheme closures. Employment in onshore wind decreased by 35.3% to 5,300, while turnover fell by 15.1% to £2.8bn. Turnover in the solar industry fell 17% to £1.5bn and employment fell by approximately 10% to 4,700, with subsidy reductions a likely factor, said the ONS.

Think tank report calls for low carbon gas obligation A think tank has urged government and Ofgem to implement a low carbon gas obligation. Bright Blue’s report, supported by the Energy Networks Association, takes in a range of views – from gas networks and other hydrogen proponents, to those that believe that gas networks cannot exist in a decarbonised system. It outlines the options for decarbonising heat, the associated challenges and costs, and makes the case for new policies, incentives and rule changes to reduce emissions from existing gas infrastructure while minimising cost and disruption. Implementing a low carbon gas obligation, which obliges

6 February/March 2019

suppliers to buy an increasing proportion of gas from lower carbon sources, would enable a market-based approach to reducing emissions and send a clear signal to energy suppliers and investors, the report argues. Emphasising the importance of improving energy efficiency to reduce the significant consumer costs of deep decarbonisation, the report also recommends: • Ofgem increases the amount of money networks are allowed to spend on innovation within the next price control • Rules governing the amount of gas such as hydrogen that can be injected into the network are relaxed • Energy Performance

• •

•

Certificate methodologies are improved Home Affordability Assessments (HAAs) be introduced for new-builds The minimum Energyrelated Products (ErP) requirement for domestic gas boilers should be raised from the existing level of 92% to 95% energy efficient Introducing carbon lifecycle assessment as part of public procurement procedures to drive the market for energy efficiency and renewable heat technologies Establishing a new regulatory unit within Ofgem to oversee regulation of district heat networks and develop price controls.

Charging reviews: trade groups call for intervention Energy industry trade groups have called on the energy secretary to prevent “misaligned” reforms to network charging from damaging the low carbon and flexible power sectors and undermining government ambition to create a smart, flexible energy system. Failure to take “urgent action” threatens to kill off the nascent battery storage market, they suggest. In a letter to Greg Clark, the ADE, BEAMA, the REA, Renewable UK, the STA and Tech UK outline industry’s primary concern: that the reviews of sunk costs and forward looking charges are out of kilter. They believe that will result in limited benefits to networks while damaging renewable and flexible generation. They are also dismayed at plans to apply balancing charges (BSUoS) to embedded generation. The letter urges Clark to order a more coherent approach. BEAMA chief executive Howard Porter said Ofgem’s current approach “could derail the UK storage market”, which would deny the UK “a huge growth opportunity”. He said the association was “keen to work with government and Ofgem to better align these reforms and ensure they meet the UK’s objectives to decarbonise the energy system and support a market for flexibility”. Greg Clarke urged to order a more coherent approach

theenergyst.com

Capacity Market: Ofgem rejects plan to collect payments during suspension Ofgem has rejected a modification to the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) under which the Capacity Market ‘supplier charge’ would be collected from customers on an interim basis and held for potential distribution to CM contract holders, saying it does not have the powers to make the decision. The rejection throws the spotlight on BEIS, where a consultation on whether to make collections via a change in regulations closed in midJanuary. The modification (378) was seen as a ‘backup’ to the BEIS solution and would have been withdrawn in the event BEIS went ahead. The CM is suspended while the European Commission investigates its compatibility

Ofgem said it does not have the powers to make the decision

with state aid rules. Payments will be backdated if and when the market is reinstated. Some market parties want to continue collecting the payments centrally, so CM contract holders have assurance that the money is ‘ring fenced’ if required,

and there is no ‘supplier shock’ in billing customers for backdated payments. As it is, business customers with disaggregated bills may decline to pay CM levies while the market is out of action. It is not clear at the moment how domestic suppliers are

UKPN cuts minimum DSR entry size to 50kW, commits £12m to buy flex UK Power Networks is committing £12m in funding across 28 locations in the southeast and east of England to help kick-start regional flexibility markets. To participate in its next round of procurement, those that can provide generation of load forms of response must register by 12 March. Service delivery will start from winter 2019 onwards. In a bid to bring in more demand-side response providers, the DNO has reduced the minimum entry size from 100kW to 50kW. “It is early days for the flexibility market, but we’re fully committed to it. The sums we’re investing will

theenergyst.com

We’re fully committed to paying for flexibility. It will ultimately save customers money by extending the life of our existing infrastructure ultimately save customers money by extending the life of our existing infrastructure,” said UKPN head of smart grid development Sotiris Georgiopoulos.

He added: “Could you reduce your consumption or increase generation on instruction at peak times? If so and you’re a generator or developer with assets in any of our 28 locations, or if you can install new assets by winter 2020-21, then we’d be really happy to speak to you about how you can take part. Piclo, an online platform that matches buyers of flex with assets in the right locations, will run the auction. The locations where UKPN requires flexibility can be found on the Piclo site at picloflex.com. Businesses can register interest via flexibility@ ukpowernetworks.co.uk

managing the levies if they are still being collected (assuming none has reduced its bills accordingly), and ensuring the funds will be there when required. Meanwhile, the regulator allowed for a continued levy in setting its price cap for standard variable tariff customers. Taking the decision, Ofgem said it “does not consider that it has the power to approve a modification, that is designed to compel suppliers to pay (a proxy for) the Capacity Market Supplier Charge in light of the fact that Parliament has established a specific and bespoke statutory regime for regulating the Capacity Market.” This story first appeared in our sister publication, New Power

Heat network fund open for applications The government’s flagship heat network funding programme is now open for applications. It is hoped that £320m in capital funding from taxpayers will enable about £1bn to be leveraged to deliver heat networks in urban areas across the UK that should help reduce emissions from heat. The Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP) opened to applications on 5 February. The deadline for pre-applications is 6 March and the full application deadline is 5 April. Applications that miss those deadlines will be assessed in the next round of funding.

February/March 2019

NEWS & COMMENT

Utilitywise goes bust, administrators seek buyers for EIC Utilitywise is in administration having failed to find a buyer or raised enough money to stay in business. The company has shut down its Enterprise division, by far the largest part of its business, which acted as a third party intermediary (TPI) for the SME and micro business sectors. Andrew Johnson and Chad Griffin of FTI Consulting are the administrators. Johnson said “a substantial number of redundancies” would follow at the company’s Newcastle headquarters. However, he said the company’s corporate division, recently rebranded to EIC, remains afloat as FTI seek potential buyers. The future of Utilitywise, led by former Sage boss Brendan Flattery, had been the subject of speculation since the company delayed annual results and eventually restated its income last year. The firm had been overestimating how much energy clients were likely to use when signing off contracts, effectively leading it to both overpay commission and overstate revenue. It also had to repay millions in commissions to a supplier. As a result, it posted an operating loss of £31.4m for

The future of Utilitywise, led by CEO Brendan Flattery, had long been the subject of speculation

the 2017 financial year and warned of challenges ahead. In November, likely with an eye on a sale or separating out business units, the firm rebranded its corporate division back to EIC. The move also raised eyebrows as Utilitywise acquired a company called Energy Information Centre, or EIC, in 2013 for £15.5m. In late January, the company admitted it was seeking buyers and needed £10m to stay afloat and renew a £25m credit facility which expires in April. The administrators said no offers had been received for the enterprise division, nor the group as a whole, and that the directors had been unable to raise sufficient funding to cover “significant” trading losses. In a statement, Johnson said: “Given the absence of a potential purchaser for the Enterprise division and the continuing significant losses within that part of the business, we are unable to continue to trade, and will cease the operations of the Enterprise division immediately. This will unfortunately result in a substantial number of redundancies, primarily at UTW’s head

No offers were received for the Enterprise division, nor the group as a whole, and the directors were unable to raise sufficient funding to cover ‘significant’ trading losses office in Newcastle. “We have received expressions of interest from a number of parties for UTW’s subsidiary companies Icon Communication Centres s.r.o and Energy Intelligence Centre Limited, which operate the Europe division and Corporate division respectively. These companies are not in an insolvency process and continue to operate on a ‘business as usual’ basis, with the full support of the Group’s lender, whilst the sales process continues. “We intend to conclude the sales processes in respect of these subsidiaries in the coming weeks.”

Inspired to post higher profit and debt Third party intermediary Inspired Energy expects to post a 21% revenue increase and 22% rise in adjusted profit before tax for the full year 2018. For full year 2017, reported group revenue stood at £27.46m, adjusted profit before tax at £9.7m. In a trading update, the company said net debt is expected to be £24m, up 62% on 2017, reflecting a string of

8 February/March 2019

acquisitions made during the year. Inspired acquired Systemslink 2000 and Energy Cost Management in March 2018, Squareone in August and Professional Cost Management Group in September. It completed the acquisition of Inprova for £19.5m at the end of December. CEO Mark Dickinson said the group had an “excellent” 2018, with

acquisitions and organic growth “materially” increasing the number of meters under management, and that it aims to cross-sell services to clients in order to increase revenue per meter. The year-end order book stood at £53m (2017: £39m). The firm will post full year results on 27 March.

theenergyst.com

Interserve’s largest shareholder calls for board’s removal Coltrane Master Fund, the largest single shareholder in construction and FM company Interserve, has called for the board of directors to be removed from the company, bar CEO Debbie White. The news follows Interserve’s announcement that it has agreed a debt reduction plan with key lenders. The plan will see the company swap hundreds of millions of pounds of existing debt for new shares.

Coltrane currently holds 17.5% of the company’s shares. Interserve’s share value has fallen by 80% in the 12 months since the collapse of Carillion and existing shareholders worry diluting their holdings via the debt swap will leave them further out of pocket.

Coltrane’s requisition notice calls for a general meeting to propose that chairman Glyn Barker, CFO Mark Whiteling and directors Russell King, Anne Fahy, Nick Salmon, Gareth Edwards, Dougie Sutherland and Nicholas Pollard be removed as directors of the company. Interserve said it was taking advice and would tell shareholders in due course when the general meeting will be held.

Yü Group losses ‘no worse than expected’ following review Share values bounced at the end of January for business energy supplier Yu Group after the company said losses for the full year 2018 would be no worse than anticipated. The firm’s value plunged 80% in October when it notified the stock market of an accounting black hole that would lead it to post a loss. The issue related to bad debt; a higher number of customers that would not pay their bills than it had made provision for. After a “forensic review”, the company states that the adjusted loss before tax will be between £7.35m and £7.85m. The company said that level of loss was based on the assumption that it will not restate profits for 2017 nor prior years. Should the board decide a restatement is required, the loss for full year 2018 would decrease accordingly. Yü said group revenue for 2018 is expected to be approximately £89m. It currently has £85m of revenue

theenergyst.com

contracted for 2019, no debt and holds £14.6m in cash. Yü Group has also appointed RSM UK Audit as new external auditors. The firm’s share value remains a fraction of the 595p commanded before the October announcement. However, major shareholder Bobby Kalar expressed confidence in business fundamentals. Kalar described the past three months as “challenging”. He said the company was now “more selective and prudent” in acquiring customers, but continues to secure new business at “reasonable” margin. “With a strong balance sheet and a focused and dedicated workforce, I remain confident in the underlying business, the significant market opportunity available to us, and the long-term success of our proposition and I am absolutely driven to put us back on track,” he said.

I remain confident in the underlying business, the significant market opportunity available to us, and the long-term success of our proposition and I am absolutely driven to put us back on track Bobby Kalar, Yü Group

Npower to cut 900 jobs

Paul Coffey said Npower would make ‘a significant’ loss

Npower is to cut 900 jobs, 14% of its workforce. The company blamed tough market conditions, the price cap and intense competition on fixed-price tariffs. CEO Paul Coffey said the company would still make a “significant” loss for the year after slashing headcount and wage bill. He said the recent spate of small suppliers going bust, some after acquiring customers through lossleading tariffs, showed “many have been pricing at levels that are not sustainable”. The company will start consulting with staff in March. After the collapse of the proposed merger with SSE, it has been reported that Eon will end up with the company after the asset swap deal with RWE. Neither Npower nor owner Innogy have commented on that outcome.

EDF UK earnings fall EDF Energy posted a 15% fall in 2018 UK earnings before interest, taxes, deductions and amortisation. The company’s nuclear output was 7.% (4.8TWh) lower than in 2017. While retail prices were higher during the year, the company lost 200,000 residential customers. EDF said the UK market context was “difficult”.

February/March 2019

NEWS & COMMENT

Budweiser signs massive solar PPA and plans to market ‘renewable beer’ Budweiser will be brewed using renewable power after AB InBev UK signed a major power purchase agreement with Lightsource BP. The 15-year deal will enable the rollout of 100MW of solar PV, making it the largest unsubsidised UK solar deal to date. Lightsource BP said it expected to have the new solar farms built and connected by the end of 2020. Budweiser will also use the fact that it is brewed by 100% renewable power on its packaging. The symbol is already in use in the US and is available for other companies to use. AB InBev said it hopes it will help raise consumer awareness and drive further demand for renewable power. The company has set 2025 sustainability goals that target a 25% reduction to carbon emissions across

AB InBev will use the 100% Renewable Electricity symbol on Budweiser packaging and says other brands are free to use it too

its full global value chain against a 2017 baseline – the equivalent of taking approximately 1.5 million cars off the road each year. “This deal is about driving positive change in what people buy in their weekly shop, order in the pub or drink with friends,” said

Octopus Investments backs Eclipse Power Octopus Investments will provide multimillion-pound backing to independent distribution network operator Eclipse Power. The firm will use the money to expand its operation and connect more customers to the grid, as well as enable EV charging infrastructure. The move is strategic for the broader Octopus Group, which has investments or operations across different aspects of the energy sector, including renewables, energy retail, flexibility, and electric vehicles. “This investment provides Octopus with access to a

10 February/March 2019

fast-changing part of the UK energy system’s value chain … while providing substantial and stable returns for our investors,” said co-head of energy investments, Matt Setchell. “We are also excited about Eclipse Power working with many of the different parts of Octopus to drive growth including property, transport and healthcare, whose need for timely and cost-efficient connections is fundamental to their business models.” Eclipse also has a generation business, developing gas peaking power plant.

Jason Warner, zone president for Europe at AB InBev. “We want to build a movement towards celebrating and growing renewable electricity, and are asking our consumers, customers, colleagues, business partners and fellow companies to join us – we are making our 100%

renewable electricity symbol available for any brands who share these values.” Lightsource BP CEO Nick Boyle said the UK has reached a “pivotal point … where unsubsidised solar is going to truly make its mark as the cheapest form of energy generation”.

Ashford eyes £7m income from 9MW solar farm Ashford Borough Council in Kent wants to build and run its own solar farm. Following advice from the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), the proposal is for a 9MW project on a 20ha site at Shadoxhurst purchased by the council in 2017. The council cabinet has agreed that, subject to planning approval and public consultation, a solar farm is the optimal use for the site and would provide a significant income stream while having a low environmental impact. It is estimated that the project could generate £7m over a 25-year period, which the council says would help securing future council services in a challenging economic climate.

Ashford CC said a solar farm is the optimal use for the Shadoxhurst site

theenergyst.com

Sponsored Cover Story

WHY FLEXIBILITY IS THE KEY TO OUR ENERGY FUTURE

By Vincent de Rul, Director of Energy Solutions at EDF Energy

he fourth Industrial Revolution and our reliance on emerging technologies like the Internet of Things and Blockchain will make electricity our most important energy, but how do we ensure it is more sustainable? In the quest for a better and smarter energy landscape, more and more businesses are adopting a flexible energy model. This represents a wholesale change in the way businesses interact with energy - moving them away from being passive consumers to giving them increased control. Flexibility stands for a wider approach towards energy management, but also encompasses a range of simple energy solutions that contribute to the wider

circular economy. One such solution is Demand Side Response (DSR) – a simple, yet hugely beneficial system to ensure the grid infrastructure can manage the fluctuating energy demand and supply, as the amount of renewable sources such as wind and solar increase. With DSR schemes, businesses that can be flexible with their consumption are rewarded for committing to shifting or reducing the demand, in particular, by switching to onsite generation when needed. For example, electric vehicles will increasingly place new demand on the grid. Energy services such as Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology, which enables power to be drawn from car batteries and fed back into the grid when not in use, will be important to support the balancing of electricity demand.

“FLEXIBILITY IS ENABLING MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY TO BE BROUGHT ONTO THE GRID AND TO BE DISTRIBUTED MORE EFFICIENTLY”

POWER YOUR BUSINESS BY DOING ENERGY DIFFERENTLY With the help of an ‘energy optimiser’ like our PowerShift platform, businesses can sell excess energy back to the grid during times of peak demand. But this additional revenue is just the immediate benefit, more widely it frees up energy for the rest of society at times when demand threatens to exceed supply. Energy flexibility deviates from the traditional relationship with an energy provider, allowing businesses to shift from centralised generation towards a decentralised electric future within which they trade. This is especially important in energy intensive industries like manufacturing and data centres, where a power outage is a critical business issue. For example, one data centre provider in the UK was recently fined over a million pounds for an outage of only twelve minutes.

To help you think about energy differently, not just as a commodity but a value-generating resource, EDF Energy has developed this proprietary decisioning tool, the ‘Energy Solutions Wheel’. It simplifies the energy solutions available to six things we can do to together take a more sustainable and profitable approach to your business’ energy: save, manage, secure, design, build and maintain. What’s reassuring is that EDF Energy helps you choose which energy change to do next. Then they do the full implementatation for you. EDF Energy has the end-to-end energy solutions, capabilities and expertise to partner your business on your end-to-end energy journey. One change at a time.

With the help of energy usage data, businesses have a better understanding of the total amount of energy that will be demanded from the grid at any one point, and at any one moment. Most businesses are still at the beginning of their journey towards flexibility and are looking for simple, effective adjustments that they can make in order to justify the case for change. That one change may be as simple as installing a smart monitoring system like our PowerNow platform to identify energy saving opportunities,or using existing assets to generate extra revenue. As new technologies in this space are developed and become increasingly accessible and desirable to consumers, the appetite for these solutions will only increase. Focusing solely on the cost saving potential of flexibility fails to recognise that there is something far more fundamental behind the shift towards energy being managed in this way; it is the gateway to a cleaner, more circular economy where income is generated by turning waste into resource By offering the chance to gain control and transparency over energy usage, energy flexibility gives organisations the chance to start thinking about themselves as more than a consumer without sacrificing convenience. Crucially, flexibility is enabling more renewable energy to be brought onto the grid and to be distributed more efficiently; it represents the point at which a decentralised, decarbonised and digitalised energy future becomes something more tangible – a practical solution that can deliver real benefits to business. So where does that leave energy companies? Those that are primed for change will help consumers and businesses to understand how they are using energy and support them to build operational resilience and achieve their sustainability targets. It is not just a potential change that might help – it’s a necessary one. Make your change today If you’d like to talk about what change is right for your business, get in touch with me at Vincent.DeRul2@edfenergy.com

To find out more about our energy solutions, visit: edfenergy.com/energysolutions Join us for a flexibility event this Spring for our next Talk Power event on “Positive Disruption”. edfenergy.com/talk-power to sign up

INSIGHT

ome gas offtakers, including power stations and major industrial users, face multimillion-pound hikes in network charges from October this year. But it is not clear which users will face the charges or how high they will be, because the process for calculating the charges is in disarray. One market participant, Triton Energy, said it may have to invest in its own pipeline, bypassing National Grid, if some proposed changes to the regime are taken forward. A new charging regime should be agreed by May and take effect in October, under EU legislation on its Internal Energy Market (IEM). Industry has been working on several different proposals, so it is unclear at this stage which users will be most affected. But when the various proposals were submitted to Ofgem for decision, it threw them all out, saying they were not compliant with EU law. Nick Wye of Waters Wye Associates said the process had been under way for months and “it is not very helpful that they [Ofgem] have taken so long to make some fundamental observations on compliance right at the end”. If revised proposals cannot be written, consulted on and agreed by industry and regulator by May, as seems highly unlikely, the UK could be open to European Court action and fines. The new charging regime is unlikely to be completed swiftly because the market and regulator are at odds over some key proposals. In an assessment of the proposed modifications the regulator said that, if agreed, it “would put new capacity bookings and flows at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to historical capacity bookings”. The EC wants new codes to be based mostly on capacity

14 February/March 2019

Gas charging in disarray as Ofgem throws out reform proposals Some power stations and major industrial companies face big increases in gas network charges this year. But nobody yet knows who and how much. Janet Wood outlines the implications charges (it only allows commodity charges to be used for residual charging). On the face of it that makes charges more transparent and predictable for users. But it means some plant – such as gas-fired generation with low load factors – will have to carry much higher network charges. “Anyone with a low load factor will see an increase,” said Wye.

In addition, some power plants and industrial gas users have until now benefitted from so-called ‘short haul’ charges, where the capacity cost is discounted – sometimes to zero – because of their network (ie close to supply). That discount will also disappear under capacity-based charges. The outcome of these changes is that some plant will see

costs rise by as much as several million pounds annually, but until the methodology is agreed it is not clear which plants will see the biggest price rises. Wye points out that gas users have to sign contracts now for the upcoming winter, although they do not know how charges may vary from October. The dramatic change was one reason why the

theenergyst.com

Power stations and major industrial users could face multimillion-pound hikes in network charges

modification proposals included a two-year transition period, something Ofgem said was not permitted by the EU. Incumbent benefit? Ofgem is also concerned that new users may be at a disadvantage in the rule change. Existing ‘historical’ contracts have low capacity prices, and when shippers flow they have to pay commodity charges. The modification proposes that their capacity costs are frozen. If commodity costs fall away, they will pay “significantly” less than new users. Ofgem calculates that by 2020/21, new users booking capacity under the new regime will pay 7-12 times the price paid by users with ‘historical’ contracts – contracts which in some cases endure until 2030. Ofgem says the proposed methodologies “would have the effect of further increasing the price differential between historical and new capacity bookings, thus increasing the distortion of competition. While this is a temporary effect, in that it would only last for

theenergyst.com

the duration of the historical bookings, we note that some historical bookings extend well into the period of the proposed enduring regime (to 2030).” If the modifications Anyone with (with a low were taken forward questions of legality solved) load factor will see they would redistribute an increase system charges recovered by NGGT, Ofgem concluded. Transmission-connected gas customers would see a small reduction on the order of £100/ year. Charges for domestic customers and for distributionconnected industrial users and small power stations would see a small cost increase in the north and Scotland, and a small cost reduction in the south and west. Ofgem’s decision to throw out the code modification also leaves uncertain the charging regime after May 2019, when the revised scheme was required to take effect under European law. te Janet Wood is editor of New Power, The Energyst’s sister publication, where this article first appeared. Discover more at newpower.info

Xoserve claims progress on unidentified gas

as shippers and suppliers have complained that since the Link data system was introduced (so-called Project Nexus) in 2017 they have borne the cost – running at £18m per month – of being charged for high levels of so-called ‘unidentified gas’ (UIG) in the system. UIG charges are volatile and unpredictable and that “has a clear and material impact on the market and competition”, say market participants. Since Link was introduced levels of UIG, previously thought to be about 1% of the total, have averaged 4.65% (though reconciliation has reduced this to 4%, which is still double what Ofgem is estimating in the domestic price cap) and can vary by 20% from day to day. Central data service

Xoserve, which has been leading a task force aimed at addressing the problem, believes that it has identified changes that will reduce the volumes of UIG below 4% of the total shipped, but it warned that “the issue has proved to have numerous, complex contributing drivers and the estimated impacts against each finding cannot be guaranteed”. The task force has brought together a raft of work streams, considering in detail issues such as the algorithms used, sampling and metering, in a series of ‘sprints’ try to understand the causes of the problem. At the end of December, investigation work was paused to allow modifications to be developed and implemented. However more work is clearly required.

February/March 2019

ENERGY PROCUREMENT It is hoped the vast majority of London’s 33 boroughs and 37 health authorities will participate

London calling for £500m energy contract London Energy Project hopes prospect of massive contract will unlock social, carbon and cost benefits. Brendan Coyne reports

Main pic: © User:Colin and Kim Hansen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

his spring, the London Energy Project will launch a tender for up to £500m worth of energy per annum for public buildings and street lighting. The aim is to find the greenest, best value contracts that enable local authorities, health authorities and other public sector customers in London and the South to cut carbon and costs while unlocking social value. Corralling such a large group of public sector customers and finding a contract and supplier to suit disparate needs is no mean feat. But Amanda de Swarte, head of the London Energy Project, thinks it can be done. “It is complex, but that does not mean we shouldn’t try,” she says. Suppliers, while cognisant of the challenge, think they can deliver what’s required. £500m has an effervescent effect, suggests de Swarte. The hope is that the vast

16 February/March 2019

majority of 33 London boroughs and 37 health authorities, LEP’s members outside of London, plus new potential members will give the LEP sufficient clout to drive change and unlock greater value. “In any tender, it is impossible to say that everybody is going to opt in. Each contracting authority has its own decision making process. But the expectation is that they will participate because they have been involved in the specification and it puts them in control of what they are getting,” says de Swarte. “It is not just about getting

best price and service, because that should be a given. It allows them to deliver greater community and social benefit, and it enables them to bring about a market change.” Moreover, taking a collective approach should unlock energy efficiency, carbon reduction, innovation and savings by freeing up time and resource for councils and trusts that all too often find themselves firefighting administrative burdens. Supplier benefits Products and services cannot be homogenised to suit every region and customer: schools require very different services »

What does £500m buy? The framework aims to procure 100% REGO-backed renewable electricity, which the LEP thinks can be done without a premium. It will also include the option for authorities and trusts to buy green gas, though that will likely cost more. The framework will include requirements to allow local small businesses to bid for work on energy services contracts, keeping value within the community. It will also stipulate that fair prices must be paid for any exported self-generated energy.

It is not about getting best price and service, because that should be a given. It allows them to deliver greater community and social benefit, and it enables a market change – Amanda de Swarte, London Energy Project theenergyst.com

Control your buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy use and build business performance

Remote Optimal is our new and powerful energy optimisation platform that improves the performance of your buildings. And in turn it improves the performance of your operations and your business as a whole. With actionable insights from building analysis of all your energy systems, advanced tools to control, monitor and reduce your energy usage, and corrective action from a dedicated team of experts, you can unlock savings and take control today.

Find out how SSE Enterprise Energy Solutions can help improve your building performance. Call us on

Or visit

0345 072 9529

sseenergyoptimisation.co.uk/remoteoptimal

ENERGY PROCUREMENT to hospitals, for example. But de Swarte says suppliers that develop solutions that can be applied to the customer segments across an area like London will likely find demand for their services in other regions. They may also gain some benefit by working directly with a coordinated customer group rather than via a third party, such as a broker, suggests de Swarte. Meanwhile, baking in flexibility to the contracts should help suppliers prepare for the decentralised era. Future proofing and flexibility De Swarte says the aim is to create a framework that enables individual councils and trusts to ‘call off ’ additional services and contracts without needing to undertake further tenders. That approach should provide sufficient leeway to bring in other aspects, such as flexibility trading and demandside response, power purchase agreements (PPAs) and energyas-a-service, says de Swarte. Flexible frameworks could enable councils that are building solar farms to sell their electricity into the framework, for example, as well as allowing individual authorities and trusts to optimise any generation or flexibility within their estates. The frameworks should also have sufficient flexibility to accommodate peer-topeer (P2P) models. “P2P is not quite there yet, and neither is the market, says de Swarte. “But the framework will run until 2024, so we have to ensure we have innovation clauses that allow us to move with the market, because it may be that everyone is doing P2P by then.” Future proofing the framework is critical, she says. “2024 won’t look the same as now and so the contracts need to reflect that. We have to ensure all of the things

18 February/March 2019

What is the London Energy Project? London Energy Project is a public sector shared service, hosted by Haringey Council, whose principal focus is to work with these organisations and enable them to achieve better value for money, process efficiencies, social value and carbon reduction through innovation, working and buying together. By taking a collaborative approach, LEP and its members believe suppliers will be encouraged to develop and deliver products and services that will meet the majority of their collective business needs.

we know go wrong on a regular basis, the things we know suppliers do poorly, are ‘specified out’ and the things they do well are ‘specified in’. Then, when we go to tender, we can be clear that suppliers understand our business requirements and that £500m is put to good use,” says de Swarte. “Ultimately, what we are currently getting works. But it isn’t really good enough, does not provide social value and isn’t ‘green’ and it creates an admin burden – and we think we can do better.” To help deliver the contracts, LEP is recruiting Category and Delivery Manager roles. See: https://tinyurl. com/y6bmekvp or https://tinyurl.com/y3xd9oks

Hackney issues call to arms

decarbonise already exist. But aggregation is critical.” The key barrier to moving markets via aggregation, according to Burke, is “a lack of political willpower ... and I’m not sure this is going to come from central government. They are somewhat preoccupied”. He believes the effort must ackney Council has therefore be co-ordinated committed to launch its locally, as a “cross-party own energy company, endevour” and urged councils scale up its own production of and trusts to back energy and to use 100% initiatives such as clean energy by 2050. the London Energy “We can get there a lot Project in order to sooner,” says mayor effect change. Philip Glanville. His In the meantime, view is seconded by Burke says Hackney councillor Jon Burke, aimed to heed its Hackney cabinet Jonn Burke: own advice. member for energy, ‘Scale matters’ “By the end of this sustainability, and administration, we will community services. be able to point to a significant However, Burke says the reduction in carbon intensity only way local authorities across the local authority. The can make the step changes next time we come to negotiate required to rapidly decarbonise our energy contract, we will is to work collectively: be working towards a shift to “Scale matters. Scale is 100% renewable electricity,” he so much more important as says. “If Hackney can do that a driver of innovation than in four years, the implications innovation is a driver of scale. can be profound.” te The technology solutions to

Bristol Energy trials ‘heat as a service’

ouncil-owned Bristol Energy is trialling ‘heat as a service’. It is thought to be the first UK supplier to do so. Suppliers can only sell energy to customers in kilowatt hours. But via a government-backed trial run by the Energy Systems Catapult, Bristol is selling ‘heat plans’ tailored to their lifestyle. Energy Systems Catapult has been running a trial with 100 households for the past two years. Bristol will now offer those households a heat plan. Using data collected via a smart heating control system, Bristol can calculate a fixed monthly cost bespoke to the householder’s needs that does not fluctuate with the weather. The trial hopes to demonstrate new ways of encouraging suppliers to deliver heat and comfort using less energy and carbon. If households are happy with that approach, and can commit to contracts, the theory is that ‘as-a-service’ approaches could also provide new ways to decarbonise heat. “We’re excited to be bringing this trial to fruition and look forward to working with Bristol Energy on building this from an innovation trial to a service that can be offered to a broader base,” said Energy Systems Catapult consumer insight lead, Matt Lipson. te

theenergyst.com

ENERGY PROCUREMENT Small businesses setting up shop can be bombarded with calls

fgem will launch a review of the microbusiness energy market this year. The regulator will examine whether to put in place for the UK’s smallest firms similar protections to those afforded to households. The review, should it lead to action, will be welcomed by those that have long called for oversight of third parties. Many suppliers and brokers can reduce energy bills – particularly for the

£500m

Amount the Competition & Markets Authority thinks small businesses as a whole are being overcharged roughly one in four small businesses on expensive rollover contracts. Brokers can package up demand and get better deals for businesses, earning a commission or adding a percentage per kilowatt consumed in return. But it is not clear that commissions or ‘uplifts’ are always disclosed and small businesses as a whole are being

20 February/March 2019

Time for some action? Ofgem to review small business energy market and whether to put in place similar protections to those afforded to households overcharged. The Competition & Markets Authority thinks they are overpaying by £500m a year, with suppliers making four times the margin on small firms than they do on large customers. Because brokers are not regulated, businesses currently have little protection from bad actors. Many, particularly those setting up shop or taking on new premises, may be bombarded by calls from brokers. More than a fifth of small firms recalled receiving at least 50 calls, according to research carried out for Ofgem in 2017. Small firms may know very little about the energy market. If an unscrupulous sales agent tells them they are on “emergency rates” or that “National Grid will shut off their supply” they can be pressured to sign up to expensive tariffs and locked into long-term contracts. Firms can take complaints to the ombudsman if they think they have been unfairly treated. But should the ombudsmen fail to uphold their complaint, they have little recourse. (No-win, no fee

‘PPI for energy mis-selling’ companies claim some success in getting money back from brokers for small businesses, but public evidence is scant.) Fining powers In the worst cases, businesses can find themselves paying thousands of pounds to exit contracts. Some end up shutting down as a result. Ofgem now has the opportunity to take action following an indication from government last year that it may beef-up consumer protection. “Ofgem supports the government’s recent Consumer Green Paper proposal to extend consumer law fining powers to us so that domestic consumer protections are strengthened, and additionally propose that this is extended to non-domestic protections,” said a spokesperson for the regulator. “As part of our consideration of more fundamental Ofgem boss Dermot Nolan has the chance to protect small businesses from being ripped off

reforms to the retail market, we will carefully consider how the scope and form of our regulation may need to change. “This year, we will be conducting a strategic review of the microbusiness retail market to understand market challenges and consumer experience. The review will identify the case for short and medium-term actions. We expect to publish an opening statement over the coming months and will invite views and evidence from stakeholders to help inform our thinking.” According to Ofgem: a nondomestic consumer is defined as a microbusiness if they meet one of the following criteria: • Employs fewer than 10 employees (or their full time equivalent) and has an annual turnover or balance sheet no greater than ¤2m, or • Consumes not more than 100,000 kWh of electricity per year, or • Consumes not more than 293,000 kWh of gas per year To put this in context, a business consuming these amounts of electricity and gas would pay about £10,000£12,000 per year for each fuel, excluding VAT. te

theenergyst.com

ENERGY PROCUREMENT

Five things to ask your energy broker Former Utilitywise director Andrew Richardson manages an energy price comparison and switching platform for small firms. For businesses that still use brokers, he suggests they ask the following questions before signing anything

significant proportion of businesses use a broker to procure their business energy. Brokers can typically mark-up supplier base rates by up to 30%. Here are some questions you should ask your broker to ensure they are doing the best by you, their customer: 1. What are the broker’s fees? This helps define how the broker is getting remunerated for their services. Are they getting a lump sum, or the combination of a lump sum and commission in rates? Are there any performance targets and incentives included? We recommend clients seek permission to confirm any commissions with the supplier. 2. How many suppliers will the broker work with? A broker may well tell you they work with the whole of the market, but there are so many various kinds of suppliers – green, clean, micro suppliers, energy direct from the grid, that it is not possible. It is disingenuous for brokers to claim they work with the whole of the market.

22 February/March 2019

3. Does the broker have a direct relationship with suppliers? Many brokers do not have a direct relationship with the supplier and use intermediaries. In the chain of connection between the business and the final rate they get, there can typically be various sub-brokers marking up rates and fees. The result is you get an inflated bill on what the supplier may have originally charged. You also need to be prepared to question the broker’s relationship with the supplier. This will help determine if they have preferred supplier relationships. How do they select the supplier – is it purely on rate alone or do they have

preferential deals? Or are the intermediaries involved pushing you towards particular suppliers due to rewards they get? 4. If the relationship is not direct, how many parties are involved in making up your price? This will help establish who is involved in the chain of relationship with the supplier. How far away is the broker that is contacting you from the original source price provided

Want more true stories? Former Utilitywise finance director Andrew Richardson (pictured) launched Troo last year. Richardson says the benchmarking and switching platform does not uplift suppliers’ kilowatt hour rates and discloses the same flat fee it is paid by all suppliers should customers decide to switch. The company has flagged further scams that may be attempted by unscrupulous brokers, such as pretending to be a supplier, or abusing letters of authority to lock businesses into long-term inflated contracts. Read all about it at troocost.com/troo-blog/

by the supplier? And how much is/are the middle men making who are part of the chain? It is not a rhetorical question – businesses need to be pushing these questions and finding out who is making money on their price. Again, ask for full disclosure of all commissions. 5. Get a full breakdown in writing Always ask in writing for a breakdown of what is included and not included in the tariff, especially regarding passthroughs to ensure you are comparing like for like. The main things you need to remind yourself of before the call are: • Broker’s services are not free • Nobody can possibly cover the whole of the market • Only suppliers can give you the very best price, and a good intermediary should guide you to the best prices. te

theenergyst.com

ENERGY PROCUREMENT

Onsite generation ‘will mirror LED lighting boom’ Corporates have started to take carbon seriously. That will drive a boom in energy projects regardless of political or regulatory change, believes SDCL CEO Jonathan Maxwell. Brendan Coyne reports

ive years ago, Jonathan Maxwell, CEO and founder of Sustainable Development Capital Limited, was telling anybody who would listen that the most effective way to cut cost and carbon was to undertake energy efficiency retrofits led by LED lighting. Yet deals were difficult to conclude and relatively scarce. Today, that has all changed. Whereas in 2012 fewer than 2% of lights globally were energy efficient, Maxwell says “the expectation is that by the end of 2019 we will cross the 50% boundary”. Maxwell believes onsite generation is approaching a similar inflection point. He thinks the UK market has the potential to triple in size. “There is a very substantial opportunity,” he suggests, with corporates driving the trend.

“Carbon is a key area. The intensity of focus from large corporates on minimising their carbon footprint is completely different compared to five years ago. Carbon is very high on the corporate agenda, and that is hugely positive.” Brexit uncertainty Corporates, however, tend to avoid uncertain investments and Brexit is viewed by many as deeply negative. Meanwhile,

Jonathan Maxwell: ‘Brexit may improve the business case for onsite generation’

Putting energy efficiency on the Stock Exchange In December, the specialist energy investment company listed the SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT) on the London Stock Exchange via a £100m IPO. SEEIT aims to acquire existing energy projects and infrastructure as well as fund new projects. It hopes to generate

24 February/March 2019

the energy regulator is tearing up the current electricity charging arrangements and starting from scratch. Some argue that the disruption threatens to undermine decentralised and flexible technologies (see news, p6). But Maxwell thinks Brexit may ultimately create greater demand for onsite generation, while Ofgem’s root and branch charging reviews need not pose an existential threat. “There are always two sides to these coins, and differences of opinion make a market,” he says. “Brexit does create uncertainty. It will slow down decision making at a corporate level. On the other hand, it may increase issues with energy security: we have a degree of reliance on international gas and interconnectors. Those problems do not go away, they are no

a total return of 7-8% per annum and an initial dividend yield of 5% on the Initial Issue Price (100p), rising to 5.5% in the year ending 31 March 2021, with a growing yield thereafter. Since floating, SEEIT has acquired a portfolio of existing projects including CCHP and LED lighting for £57m with commitments for a further £30m. It plans to buy other projects including a UK retailer’s rooftop PV portfolio via a combination of equity and debt finance, as well as CHP assets in Europe and North America. In a post-subsidy world, Maxwell thinks

easier to solve,” says Maxwell. He says resilience – or security of supply – is a major aspect of the business case to invest in energy efficiency or onsite generation. As Japan appears to pull back, the UK new nuclear programme is diminished and behind schedule, while coal plants are closing and grid operators are working harder to reliably accommodate increasing volumes of renewables. “If energy security is a driver to people being more efficient with energy and generating more on site, I would say Brexit is at least as much a tailwind as a headwind,” Maxwell suggests. Charging reviews Ofgem’s charging reviews are “complex”, says Maxwell, a reflection of the UK energy landscape. “But if the fundamental question is who is going to pay for the grid and

SEEIT’s approach will gain traction. “There are opportunities to deliver cleaner, cheaper, reliable energy without relying on government concessions and subsidy, without being beholden to constraints – and actually delivering significant benefits to the grid – while delivering them directly to the end customer,” he suggests. “In the rear view mirror there is a great opportunity to acquire existing projects. Looking forward there is very significant opportunity to build new projects. So I think the next five years will be very interesting.”

theenergyst.com

Electric vehicles

There are ‘opportunities to deliver cleaner, cheaper energy that is not reliant on subsidy’

how that is fairly allocated, the answer to that question should not diminish the business case for a good onsite generation project, particularly where a good private wire solution is included,” says Maxwell. “All the projects we have in development should be able to stand up to whatever comes out of the Targeted Charging Review. I don’t think it will be a deal breaker. You have to pick the projects that make

sense and I don’t think the TCR will kill good UK projects.” Everything as a service SEEIT’s business model is to fund or acquire assets and deliver them to market as part of a structured deal. The esco or ‘as-a-service’ model is an approach many are trying to crack, some with more success than others. “Pretty much all the assets [acquisition pipeline] are

SEEIT has to date acquired energy efficiency and generation projects, but transport is also on its radar. “We talk to companies about the energy efficiency of their buildings, but it is difficult to escape the fact that in some cases 50% or more of the energy they use is for moving around,” says Maxwell. “The electrification of fleets, and what that means for large commercial businesses from an energy and infrastructure perspective is an area of high interest for us.”

‘as-a-service’,” says Maxwell. He says appetite for capexfree solutions is strong. “The current level of activity as far as we are concerned is higher than ever. We are seeing more demand now than over the last five years put together.” However, says Maxwell, “just because demand is there, it does not make it easy to do”. “There are many aspects that make energy projects challenging: multiple stakeholders, sales cycles, financial, tax, regulatory and accounting factors. It takes a lot of expertise to make the deals sufficiently simple to unlock them.” Maxwell thinks that is why SDLC is making headway. “A lot of people have looked at this market and found it difficult. We had to make energy efficiency simpler than it was before. That required us to build a very specialist operation. That is how we add value and that is how we are breaking the conundrum.” te

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

A lightbulb moment for the planet We must – and can – take matters into our own hands on climate change, rather than wait for governments to deliver, says Nick Howard

f it were possible to draw only one conclusion from the climate change debates of the past few years, it would be that politicians and national governments will not solve the planetary crisis alone. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process is case in point. The 2015 COP21 in Paris was remembered for its outstanding political goodwill, optimism about reducing emissions and limiting global warming and close cooperation between the US and China, the biggest emitters among developed and developing countries. By contrast, three years on, December’s COP24 in Katowice, Poland displayed dampened enthusiasm. Although the delegates successfully managed to deliver the ‘rulebook’ to implement the emission reduction promises agreed in Paris, the summit demonstrated that it is much easier for politicians to set targets than to agree on how to reach them, implement actions and measure progress. It is all the more surprising given that the scientific understanding regarding the scale of the risk of climate change to assets, investments and the public is more acute than ever. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was downplayed by some politicians gathered in

26 February/March 2019

Poland, despite it suggesting the world is on a devastating track to overshoot the targets of the Paris climate agreement and warm by 3°C by the end of the century. The salutary lesson from these developments is that companies, businesses and local authorities all need to ride in behind the ambition set out in Paris rather than wait for the politics to deliver. Together, by taking the initiative and leading by example, we can make those intentions real, making real inroads into emissions and building resilience against climate change impacts. Most specifically, we must focus on translating rapidly evolving and far-reaching technological innovations into day-to-day life. Too often ignored amid the noisy, polarised debate about nuclear, renewables and shale gas is the Cinderella of decarbonisation – the ‘first fuel’ – energy efficiency. It is a source of energy in its own right, in which energy users can make no-regrets investments ahead of other more complex or costly energy

sources. Indeed, there has been something of a quiet revolution under way in the UK – highlighted by Carbon Brief ’s recent number crunching that found electricity generation last year was down to the same level as the mid-1990s, despite a growing economy, due largely to improvements in energy efficiency. At an organisational level, energy efficiency efforts are understood as improving the ability to reduce energy consumption, based on the results of energy audits and surveys, for example a mandatory Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) assessment, the forthcoming Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) or, globally, certifying an ISO 50001 Energy Management System. Unfortunately, the take-up of energy efficiency projects

by some industries in the UK has been slow, in many cases glacial or non-existent. This may be due to political uncertainties, or difficulties justifying funding or capital expenditure where margins are low and international competition high. Additionally, present legal energy reduction schemes such as ESOS and Display Energy Certificates (DECs) do not have teeth. There is no compulsion to implement measures identified through the schemes’ mandatory surveys. The new reporting scheme, SECR, which from April 2019 will replace the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, is yet another missed opportunity for the mandatory installation of energy efficiency measures by businesses and organisations. Serious actions are required to better encourage

Together, by taking the initiative and leading by example, we can make real inroads into emissions and building resilience against climate change impacts – Nick Howard theenergyst.com

organisations to install efficiency projects and fulfil energy saving opportunities. After all, the ‘O’ in ESOS stands for Opportunity! Phase 2 of ESOS, which is in its compliance period between now and 5 December, shouldn’t just be a tick box exercise. Instead, energy managers should use it as an opportunity to review decarbonisation strategies and explore long-term energy saving possibilities, such as demand-side response or smart appliances. Additionally, there is a need to revise the ESOS regulations for future phases 3 and 4. Ideally, the scheme will be complemented by a legal requirement for energy saving measures identified in the ESOS assessment to be put into practice, not on the shelf to gather dust. Capital funding support is actually already available – Salix Funding is an independent, publicly funded company, providing the public sector with interest-free loans for energy efficiency projects; the Carbon Trust provides loans for private organisations. Tax

theenergyst.com

incentives could also be used to help fund these measures. Similarly, implementation of SECR should be encouraged as a way for business and industry to gain economic benefits, improve productivity and cut energy costs at the same time as reducing carbon emissions.

Energy managers should use Phase 2 of ESOS as an opportunity to review decarbonisation strategies and explore long-term energy saving possibilities One of the best places to start is lighting – responsible for 20% of all the electricity used in UK commercial and industrial buildings. Almost three in four buildings have outdated lighting installations, so it is no surprise that installation of more efficient

lighting was the most common recommendation from the first phase of ESOS assessments. A lighting upgrade or replacement can be simple and inexpensive but may lead to large energy and cost saving impacts. Lighting technology has been developing rapidly over recent years, driving remarkable cost reductions. Traditional incandescent bulbs are fast being replaced by a new generation of lighting such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The Energy Institute’s new Lighting Guide* is a great place to get the full picture. It is clear that LEDs are now the standout technology for saving costs and energy in many circumstances. Research by IHS Markit showed the use of LEDs to illuminate buildings and outdoor spaces reduced the total global CO2 emissions of lighting by an estimated 570 million tons in 2017. This is equivalent to shutting down 162 coalfired power plants. Overall, LED component and lighting companies can claim credit for reducing the global carbon

footprint by an estimated 1.5% in 2017. The share is much higher if we consider energy saved by LEDs in sectors other than the building lighting market, such as automotive and consumer technology. Using efficient lighting products could save up to 75% of the electricity consumed for lighting in the UK each year and correspondingly reduce energy costs. A focus on practical energy saving – efficient lighting, heating and insulation – will not just help mitigate the disappointment felt by many at the failure of governments to deliver, but also I hope mobilise more people on the ground to take steps that really can making a difference to energy use, carbon emissions and the bottom line. te Nick Howard is a chartered energy manager and member of the Energy Institute’s Energy Management Panel *The Energy Institute’s new Lighting Good Practice Guide can be found at https://knowledge. energyinst.org/collections/ energy-management

February/March 2019

ENERGY EFFICIENCY Mixed heat sources for heating and hot water provide opportunities for wider use of low carbon technologies, but only if they are properly controlled. Steve Lalyk of Hoval explains

Smart control for mixed heat sources

here is now a very clear trend towards the use of a range of heat sources in commercial buildings, alongside the more familiar boilers. This presents something of a challenge, insofar as a traditional boiler installation could be operated efficiently using some fairly basic control strategies, whereas a mixture of heat sources requires a more sophisticated control strategy. Clearly, it is important that each of the heat sources in use is inherently efficient, as that is the primary reason for using them. Each of these heat sources, however, will have different performance characteristics, so these need to be taken into account when determining the control strategy. Failing to do so results in wasted energy – something that, sadly, has been the case in many older heating installations – often due to the limitations of the control options available. In the past, control systems have tended to be quite complex, which makes them difficult to commission, operate and maintain. Inevitably this increases the risk of errors during commissioning

28 February/March 2019

so that the plant may not ever have been operating at optimum efficiency. There is now also a recognised need for ‘continuous commissioning’. Even when the plant is commissioned properly in the first place it will almost certainly need to be recommissioned during its lifetime to maintain efficiency in the light of changes to building fabric or usage. Again, the complexity of control systems can make this difficult and expensive. In recent years the use of multiple conventional and low carbon heat sources has made the situation even more complex. It has also become apparent that simply tweaking

There is now a recognised need for ‘continuous commissioning’ Steve Lalyk, Hoval

traditional controller designs to try to address these issues has only been partially successful. This is why new designs of controller, re-engineered from the ground up, have been developed – and are proving their worth in a wide range of project types. Modularity and connectivity To meet the requirements of modern heating systems (and their owners/operators) such controllers need to deliver new levels of modularity and connectivity. They also need to present a simple interface to the people who will be commissioning the system, and to those who will be using the system on a day-to-day basis. In this respect, it is important to allow for the fact that the people responsible for the system on a day-to-day basis are unlikely to have specialist knowledge of heating controls, so their interactions with the system need to be intuitive. This does not mean that the level of control needs to be simple, it means the interface to the underlying sophisticated functionality must be user-friendly.

A wider remit for controls As mentioned earlier, experience has shown that trying to control multiple heat sources with different ‘onboard’ controllers is extremely difficult and will usually compromise on overall performance. Consequently, controllers need a ‘wider remit’, with the ability to take effective control of a range of heat sources and handle single units or operate cascades of heat sources. These heat sources might include boilers (gas, oil, biomass), combined heat and power (CHP), calorifiers, heat pumps and solar thermal. When mixed heat sources are operated in a cascade configuration, the controller needs to take account of the characteristics of each heat source. These mixed systems are very different from the more familiar cascades of modular boilers that have been in use for many years. The same principles apply but in such cases the boilers will typically be ‘topping up’ low carbon heat sources. An example of this is when gas-fired CHP is used alongside gas-fired boilers. Here, the CHP will usually be used to meet base heat loads with the gas boilers providing

theenergyst.com

a top-up at times of peak demand. This arrangement needs to maximise the run-times of the CHP, so it is important that the base heat load is sufficient for the CHP to run for at least three hours each time it fires. This has control implications, because if the gas-fired back-up boilers are brought in too quickly this may cause the CHP to switch off, so that the required run-times are not met and the system is less efficient and cost-effective than should be the case. These issues can be addressed through correct commissioning of the control system. Getting connected Connectivity through the internet is now also an expectation of many building operators, so that the system can be monitored

remotely from a computer, tablet or smartphone, with alerts for routine or reactive maintenance. Similarly, integration with a building management system using OPC UA, ModBus or KNX interfaces, along with ‘smart grid’ readiness, are rapidly becoming ‘de rigueur’. There is also growing demand for controllers that can operate within a heat network environment. Thus compatibility with ‘supervisor’ type controls will support real-time visualisation, monitoring and optimisation of district heating networks. Changing requirements Equally, as noted above, controllers need to make it easy to re-commission the system to reflect changing heat loads through the life of the building. This may be the

Plant room with mixed heat sources

result of a change of tenants or other changes to building usage or staff densities over time, as well as improvements to the thermal performance of the building fabric. In all these cases the control strategy needs to be updated accordingly and this is a far more straightforward process when using a control system

that is easy to re-configure and re-commission. Thus it helps to ensure that the heating system can be readily aligned with the building’s current usage and thermal performance, in line with the principles of the ‘Soft Landings’ concept. Ease of commissioning and recommissioning is underpinned by use of plain language and stepby-step guidance for the commissioning engineer, along with alerts for any issues detected by the system. ‘Plug and play’ functionality also provides a level of ‘future-proofing’, making it straightforward to accommodate new technologies as they become available in the future. te Further information: www.hoval.co.uk Steve Lalyk is senior applications specialist with Hoval

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Harnessing public sector clout A public-private push to develop scalable, smart, integrated energy solutions aims to cut the overall cost of decarbonising the economy

government and industry collaboration hopes to develop smart, integrated energy solutions that can be rapidly proven and scaled across the public estate. The ultimate aim is to apply the model and solutions to the private sector, unlocking energy efficiency and reducing the overall cost of decarbonisation. Modern Energy Partners (MEP) brings together the Energy Systems Catapult, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy the Crown Commercial Service as well as private sector firms. It received £2m in funding from the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme. Key focus areas include optimising energy use and assets at target sites and with neighbouring sites; preparing facilities for future energy demands, such as take-up of electric vehicles; and exploring how the public sector estate can support wider energy system transformation by using flexible assets and system supportive design.

In parallel, MEP will work with suppliers to develop a generic methodology that supports the roll-out of integrated energy efficiency solutions across the public sector estate from 2019 and the private sector from 2021. This includes the development of public sector design requirements for an integrated energy solution across individual sites that can be efficiently procured, financed, installed and operated. For the initial projects, four private sector suppliers have been appointed following a competitive tender to develop integrated energy solutions across four sites: Plant room at HMS Collingwood, one of the four project sites

• Carbon Trust and its supporting consortia have been assigned to Cardiff University • Ricardo and consortia will work on HMP Sheppey Cluster, Kent • Centrica and consortia has been appointed to HMS Collingwood, Hampshire Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, has

been selected for Catterick Garrison, Yorkshire Nick Smailes, director of MEP at Energy Systems Catapult, says: “Through Modern Energy Partners, we have an unprecedented opportunity to deliver savings for the public purse and simultaneously tackle the

decarbonisation challenge. “We aim to do this by developing integrated solutions that can self-generate energy using the most appropriate renewable sources; store, monitor and manage energy demand, and share energy between sites, which together can realise significant economic benefits.” te

Turning waste heat into profit A heat pipe exchanger designed by Brunel university and installed in a ceramic tile factory is demonstrating significant savings on energy, cost and emissions. The £5m H2020 DREAM project (Design for Resource and Energy efficiency in cerAMic kilns) added new industrial heat pipes to a new-generation roller kiln at Mirage tileworks in Pavullo, Italy. Monitoring over six months shows the newly installed heat pipe system has helped cut emissions by 205.5 tonnes a year and saved £28,000.

30 February/March 2019

Hussam Jouhara, the Brunel professor who designed the heat pipe system, says the technology, now proven in a realworld environment, has the potential to make massive energy and carbon savings across Europe’ €30bn ceramics industry. He says of the technology: “It’s moneysaving, clean and with lower carbon emissions from burning less fossil fuel. Therefore, it reduces the overall carbon footprint of the factory. As a result, it generates profit, giving the end-users a competitive advantage, which allows them to increase their profit margins.”

theenergyst.com

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Board commitment to CSR driving carbon cuts at Boots Boots owner Walgreens Boots Alliance is making significant strides in cutting carbon and energy use. But that is nothing more than customers expect, says the company

hemist chain Boots has made significant progress in cutting energy and carbon across its stores, according to parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance’s third annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report. The group’s total carbon footprint in fiscal 2018 was 2,129,000 metric tonnes of CO2e

(carbon dioxide equivalent), down 9.6% from fiscal 2017 and 15.3% from its 2016 baseline. Walgreens Boots Alliance operates in 25 countries and employs more than 400,000 people. Most of its emissions (1.7 million tonnes of CO2e) come from its US retail pharmacy businesses, which is down 14.3% from its 2016 baseline. According to the report, the group’s international pharmacy retail business is decarbonising at a faster rate, down 24.5% on 2016, while it is also making faster gains in reducing energy consumption internationally than in the US. The company said that during fiscal 2018 it invested more

than $115 million (£89m) on energy efficiency, undertaking projects in about 2,500 stores, including replacing HVAC units and converting to LED exterior and interior lighting. Some £14.4m of that budget was invested in Boots UK, where it piloted installing chiller doors in stores to gauge consumer acceptance The company said it was a success, and at the end of summer 2018 Boots UK had installed doors on refrigerated cabinets containing self-service food products in more than 160 stores, with an ‘Energy Care’ message to support a positive response. The company said it is implementing the

Cutting waste and energy from store displays When Boots UK and Boots Ireland replaced self-selection beauty displays during, waste and energy reduction were at the heart of the project. The new displays, installed in 2,244 existing Boots stores in UK and Ireland between January and July 2018, are more energy efficient and their modular design is aimed at reducing waste in a number of ways. Close to 100% of the waste generated from the project, including the obsolete store furniture as well as packaging materials for the new fixtures, was recycled or recovered and did not go to landfill. A total of more than 3,200 metric tonnes of waste from the previous displays was diverted from landfill as a result. Lighting in the new displays is 40% more energy efficient than in the previous displays, resulting in an estimated reduction of 590 metric tonnes of annual CO2e emissions across all stores with the installations. The displays were designed with standardised parts, reducing raw material usage and installation time. A modular design also cut waste and transportation costs. The modular components can be used to build multiple sizes of displays with different looks. This makes the new displays much more flexible than the previous displays – they can be adapted and refreshed over a number of years without the need to replace the entire unit. Each display was transported in reusable, durable, custom-fit packaging that optimised loading space and minimised emissions from transportation. The displays were designed to use fewer mixed materials — which are easy to separate for recycling purposes, and component parts are labelled with recycling symbols. Also, each piece of the displays is identified with a code to make ordering replacement parts easy and avoid emissions and costs involved with returning unwanted items.

32 February/March 2019

Smarter driving Boots is trialing electric vans for medication delivery, but Alliance Healthcare, the UK pharmaceutical wholesale business, is curbing fuel consumption through a driver monitoring and rewards platform called Lightfoot. The technology encourages drivers to adopt a smoother driving style helping to reduce risk, increase fuel efficiency and lower harmful emissions. Energy Care programme developed by Alliance Boots, which it acquired in 2014, across the US to good effect. “Now, more than ever, our customers and our stakeholders expect us to make a positive contribution to communities and the planet,” said Ornella Barra, co-chief operating officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. “The CSR agenda has taken centre stage in the boardrooms of the world, changing the way companies think and motivating them to take a long-term view on business,” said executive chairman James Skinner and CEO Stefano Pessina in a joint statement. “CSR has certainly become a larger part of our day-to-day lives as executive chairman and chief executive officer. These days we find there is a CSR element to most projects that cross our desks.” te

theenergyst.com

Supermarket deploys shelfedge strips based on racing car technology to reduce chiller energy consumption

aitrose is introducing a new design of shelfedge strip that uses racing car technology to make its shops more energy efficient. Twin blades made of recyclable polycarbonate will be fitted to the front of its fridge shelving to reduce cold air being lost into the aisles, using the same techniques that channel airflow more efficiently around racing cars to enable them to corner at higher speeds. The Wirth Research EcoBlade will reduce energy consumption of the supermarket’s refrigerators by up to a quarter. It will also make aisles feel warmer for

Waitrose takes racing line to energy efficiency

customers and takes away the need to install fridge doors, while ensuring a constant shelf temperature throughout the fridges. The EcoBlade is the first in a number of projects WR and Waitrose are collaborating on to cut energy. “We know there is always more to do, but applying this design means we're motoring forward in our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Tor Harris, head of CSR at Waitrose & Partners. “To deliver an energy saving of such significance through changing our shelf edging is fantastic.” Nick Wirth, president and founder of Wirth Research and a former F1 team owner, said the firm was “delighted” to receive the endorsement from Waitrose: “It is another major step forward in air management and the reduction of energy consumption in buildings.” te

DSR & STORAGE

Gas and batteries: More flexible flexibility? Ylem Energy is putting gas engines and batteries onto I&C sites as well as landfill gas operations. The company will fund, own and operate the assets and thinks the business case is strong, whatever regulators decide to do. Brendan Coyne reports

lem Energy builds standalone gas peaking plant, but then so do lots of others. More interesting is that the firm is also putting engines and batteries onto landfill gas sites, using the gas to power the peaking plant and the battery to future-proof land rentals for site owners. It also aims to deploy batteries and gas engines – either separately or together as a hybrid – behind the meter at industrial and commercial (I&C) companies. For businesses affected by the Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD) and Specified Generator legislation, that could prove attractive, says Simon Mitchell, head of business development – flexibility. “We can do pure battery, pure gas or a hybrid,” says Mitchell. “We take away the diesel generator and put in a gas engine. It’s a fully MCPDcompliant asset with very low emissions that allows companies to enter or re-enter demand-side response markets straightaway.” Solving the MCPD issue is “opening doors” for Ylem with industrial and commercial companies, says Mitchell. But he says any large firm can

Emerging from Ener-G Formerly Ener-G Natural Power, Ylem launched when Ener-G’s co-generation business, and the Ener-G name, was bought by Centrica. The company historically built landfill gas engines. In the UK, it has a 180MW landfill gas portfolio. Waste directives mean that portfolio can no longer expand, so Ylem is diversifying into flexibility. Managing director Ian Gadsby says the revenue generated by the landfill gas business helps smooth the transition, and enables the company “to follow our ‘build, own and operate model’ and to share the benefits with the partner business”. While aiming to prove batteries complement landfill gas sites, Gadsby says the company may also look at co-locating other technologies, such as solar PV. “We are agnostic about where we put them and will look at whatever works best given market conditions,” says Gadsby. “You need to be flexible in this sector – and, fortunately, we can be.” benefit by cutting grid energy costs, hedging against volatility and boosting resilience. He adds that Ylem will deploy assets from 500kW upwards and will fund the solution. “Generally, we need a 10-year contract to make it work [behind the meter]. But we do not have one set model,” Mitchell explains. “We create a simplified, asset-backed solution that we manage and operate so that the customer can carry on with their core business.” Mitchell says Ylem is not tied to any aggregator or supplier

and will work with any partner to “enable rather than control” options to provide balancing services. The company has no plans to change that approach by becoming an aggregator. “It’s a congested marketplace. A lot of aggregators are trying to become suppliers and vice-versa,” says Mitchell, who spent seven years at Eon before joining Ylem. “We are an engineering company that wants to do what we do best: owning assets and running them very efficiently. That means the customer can get on with what

they do best and likewise the aggregator or supplier,” he says. Ofgem’s charging reviews Some market participants fear Ofgem’s charging reviews could damage the business case for storage and flexibility. But Ylem is comfortable enough with the situation to put its own money on the line. “I don’t think it kills the business case,” says Mitchell. “Even with the Targeted Charging Review (TCR) there is still an opportunity to install flexible generation and those that do will be at

We are an engineering company that wants to do what we do best: owning assets and running them very efficiently. That means the customer can get on with what they do best and likewise the aggregator or supplier Simon Mitchell, Ylem Energy 34 February/March 2019

theenergyst.com

Ylem Energy ‘can do pure battery, pure gas or a hybrid’

an advantage,” he suggests. “There is no stopping the shift to a decentralised world. Regardless of the TCR, there are still opportunities emerging via distribution networks, the balancing mechanism, Terre [the European flexibility market set to go live this year] and all the other things that people are doing to open new markets,” says Mitchell. “Wholesale market volatility will continue, so having a flexible asset onsite allows companies to protect themselves and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.” Moreover, there is the “added benefit that the asset can be used for resilience as well – and it much cleaner than diesel. “We want to fund and own these assets; we are comfortable with where the market is going and are happy to fund on that basis.” te

theenergyst.com

Battery storage and landfill gas

Batteries from China

While parties such as Cambridgeshire County Council are planning to deploy solar and storage on landfill sites (see p36), Simon Mitchell thinks Ylem is the first company in the UK to co-locate storage with a landfill gas engine. The firm is installing a 1MW battery at Harewood Landfill near York. As volumes of gas from sites decline, Mitchell believes its an interesting area for landfill operators, given they have existing grid infrastructure and will be keen to futureproof revenues. “Once all the gas goes, we could potentially do what Cambridgeshire is doing and co-locate PV with storage, so there are options for the future as well,” says Mitchell. Ylem is funding and delivering the Harewood solution to prove the concept. Mitchell says it should be commissioned by spring. “It’s relatively straightforward to integrate: an existing connection and a containerised battery means we can plug in and get going. Then we can show its value and roll out as a font of the meter offering.”

Ylem has a UK exclusivity deal with Chinese battery manufacturer Dowell. Simon Mitchell says the arrangement suits both parties. “Dowell has a big operation in China and is keen to expand into Europe. It can supply us with what we need, when we need it, and the delivery lead times aren’t too long.” Mitchell adds that “the value, the technology and the warranties are good”, and Ylem is providing case studies by “putting them on our own sites with our own money”.

February/March 2019

DSR & STORAGE

Haven Power signs deal with GridBeyond Energy supplier to work with DSR specialist to maximise returns from onsite generation while ultimately balancing market position

usiness energy supplier Haven Power has struck a demandside response deal with GridBeyond. The two will work to unlock flexibility within Haven’s customer base, bidding flexible megawatts into traditional demand-side response tenders run by National Grid as well as into wholesale markets. The aim is to maximise returns from onsite generation or flexible consumption. Demand-side flexibility will ultimately also help Haven Power’s parent company, Drax, to balance its market position as it expands beyond thermal generation. GridBeyond UK managing director Wayne Muncaster said the deal underlined changing dynamics in the demand-side response market as suppliers acquire or partner with DSR specialists to capture the value of flexibility as it moves between markets and contracted products.

Collaborating to offer something interesting is key. That includes businesses using or generating energy, suppliers, aggregators, National Grid and DNOs Wayne Muncaster, GridBeyond UK

“Suppliers now view us as ‘platform providers’ rather than aggregators. But whatever the terminology, collaborating to offer something interesting is key,” said Muncaster. “That includes businesses using or generating energy, suppliers, aggregators, National Grid and DNOs.” The arrangement with Haven follows a recent deal with Electricity North West’s commercial arm, whereby GridBeyond hopes to sell DSR services to ENW Construction and Maintenance’s high and medium voltage customers. Muncaster said the firm is in negotiations with other energy companies and hopes to announce further partnerships in the coming weeks. Haven Power signed a DSR ‘preferred partner’ deal with Kiwi Power in 2017. However, the company’s founders recently sold out to Engie, which influenced Haven’s decision to find a new partner. te

Cambridgeshire Council eyes solar-storage at landfill sites Cambridgeshire County Council plans to build colocated solar and battery storage on closed landfill sites and thinks it can make a 25-year net return of more than £45m. The council is progressing plans for a 10MW battery and 2.25MW of photovoltaics at the Stanground site. It will use the assets to provide demandside response services. It is also planning a 3MW battery at the nearby Woodston site. According to an outline business case submitted to the council’s commercial and investment committee, the council hopes to make almost £1.8m in year one by providing balancing services to National Grid from the sites, plus some export from the PV at Stanground. For a total investment of £12.2m, the council hopes to make a £45.9m net return over 25 years. It would use the income generated to fund critical services. The council is working with design and build contractor Bouygues E&S.

Good Energy steps up b2b battery storage push

ood Energy aims to increase battery storage activity with commercial customers. The renewable energy supplier has signed Belectric and Powerstar as framework partners. The company, which has 4,000 business supply customers, takes a fully funded behind-the-meter (BTM) approach, with contracts guaranteeing customers fixed electricity bill savings

36 February/March 2019

for the life of the contract. The aim is to make savings for businesses by using the battery to avoid peak charges, provide ancillary grid services and bid into the Balancing Mechanism and wholesale markets. “We expect that these systems will deliver significant value to corporate customers, especially in conjunction with Good Energy’s electricity supply contracts,”

We expect that these systems will deliver significant value to corporate customers

said Amit Oza, managing director of Belectric UK. While Good Energy’s main focus is BTM storage at customer sites, it is also looking at front of meter opportunities with generators from whom it buys power. A spokesperson said projects of 1MW-plus hit a “short-term sweet spot”, but added that the company plans to aggregate smaller scale capacity in future.

theenergyst.com

Premier Inn trials battery storage Hotel chain installs 100kW/200kWh lithium-ion battery at Edinburgh hotel to assess how battery storage could help cut costs and optimise its load profile

hitbread-owned hotel chain Premier Inn is working with Eon on a battery storage trial at the Gyle Hotel in Edinburgh, which will also include providing balancing services to National Grid. Although Premier Inn has installed megawatts of solar across hotel rooftops in recent years, the trial is not integrating storage with onsite generation. Nevertheless, Eon said using the battery to load shift should save the hotel £20,000 a year.

If the trial works well, the hotel chain is “likely” to roll out storage across more of its estate, especially in areas suffering from power network quality issues. Cian Hatton, Whitbread’s head of energy and environment, offered the following observations via an email Q&A: What do you hope to learn from the trial? “Experience the physical elements; how to integrate with our on-site electrical services, what site

considerations are needed for installation and operation of batteries. ie space, fire safety, ventilation, optimum sizing, location, etc. “Test the financial benefits of peak avoidance and work through the process to generate revenue from other mechanisms such as frequency response, balancing mechanism, etc. “Gain an understanding of how to optimise the operation of the battery, balancing site operation with cost avoidance and revenue generation.”

What are the challenges and opportunities posed by storage? “Challenges; costs savings and revenue generation elements are all out of our control. This makes investing over the long term higher risk than other costsaving measures such as energy efficiency projects. “Opportunities; reduced business/customer disruption at sites with frequent power outages, cost saving by avoidance of peak charges, revenue generation from providing grid services.” If it goes well, would you replicate and scale? “This depends on our view of the risk associated with the business case – ie certainty on financial incentives to provide flexibility and energy tariff structures. It is likely we will replicate and scale up the use of storage in some capacity but it may be part of a more integrated energy system for sites. te

DSR & STORAGE

Never mind the Brexit Solar and storage stack up despite energy market uncertainty, says BSR Energy’s David Peill Whatever policy does, businesses can use solar and storage to benefit and shelter from energy price spikes

rexit is driving real market uncertainty, so it may seem an unusual time to take a bullish view on a UK market opportunity. However, ambitious companies looking to benefit from solar and storage may see a window of opportunity emerging. Fixed corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) have played an important role in supporting the success of many UK solar projects. Last year, for instance, BSR Group secured a fiveyear offtake agreement with Shell Energy Europe for the electricity generated from the largest solar park in

David Peill

38 February/March 2019

England – the 69.8MW Bradenstoke site in Wiltshire and prior to this signed a 15-year agreement with HSBC on the [60.9MW] Swindon Solar Farm. More recently, Lightsource BP announced plans to deploy more than 300MW of utility-scale UK solar farms backed by PPAs. It is clear that PPAs will continue to support a significant number of UK solar developments. But, looking ahead, ambitious companies will begin to look for new means to deliver increased profits. One way businesses can achieve this is by purchasing bespoke smart, flexible and integrated solar and storage assets. This opportunity is especially ripe for large energy users with a low cost of capital, such as utilities and corporates. And now is the perfect time for these companies to benefit. Firstly, because of the current low cost of solar and storage assets, which has dropped significantly in recent years.

Secondly, while wholesale energy price volatility, driven by fluctuating gas prices, more intermittent renewables and political uncertainty is making purchasing power from the grid more risky, it is also presenting an exciting opportunity.

Businesses can deliver increased profits by purchasing bespoke smart, flexible and integrated solar and storage assets Businesses can begin to use solar and storage to benefit and shelter from energy price spikes. Finally, the case for renewable energy and flexibility is resonating at a regulatory and policy level. Challenging discussions remain on areas

such as the Capacity Market, changes to Embedded Benefits under the Targeted Charging Review and the BEIS consultation on energy storage planning thresholds. But the industry is now used to such uncertainty and by taking an educated view on the future outcome of these issues and moving new projects forward through the planning system, clarity on the above should dovetail with the development gestation period and projects will be delivered years ahead of any new nuclear development. In recent years, asset owners have simply looked to maximise the returns from their solar PPA deals by bolting on energy storage behind the meter. In the future though, advances in energy storage technology and solar park design will result in savvy companies developing fully integrated solar and storage projects. These parks, designed to the company’s specifications, will reduce system losses and provide increased protection from market volatility through higher returns. One might take a look at these design measures and market conditions and argue that the economics are simply too tight. However, a considered mid-term view of the UK market through the lenses of BSR Group’s unique integrated service offering suggests that the bears are in retreat. Now that the costs line up, energy storage lords over volatile markets and policy is beginning to shift, the solar and storage opportunity is there for the taking. te David Peill is commercial director at BSR Energy, the development and investment arm of BSR Group

theenergyst.com

WPD tenders for 93MW of flexible power

estern Power Distribution plans to procure 93.4MW of flexible power, or demand-side response across 12 zones for delivery this year and next. The company has also outlined the kind of services it will require to help balance parts of its network for the next five years. Further zones will be released for procurement in July 2019. As WPD’s requirements are highly location specific, the company has produced a postcode checker (flexiblepower.co.uk/postcodechecker) for interested parties to check whether they might

Banbury

Banbury, Oxfordshire

Plymouth/South Hams 1 & 2

Plymouth & South Hampton, Devon

Bridgwater/Street

Bridgwater, Somerset

Newton Abbot

Newton Abbot, Devon

Donnington

Donnington, Ledbury

Radstock

Radstock, Somerset

Lincoln/ Beevor Street

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Woodhall Spa

Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

Lincoln/North Hykeham

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Rugeley GSP

Rugeley, Staffordshire

Mantle Lane

Coalville/ Leicestershire

Smethwick

Smethwick, Birmingham

WPD’s requirements are highly location specific

have assets in the right locations. If so, they may be eligible to receive payments in return for flexibility services using distribution connection generation or curtailing load.

An invitation to tender will be published in March, with results published in May. Potential participants need to register their interest by responding to

SSEN homes in on household DSR Distribution network ramps up domestic and community demand-side response

cottish and Southern Energy Networks aims to bring households and communities into demand-side response and hopes to start procuring services this summer. The move follows a fiveyear trial across 4,000 homes in the Solent region called SAVE, which tried a range of mechanisms to see how households could provide demand reduction and response, and what changes

theenergyst.com

to the current market set up might help bring households into a smarter grid. Project manager Charlie Edwards says the trial had helped enable “both the knowledge and analytical confidence … to bring domestic demand side management into the flexibility markets”. It has “laid a blueprint for partnerships and relationships that may help stack business cases to deliver this”, he adds. As a result, the company is

defining what it calls Social Constraint Managed Zones (SCMZ). These are areas where it will use flexibility over traditional reinforcement in order to keep the power network running smoothly. SSEN said it “intends that suppliers, of all shapes and sizes, delivering anything from battery storage to energy efficiency in customers’ homes will be given the opportunity to offer flexible services to the network within

WPD’s procurement notice (available at https://rfxxp. westernpower.co.uk/ECE/). Those that pass a prequalification questionnaire will be invited to tender. te identified regions in return for commercial rewards”. The Energyst asked SSEN if it meant aggregators will not be necessary to participate. The company said that was being assessed, but the “intention is no need for an aggregator”. For example, a local councilowned leisure centre should be able to participate without going through an aggregator, said the DNO. Distribution network companies procuring constraint management services from businesses usually require at least 100kW per provider, but SSEN said it is still assessing whether to implement a minimum threshold. The company said commercial and delivery terms are also being scoped, but that it will “ensure it strikes a balance between making this attractive to customers without penalties and ensuring security of supply”. SSEN said the SAVE project, undertaken with the University of Southampton, DNV GL and Neighbourhood Economics was its largest innovation trial to date. The final trial is now complete and SSEN will publicise its research and findings in June. te

February/March 2019

FEAT. ELECTRIC SINGLE VEHICLES SPLIT

VW to become energy company World’s largest car manufacturer aims to capitalise on convergence of power and transport Elli currently has three offices in Germany. The company’s roadmap beyond its home market is not yet clear, and it has yet to apply for a UK energy supply licence, though there are UK retailers that would welcome a buyer for their businesses.

Volkswagen looks to go beyond the chargepoint

olkswagen is to launch an energy company. The world’s largest car manufacturer, which recently committed to invest ¤30bn in electric vehicles over the next five years, will supply clean power as well as smart chargers and plans to provide grid balancing services. The new company will be called Elli, which stands for Electric Life. VW said energy supply was “strategically relevant”. It wants to make clean, smart energy and transport a way of life. “Volkswagen is going to force

the pace of the urgently needed transport and energy transition to emission-neutral e-mobility,” said Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen board member responsible for e-mobility. Elli’s chief executive, Thorsten Nicklass, said the company would offer renewable power to customers outside the group – not just VW car owners but everyone. “Our mission is to take e-mobility out of its niche and to place it firmly in the mainstream,” said Nicklass. “Elli stands for electric life, because we intend to enable

a lifestyle that fully integrates the electric car in people’s everyday lives. This approach could be compared with the use of a mobile phone, which is taken for granted nowadays.” The firm will initially target business to business markets as well as domestic sectors, offering bi-directional chargers that enable vehicle to grid services. The company plans to offer other energy services and adjacent infrastructure, such as battery storage solutions. It also aims to boost open access public charging infrastructure and ease payment.

Pivotal moment? Volkswagen is not the only carmaker eyeing power supply. Nissan is considering whether to become an energy company, and plans to launch its own bi-directional chargers in spring as part of a major vehicle to grid services push. Eduardo Mascarell, head of energy aggregation and vehicle to grid at Nissan Europe, said 2019 could be “a breakthrough year” for grid services via electric vehicles. Mascarell suggested that by allowing car companies to control smart charging and deliver grid balancing services, car owners could conceivably receive free charging in return – potentially never paying to charge their car. te

Large firms commit to massive EV push

ome 31 corporates including BT, EDF, Eon, Ikea, Unilever and Vattenfall, have pledged to convert their fleets to electric vehicles by 2030. The firms are signatories to The Climate Group’s EV100 initiative, which, like the RE100 project, hopes to attract at least 100 of the world’s largest companies as partners committed to cutting carbon and tackling air pollution. Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson urged the private sector to get on board, stating that government

40 February/March 2019

commitments to phase out combustion engines and incoming low and ultra low emission zones would give a business advantage to proactive firms. “The private sector has an instrumental part to play in bringing down emissions and cleaning up our air – and there are big opportunities for companies taking action now,” she said. EDF underlined that view. The firm is making financial gains by committing to EVs, according to Yannick Duport, director of the Mobility

Unit at EDF Group. “EDF Group managed to introduce EV100 as a key performance indicator to the financial sector: now EDF enjoys a ¤4bn credit line indexed on three indicators of the group’s sustainable development performance, one of which being the achievement of our EV100 targets,” said Duport. “Isn’t that extraordinary? The merger of sustainability and finance in action.” The group has published its first EV100 annual report. While identifying clear

barriers, such as a lack of electric vehicle production capacity and infrastructure, the report also outlines opportunities, such as falling battery pack costs. It provides insight on the plans of 23 members that joined by Q3 2018. te The Energyst is surveying businesses considering EV infrastructure deployment. Anonymised answers will form part of the research component of a new, free report. Please take our short survey at: https://tinyurl.com/yxmpcydo

theenergyst.com

Centrica sharpens focus with Mobility Ventures

entrica says it has created a dedicated electric vehicles team to operate across its business and consumer divisions. The company previously had an EV Services business, but said while that unit focuses purely on charging infrastructure, the new Mobility Ventures team aims to bundle energy

supply, management, infrastructure and finance. While car companies such as Volkswagen attempt to enter the energy supply market (see story on opposite page), Centrica said its Mobility Ventures unit is working with car manufacturers to create an ‘end-to-end’ solution. Centrica also has an eye on using electric vehicles to help

balance the grid and its trading position. The company recently increased its investment in Israeli EV technology company Driivz, with exploration of vehicle-to-grid services part of the rationale. The company’s business division aims to bundle associated infrastructure, such as battery storage and onsite generation with

Grid operators move to cut charging point bottlenecks Standardised process to enable mass rollouts of charging points Infrastructure providers have complained about the current process

lectricity network operators aim to reduce the time it takes to connect electric vehicle charging points to the local grid. Industry body the Energy Networks Association (ENA) says its new, standardised process will enable more mass rollouts for all types of business and households, including commercial properties.

theenergyst.com

The streamlined process, which stops installers having to wade through different forms and requirements in different regions, also covers the process for connecting heat pumps to distribution networks. The ENA said it will significantly reduce paperwork. The move will be welcomed by charging infrastructure providers

that have complained the current convoluted process can be like “playing battleships” with DNOs. ENA chief executive David Smith said the industry wanted to speed decarbonisation of heat and transport, but had to ensure networks have sufficient visibility of new demand coming on to the system in order to keep it running smoothly. te

EV charging and services. Centrica acquired flexibility platform Restore in late 2017. The company’s technology could be used to optimise flexibility from EV-related generation and infrastructure. National Grid has indicated storage from electric vehicles could reach ‘useful levels’ from a system perspective from around 2030. te

Octopus Investment firm backs IDNO Eclipse Octopus Investments will provide multimillion-pound backing to independent distribution network operator Eclipse Power. Eclipse will use the money to expand its operation and connect more customers to the grid, as well as enable EV charging infrastructure. The move is strategic for the broader Octopus group, which has investments or operations across different aspects of the energy sector, including renewables, energy retail, flexibility, and electric vehicles. Matt Setchell, Octopus’s cohead of energy investments, said: “This investment provides Octopus with access to a fast-changing part of the UK energy system’s value chain. We are also excited about Eclipse Power working with many of the different parts of Octopus to drive growth including property, transport and healthcare, whose need for timely and cost-efficient connections is fundamental to their business models.” Eclipse also has a generation business, developing gas peaking power plant.

February/March 2019

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

EV funding: Omnibus edition Councils and transport firms awarded £48m in grants for electric buses with hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure also funded

ouncils and bus companies in England and Wales have been given £48m in government funding to pay for low carbon buses and infrastructure. Most are electric, although Brighton & Hove Buses has been awarded £4.4m for 20 hydrogen buses and associated infrastructure. Nottingham City Transport has been awarded £1.13m to pay for biomethane infrastructure. In most areas the grants for the buses outweighed those for charging infrastructure. However, more than half of Transport for London’s £6.96m grant to put 63 new electric buses on the road is for the associated infrastructure. Meanwhile, Newport Transport has been given almost £1m to put just one

All aboard: TfL has received £6.96m for 63 new electric buses and infrastructure

electric bus into service – with the infrastructure grant accounting for £787K of the total awarded. The funding, which will help to pay for 263 buses, will be welcomed by clean air campaigners and those calling for efforts to reduce emissions from transport to

concentrate on communal means of travel, such as buses, trains and taxis to reduce the overall number of private vehicles on the road. Hydrogen fuel cells It follows the announcement of a further £6m government funding to help councils pay

for electric taxis and charging infrastructure, plus £14m for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and associated infrastructure. A project to deploy 30 fuell cell powered buses in Liverpool and Aberdeen was the largest of the hydrogen trials. Funds from OLEV will also pay for three hydrogen-powered buses in Belfast as well as hydrogen fuelling stations and cars in Middlesbrough & Stockton on Tees, Crawley and St Helens. According to the government’s Clean Air Strategy, train companies are also expected to outline plans to remove diesel powered engines this spring. te

Mitsubishi takes 20% stake in Ovo Investment will see UK independent energy supplier continue vehicle-to-grid and smart home push

itsubishi Corporation has acquired a 20% stake in UK independent energy supplier Ovo. The Japanese conglomerate will pay £216m. Ovo said it will use the money to expand overseas, primarily Europe, Australia and Japan, and continue its push into electric vehicles, smart charging and vehicle to grid (V2G) services,

42 February/March 2019

where vehicles and storage infrastructure are used to help balance the grid. It will also develop smart home services via the new Kaluza division. The investment is well timed for the company. Ovo has 1.5 million customers, swelled recently by 500,000 after taking on those of failed competitors Spark and Economy Energy. Being appointed supplier of last resort by Ofgem may help Ovo curb the significant costs of acquisition that ordinarily contribute to making new customers loss leaders for up to two years, according to its 2017 annual report. Most recently filed group accounts show Ovo turned a profit for

the full year 2017, but was carrying significant liabilities. Ovo was founded 10 years ago by Stephen Fitzpatrick. In a statement on Mitsubishi’s involvement, he said: “Transitioning away from fossil fuels is the biggest challenge we face in the 21st century. The costs of EVs, battery storage and wind and solar power have fallen dramatically in recent years, but it’s becoming increasingly complex to integrate them onto the grid. To succeed, we will need to develop new technology and redesign the energy system around the customer. We want to be at the forefront of that global, tech-enabled transition to a zero carbon

energy system. This investment from Mitsubishi Corporation will help us get there.” Katsuya Nakanishi, Mitsubishi’s incoming executive vice-president, and CEO of Power Solution Group, stated: “Ovo’s business model, long-term vision for the energy sector and culture align well with our own. They are precisely the sort of technology driven and innovative firm we have been looking for in order to strengthen the downstream business in the energy sector.” He added that Mitsubishi was “uniquely placed” to help Ovo expand domestically and internationally, as well as help build its technology capabilities. te

theenergyst.com

Power shift: EVs, smart charging & vehicle to grid EV opportunities | strategies | business models 9th April 2019 / One Moorgate Place, London Energy and transport are converging. This has profound impacts for businesses. The EV Event will examine how to navigate challenges today, tomorrow and in the future, providing public and private sector organisations with a better picture of the road ahead. Energyst Media, along with event sponsors E.ON & EDF, invite you to discuss challenges and opportunities presented by EVs and hear from those rolling out fleets, and charging infrastructure as well as businesses involved in smart charging and vehicle-to-grid trials. The morning conference, followed by lunch and networking, is free for end user delegates. All attendees will receive a copy of the new 2019 Electric Vehicles report, which outlines end user views on EVs and associated infrastructure, plus expert market insight from technology providers, consultants and suppliers.

There are 90 free tickets to qualifying end-users

Organised By

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Vehicle-to-grid: Nottingham trials EVs as storage

Nottingham City Council is gearing up to electrify its fleet and use the vehicles as a form of battery storage. Brendan Coyne reports

ottingham City Council will launch tenders for battery storage and bi-directional chargers in the spring. The authority is one of the lead cities in a EU-funded vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial. It has ordered 40 new electric vehicles and plans to use them as part of an integrated system that combines vehicles, battery storage, solar PV and a smart management system. The aim is to work out how EVs, storage and on-site generation can help optimise charging, maximise use of renewable generation and help balance the grid. Nottingham also intends to use the system to bid into ancillary services such as firm frequency response, as well as trial market-based ways of selling flexible power, including arbitrage. The council will site the

project at its Eastcroft Depot, home to a waste transfer station. The ‘CleanMobilEnergy’ project, funded by Interreg, hopes to develop technology that can be replicated at scale. Grid challenges Nottingham is now laying the groundwork for the project and working through technical challenges. Katie Greenhalgh, energy projects manager at NCC’s energy projects team, says grid constraints are a hurdle, with “major upgrade works” required. The site has six MPANs, she explains, which will be consolidated into a single incoming HV supply. “While the distribution network operator [WPD] knows we are creating a smart system, it has to take a risk averse approach,” says Greenhalgh. “That means we need a grid connection large enough for all of the building’s consumption, all the import of the battery, all of the vehicles.” That means additional cost (some £750,000) and disruption, given the working site’s electrical infrastructure will require reconfiguring. However, given the council’s plans to electrify its vehicle fleet – some 240 vehicles – and that the six supplies are

The grid aspect is complex, beyond what we expected when we signed up to the trial, but we like a challenge Katie Greenhalgh, Nottingham City Council 44 February/March 2019

at capacity, it should ultimately be worth it, says Greenhalgh. “It’s complex, beyond what we saw when we signed up [to the trial], but we like a challenge,” she says. As well as bi-directional chargers, Nottingham will also install about 40 smart chargers to help manage power flows and peaks. It may also need to install “one or two” rapid chargers for vehicles such as road sweepers that require quick turnarounds for multiple shifts. As well as sweepers and cage tippers, the council even plans to trial an electric bin lorry. “That’s exciting, but it creates charging challenges,” says Greenhalgh. “Ideally we could manage without [rapid chargers]… but the standalone battery means we can avoid a huge draw on the grid, which is the whole point of the project, and provide grid services where we can.” While the trial will look at how to integrate solar PV and storage into a smart EV management system, a key aspect is that the vehicles will also be used to feed energy back into the battery, the site, or the grid, says Greenhalgh. Vans usually return to the depot at around 3-4pm, which would give plenty of time to feed back some of their remaining power. “In theory, it should work well,” says Greenhalgh. Over the next two years, the council hopes to test that theory. te

A tale of four cities The ‘CleanMobilEnergy’ project is trialing systems that integrate renewables, storage and electric transport in four European cities: • Arnhem: medium size city, large renewable energy production, large storage in industrial area • Nottingham: medium size city, large renewable energy production, medium size storage, electric vehicles and bi-directional chargers in a controlled area (depot) • London: large city, large renewable energy production at multiple locations, large storage, electric vehicles and bi-directional chargers in controlled areas with separate grid (depot) • Schwäbisch Gmünd: small city, small renewable energy production, storage facilities and electric bikes in residential area The pilots will use different storage media in various environments that can be easily replicated in other cities across Europe. In London and Nottingham, for example, electric vehicles themselves will be used to power the buildings and depot by using innovative bi-directional chargers controlled by an integrated energy management system. In Arnhem, on the other hand, renewable energy will be supplied to ships in the harbour adjacent to its industrial complex. The pilots were chosen to represent a wide range of city sizes and environments in order to develop a widely applicable system for future implementation across Europe.

theenergyst.com

GAS & ELECTRICITY Redstow Renewables’ anaerobic digestion plant

The green Tornados A new anaerobic digestion plant at RAF Marham will cut the Ministry of Defence’s annual carbon emissions by 14,000 tonnes and reduce its anual power bill by £300,000

AF Marham in Norfolk, home to the frontline squadrons of the RAF’s elite Tornado Force, is set to become the first British military base to run almost entirely on green electricity. More than 95% of the base’s electricity is to be fuelled by the fermentation or anaerobic digestion (AD) of locally grown crops in a nearby plant – built and run by Future Biogas, one of the UK’s largest AD companies. The AD plant – Redstow Renewables in Swaffham – generates 4.5MW of electricity every hour, which can power 350,000 LED bulbs. Its new green energy supply to RAF Marham will result in an annual reduction in the Ministry of Defence’s emissions by 14,000 tonnes of CO2. It will also deliver approximately £300,000 of annual electricity savings. Sustainable supply The plans for this venture have been in development since February 2015. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), the part of the MoD

46 February/March 2019

4.5MW Electricity generated every hour by the Redstow Renewables anaerobic digestion plant

that manages the Defence Estate, collaborated with Future Biogas, energy company EDF and Crown Commercial Services, the government’s procurement agency, to develop a green, sustainable and cost-effective electricity supply for RAF Marham. At the outset, the DIO undertook a feasibility assessment to assess the benefits that could be derived from a clean energy supply. As well as saving money and reducing carbon emissions, it was determined that connecting to the AD plant would increase power resilience at RAF Marham, by providing

Anaerobic digestion explained In the anaerobic digestion process, specially cultivated bacteria are added to tanks full of harvested crops, such as maize, sugar beet, rye or potatoes. As the bacteria breaks these feedstocks down, they release gas, which is siphoned off. It can then be supplied directly to the National Grid as green gas or, as is the case for RAF Marham, burnt to produce electricity. The leftover organic waste from this process is then dried, separated and used as natural fertiliser to help grow more crops. The plant will prevent fossil fuel carbon emissions that would have come from the burning of gas for heat, and from the burning of (primarily) gas or coal for electricity. The plant will prevent more carbon emissions, tonne for tonne, than a heat-only biomass boiler by replacing carbon-intensive electricity from the grid.

multiple pathways to electricity. Defence minister Tobias Ellwood says: “RAF Marham is leading the way as Britain’s first green military airbase. The biogas fuel is a truly green and sustainable solution, helping us tackle climate change, support the local economy and save taxpayer money. “I hope that this plant can act as a model and we can see more sustainable energy schemes rolled out across other military bases.” Philipp Lukas, founder and managing director of Future Biogas, continues: “It’s fantastic to see the UK military join the green revolution. If we are to combat the imminent global threat of climate change, everyone, from all walks of life, needs to transition to renewable, sustainable energy as quickly as possible. Local pressures eased “The AD plant in Swaffham now powers a significant local institution. In doing so, it not only helps secure the energy supply of a strategic national asset but also takes the pressure off the local electrical infrastructure, which has been really struggling to keep up with growing regional demand. “The huge success of this project leads us to hope the door will now open to more of a similar nature. Renewable energy projects that support the local circular economy have to become commonplace if we are to continue to see clean growth in the UK.” Rebecca Sedler, director of I&C sales and marketing at EDF Energy, concludes: “EDF Energy is pleased to have provided another Power Purchase Agreement for one of our customers, which will work for all parties for years to come and will help RAF Marham realise its sustainability ambitions. By taking care of the contractual and operational risks, well-designed PPAs can help more decentralised, low-carbon generation enter the UK energy mix.” te

theenergyst.com

ndustry accounts for about a quarter of the UK’s emissions, so driving energy efficiency into industrial processes is a central part of the government’s industrial strategy. And enhancing efficiency delivers a side benefit of better productivity and competitiveness at a time when the UK needs to hang on to its remaining industrial base. But while the benefits may be obvious and wide-ranging, energy efficiency professionals offering products and solutions to industry know first-hand the barriers that prevent viable efficiency projects from being given the green light. Overall, only 16% of the UK’s investment in energy efficiency ends up in the industrial sector. In a competitive market, anything that might interfere with a sensitive, highly optimised production process is treated as a risk, leading to a presumption against all but the most compelling efficiency propositions. While for many manufacturers energy is an important and costly input, for a large number of others there are easier ways to increase profits than cutting energy use. And practically speaking, a modern production facility may only have one planned maintenance shutdown per year, severely limiting opportunities for introducing energy efficiency measures. Energy efficiency companies offering products and services to industrial customers range from single-technology providers - a new widget that promises to take energy waste out of a process - to fully integrated, multi-technology solutions designed by expert process engineers.

Unlocking industrial energy efficiency The Investor Confidence Project’s definitive new protocols are now complete, and first pilot projects are starting to come through. EnergyPro’s Alex Rathmell says that’s good news for industrial energy efficiency

What is Investor Confidence Project Europe? ICP Europe is a collaborative effort involving partners from across Europe. Energy efficiency specialists at Verco and EnergyPro are leading the UK’s contribution, carrying out much of the technical work to create the protocols in consultation with industry, investors and project developers. Developers of industrial energy efficiency and street lighting upgrade projects in the UK may be eligible for funded technical assistance from the ICP consortium until October 2019.

processes in mind. For example, the protocols offer guidance on how evidence of performance (energy savings) should be collected, and how to put this in terms of the metrics that an industrial client cares about; clear checklists of the documentation that makes up a professionally-developed project are provided; and the protocol brings together best practice in proposal development from relevant technology standards

from around the world. These tips will be invaluable for energy efficiency companies seeking to put forward a credible, low-risk package to their customer. The protocols’ guidance on baselining, forecasting savings and building a practical implementation plan are a great resource for innovators seeking to prove the efficacy of new efficiency ideas in industrial environments. Enabling decisions But the protocols equally apply to more conventional energy efficiency measures such as heat recovery schemes, lagging and insulation or improved controls, and are useful wherever there is uncertainty on the part of the customer or a hiatus in the decision-making process. The protocols are specifically designed to boost the confidence of investors, hence the name, and in industrial facilities this means the decision-makers who will evaluate the balance of risk and reward offered by a potential project. In short, basing the project on ICP means that everything possible has been done to ensure the promised savings are delivered in practice,

First industrial project certified The first end-to-end use of the ICP process for assuring an industrial energy efficiency project was announced in January. ICP’s Investor Ready Energy Efficiency Certification was awarded to a waste heat utilisation project at GMS Gourmet. The project uses waste heat of two fast cooling plants to support the heating demand of three ventilation systems at Gourmet’s production site in Vienna and thereby saves natural gas and electricity. The project has predicted annual energy savings of 635 MWh in natural gas and 135 MWh in electricity.

with operational impacts evaluated and mitigated in a planned and controlled way. te See europe.eeperformance.org

Alex Rathmell is managing director, consultancy at EnergyPro

Written for industry Investor Confidence Project Europe’s new protocols do not pretend to tackle all the barriers and objections experienced by energy efficiency providers, but they are written with the specific needs of industrial

theenergyst.com

February/March 2019

EVENTS

The Energyst Event 2019 This year’s event, 1-2 May in Birmingham, looks at effective solutions for businesses in a changing energy landscape where efficiency, procurement and flexibility are converging

he Energyst Event equips attendees with the insight to better navigate a rapidly changing energy landscape. Within the conference streams, speakers and panellists will share their expertise, experiences and insights, arming delegates with knowledge that can be transferred directly to their organisations’ bottom line. Experts in policy and regulation will break down complex changes into simple, actionable insights. Senior energy managers from large industrials, retailers, telcos, pub chains, hotels and local authorities outline how their organisations are adapting to change, decarbonising their businesses and unlocking the value that now presents itself to businesses that grasp the opportunities emerging from the convergence of energy, transport and communications. Learning opportunities The two-day conference with exhibition covers all aspects of energy procurement, efficiency and flexibility, joining the dots between disciplines and highlighting key impacts for energy strategies. Within the conference streams, speakers and panellists will share their expertise, experiences and

Fringe event

insights, arming delegates with knowledge that can be transferred directly to their organisations’ bottom line. The Energy Convergence Conference sessions will explore: • Regulatory change • Onsite generation economics • Energy-as-a-service • Procurement • PPAs • Maximising flexibility • EVs, smart charging and vehicle-to-grid • Energy efficiency • Energy data • Gas strategies • Smart lighting Meet the experts Alongside the conference, the exhibition brings together the energy industry’s most forward-thinking companies. These solutions providers want to meet delegates, discuss their challenges and work out how to solve them for mutual benefit. Sponsors and exhibitors include: • Green Energy Consulting • Engie

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Open Energy Market Haven Power, Lane Clark & Peacock, Pöyry The Energy Hub, EDF Energy Ylem Energy New Found Energy kWIQly IMS Utility Alliance Danlers ESTA Elcomponent Buy Business Water GridBeyond KiWi Power Chauvin Arnoux Wilson Power Solutions G59 Professional Services

The conference and exhibition is free to attend. Energyst Media aims for it to become the industry’s most focused, and most valuable, event for energy professionals. Please join us on 1-2 May at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham to contribute to the discussion and make full use of extensive knowledge sharing, networking and collaboration opportunities. te

The Energyst Event has teamed up with icon (Industrial & Commercial Operations Network) to stage a fringe conference alongside The Energyst Event. The icon fringe sessions will provide an eclectic programme of entertaining and informative content. This space for energy and water management and procurement professional provides a platform for upbeat, frank and open discussion on the latest demand-side developments. Icon founder and director Georgina Penfold comments: “Within the context of utilities management, no topic is off-limits. The layout of the theatre, the seating arrangements and the hosting style will all be carefully curated to encourage maximum participation and audience engagement. We are here to ignite passion back into utilities education.” For full details of both conference programmes go to theenergystevent.com

theenergyst.com

VIEWPOINT Suppliers need to balance pricing competitiveness with their ability to afford further customer growth to avoid the fate of others

How to survive in 2019 With more small suppliers going bust in recent months, Utiligroup chief strategy officer Mark Coyle outlines what went wrong and how to prepare for the year ahead

n the first 10 years of competitive energy in the UK, the market was dominated by the original incumbent suppliers which consolidated to a core group during a time when the internet was emerging in our society. In the second decade, new entrepreneurs, councils and social enterprises entered the market with modern propositions fit for the new digital era. During the decade the market grew to 70 residential energy suppliers with about 26% of the market. Their share continues to grow but during 2018 the market conditions themselves have quickly changed. This has led to a number of supplier defaults for a diverse range of reasons. So what is required to make a supplier successful in 2019 and beyond? It is important to understand how the market has changed. Wholesale electricity prices, which account for more than 40% of a residential customer bill, rose from an average of about ÂŁ45/MWh to more than ÂŁ70/MWh in 2018, with gas following the same course.

50 February/March 2019

In addition to pricing increases, volatility in balancing prices has meant that imbalance electricity settlement can add substantial unforeseen cost to the business. Then wholesale prices fell in the final quarter of 2018 by more than 10%, causing mark-tomarket criteria to require suppliers to collateralise their positions with energy traders. Ahead of the price cap

prices required more collateral, right at the time when prospect of the price cap caused a lack of credit availability for many independent suppliers from their original sources. It had been known that some of the bottom pricing suppliers could not survive. As they exited, some energy traders responded by changing payment terms in the market to protect their positions.

with their ability to afford further customer growth. It is vital to be at the forefront of performance with customers, industry compliance and position optimisation. Ensuring the alignment of forecasting, trading, settlement, billing and payment collections will avoid errors, costly rework, customer service demands and unforeseen capital requirements.

The main tool of supplier viability is working capital availability and generating sufficient cash to meet movements in market conditions Mark Coyle, Utiligroup introduction, competition among suppliers was becoming intense, with switching between independents now almost three times the total amount of gains across the Big Six in December 2018. This growth requires substantial working capital as do the ongoing commitments for industry change in programmes such as smart metering. However, the fast rise and then partial falls of wholesale

This has caused a ripple effect, with many suppliers saying it is now their trading provider that has the biggest influence on their viability. At this time of multiple pressures, the main tool of supplier viability is working capital availability and generating sufficient cash to meet movements in market conditions. To produce this viable position suppliers need to balance pricing competitiveness

Suppliers must focus on energy trading and risk management proactively, not assuming that their provider is doing this for them, however supportive their relationship is. If the customer service and market position are correct, then ensuring that metering values feed to billing, and that trading and billing reconcile, will return time and capital to the business to focus on competitive strategies. te

theenergyst.com

VIEWPOINT

What has the Capacity Market ever done for us? The suspension of the Capacity Market may have come at a good time, argues Janet Wood, editor of Energyst sister publication New Power

he Capacity Market certainly has not done what it was intended to do – bring forward large new gas-fired power plants. But it has done what it was not intended to. It has it has kick-started the much-desired flexible system, and it has been key in bringing forward more than one group of powerful new energy industry participants. First to take part in the new market were the large corporates – initially industrial users but soon commercial and other large customers as well. Step by step they have become more actively involved. First, that meant offering up existing capacity as part of the national

raising carbon emissions. But that is an issue for emissions regulations, not the Capacity Market, and I think it is a phase that will pass. Just as the Large Combustion Plant Directive played a major part in closing old fossil fuel plant, so the new Medium Combustion Plant Directive will drive out dirty diesel plants – but after a few years’ experience of the CM and other power markets, their owners will replace them with options that can continue to offer revenues, as well as costs. The second step for those industrial and commercial users has been the option of bidding demand-side response (DSR) into the

past. Many firms are part-way there, because in meeting energy efficiency directives and standards they have installed building management systems. This has all begun a major shift in industry influence. It now includes not only the large corporates but also fleets of investors funding standalone projects. That should change the type of power industry participants lobbying government, shifting it away from traditional capacity providers. The Capacity Market has not been the only midwife to these new flexible participants, but it has been a hugely important first step for many. What will the current

A winter or two of volatile prices may not be a bad thing. Fast flexible plant or DSR can take advantage of price spikes, leaving the old, slow plant out of the money – Janet Wood, New Power CM ‘pool’, making backup power plants (admittedly, often diesel engines) available at times of need. Sharp energy managers who had seen this new revenue stream quickly realised – with the help of response providers – that they could access further income, if those on-site units were operated more often in response to market. Sara Bell, who took the case to court, is quite right when she argues that we do not want to have diesel engines operating more often, worsening air quality and

52 February/March 2019

Capacity Market, and again Bell is quite correct in saying these options have been disadvantaged in the market design. It is not free to join this market; hardware, software or possibly humanfactor changes are required, so (although it is hard to imagine I&C customers signing up for 15-year contracts) limiting contracts to one year is simply not attractive enough. But on the other hand, the CM timing has been fortuitous. In many cases, demand-side response requires much less investment than it did in the

Capacity Market hiatus do for us? If the Capacity Market did something quite unexpected in laying the groundwork for a flexible, responsive system with lots of new participants, what will be the result of a market ‘pause’, over one winter or possibly two? That too – and again quite unplanned – may have a positive effect. The Capacity Market has been (partial) midwife to a more diverse, dispersed industry. But it has done that while keeping some pretty old, inflexible

plant on the system. That has worked well for a short while. Keeping them the merit order has delayed the advent of replacement capacity for a few years – and if it had not done so, DSR might be competing with much better, more flexible, gas plant now. (It would not be the first time the UK has been able to take a policy leap simply because it delayed so long: if we had invested in newer, more efficient coal plant, we would face a much more difficult decision over whether to close it down this decade.) Now, though, a winter or two of volatile prices may not be a bad thing. Fast flexible plant or DSR can take advantage of price spikes, leaving the old, slow plant out of the money. It may come at just the right time for the industry to take out some of the dead wood and allow the green shoots of the DSR market to grow. Turns out, the market knows best. Government introduced the Capacity Market to provide the ‘missing money’ that was holding back new gas plant. Instead, it did something more interesting. It showed that the government and industry were absolutely right in saying that a more diverse, flexible industry was needed. It was needed so badly, as the energy industry changed (and is still changing) that although government has been slow in incentivising flexibility directly, the market found a way. te

theenergyst.com

Time to do energy storage properly Industry is realising that single-purpose ‘disposable’ batteries are sub-optimal solutions, says redT CEO Scott McGregor

he Capacity Market is suspended and under review, the Firm Frequency Response market is saturated, and Triads are now also under review in an attempt to make energy pricing fairer. The question on industry lips is: “What next?” Despite what you might have read elsewhere, we view these developments positively. Energy storage is finally leaving a kindergarten world of single-purpose, disposable assets used to gamble on markets built on short-term energy policies with often unintended consequences. Instead, we will see a rapid roll-out of

Opportunities for customers using flexible energy storage infrastructure

what we call energy storage 2.0 – ‘proper’ energy infrastructure, which cycles hard, every day, in order to provide meaningful flexibility to our energy system to create a network that is not only smarter and more stable but cheaper and greener too. We firmly expect the Capacity Market or an equivalent value stream for heavy cycling energy storage assets to return but, in the short term, we also view volatility as presenting numerous opportunities. Looking at the bright side of volatility Volatility in the wholesale energy market has become a fact of life since the Capacity Market suspension and we expect this to continue in the next year or two. With fluctuating energy prices come challenges but also large opportunities for customers using flexible energy storage infrastructure to take control of their energy procurement, avoiding the highs and targeting the lows in energy pricing throughout the day.

theenergyst.com

Heavy cycling flexible energy storage assets such as flow machines can work around the clock to take advantage of the full range of energy purchase options and cut costs as a result. They can also be used to generate upside by trading on the wholesale energy markets or by providing ancillary services such as frequency response. Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, flow machines can be heavy cycled continuously throughout the day, store large amounts of energy, do not degrade with use and have a lifespan of more than 25 years. Though currently dormant in the European Court of Justice, the Capacity Market de-rating factor of 96% for flow machines – the same as pumped hydro – highlights the clear advantage of heavy cycling energy storage assets over traditional battery alternatives. Out with the old, in with the new This emerging landscape shows the ‘old’ merchant business model for lithium batteries, based on low utilisation and single revenue stream gambling, is at best a side show to the future of energy storage. Real value can be found in enabling commercial and industrial-scale energy users to take far greater control of their energy procurement strategies in order to benefit from price volatility. This translates into large cost savings at low risk for businesses where electricity costs make up a large proportion of their operating costs. Looking forward, with the roll out of ‘energy storage 2.0’ enabling more and more cheap renewables to come online, we anticipate the wholesale price of energy will regularly fall to or below zero for large parts of the day by 2030. At redT, we are already pioneering economic models to optimise this new norm, and a Capacity Market revamp will only serve to offer a further, valuable upside to the new business model. The era of single-purpose batteries is dead. Time to do energy storage properly. te

PRODUCTS & SERVICES The largest project of its kind in Scotland will see water from the Clyde used to heat a mix of residential, commercial and public buildings

Clydebank goes large on heat pumps

he £250m Queens Quay regeneration project in Clydebank will use water from the Clyde to help heat a mix of residential, commercial and public buildings via 5MW of heat pumps and a district heat network. Two 2.5MW water source heat pumps will take heat from the river to reduce the amount of power required to provide heat and hot water for buildings connected to the 2.5km heat network.

Vital Energi is managing the £15m heat project and says it is the largest of its kind to date in Scotland. Operations manager Scott Lutton said he hopes other local authorities will take note of the project for their own district heating and broader decarbonisation plans. Once completed, the network will provide heating and hot water to existing buildings including West College Scotland, Clydebank Library, Clydebank Leisure

Automatically identify energy waste across estates Many buildings and operations managers are responsible for hundreds, or even thousands, of sites. As such, they need technology to help them identify which sites are consuming energy when they should not be doing so, enabling them to isolate ‘outliers’. Utilidex says its Energy Hub can help, scrutinising thousands of sites’ data and automatically alerting managers should a vacant energy outlier occur, enabling corrective action.

54 February/March 2019

The company says this is far more resource effective than analysing one site at a time. When an outlier is identified, the Utilidex Energy.Hub emails the stakeholders with simple, easily understood information; how much the site has exceeded the expected norm and the associated cost. The company says customers can collectively manage 15,000-plus buildings on a daily basis, enabling them to cut energy waste and unlock significant bill savings.

Centre and the council office campus as well as approximately 1,200 homes. Councillor Iain McLaren, convener of infrastructure, regeneration and economic development, said it would have “a hugely positive impact on Queens Quay and Clydebank as a whole”. He added that the council plans to expand the network to address fuel poverty in Clydebank and Dalmuir. Councillor Marie McNair, vice convener of infrastructure, regeneration and economic

development, said locals “will see the benefits of this pioneering project for generations to come”. She added: “The system has been designed to not only serve the developments at Queens Quay but has the potential to serve businesses and houses further afield. It will also make a major contribution towards the council’s climate change targets to reduce CO2 emissions.” Local firm Star Renewables Energy is manufacturing the heat pumps. te

Making corporate PPAs easier The ecompany has launched the latest version of RE-search, an online renewable energy marketplace aimed at large and medium corporates. The company says the platform now incorporates a business case tool that provides a forward view of the renewable energy market and compares it against the power purchase agreement price. Another feature included in the new version is enhanced communication channels where corporates can communicate with other buyers and developers. The refreshed version of RE-search allows developers to respond to requests for information, upload projects to the marketplace and access industry data in one place. The ecompany wants to open up the market to smaller developers and provide a platform for everyone to showcase their operational and pipeline projects. See: www.re-search.online

theenergyst.com

A gas-to-grid project in Yorkshire will use food and animal waste to generate enough clean energy to supply a small town

erman biogas plant manufacturer Weltec Biopower has won a pitch to build a biogas plant near Pontefract, West Yorkshire. The gas-to-grid project is set to go live in late 2019 and will deliver approximately 7.3 million m³ of biomethane to the UK gas distribution network, the equivalent of supplying about 9,600 households. The plant will use locally sourced feedstocks, with food waste accounting for more than half of the 80,000 tonnes of substrate per annum, according to Weltec UK sales manager Kevin Monson. It will also use cattle and chicken manure as well as grass silage and hybrid rye, he added. Solids will be fed through two walking-floor feed hoppers and two Multimix units, which remove foreign objects, liquefy, shred and macerate incoming solids to make them into an easily pumpable, easily mixed, easily digested liquid, according to Weltec. “The mashing and shredding process will make

The new plant will deliver enough biomethane to power 9,600 households

Big biogas plant deal sure that the bacteria can access the substances in the digester faster and will reduce the energy required for mixing,” said sales engineer Carsten Hesselfeld. Liquids will be fed in controllable volumes directly to digesters from five prestorage tanks, of which two are equipped with a stainless steel bottom. The gas production will take place in four stainless-steel digesters with a height of 8.8m and an above-average capacity

of 6,848m³ each. Weltec has decided to implement membrane upgrading to transform the biogas into high-quality biomethane. In a separation process comprising several stages, the raw biogas will be refined efficiently without methane slip. In this way, c850 standard m³ of biomethane that is suitable for feed-in will be produced every hour from December 2019 onwards. Additionally, the biomethane production will yield

digestate, which can be used as high-quality fertiliser, returning organic material and nutrients to the land. For this purpose, it will first be pasteurised and separated and the pasteurisation unit will be equipped with a highly efficient heat recovery system. For onsite electricity supply, Weltec will integrate a 500kW CHP. The operator, Lanes Farm Energy, will generate additional income from exporting excess electricity to the grid. te

LIGHTING

PFSweb chose Ecolighting for its new warehouse in Southampton

High bay highlights LED lighting at a brand new warehouse should minimise bills and maintenance

colighting was recently specified for the LED lighting at the new-build 85,000 sq ft PFSweb warehouse in Southampton for client Conexus. Ecolighting claims it was chosen by PFSweb for its reduced costs against competitor prices and the efficacy of its fittings and was recommended by an existing client to the M&E contractor. The specification was to provide the brand new warehouse with full illumination as well as full bus bar installation to provide power to luminaires. All luminaires supplied have both daylight harvesting capability and occupancy control. The mainly open area warehouse with a small percentage of racked area was assessed by Ecolighting and 67 240W 120 degree beam angle and eight 180W 40 degree

56 February/March 2019

80% Potential energy saving achieved by installing Ecolighting’s Pegasus luminaire

beam angle Pegasus LEDs, as well as 32 Altos emergency lighting luminaires were chosen as the best solution. Ecolighting’s compact Pegasus luminaire is a LED High Bay luminaire. Encased in a robust yet lightweight and stylish aluminium body, Pegasus uses an Osram driver and Osram LEDs, giving 166 lumens per watt and up to 80% energy saving in installations. The sealed dustproof construction prevents access from insects and makes for easy cleaning, claims the company. The lights suit a wide range of applications – from industrial, warehouses, cold stores and manufacturing to sports halls and retail stores. Meanwhile, the Altos emergency luminaire is designed for use in mezzanines, warehouses, in manufacturing, freezers/ chillers and all areas with high ceilings.

PFSweb is happy with the results. “The new system is energy saving and works well with the control system we currently have in place,” says Lisa Cooley, PFSweb general manager. “We are very pleased with the results and would highly recommend Ecolighting to complete an installation for anyone looking to upgrade their current lighting or to install a new lighting system.” Ecolighting, which is a Carbon Trust Accredited supplier, has its own team of engineers, carries out lighting scheme design, manufactures its luminaires in the UK and uses UK-sourced Osram control gear and LED chips. It has worked with companies such as Amazon, Bibby Distribution, Kuehne Nagel, Debenhams, Carlsberg, Culina, Cadbury and Great Bear. te

theenergyst.com

Q&A

Jeremy Nicholson Alfa Energy’s corporate affairs officer on price caps, Orwellian nightmares, and reasons for optimism

You’re god for the day, what’s the first thing you do? Convert Jeremy Corbyn to Judaism If you could travel back to any historical period when would it be and why? The Edwardian era – a time of social and technological optimism before two world wars and aggressive totalitarian governments wreaked such havoc in Europe. Who or what are you enjoying listening to? A curious mixture of Mendelssohn and Billy Joel. What unsolved mystery would you like the answers

Why are so many people pessimists when there is no shortage of good reasons to be an optimist? 58 February/March 2019

to? Why so many people are pessimists when there is no shortage of good reasons to be an optimist.

in the Mediterranean would become a reality. K. D. Schroeder [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Who would you least like to share a lift with? Anyone who thinks price caps are a good idea. The temptation to strangle them would be difficult to resist.

What would you take to a desert island and why? Probably a grand piano – but come to think of it, an organ might be even more fun. What’s your favourite film (or book) and why? 1984 – an extraordinarily clever novel warning of the dangers of mass surveillance, mob hatred and puritanism. Every bit as chilling to read now as it was in 1948. If you could perpetuate a myth about yourself, what would it be? That I am always as confident as I sometimes appear. What would your super power be and why? It would be wonderful to be psychic and to have the upper hand in negotiations. But I’m not sure it would really make me happy – sometimes it’s best NOT to know what someone else is really thinking. What would you do with a million pounds? My fantasy villa

It would be wonderful to be psychic and to have the upper hand in negotiations

What’s your greatest extravagance? Hiring a speedboat to tour and swim around the Egadi Islands off the coast of Sicily – an expensive but glorious indulgence. If you were blessed with any talent, what would your dream job be and why? It’s a joy to sing or play music – it would be wonderful to have enough talent and determination to make a living out of it too. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Never take the North Circular. What irritates you the most in life? Prejudice – especially when masquerading as virtue. And finding chewing gum underfoot, obviously. What should energy users be doing to help themselves in the current climate? Take good independent advice on procurement – be prepared to invest in on-site generation or storage where it makes sense commercially – and find out what more you can do to improve energy efficiency. What’s the best thing – work wise – that you did recently? Started work this year with Alfa Energy – a growing business and a great bunch of people – it’s so important to stand up for business energy users. te

theenergyst.com

London calling: £500m energy tender bids for carbon and social benefits

February/March 2019

Happy medium: Gas plus battery storage could solve MCPD headache

Sage council: Nottingham lays ground for major vehicle-to-grid trial

“ I don’t think Ofgem’s targeted charging review will kill good projects ” – p24