Utility Week articles from November 2006

Utility Week archives from November 2006

Features.
November 3, 2006... PAN-UTILITYSuez/GDF reorganised by JanuaryThe merged group of Suez and Gaz de France will be operational by January 2007 under chairman and chief executive Gerard Mestrallet and vice chairman and president Jean-Francois Cirelli, the companies...

Fighting fit.(asset management)
November 3, 2006... Since privatisation, utility asset management has been evolving steadily as a unique managerial discipline. The remarkable feature of this evolution has been the advances enabled by the financially regulated environment. In fact, utilities have...

ElectricityPeninsula bids to save Devon biofuel project.(Peninsula Power)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Peninsula Power has triggered a public inquiry into its proposed ?43 million, 27MW power station fuelled by crops after Torridge District Council in Devon rejected its planning application.The inquiry follows Peninsula's appeal, which took...

News.
November 3, 2006... CCGT acceptedEon UK has won Department of Trade and Industry approval for a combined cycle gas turbine at the site of its existing oil-fired station at Grain in Kent. Construction on the 1,200MW plant could start next year.Windfarm blown...

electricity CEZ ready for Central Europe buying spree.
November 3, 2006... Czech power company CEZ, the largest energy company in Central and Eastern Europe, has made its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in a move expected to boost its expansion.The state-controlled company said it planned to spend ?7 billion on...

ENVIRONMENTBoost for overseas carbon credits.(green energy schemes)(carbon trading)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Britain is to help companies operating in countries that have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol take part in carbon trading under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).In future, any company can earn credits for the carbon saved by projects in...

Common goals.(water utility asset management)
November 3, 2006... For much of the last century, asset management methods have evolved through incremental innovations in established techniques. However, recent developments in the UK have brought about a radical reappraisal of the methods that are available to...

News.(Pan-Utility Companies Bill)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Pan-UtilityCompanies Bill will not be changedThe government this week refused to remove a contentious clause on contractual matters recently added to the Companies Bill, to be debated in the Lords next week. Ministers agreed in a meeting with...

Features.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Cash should be put aside to cover decommissioningThe Commission has made a non-binding recommendation to member states and nuclear plant owners that they make provision for future nuclear liabilities. This includes the costs of managing spent...

Features.
November 3, 2006... THE2 NovemberBeesley Lecture: Dr Dieter Helm on carbon policy, London4 NovemberCampaign against Climate Change demonstration, London6-7 NovemberAdam Smith Institute infrastructure asset management conference, London7-8 NovemberLarge-scale...

News.
November 3, 2006... Head case: in preparation for this weekend's big climate change demonstration, organisers set up an ice sculpture of Tony Blair in Trafalgar Square that has been, ahem, melting. Quite apt, when you think about it

Features.
November 3, 2006... Listing move: the Danish government has begun work on floating Dong Energy on the Copenhagen stock exchange next year, with 28 per cent of the government's stake likely to be sold. The listing was delayed while Brussels approved Dong's...

ENERGYEssent and Nuon 'in merger talks'.(Essent Energie)(Nuon N.V.)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Dutch energy groups Nuon and Essent have reportedly agreed the main points of a merger that would see the creation of a Dutch national champion.A merger would help protect both firms from foreign takeover and help the Dutch energy industry...

eLECTRICITYBrussels probes nuclear deal.(European Union regulations)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... by Roger MilneThe European Commission has launched a full-scale investigation into the extent of French financial support for Finland's nuclear power station being built at Olkiluoto. There is concern that the arrangements for the scheme may...

WATERWater projects secure ?230m in EIB loans.(European Investment Bank)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced loans worth ?230 million for three major water utility projects across Europe.The bank has signed a deal to lend ?100 million to the Sewerage Board of Limassol-Amathus in Cyprus, and will supply...

Carbon price 'crucial' to new generation sources.(Stern Report on emissions reductions)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The Stern Report highlighted the need for a carbon price signal - both across countries and sectors - to ensure emissions reductions were delivered in the cheapest way. Tax, trading and regulation could all be used to create a price for carbon....

News.(energy service consortia to supply for cities)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... ENERGYMiliband pushes for big city EscosThe government has signalled that it wants to see council-based energy service companies (Escos) developed in major English cities, echoing projects under way in London as a result of the capital's...

Features.(agreements)
November 3, 2006... No Eon challengeEon has ruled out a legal challenge to grid fee cuts imposed by the Federal Network Agency. Klaus-Dieter Maubach, network head at Eon Energie, said the firm "will act in future as a neutral, independent network operator", even...

News.
November 3, 2006... Going with the flow: five Northumbrian Water workers have put the oomph back into one of northeast England's tourist attractions. They have repaired the fountain at the entrance to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, Co Durham, which was broken...

Welsh Weevils scoff city sewage.
November 3, 2006... Has Welsh Water stumbled upon a cunning wheeze for dealing with problems in its sewers under the Welsh capital?Disconnector thinks the firm may have been boxing rather clever. The great man notes that Torchwood - the Dr Who spin-off on BBC...

GASOfgem reviews ways to connect fuel poor.(gas utilities)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... by Roger MilneWales and West Utilities (WWU), one of the four new owners of local gas distribution networks, has proposed a formula it believes would make it viable to extend the gas network to communities that are not connected to mains gas.If...

GASUS firm plans LNG plant for Anglesey.(Canatxx Energy Ventures proposes liquefied natural gas facility)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Texas utility Canatxx Energy Ventures has applied for planning permission to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on Anglesey on the site of a former chemicals factory.Under the ?800 million proposal, LNG tankers would berth at a...

WaterExtra 100,000 homes is 'sustainable'.(planning for construction of homes)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The Department for Com?munities and Local Government (DCLG) has claimed that its plan to build an extra 100,000 new homes in 45 English towns and cities is "sustainable, acceptable environmentally and realistic".DCLG's New Growth Points plan,...

PAN-UTILITYAvoid court over roadwork disputes, utilities told.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Utilities have been warned they will get "short shrift" if they go to court instead of finding other ways to resolve disputes over streetworks.The warning came as Yorkshire Electricity Distribution lost a Court of Appeal battle with Telewest...

Features.(Renewables Obligation Certificates)
November 3, 2006... Climate change challenge needs more than hot airThe enormity of the climate change challenge facing the world is clearly spelt out in the equally enormous Stern Review. So it is perhaps unsurprising that the government is struggling to get to...

Features.(treating drinking water )
November 3, 2006... We have heard a lot about leakage on the news and in the newspapers over the summer. With the south east of England suffering its worst drought for many years and with 13 million people affected by hosepipe bans, water resources and leakage...

There's plenty of life in insets.(Letter to the editor)
November 3, 2006... Sir: I read with interest the article "Out with insets" (Utility Week, 20 October), contributed by Stephen Tupper. I fear that Stephen is being uncharacteristically modest in omitting to mention his role in representing Bristol Water in the...

Features.
November 3, 2006... Lithuania: three state-owned Baltic energy companies - Lietuvos Energija, Latvenergo and Eesti Energia - have agreed a common platform that could pave the way for a joint venture to build a new nuclear plant in Lithuania at a cost of ?3...

Mains attraction.
November 3, 2006... National Grid's ?7.5 billion, 27-year programme to replace 45,000km of ageing cast iron gas pipes is employing collaborative techniques learned from large construction projects and the water industry to ensure the work is done on time and on...

How much will nuclear cost?(World Business Council for Sustainable Development )
November 3, 2006... The latest assessments of nuclear new-build costs for the UK are ?22-40 per megawatt-hour, the recent energy policy review concluded. That range comes from a survey of recent estimates and market analyses, which surfaced during the exercise.The...

WaterJudge to rule on NI water transfer plan.(Northern Ireland)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... A High Court judge will next week hear final arguments in a case that could block draft legislation needed to transfer water services in Northern Ireland from Water Service to a government-owned company from April.He is expected to rule by 13...

Features.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... PAN-UTILITYThe race is on for interested utilities to win supply contracts for the 2012 London OlympicsCUSTOMERSManaging customer value is the next step on from managing customer relationshipsELECTRICITYThe government wants to streamline the...

ENVIRONMENTRadwaste to go underground.(Committee on Radioactive Waste Management)
November 3, 2006... by Roger MilneAfter decades of indecision, the government has decided to deal with the country's growing stockpile of medium and high-level radioactive waste by burying it in a repository deep underground.However, the location of the facility...

WATEROfwat ready to damp down water market.(Water utilities)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Ofwat was expected to try to quieten down activity in the water sector at its six-monthly City briefing, held last Wednesday after Utility Week went to press.Speculation that more water companies could become bid targets has sent share prices...

Out and out success.(maintenance of nuclear industry)
November 3, 2006... Every 12 to 24 months, each nuclear power plant shuts down for refuelling and maintenance. Often, plants may also make additional unplanned shutdowns for more urgent corrective repairs. But given that cost of having a plant closed can run to...

One in five say they have been bullied at work.(ethinic groups)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... One in five employees in Britain have experienced some form of bullying or harassment in the past two years, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The survey of 2,000 people released last week...

Nuclear lab will boost skills.(National Nuclear Laboratory)
November 3, 2006... by Zo? GraingeTrade secretary Alistair Darling last week announced plans for a National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) to safeguard the industry's research and development capabilities.The NNL will be formed from British Nuclear Group's British...

National Grid ranked as a top employer to work for.(Corporate Research Foundation)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The Corporate Research Foundation (CRF) has ranked three utilities among the UK's top employers. The company published its survey last week.National Grid, ScottishPower and Severn Trent Water all made it into the CRF's Britain's Top Employers...

News.(National Grid Company PLC)(appointment of Mark Fairbairn and Linda Adamany)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... National Grid has announced two new board appointments. Mark Fairbairn will be an executive director from 1 January 2007 and has already joined the group's executive committee. He is currently chief operating officer of UK Gas Distribution at...

Climate change prompts fallout.(Nuclear Decommissioning Authority)
November 3, 2006... The Stern Review report, all 700 pages of it, was published on Monday and politicians from all sides endorsed its main thrust.That unanimity has not always been on display in Parliament. Last week the PM and the Conservative leader David...

WATERRainwater harvesting could hit bills.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Tariff structures in the water industry may have to change if demand for household rain?water harvesting systems grows, according to Chris Williams, managing director of Hydro International."A review is needed of the water companies' charging...

waterTough pollution limits set for Scottish rivers.(water framework directive)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The Scottish Executive has proposed new standards for ammonia, phosphorus and oxygen levels in the country's rivers.The changes are part of a consultation on standards that will be used when developing river basin management plans. The...

News.(water pollution control)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The Scottish Executive has proposed a "hands-off" approach to diffuse water pollution in a consultation launched last week. "General binding rules", or GBRs, would allow land managers to comply with regulation by meeting accepted standards of...

Six plus one.(six sigma business strategy of Scottish Power PLC)
November 3, 2006... ScottishPower has broken new ground by blending two respected business improvement strategies - Six Sigma and reliability centred maintenance - and applying them to its power generation assets. The approach has delivered savings of ?6 million...

Features.
November 3, 2006... Data quality is key to asset managementRegulatory reporting is increasingly concerned with asset performance alongside the traditional operational and capital measures, and Ofgem and Ofwat ask utility companies to supply benchmark data for...

eNVIRONMENTStern calls for global carbon trading system.
November 3, 2006... by Roger MilneCombating climate change demands a global carbon trading system and will require the world's power generation to be 60 per cent carbon-free by 2050, according to the Stern Report published this week.In an immediate response, the...

News.
November 3, 2006... Loss adjustment: the continued closure of the Thorp reprocessing facility at Sellafield has cost the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) about ?60 million in lost revenue over the past financial year, the NDA has revealed. However, higher...

ENERGYSweden considers privatising Vattenfall.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... by Gerard O'DwyerSweden's ministry of trade and industry plans to re-evaluate the state's ownership of Vattenfall as part of a government plan to privatise state assets.But trade and industry minister Maud Olofsson said the government would not...

ELECTRICITYWales waits for planning decision.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... The government has rejected parliamentary criticism of windfarm planning in Wales, and of the delay in deciding whether the Welsh Assembly can take over from the Department of Trade and Industry with regards to consents for windfarms and power...

Out of sight, but not out of mind.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Faced with last week's announcement from the government that its strategy for dealing with high-activity radioactive waste would involve an underground repository, the broadsheets had mixed views on the implications.Predictably the Financial...

News.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... WATERThe UK will suffer more droughts Climate change will mean the UK will experience serious droughts more regularly, the Stern Report said. It pointed out that under current legislation, drought was the "key trigger" for a range of management...

Loopy about assets.
November 3, 2006... There is little doubt that the asset management practices employed by a utility determine its overall performance, and as such that asset management has become a key competitive tool. So many factors are influenced by whether a utility manages...

ELECTRICITYNorway to overrule wind objectors.(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Norway's ministry of petroleum and energy is backing an initiative by NVE, the country's water resources and energy directorate, to adopt a tougher position on regional municipalities who object to, or delay, windfarm applications.The...

News.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... The UK maintains its ranking as a favourable destination for wind investmentThe UK has maintained its fourth-place position in Ernst & Young's Renewable Energy Quarterly Attractiveness Index. The report said there would "inevitably be greater...

News.(BG PLC)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Customers face more price pain, warns BG's chief executiveGas customers have been warned by gas production group BG that they face an uncertain winter and should not expect prices to fall in the longer term to the levels seen more than two...

ELECTRICITYThree exchanges form single market.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Belgian, French and Dutch power exchanges will merge on 21 November, following approval by energy regulators in France and the Netherlands.The joining of Belgian's Belpex, France's Powernext and the Dutch APX will create a single electricity...

ELECTRICITYEon still searching for cause of blackout.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... by Janet WoodTransmission problems that left customers in western Europe without electricity for up to two hours on Saturday night were not down to either a cold snap across Europe or the shutdown of a transmission line across the Emse river,...

News.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... UK carbon tradeA mandatory UK emissions trading scheme, the Energy Performance Commitment (EPC), was proposed by the government this week when it canvassed views on the best way to reduce carbon emissions. The EPC was included in the...

WATERWarning over pesticide use at utility sites.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... The Crop Protection Association (CPA) has warned utilities to check that contractors who control weeds around power stations and other utility sites are using equipment correctly to prevent unnecessary water pollution. Patrick Goldsworthy, CPA...

WATEROfwat: no soft touch, no bailouts in future.(water districts)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... by Vibeka MairOfwat delivered a "couple of glimpses of steel" in its City briefing last week, but overall "no major surprises" turned up in its biannual meeting, according to industry analysts.The regulator signalled that the weighted average...

Valued customers.
November 10, 2006... The boom in customer relationship management (CRM) did great things for Siebel. What it did for the customer, however, at least initially, is less certain. Early CRM implementations were not about the customer, they were about providing the...

Features.
November 10, 2006... THE9 NovemberWastewater conference, organised by ICE, LondonRWE preliminary results14 NovemberStrategic change projects, second annual SBGI and Energy & Utility Forum seminar, LondonScottishPower interim results15 NovemberQueen's Speech16...

News.(RWE Npower)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Coal call: 25 Greenpeace supporters who climbed a 200m high chimney at RWE Npower's Didcot power station last week in a demonstration designed to highlight carbon emissions from the company's plant were arrested after a two-day protest. The...

ENERGYSpain backs down over Endesa merger.(Endesa S.A.)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Eon's acquisition of Endesa looked set to proceed after Spain's industry ministry decided to modify the conditions placed on the deal by the National Energy Commission. Eon said the new conditions no longer called on it to dispose of any assets...

ELECTRICITYEnel offers to divest plant to settle probe.(Antitrust)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... by Simon JonesItaly's Enel is ready to divest 700MW of generation capacity in 2007 and a further 700MW in 2008 to settle a probe by Italian competition authority Antitrust into possible price-fixing. Announcing the offer from the country's...

ENERGYNo Energy White Paper until March.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... The government has announced that its Energy White Paper will not be published until March next year at the earliest. The document, key to fleshing out many of the as yet unresolved issues from the recent energy review - particularly in respect...

Costly advice and boozy coppers.
November 10, 2006... Hats off to South Down MP Eddie McGrady, who has managed to uncover what looks like prima facie evidence of a very large trough in Northern Ireland.The NI Department of Regional Development (DRD) has had to come clean over the fact that it...

News.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Hand-held history: archaeologists working for Thames Water have unearthed prehistoric flint work, pieces of a Bronze Age urn (pictured) and late Iron Age pottery at the company's sewage treatment works near Kintbury in the Kennet Valley. The...

GAS?15m to change interruptions regime.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Ofgem has estimated that proposed major changes to the existing straightforward but inflexible "nominated interruptions" regime for gas distribution networks (GDNs) would cost the sector ?15 million. But it argued this figure could be more than...

News.(Isle of Portland)(Egdon Resources)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... GASPortland may house gas storage sitePlanning and pipeline authorisation applications for a large new gas storage facility on the Isle of Portland will be submitted later this year, oil and gas company Egdon Resources has signalled.The company...

News.(Antony Gormley)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Toppling towers: artist Antony Gormley, creator of the Angel of the North, has made an 11th-hour bid to halt the demolition of the two iconic Tinsley cooling towers next to the M1 at Sheffield. Gormley claimed that knocking down the towers...

ENERGYUnderwrite nuclear risk, says IEA.(International Energy Agency)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Nuclear power could make a "major contribution" to cutting carbon dioxide emissions and reducing reliance on gas, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said in its 2006 World Energy Outlook.The agency said nuclear power could be cheaper...

Features.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... GASItaly may soften new gas regulations The Italian government faces an embarrassing climbdown over last summer's emergency energy decree, with gas suppliers warning they cannot meet a November deadline to switch at least 10 per cent of...

Features.
November 10, 2006... Media scaremongering misses the real dangerSunday evening television viewers were last week treated to yet another alarmist look at utilities, this time by Panorama, once the BBC's flagship investigative news programme. This time the target was...

PAN-UTILITYMacquarie approaches next target.(Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund II)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund II (MEIF II) has made an unsolicited bid for Techem, a German service provider to the energy and water sectors across Europe. MEIF II, in conjunction with the Macquarie Group, currently owns 17 per cent of...

ENERGYOfgem urged to push new prepay meters.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... by Roger MilneThe government's advisor on fuel poverty has stepped up pressure on Ofgem to encourage domestic energy suppliers to introduce new types of prepayment meters to reduce the differential paid by many low income customers.The issue...

ENERGYGrid 'is able to handle distributed generation'.(Energy Networks Association)(Renewable Energy Association)(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... by Roger MilneElectricity distributors have told MPs that they can reconfigure the distribution network to handle distributed generation, including domestic exports, given enough time and regulatory incentives.However, they warned that domestic...

Prices ride nuclear problems.
November 10, 2006... Despite further reported problems at UK nuclear power plants, electricity prices have not risen significantly - long-term levels have even started to slip again on the back of continued weakness in the natural gas market. On 16 October, British...

Best laid plans.
November 10, 2006... Any reader of the recent energy review will have little difficulty in spotting the government's frustration with the role of the planning system in energy projects. At its most basic, planning is a compromise between the right of developers to...

Features.
November 10, 2006... INTERVIEWChris Mellor, former chief executive of AWG, discusses his new role chairing the board at Northern Ireland's Water ServiceWATERA review of this year's international water industry bible, the Pinsent Masons Water...

ENERGYNordic energy system seeks Baltic growth.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... The energy ministers of the Nordic and Baltic countries have agreed to pursue common energy strategies that will aim to integrate Baltic electricity production and distribution within the Nordic energy system.The agreement was reached during...

WATERReview period remains at five years.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Water regulator Ofwat has confirmed it is sticking with five-year price reviews, though it will set these in the context of 25-year business plans drawn up by water companies.Presenting Ofwat's initial reaction to responses on three 2006...

WATERPerformance on target but pollution high.(Consumer Council for Water )(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... The Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has suggested it is time to "raise the bar" on water and wastewater companies' performance targets because many firms' overall performance assessment scores are approaching the maximum. It was responding...

Game on.(Olympic Delivery Authority )
November 10, 2006... This month, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body charged with overseeing the London 2012 Olympic Games, will issue invitations for expressions of interest for the first elements of work for the Olympic site. With six years to go, the...