Severn energy plan
New study for Severn energy plan
The government has announced a fresh feasibility study into the Severn Barrage, a tidal power plan that could provide about 5% of UK electricity. Speaking at the Labour Party's annual conference in Bournemouth, business and enterprise ...
Power calculator
How would you like the UK's electricity to be generated by 2020?
The electricity calculator gives you the opportunity to choose how you would like the UK�s electricity to be generated in 2020.
EFSA ::. Bluetongue
EFSA ::. Bluetongue Read More...
Not related to Electricity- Construction but worthy of note as the first instance of bluetongue has been identified in the UK.
Construction Walkout over Nazi taunts
HUNDREDS of workers building one of Wales’ biggest engineering projects downed tools last night ( Sep 22nd) because one was allegedly taunted with Nazi salutes.
Too cheap' electricity must surge in price...
Scotsman.com Business - Energy
ELECTRICITY is "too cheap" and prices will have to rise if Britain is to meet tough targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Scottish and Southern Energy has warned.
Fish Kill costs Welsh Water and United Utilities over £40,000
BYM Marine Environment News
United Utilities, were yesterday (17 September) ordered to pay over £20,000 each after pleading guilty to polluting the Taf Fechan, in Pontsticill, with approximately 3 tonnes of waste aluminium sulphate.
On 13, August 2006, officers from Environment Agency Wales were called out to an incident at the Pontsticill Water Treatment Works, near Merthyr Tydfil.
The court heard that the aluminium sulphate had leaked from a waste chemical storage tank and polluted a 5km stretch of the Taf Fechan killing over 23,000 fish.
United Utilities plan new reservoir
| United Utilities plan new reservoir |  |
| Wednesday, 19 September 2007 | |
| A £13 million scheme to ensure the security of water supplies to the Fylde, Blackburn, Ribble Valley and parts of Preston is to be unveiled by United Utilities. |
PCB's and You.
Do you know how to work safely with PCBs?PCBs and YOU
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS
Research Report SeriesAll the above links are very informative.
Who’ll keep the lights on?...learning by seeing and doing...
Who’ll keep the lights on? As utility company executives make plans to meet the growing electricity needs of the Southeast, they’re also watching their most experienced personnel approach retirement age. Finding enough skilled personnel to operate complex power-generation facilities poses one of the most critical challenges facing the industry today. Collaboration between Baltimore-based GSE Systems and the Georgia Institute of Technology offers one solution: a new way of learning that combines traditional classroom training with hands-on experience using advanced computer simulations of complex industrial facilities. Simulations have long been used to train pilots, but are relatively new to other types of industrial training. This “learning by seeing and doing” offers utility companies a way to more rapidly meet their most critical human resources needs. “People learn by seeing, experiencing and actually doing something,” explained Eric Johnson, senior operations training specialist for GSE Systems. “We can reinforce what students have learned in class by allowing them to interact with a simulation of a facility. The simulation allows them to gain experience without actually having to be in a real plant, and that helps new employees become productive faster.” To provide that innovative learning environment, GSE has built a multi-million-dollar simulation and education center at Georgia Tech’s Global Learning Center in Technology Square. The company officially opened the facility – the first of its kind in the United States – with a ceremony September 13. LINK...
Simulation-Based Training Facility Opens, Focusing on Power Generation Industry in the USA.
Something for the UK Electrical Supply industry to consider extract from the article below...
Giant battery designed to store electricity
Eon UK is developing a giant battery designed to store electricity generated by wind farms and solar panels.
Scientists at the energy group's technology centre in Nottingham aim to build a large-scale prototype that would be able to store one megawatt of electricity for four hours - the equivalent to 10 million AA batteries and the same size as four articulated lorry containers.
"Green power is only generated from wind farms when the wind blows and that might not be when the power's needed by customers," said Bob Taylor, managing director of energy wholesale and technology. "By researching and developing this battery we can store the power generated by wind farms any time and then use it when our customers need it the most.
"The storage system will also help the development of localised generation. For example, a school with solar panels can store the power generated at weekends and use it when the kids are back in school."
Eon is already working with small-scale prototypes; it expects the large prototype to be operational by autumn 2009. The project is being supported by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
"We believe energy storage is a key which will help us unlock a lower-carbon tomorrow and radically change the way we think about energy," Mr Taylor said.
The industry regulator, Ofgem, said the concept was increasingly attractive. "It looked a long way from being deployed but we are seeing good progress here and internationally," a spokesman said.
Glossary of Energy Terms.[ A ][ B ][ C ][ D ][ E ][ F ] [ G ] [ H ] [ I ] [ J ][ K ] [ L ] [ M ][ N ] [ O ] [ P ] [ Q ] [ R ][ S ] [ T ] [ U ] [ V ] [ W ][ X ] [ Y ] [ Z ]
Note: No entries for Y or Z.
1.5b power bid
Li infrastructure unit lines up for 1.5b power bid
According to the paper, United Utilities appointed Deutsche Bank to advise it on the sale of the electricity business earlier this year. ...The Standard - Hong Kong (LINK)
Asia's richest man eyes energy unit
Asia's richest man is reported to be eyeing a potential takeover of United Utilities' electricity distribution business.
Li Ka-shing, who ranked ninth in the Forbes 2007 billionaires list with a estimated fortune of 23 billion US dollars (£11.3bn), is understood to be one of a number of suitors preparing first round offers for the operations, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
The United Utilities business, formerly Norweb, delivers electricity to some 2.2 million customers in north-west England.
Li Ka-shing's Hong-Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, has built up a sizeable UK portfolio, worth around £15 billion, over the last 20 years - making him Asia's biggest investor in Britain.
His investments include names such as mobile phone network 3, health and beauty retailer Superdrug and three of Britain's biggest ports, Felixstowe, Harwich and Cambridge Water.
Last year, the group's listed infrastructure division, Cheung Kong Infrastructure was part of a consortium that dropped out of the race to takeover Thames Water, largely due to concerns over price.
United Utilities began looking at a sale of the electricity business earlier this year, but it is understood that the group is keen to keep hold of the business' operating contract - a move which is expected to put off other electricity networks from bidding.
The electricity business is also said to have generated interest from US utility MidAmerican and the infrastructure funds of JP Morgan, UBS and Australian financial group Macquarie.
United Utilities was not available for comment.
The sale would leave the company with North West Water and a service business that manages other utility assets, while analysts believe that once the group has disposed of its electricity operations it could be open to a potential takeover.
Wind Power...
A row has blown up in the UK wind sector. It started when Michael Jefferson, an environmental consultant, claimed that UK wind farms were being built in the wrong places. He blamed the Renewables Obligation Certificate Scheme for encouraging energy providers to place turbines in areas remote from the country�s power grid and in locations where wind speeds are not particularly high Link
