REG - Water Services Auth - Go ahead for accelerated schemes totalling £2.2bn

United UtilitiesAnnouncement

27/06/2023 08:15

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RNS Number : 9568D  Water Services Regulation Authority  27 June 2023

Tuesday 27 June 2023

 

Ofwat gives go ahead to accelerate schemes totalling £2.2bn

 

OFFICIAL - MARKET SENSITIVE

 

Ofwat has today confirmed its final decision to allow 33 infrastructure
schemes, totalling £2.2 billion, with work beginning in the next two
financial years, from 2023-24. This follows a public consultation on Ofwat's
original announcement on the programme in April 2023.

 

The projects which have been given the green light for 2023-2030 include:

 

·    Ten schemes worth close to £1.7 billion to tackle storm overflows.
These will use innovative plans to reduce overflow spills by around 10,000 per
year. This includes work to improve water quality at the bathing water site at
Ilkley on the River Wharfe and significantly reduce spills into Lake
Windermere.

·    Seven smart metering schemes that includes the installation of
462,000 smart meters and which will help to increase drought resilience.

·    Six water supply schemes which will provide an additional 75Ml/d of
water once completed and protect a maximum of 31Ml/d of peak output.

·    Three nutrient neutrality schemes worth potentially £160 million
that will protect natural ecosystems. They will enable the development of up
to 82,500 homes and help wildlife by improving the water quality of our rivers
at 14 sites.

 

The water sector is facing dry summers and more frequent and intense rainfall.
In addition, there is a need to significantly improve river and bathing water
quality across the UK. To help tackle these issues, Ofwat agreed with Defra to
allow companies to make an early start on schemes included in existing plans,
where they could demonstrate clear need and benefits to customers and the
environment.

 

This programme therefore allows companies to make an early start on schemes
with the knowledge that they will be funded as part of the 2024 price review.

 

Chris Walters, Senior Director, Price Review at Ofwat said:

 

"The water sector needs to act now to secure future needs of customers and the
environment. The schemes we are confirming today will help tackle storm
overflows, install more smart meters, provide additional water supply and
improve river water quality. In each case the company has demonstrated a clear
need and benefits to customers and the environment".

 

Notes to editors

 

All the schemes which were set out in our draft decisions for consultation
have been approved. The changes that have been made are:

 

·    We have approved the acceleration of the design of the North Suffolk
Winter Storage and Lowestoft reuse schemes for the Essex and Suffolk area,
given the linkages of these schemes to the Suffolk Strategic Network and
Storage pipelines scheme, which we had previously proposed to approve

·    The total potential costs of the accelerated project have increased
from £1.6 billion to £2.2 billion. The increase is mainly driven by two
United Utilities schemes to accelerate storm overflow improvements; Ofwat has
updated the total costs following additional information from United Utilities

·    The total potential cost of Portsmouth Water's accelerated universal
smart metering programme has been reduced from £120m to £64m, to reflect the
level of investment which will be made only from 2023 to 2030.

·    Following a request from Southern Water, the scope of its storm
overflow scheme has been amended so that it removes at least 420 spills per
year (down from 600 spills per year).

·    Ofwat has made some technical amendments to price control
deliverables to improve the customer protections in relation to delivery

 

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