Agenda and draft minutes

(1)       Vattenfallis one of Europe’s main generators of electricity. It is owned by the Swedish state. It generates electricity through Nuclear, Hydro, Coal and Wind power. Its key markets are Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and UK.  

(2)       Power generation in the UK is exclusively through onshore and offshore wind projects.  Since the appointment of a new CEO in 2014, Vattenhall has moved in the direction of renewable energy, whilst divesting itself of coal.

(3)       Wind Farms have been operational in the Kentish Flats since 2015.  Kent had been an important part of Vattenfall’s journey.

(4)       Taken together, the Kentish Flats and Thanet Offshore Windfarms have 145 turbines with a combined capacity of 449.5k MW.   This was sufficient to meet the energy needs of 126k households.   London Array has 175 turbines with a capacity of 630k MW.   The combined total of household energy needs that these three projects can meet is 470k. This is sufficient to power both Kent and Medway.  Due to the natural vacillations in output, these can only be an approximate figure. This has been calculated over a five year period. 

(5)       Vattenfall’s ambition is to grow across Northern Europe and to increase its offshore wind capacity to 600k MW per year.

(6)       Vattenfall has no onshore ambitions in Kent.  It has identified the UIK as having the best offshore potential in the World.  It has invested £9 billion in offshore projects in the UK.  Seabed areas for development are allocated by the UK Government.  Site construction takes place in full consultation with the MoD and the Civil Aviation Authority.

(7)       Offshore wind projects currently feeds some 10% of the UK’s energy needs.   The eventual aim of the Government is that 20% should be met by nuclear power, 25% by offshore wind power with the rest coming from a mixture of diverse sources.

(8)       Vattenfallconsiders that the UK has one of the most reliable energy systems in the World due to its energy mix of Offshore, Nuclear, Gas, Fossil fuels and Solar Energy.  It has the highest energy margin in Europe, although this will get tighter as coal-fired stations are decommissioned. .

(9)       Mary Thorogood agreed to provide written details in relation to the costs associated with renewal energy and on how energy capacity in the UK compared with that in the rest of Europe.

(10)     Local Authorities can do little to influence international events which could jeopardise energy security.  They can, however, work with other partners to secure more localised energy generation.  They can also play a role in unifying the benefits of renewable energy and gas with other councils and the rest of Europe.  At the same time, they are well placed to educate local communities who often find energy security difficult to understand.

(11)      Vattenfallis bullish about future energy prospects because the UK has the best conditions in the World for energy production, leading to major export and supply opportunities. Other reasons are that the necessary skills are being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

(1)  Philip Jackson is a Director of two companies. The first of these is Daedalus Environmental Ltd which is a Kent based environmental consultancy firm specialising in, amongst other things, the sustainable design of new build domestic and commercial buildings.  It involves advising both small scale and major developers, including, for example, Barratt Homes, Persimmon Homes and Balfour Beatty, on achieving high standards of sustainable design, and in particular in relation to the use, management and supply of energy.

(2)       The second is Energy and Enterprise and Education (E3) Ltd, a non-profit company which supports local authorities and the public sector (including housing associations) to deliver energy focused community regeneration projects in existing communities. 

(3)       Philip Jackson is also retained by KCC and the Kent and Medway Sustainable Energy Partnership which aims to procure a Framework of Service Providers who are able to provide expert advice and support in relation to energy focused schemes delivered across Kent and Medway.

(4)       Mr Jackson stated that gradual improvements to the standard of new build developments were driven by a combination of regular tightening of the Building Regulations and by planning legislation. These formed the basis of ensuring – as far as possible – that, in principle, new development became more thermally efficient than the existing stock.   Improvements to the Building Regulations were published every three years approximately. These were, however, becoming incrementally smaller. Developers had the ability and had always been able to comply with improved Regulations.

(5)       Mr Jackson stated that the issue of security of energy supply was two sided. It was about both the supply of energy (from a range of sources) but also the level of energy demand.  As such there would be a far lower risk in relation to security of supply if the energy was not needed in the first place. As such, the cheapest form of energy was that which was no longer needed. The focus for addressing energy security therefore should be equally on reducing demand for it in the first place, which was more cost effective than dealing with supply. Given that the existing building stock made up far more of the energy demand than new development each year, the first priority should therefore be to focus on improving the existing building stock.

(6)       Only 1% of the UK’s properties were replaced each year.  This meant that the impact of dealing with new build was minimal in comparison. 

(7)       When asked about retrofitting Sessions House, Mr Jackson outlined a number of issues that would need to be addressed that were typical of buildings of this type, for example the listed status, the complicated existing infrastructure, and the need to examine “low hanging fruit” such as lighting. He stated that buildings of this age presented a number of headaches that meant they were often less fit for purpose than was ideal. Solutions should also focus on building management and behavioural change of those who used it.

(8)       Mr Jackson went on to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

(1)          Dr Zach Gill, Senior Energy Solutions Engineer and CoRE (Centre of Refurbishment Excellent) Retrofit Coordinator for Willmot Dixon, had to give his apologies as he was unwell. Dr Gill would have been interviewed alongside Mr Nick Swinford, who kindly offered to be interviewed in Dr Gill’s place, in regards to the energy security work Willmot Dixon was undertaking with the University of Kent.

(2)          The Chairman welcomed Mr Swinford to the Meeting. He introduced himself as the Assistant Director Estates: Infrastructure & Sustainability at the University of Kent. He gave his professional background as a chartered engineer with work history in the pharmaceutical industry and NHS. He has been working for the University of Kent for the last 24 years.

Mr Swinford then responded in full to the themes and questions suggested in the agenda on page 21.

(3)          Mr Swinford opened by stating that he is a chartered engineer who has been working at the University of Kent for 24 years. The University of Kent is working with Willmott Dixon on a £26m project constructing a new business, mathematics and statistics facility for the University. This is a sustainable building project focusing on energy conservation. Mr Swinford stated that the University’s motto for energy use is “Use less, want less.” The University has recently celebrated its 50 years anniversary and has been undergoing massive growth for years. The student population has increased to around 20,000 and they have also been undertaking large developments on the Medway Campus and the Chatham Historic Dockyard.

(4)       Reference was made to Kent’s ‘Little Blue Book’, a book from the University that has compiled key facts and figures about the University of Kent, which gave the following statistics;

            a) University and students contributed £600 million to the South East’s      economy.

            b) University of Kent students spend £211 million a year locally.

c) 27,000 University of Kent graduates have remained in Kent.

            The University achieved Carbon Trust Standard accreditation in 2009 a     nd Mr Swinford stated that he is certain that it will be reaccredited for 2015. The Carbon Trust Standard is an independently audited service         which measures an organisations carbon emission in many areas,             including its use of transport. The University of Kent is ensuring its       environmental management conforms to ISO 14001 guidelines.  The           University is Fair Trade accredited. 

(5)          The University of Kent’s Carbon Management Plan for 2010 to 2020 commits to a 23% absolute reduction measured against a 2005 baseline and latest figures have shown a 16% carbon emission reduction. Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are displayed for all University of Kent buildings including halls to publicise energy use.

(6)          Mr Swinford then described elements of the strategy in place in the University's building projects that favour energy security, of which a recent example is the over-cladding of the Ingram Building that cost £3.8 million. Roof insulation and cavity wall insulation has been included in all of these building projects. Double glazing and automatic doors have been installed wherever possible to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.