Horizon
Babcock International, the FTSE-100 engineering services group that has half of its business with the Ministry of Defence, is looking at taking an equity stake in new UK nuclear power plants. The company, whose work spans maintenance of the Trident submarine fleet to baggage handling at Heathrow, has held talks with Japan’s Hitachi over a stake in the new Advanced Boiling Water Reactor stations planned for sites at Oldbury, Gloucestershire, and Wylfa on Anglesey. Hitachi is planning up to six such new reactors under its Horizon programme.
Telegraph 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
Government and regulators do not know by how much overall expected new investment by the private sector in infrastructure will increase household utility bills and whether bills will be affordable. The National Audit Office has recommended that the Treasury ensure there are mechanisms to assess the cumulative impact of infrastructure investment on consumer bills, particularly those paid by low-income households. Today’s report, which focuses on the energy, water and, to a lesser extent, telecoms sectors, recognizes that the UK requires significant investment in new infrastructure. The Treasury expects that over two-thirds of the £310 billion worth of the planned infrastructure it has identified will be privately financed, owned and operated but paid for by consumers through their utility bills.
National Audit Office 13th Nov 2013 read more »
Householders have been warned that energy bills could rise by almost 50% over the next six years as EDF became the latest big six supplier to announce inflation-busting gas and electricity price increases. A new report from the government spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, also stokes the price row by claiming that ministers “do not know” whether power bills will be affordable in years to come, as multibillion pound infrastructure investment pushes up tariffs. The report says: “The available projections suggest that increases in both energy and water bills will continue to outstrip inflation, on average, up to 2030.”
Guardian 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Consumers face 17 more years of above-inflation increases in energy and water bills as they help pay for the renewal of the UK’s infrastructure, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned.
BBC 13th Nov 2013 read more »
Telegraph 13th Nov 2013 read more »
In the energy debate, there are better answers than any proffered by politicians, from Ed Davey’s “greed speech” on Tuesday, in which he said that energy companies were starting to lose public trust and were seen to be reflecting the “greed that consumed the banks”. All politicians want this story to be about greed. They differ only as to whose fault the greed is, or who didn’t do enough to rein it in. This makes superficial sense: there are six big energy firms whereas there used to be 20, and these are exactly the cabalistic conditions in which greed runs riot. When you own a stake in the energy you use, you use less of it. Solar Schools, part of the 10:10 carbon reduction project, has been a striking example of this. Schools have always been able to get a solar scheme off the ground with help from one of the big six; but the real behavioural change happens when they raise the money, they build the panels and they get the savings. Likewise, people can invest in a renewable project but it doesn’t necessarily change their own energy behaviour; negawatts (units of energy saved) are generated when people build their own wind turbine, and it powers their own town. “Tangibility” is the word that comes up constantly – you don’t waste it when you can conceive of the energy you have invested in coming in to your house. Feldheim, in Germany, is the most evolved example of this in Europe, and possibly in the world: it powers itself entirely on wind, solar and biogas. All the financial investment is from the villagers, of whom there are 150. If we could take ownership of energy, whatever its source, at a national level, we might see the same behavioural changes played out at that level – a real negawatt revolution. We have problems that are bigger than bills, but all the answers are eerily similar: think beyond the big six.
Guardian 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy leaders have warned that household bills could rise by another 50% over the next six years. The claim from the industry’s trade body, Energy UK, came as EDF became the latest big six supplier to increase its current tariff by an average of 3.9% from January. And it came as senior executives from RWE and another major power company said they believed that security of supply was more important than affordability. Angela Knight, the chief executive of Energy UK, defended the sector and argued that the UK had the lowest gas price in the European Union and one of the lowest electricity costs. But she said the “old trilemma” of decarbonisation, energy security and affordability meant there was relentless upward pressure on prices.
Guardian 12th Nov 2013 read more »
The row over the impact of “green levies” has taken a surprise turn with EDF Energy today announcing lower than expected price rises, but warning it could impose a second price hike in the coming weeks if the government does not deliver significant cuts to “green levy” schemes. In a move that will spark accusations the company is attempting to bounce the government into either axing the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme or funding it through general taxation, the energy giant said it would increase prices by 3.9 per cent from 3 January 2014, but revealed the proposed change remains contingent on the outcome of the coalition’s controversial “green levy” review.
Business Green 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Reg Platt, senior research fellow at think-tank IPPR, said the EDF announcement was “simply astonishing”. “They have in effect issued a threat to government, saying: cut back your policies or we ‘ll raise our prices further,” he said.
FT 12th Nov 2013 read more »
MPs and energy experts rounded on EDF Energy last night for “blackmailing” the Government after threatening to raise energy bills unless consumer-funded green levies were slashed. Alan Whitehead, MP, who sits on the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, said: “EDF Energy is standing the public up against the wall and saying to the Government: ‘Unless you produce a change of policy, we are going to punish the public with a price rise’ . ” Describing it as “tantamount to blackmail”, he added: “It’s ‘do as I say or the dog gets it’. ” He warned that the threat would “rebound on them in the long term” and even questioned whether it was anti-competitive. Andrew Warren, a director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, said: “It is absolutely disgraceful that a company that is majority- owned by another government should be seeking to blackmail the UK Government into changing its established policy to require energy companies to help customers stop wasting money by wasting fuel.”
Times 13th Nov 2013 read more »
Telegraph 12th Nov 2013 read more »
EDF has become the latest energy company to raise prices for its customers, announcing an average price rise of 3.9% on its dual fuel tariffs and warning that more increases could come if the government does not cut fees for social and environmental work. EDF said it had taken action ahead of the outcome of the government’s review of the costs of the Eco scheme to help vulnerable households and other green schemes, designed to bring down costs for consumers. It said if the government made bigger changes to the costs of its social and environmental schemes than it had anticipated, it would pass those savings on to customers, but if the changes were smaller there could be further price rises.
Guardian 12th Nov 2013 read more »
This focus on switching is too narrow and simplistic. We need a new approach to engagement, based on a broad debate (to include role of supply, generation, transmission and demand), information for consumers about how energy systems work and the importance of change – a two way conversation about energy itself not just prices. Given the need to also bring about a low carbon transition and the implications this may have we also need consent from the public, that moves beyond the technocratic, centralised and expert led approach that currently dominates, towards a more decentralised, conversational and negotiated approach to our own energy future. We need to recognise that whilst some consumers may remain passive there is growing appetite from some households and communities to become producers, switching from consumption to prosumption. We have close to half a million homes using solar PV already and, as Juliet Davenport highlighted, smaller scale renewables enable people to interact with the market in a different way, bringing them into contact with energy infrastructure and the market. In Germany the energy transition is happening largely without large energy providers, with citizens now owning half of renewables. Community-led approaches can also attract local investment; increasing participation, control and democracy; and help change attitudes and behaviour towards technologies and the market.
IGov 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy Investment
Dong Energy says it is “extremely difficult” to make investment decisions in the UK because energy was being treated as a “political football” Political rows over energy policy will leave Britain “having a debate in the dark” as investors are spooked from building new power plants, a leading investor has warned. Wind farm developer Dong Energy said it was now extremely difficult” for the company to make investment decisions in the UK because energy was being treated as a “political football” and delays to policy reforms. The chief executives of two other energy giants, Drax and E.On, echoed the warnings at an energy industry conference on Tuesday, saying the political climate was worrying and driving up the cost of capital.
Telegraph 12th Nov 2013 read more »
EPRs
Areva SA (AREVA) and Electricite de France SA are developing EPRs in China at Taishan, Finland, France and under the latest plan in the U.K. following a deal last month to build a $26 billion plant at Hinkley Point in England. The projects at Flamanville in Normandy and Finland for the as-yet unproven EPR reactor have been plagued by delays and billions in budget overruns. The latest-generation French nuclear reactor known as the EPR will be tested for the first time in China in 2014, according to Trade Minister Nicole Bricq. The Taishan plant, built in partnership with China General Nuclear Power Corp., will start commercial operation in 2015, EDF said last month. That’s about a year later than originally planned.
Bloomberg 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Nuclear Security
Neither Chernobyl nor Fukushima needed military attack to release their massive quantities of deadly radiation, but strangely there is almost no public debate on the subject of the huge quantities of Dirty Bombs which exist, today, in the shape of large civil reactors.
Conversely, public media allows us hear about the subject of nuclear proliferation, which is obsessionally discussed, but is only focused on how to prevent explosive nuclear devices from “falling into the wrong hands”. Notably Iranian hands. This narrow-focus politically correct obsession is given regular and massive media cover and is also addressed by longstanding high-level conference series. But no concerted effort goes to ensuring total security for the world’s existing civil nuclear plants, upstream uranium production and fuel fabrication, fuel rod supply and transport, downstream waste processing and storage. The reason is in fact very simple: the costs would be horrendous, if it was indeed possible to shield all these plants from any kind of attack, conventional or unconventional.
Market Oracle 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Radwaste
Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a technique to reduce the volume of higher activity nuclear wastes. The process, which involves mixing plutonium contaminated waste with blast furnace slag and turning it into glass, could reduce the volume of waste by up to 95%, according to the researchers. As well as the potential waste reduction, researchers have said the vitrification technique also creates a stable product as radioactive plutonium is effectively “locked in” to the glass.
Process Engineering 11th Nov 2013 read more »
China
China National Nuclear Corp’s (CNCC) engineering division CNPE has awarded a contract to Arvea to train its teams in the major nuclear projects management. The first training session, which was designed and executed by Areva University, has already concluded with the presentation of training certificates to the participants. Speaking after the conclusion of the first session, Arvea chief commercial executive officer Tarik Choho said the company is committed to supporting Chinese utilities in the development of their skills.
Energy Business Review 13th Nov 2013 read more »
Japan
Japanese officials have admitted for the first time that thousands of people evacuated from areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may never be able to return home. A report by members of the governing Liberal Democratic party [LDP] and its junior coalition partner urges the government to abandon its promise to all 160,000 evacuees that their irradiated homes will be fit to live in again. The plan instead calls for financial support for displaced residents to move to new homes elsewhere, and for more state funding for the storage of huge quantities of radioactive waste being removed from the 12-mile evacuation zone around the plant.
Guardian 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Japan’s flagging anti-nuclear movement has been given a boost from two former prime ministers who are calling for atomic power to be phased out following the Fukushima disaster.
Belfast Telegraph 12th Nov 2013 read more »
FT 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has abundant political capital and should declare an end to nuclear power, as the public mood for such a decision couldn’t be better, predecessor Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday. “Nobody has had more favorable conditions to achieve a nuclear-free option than Abe,” the popular ex-prime minister said in a rare news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. ”For first time in a long time, the Japanese are ready to support a project and I want him to use his strong political clout.”
Japan Times 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Fukushima crisis 7th to 11th Nov.
Greenpeace 12th Nov 2013 read more »
France
The French government won’t shut any more of Electricite de France SA’s nuclear reactors after the country’s oldest plant closes in three years, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said. “My answer is no, my answer is clear,” Montebourg said in an interview in Paris. “It’s not our strategy.” The pledge undercuts President Francois Hollande’s promise, made in last year’s election campaign, to trim France’s atomic output to half of total energy production by about 2025 from 75 percent now. Montebourg’s comments will also be a boon to state-controlled EDF, which with 58 French reactors and another under construction is the biggest nuclear operator in the world. “Nuclear offers a competitive advantage for the performance of France’s industrial base,” the minister said.“Our nuclear investment allows us to have competitive energy costs, less than elsewhere.”
Bloomberg 12th Nov 2013 read more »
French state-controlled utility EDF will consider extending the depreciation period for its nuclear plants, its chief executive told a newspaper, potentially freeing up cash for the country’s promised shift towards greener energy.Sources close to the matter told Reuters in September that France could help finance a drive for more renewable energy by extending the depreciation period of EDF’s nuclear plants, which would boost EDF’s profit and the dividends it pays the government. Even if EDF’s auditors would allow it to make the accounting change now, it could backfire on the company later because the ASN decision in principle on whether or not to allow extensions will not be made until 2015 and final decisions will be made reactor by reactor from 2020.
Reuters 12th Nov 2013 read more »
US
The Three Mile Island nuclear plant has made another list of U.S. nuclear facilities vulnerable to being closed. And plentiful Marcellus Shale natural gas in Pennsylvania is cited as a prime reason. This time, Morningstar Inc., a global independent investment research firm, lists TMI among five U.S. reactors on its “most exposed” list.
Lancaster Online 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran
IRAN’S foreign minister, Mohammad Zarif, has shrugged off the blame for failing to reach a deal with the international community on his country’s nuclear programme. US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday Iran had backed out of a deal – but today Zarif blamed the French, the BBC reports.
The Week 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Israeli security sources claimed Tuesday that Iran’s disputed nuclear programme has cost the country $170 billion, mostly due to tough economic sanctions. The estimate came as Israel and the US were locked in a war of words over negotiations between world powers and Iran that could see sanctions relaxed in exchange for Tehran curbing or freezing parts of the nuclear programme.
Middle East Online 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran wants respect and nuclear power. The US doesn’t want Iran to get nuclear weapons. The window is closing for a deal.
Guardian 12th Nov 2013 read more »
We must not capitulate to Iran over its nuclear programme: the sanctions are working.
Telegraph 12th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy Efficiency
“There will be no backing down on energy efficiency,” Ed Davey told the energy industry today. But confusion reigns as to the fate of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), one of the government’s key schemes aimed at encouraging householders to insulate their homes. ECO requires energy providers to actively seek out low-income households and provide subsidised home insulation. The policy is part of the government’s programme for tackling fuel poverty. But the costs are added to consumer energy bills, and energy companies say it is too expensive to run.
Carbon Brief 13th Nov 2013 read more »
