Hinkley
The chief executive of EDF Energy, Vincent De Rivaz, says the final investment decision on Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant is close to hand following rigorous planning, but took aim at what he called ‘doubters and procrastinators’ whose ends were to derail the project. Mr De Rivaz said at a visit to Dungeness nuclear power plant that rigorous scrutiny of the project has: “helped us to improve our plans and bring us to the brink of a Final Investment Decision.”The decision which has been delayed by two years is predicted to be made next month when the President of China, Xi Jinping visits Britain. Speaking at the visitor centre at Dungeness B nuclear power station in Kent on Tuesday he professed gratitude for the rightful scrutiny the project has been subjected to “from Parliament, the European Commission, the regulator, the unions, from our workforce, suppliers, customers, partners and many other stakeholders.” He continued: “We are approaching the Final Investment Decision for our new nuclear project Hinkley Point C. As we do, scrutiny has naturally increased. Just as we embrace transparency, we welcome scrutiny. We relish challenge based on facts. Be in no doubt – Hinkley Point C is a vast undertaking.” “New nuclear is good for Britain and Hinkley Point C is the first step in the journey. So we need to get it right. This analysis has been conducted through a rigorous, comprehensive and exhaustive set of processes which has taken the best part of a decade.” ” The processes are led by responsible and accountable people who concluded that it is an investment which Britain needs and that it is based on a good deal and a strong project.” De Rivaz paid tribute to the resilience being shown in pushing the project through as overseen by three Prime Ministers and eight Secretaries of State.
Power Engineering International 16th Sept 2015 read more »
This morning Vincent de Rivaz, EDF Energy’s CEO, gave a speech at Dungeness in which he set out the arguments in favour of investment in Hinkley Point C. Here is what he had to say: The need for transparency in nuclear: At EDF Energy, transparency is at the heart of everything we do. It is our responsibility, as the custodians of Britain’s nuclear fleet, to be transparent, open and receptive to questions. The visitor centres give the public the chance to know the facts and to challenge lazy thinking and fallacies and to encourage us to be a listening, learning company. A company which shows humility and leadership.
Central Somerset Gazette 15th Sept 2015 read more »
French owned EDF Energy admitted Tuesday that its planned Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in Britain will not be operational by 2023 as originally planned. An EDF-led consortium won a vast £24.5-billion deal in 2014 to build Britain’s first power station in decades at Hinkley Point in southwest England. However, EDF Energy — the British subsidiary of Paris-listed EDF — has been forced to delay its initial estimated start-up date.
Yahoo 15th Sept 2015 read more »
Since the Stop Hinkley Campaign asked in the middle of last month if there anyone left who still thinks the Hinkley Point C nuclear project is a good idea (1), the onslaught against proposals has continued, yet the man with his hands on the purse strings doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.
Stop Hinkley Press Release 10th Sept 2015 read more »
World Nuclear
The nuclear power industry has a unique role to play in tackling two “existential threats” facing all humanity – climate change and nuclear war, Daniel Poneman, president and CEO of Centrus Energy Corp told delegates at the World Nuclear Association’s Annual Symposium in London last week. From 2009 to 2014, Poneman was US deputy secretary of energy and also served as the COO of the US Department of Energy.
World Nuclear News 16th Sept 2015 read more »
Energy Policy
The chair of the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) has slammed the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) for still failing to provide investors with policy certainty following the raft of changes to the subsidy regimes announced over the summer.
Utility Week 15th Sept 2015 read more »
Politics
The Labour Party’s energy veterans have defended the appointment of Lisa Nandy to the position of shadow energy secretary despite her lack of experience in the energy sector, saying she was carefully chosen for the role. Labour MP, and former energy and climate change select committee member, Barry Gardiner told Utility Week that Nandy’s “sharp political mind” will allow her to master the brief to stand as an effective critic of the government’s energy policy. “Lisa has been carefully chosen for this role and is someone who will understand the need to maintain base load to keep the lights on in the UK whilst transitioning to a low carbon economy,” Gardiner said. Former shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex added that Nandy has proved to be a “bright, formidable and popular” member of the parliamentary Labour Party since she was first elected as MP in 2010.
Utility Week 16th Sept 2015 read more »
If consigning of all Corbyn’s political priorities, including bold action on climate change, to the ‘crazy zone’ succeeds then the green economy as a whole has a serious problem. If you look at how this dilemma is playing out in the US, the only people talking about sufficiently ambitious climate policies are mostly to be found in the ‘crazy zone’ of the far left, but it “doesn’t seem that crazy to me”.
Business Green 14th Sept 2015 read more »
Waste Transport
High Level Radioactive Waste from Sellafield Continues its Journey Across France.
Radiation Free Lakeland 16th Sept 2015 read more »
Utilities
More than 100,000 households are deserting the Big Six energy providers to take up a green tariff at a much smaller utility after using their collective bargaining power to negotiate a deal that will cut their bill by more than £200 a year. This is by far the biggest customer switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy in the UK and is the result of a ground-breaking campaign, backed by The Independent, that demonstrates the power of collective action. The fossil fuel-heavy tariffs that turned dominate the energy industry are typically cheaper than green tariffs, because renewable power requires a higher level of subsidy. But by combining their buying power, the households were able to negotiate a rate that was £232 cheaper than the average Big Six customer pays for gas and electricity – while helping the planet by reducing CO2 emissions. The deal struck with Good Energy, a British company based in Wiltshire that generates renewable electricity, will be confirmed tomorrow. The firm, which has its own wind turbines and solar farms, previously supplied electricity to about 55,000 customers. The alliance of customers was brought together through the Clean Energy Switch campaign, which was launched at the start of the month by the activism group 38 Degrees and the Big Deal, a consumer collective. “People power’s delivered. By coming together we’ve got an incredible deal. And by switching en masse we’re sending a powerful message to the Big Six and to Government – we’re sick of being ripped off, misled and treated badly by big polluting companies,” Maddy Carroll, campaign director at 38 Degrees, said. The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said: “The number of people signing up clearly shows the wealth of support behind clean, green, affordable energy. This should be a wake-up call to the Big Six and to the Government who must now recognise that green energy is popular, and does not cost the earth.”
Independent 17th Sept 2015 read more »
The implications of this move are positively seismic. First, it serves as a reminder that consumers, acting together, can find ways of getting a better deal even when faced with a monopolistic market – as the energy market has become – so long as they are armed with the right information. Second, it provides a much-needed jolt of good news for the renewables business, and green energy more generally. Subsidies for solar and wind have been hit hard by the Conservative Party. For the green movement to draw in more of the wider population, the emphasis on cataclysm – while entirely necessary – must be matched with promoting the vision of a green economy, with new jobs and new opportunities. Capitalism and climate change do not make for easy bedfellows, but the former is not in danger of being overthrown soon, so those concerned about the latter must do everything possible to bend markets and people towards more susta inable habits. Let us hope the Clean Energy Switch spurs more bright ideas.
Independent 17th Sept 2015 read more »
NGOs
Craig Bennett is the new chief executive of Friends of the Earth, having taken up the role in July. On nuclear power:”I think the evidence is really clear now: nuclear gets in the way of some of these other alternatives, including demand-reduction energy efficiency as well.” for decades we have seen this government obsession with big power projects and nuclear power; the “let’s have a big, one-size-fits-all solution of nuclear” has actually skewed the thinking in government around these issues. So I think for campaigners highlighting the problems with nuclear, the economic case against nuclear has been there all along. Now, of course, in the context of the 1970s, shortly after Three Mile Island, and in the 1980s when you have the Chernobyl disaster and so on, it’s no big surprise that there were concerns about radiation which got a lot more media publicity. I mean let’s not forget, large parts of Wales saw the sheep being banned for edible consumption right through the years immediately after Chernobyl and right through the 1990s. So it was a very real, raw issue for people, and of course there were all kinds of fires and accidents at Sellafield and so on. Now, I think the reason the economic issue has become even more forefront over the last decade or so is actually because it’s become much clearer how nuclear is crowding out renewables. Now, the government attacks on renewables we’ve had in the past 2-3 months, I wonder how much of it would have happened if we hadn’t had Hinkley? How much of it is perhaps to clear the way to try and enable a deal to be signed when the Chinese payment comes over in October? They get in the way of all these other policies supporting other technologies.. But I think the evidence is really clear now: nuclear gets in the way of some of these other alternatives, including demand-reduction energy efficiency as well.
Carbon Brief 16th Sept 2015 read more »
Japan – Fukushima
Despite the objections of environmentalists and after overcoming local opposition from fishermen, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) pumped more than 850 tons of groundwater from below the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Monday. More than four years after a tsunami destroyed the plant and triggered a meltdown, the cleanup effort remains frought with numerous difficulties, including the nearly impossible task of dealing with the millions of gallons of contaminated and radioactive water—both treated and untreated—that have accumulated in thousands of tanks constructed in the shadow of the destroyed power station. On a daily basis, approximately 300 tons of groundwater are pumped to the surface to undergo treatment before being placed into storage.
Eco Watch 15th Sept 2015 read more »
Japanese fishermen’s concerns over the effects the Fukushima nuclear accident is having on local fish populations. Fish have been caught in the waters nearby with as much as 2,500 times the legal safe radiation limit.
Daily Mail 17th Sept 2015 read more »
Egypt
Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Dabaa is scheduled to be inaugurated in the beginning of November for 500 families that had been evacuated to build its first nuclear power plant, Dabaa residents’ spokesperson Mastour Bu Shekara told The Cairo Post Monday. In 1982, the government evacuated about hundreds of families to build the plant; the move was rejected by the residents. However, the residents reached a deal Sept. 30, 2013 with the army, which promised to pay financial compensation to the evacuated residents, and to build a new city for them.
Cairo Post 14th Sept 2015 read more »
Saudi Arabia
While the world’s attention has focused on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, other players in the Middle East have been laying their own plans to develop nuclear power to meet future energy needs. Saudi Arabia, the most ambitious of the group, has announced plans to build 16 reactors over the next several decades, providing a projected 15% of the country’s electricity possibly as early as 2032, according to a Saudi government website. The estimated cost of the program: more than $80 billion, according to an analysis of the plans by Ali Ahmad, a research fellow and lecturer on energy policy at Princeton University. Mr. Ahmad says he based his calculation on a roughly $5 billion price tag for each reactor.
Wall St Journal 15th Sept 2015 read more »
US – plutonium
A Savannah River Site contractor has suspended all nonessential work after administrators determined that several employees committed a “significant” safety violation while storing plutonium. Savannah River Nuclear So¬lutions spokeswoman Barbara Smoak said Tuesday that the company issued an “operational pause” after an incident occurred in the HB-Line on Sept. 3. Administrators said the violation involved employees improperly storing plutonium containers inside the H-Canyon chemical-separations plant that processes and assists in the disposition of nuclear materials. She added that at no time was the facility deemed unsafe and that the temporary stop-work order halts the execution of operational procedures and technical work orders.
Augusta Chronicle 15th Sept 2015 read more »
Renewables
Moves to slash renewable energy incentives will have a “drastic impact” on the UK’s low-carbon future and increase the ‘boom or bust’ potential of key funding mechanisms, warns a joint trade association letter sent to the Government. The letter, signed by seven industry bodies including the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and Solar Trade Association (STA), expresses “deep concerns” – supported by newly released data – over the recently announced plans to cut the the feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme by up to 87%. The subsidy cuts will results in a loss of up £94m in lost tax revenue and additional welfare payments while also cutting 15,000 jobs, the organisations claim. REA senior policy analyst Frank Gordon said: “Not only do the Government proposals risk a damaging boom-or-bust scenario which might see the scheme shut early, but they also damage the prospects for energy storage, which ministers have said they support.
Edie 16th Sept 2015 read more »
One of Britain’s top three renewable trade organisations has described as ‘misguided’ the wave of energy policies launched by the recently elected UK government – and which have resulted in the UK dropping out of the world Top Ten investor-attractive renewable energy markets.
Scottish Energy News 16th Sept 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
UBS will power its new central London headquarters using rooftop solar panels as part of a green transformation that has also seen the financial firm commit to using 100% renewable energy by 2020. UBS will move into the 5 Broadgate office near Liverpool Street station in 2016. These offices have been fitted with a 138kWp rooftop array consisting of 576 panels offsetting more than 57 tonnes of C02 and generating around 108,000KWh each year in the process.
Edie 16th Sept 2015 read more »
Community Energy
The contribution of community projects across Scotland to reducing C02 emissions have been highlighted in Holyrood during a Scottish Parliament debate on Community Energy Fortnight 2015. The debate was secured by Highlands & Islands MSP Mike Mackenzie, whose parliamentary motion on Community Energy Fortnight received cross-party support. Community Energy Fortnight 2015 is celebrating community-owned renewable energy projects with the aim to promote communities to own and generate energy together. In the debate, projects mentioned included Harlaw Hydro (Lothians), Callander Hydro (Stirlingshire) Levenmouth community energy project (Fife), The ‘Ladies of Gigha’, the first community owned turbines in Scotland (Isle of Gigha), Shapinsay Development Trust (Orkney), and the Spirit of Lanarkshire Wind Energy Cooperative.
Scottish Eneryg News 17th Sept 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
A group of seven grassroots members of the SNP today launch a new intra-party group opposed to both onshore shale gas exploration and offshore underground coal gasification along the Forth estuary. The group – SNP Members Against Unconventional Oil and Gas (SMAUG) – was formed following an activists’ meeting in Leith last weekend.
Scottish Energy News 17th Sept 2015 read more »
BBC 17th Sept 2015 read more »
SNP members are preparing to take on Nicola Sturgeon’s government over fracking in a highly unusual public show of rebellion within the nationalist party. In the most significant internal challenge to the controversial extraction practice, seven SNP activists, including a sitting councillor, have called on fellow members to back their bid for an outright ban. Founders of SNP Members Against Unconventional Oil and Gas said they believed a majority in the party oppose fracking and would rally around their campaign. Vocal critics include Tommy Sheppard, the MP for Edinburgh East, and Joan McAlpine, the MSP and former aide to Alex Salmond.
Times 17th Sept 2015 read more »
The National 17th Sept 2015 read more »
Herald 17th Sept 2015 read more »
