Hinkley
The future of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset is under a cloud amid a financial crisis at Areva, a shareholder in the project and the designer of the proposed reactors. Shares in the French engineering business plunged by almost a quarter after Areva warned it must suspend future profit predictions because of problems centred on a similar power station project in Finland. Both that scheme at Olkiluoto and another at Flamanville in France are massively over-budget and over-schedule, forcing Areva to consider whether it needs an injection of new cash to survive. Peter Atherton, a leading energy company analyst at Liberum Capital in the City, said Areva appeared to be in deep trouble and this must be a matter of grave concern to the British government. Areva declined to comment directly on Hinkley or the scale of its financial problems when contacted in Paris but earlier in the day the group put out a formal written statement in which it blamed continuing delays to its Olkiluoto project and a wider slowdown in nuclear work for its difficulties. It said it was facing “market conditions which remain unfavourable” and it was conducting a strategic review. EDF and Areva have not yet taken a formal decision to proceed with the scheme but that was expected to take place around the turn of the year and early construction work is already under way in the West Country.
Guardian 19th Nov 2014 read more »
A review into the £24.5 billion project to build the country’s first nuclear reactor for a generation has been ordered secretly by the government amid fears that its completion will be delayed for years, threatening the secure supply of energy. Concern over the fate of Hinkley Point in Somerset, which is expected to generate 7 per cent of the country’s electricity, has grown after it emerged that EDF Energy, the French state-backed company building the plant, admitted delays in the construction of an identical reactor in France. On Tuesday, EDF said that it had pushed back completion of its Flamanville project by another year until 2017, five years later than planned. It blamed the latest delay on late deliveries of key components from French suppliers. Hinkley Point will use the same French supply chain. Engineering consultants and nuclear specialists from several companies have been working on the review for about six months. The work, costing “tens of millions of pounds”, is exam- ining whether the project can be completed by 2023, as EDF promised. Waiting for outcome of the review is one of the reasons why EDF delayed taking a final investment decision, originally scheduled for the summer of 2014, until next January or February. The nuclear industry has failed to build a modern nuclear reactor on time and on budget anywhere in the world, with Flamanville the latest in a long line of fiascos. Areva, EDF’s partner, is building another reactor of the same design in Finland, which is almost a decade behind schedule. Projects in China also are running late.
Times 20th Nov 2014 read more »
The UK government’s plan to build a new nuclear power station is in danger of collapse amid turmoil at the French group which designed the reactor, experts warned today. Areva, the crisis-torn nuclear company, could be forced to pull out of the consortium set to build the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) at Hinkley Point as its losses escalate, it is feared. Steve Thomas, professor of energy policy at Greenwich University, said that with Chinese groups getting cold feet over their participation in the reactor, it ‘could be curtains for the project’. Mr Thomas said the EPR chosen by David Cameron was a ‘bad, unbuildable design’. The difficulties come after Areva, which is state controlled, admitted that with losses escalating, it was unable to set financial targets for the next two years. Le Monde, the French daily, said its failings had plunged the entire French nuclear industry into ‘torment’. French media outlets said that with the Flamanville site now set to come into service in 2017, five years after the initial timetable, its €8.5 billion (£6.8 billion) price-tag was certain to rise. The world’s first EPR facility, which is being built by Areva at Olkiluoto in Finland, is nine years behind schedule. Mr Thomas said: “At first everyone thought it was just a one-off problem in Finland. But with the same thing happening (at the French reactor), maybe it is more than a teething problem.” He said the EPR was a “misconceived design. It is hugely more complicated (than previous reactors), an absolute bastard to build and more expensive”. He said the design had “made a fool of Areva and destroyed EdF’s reputation as the world’s expert nuclear utility.” Capital, the French financial weekly, said that if Areva was a privately-owned group “it would be bankrupt”.
Times 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Telegraph 19th Nov 2014 read more »
The Stop Hinkley Campaign has reacted with shock at the news that Saudi Arabia may bankroll the proposed news reactors at Hinkley Point C. The Times reports today that the Saudi Electric company, which is 81% owned by the Saudi Government, is interested in investing in EDF Energy’s Hinkley project “after the French company balked at the demands of its Chinese partners”. “EDF Energy has had more partners than Elizabeth Taylor” said Stop Hinkley spokesperson Roy Pumfrey, “and now it looks as though it may have lost another one”.
Stop Hinkley 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Saudi Electricity Co. is considering taking a stake of about 15 percent in the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which recently received the green light for construction by the European Commission. Saudi Electricity is the largest utility in the Gulf region. It took the initiative in an effort to secure 15 percent stake, as French power corporation EDF is seeking further funding for the $25.06 billion project.
Nuclear Street 19th Nov 2014 read more »
EDF Energy has said it is using Somerset as the template for how it will deliver nuclear builds in the future. The French company is due to build the £24.5bn plant at Hinkley Point, the first in the UK in almost 20 years. EDF is encouraging local businesses to get involved during the 10 year build and 60 year life of the plant.
BBC 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Jonathon Porritt: It’s nearly a month since the EU Commission approved the UK Government’s financial arrangements with EdF to build two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point. There was always a rather banal inevitability about this decision; despite the fact that the Commission’s initial response had been extremely hostile, it was clear that politics would win the day rather than any fair or transparent decision-making process. There are so many hurdles for EdF still to negotiate, and it’s impossible for the company to draw a line under the £1 billion it’s already spent on getting this far in the process. The Commission’s decision was apparently based on a significant body of new evidence provided by the UK Government, and none of that has yet been reviewed independently. Austria has already decided that it will appeal the Commission’s decision to the European Court of Justice; Germany might still appeal; a number of UK-based renewable energy companies (including Ecotricity and Solar Century) have indicated that they will also bring some kind of legal action. A new Commission will be in place to consider those appeals from other European countries, and those new Commissioners may be a lot less comfortable with such a shoddy deal than the outgoing bunch, who clearly just wanted to be shot of the whole thing before stepping down.
Jonathon Porritt 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Areva
The giant French nuclear reactor manufacturer Areva is in serious trouble. According to several reports published today, publicly-traded shares in Areva dropped 15% yesterday. That plunge doesn’t in itself affect Areva as much as it would other companies, since only a small portion of Areva’s shares are publicly-traded–the French government owns 87% of the entity. But that doesn’t make Areva’s troubles any less real. The company, which recently lost its CEO to health issues, warned yesterday that its outlook is uncertain and suspended its financial projections for both 2015 and 2016. That doesn’t bode well. Areva’s problems are legion, but two huge missteps over the past decade continue to haunt the company. The first was agreeing back in the early 2000′s to build its first new design reactor, the EPR, in Finland on a fixed price contract of 3.2 Billion Euros. The cost of that reactor, which was supposed to begin operation in 2009, has nearly tripled and its most recent projected date of operation is 2018–which few expect to be met. The reverberations from that fiasco have followed Areva to Flamanville, France, where it is supplying (or currently unable to supply, according to EDF) Electricite de France with its only new reactor project in the country. That one is also well over budget and behind schedule (yesterday EDF announced that because of Areva’s problems, the operation date has been pushed back a year to 2017).
Green World 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Areva, the French nuclear technology giant, has warned of an uncertain outlook for its business amid delays to important projects and sluggishness in the global atomic energy sector, sending its stock tumbling on Wednesday. The company, which is about 87 percent state-owned, said late Tuesday that it was “suspending” its financial outlook for 2015 and 2016.
New York Times 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Areva must consider radical restructuring options after it abandoned financial targets in the face of continuing delays, writedowns and losses from its nuclear operations, analysts said, after the firm’s shares plunged on Wednesday.The state-owned group issued a third profit warning in four months, said it would review its funding options and dropped its 2015-16 financial targets, blaming delays to its Finnish Olkiluoto reactor, the slow restart of Japan’s reactors and a lackluster nuclear market.
Reuters 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Reuters 19th Nov 2014 read more »
The French state-controlled nuclear-engineering group has just abandoned its financial targets for the next two years amid a rising debt burden, more delays at two reactors it is building, and a shortage of new business. The stock price fell by a fifth early Wednesday. Areva’s cause isn’t hopeless. Its mining, maintenance, nuclear-waste treatment and recycling activities provide steady income. The nuclear group does have a deep-pocketed shareholder in the French state and partner in EDF. The catch is that France’s public finances are strained. And as Areva’s main customer, EDF isn’t ideally placed from an competition perspective to come to the group’s rescue.
Wall St Journal 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Shares in Areva have plunged after the French nuclear firm suspended its financial targets for 2015 and 2016. The firm blamed delays to its Finnish nuclear project, a slower than expected restart for its Japanese reactors after the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima and a “still lacklustre” nuclear market for the decision.
BBC 19th Nov 2014 read more »
FT 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Guardian 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Utilities
Centrica has issued a profit warning,blaming a rangeof factors including warm weather which reduced sales of gas and electricity in the UK and problems with its nuclear power stations. One of the key difficulties has been caused by the two nuclear power stations, Heysham 1 and Hartlepool. These plants, co-owned with EDF Energy, have had to be taken off line while inspections take place after cracks were found in a boiler. They are expected to return to service soon but could have to work at reduced power.
Guardian 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Wylfa
Horizon Nuclear Power firm are holding two consultation surgeries for residents and say 50 contracts have already been placed with local companies,
Daily Post 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Terror
A barrister who sparked a security scare when he claimed German spies were plotting to assassinate the Queen with a nuclear weapon during the 2012 London Olympics has denied he is a ‘fantasist, nutter or liar’. Michael Shrimpton, 57, allegedly called the House of Commons and the Aylesbury Conservative Association to warn them that a bomb stolen from a sunken Russian submarine had been smuggled into the country and was stashed in an east London hospital.
Daily Mail 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Finland
An arbitration dispute between Finnish power producer TVO and construction consortium Areva-Siemens over delays to the construction of the 1.6GW Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant in Finland could continue “for several years”, TVO has said. Areva-Siemens initiated arbitration proceedings against TVO in December 2008 over alleged unpaid payments and losses caused by the delay to Olkiluoto 3, which is not expected to be fully commissioned until 2018. Construction of the plant began in 2004. TVO considers the claims to be “without merit” as it believes that Areva-Siemens remains the party responsible for the delay to the plant.
Argus Media 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Spain
Today 17 people face trial in Spain on charges of public disorder, damage and injury. The punishment being demanded is nearly three years in prison. In addition, Greenpeace may have to pay a fine of 360,000 euros. Why? Because on February 15, 2011, 16 Greenpeace activists and a freelance photojournalist entered Spain’s Cofrentes nuclear power plant, climbed one of the cooling towers and painted “Nuclear Danger” on it. Greenpeace’s message is nuclear power is an obsolete, dangerous and expensive energy source. We advocate a 100% renewable energy model which is not only sustainable but also create jobs.
Greenpeace 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Turkey
Turkey could achieve its aims of expanding its electricity supply and cutting reliance on natural-gas imports by boosting clean energy instead of coal generation, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The country’s plan to meet rising power demand through 2030 mainly with coal-fired plants would cost almost the same, about $400 billion, if clean-energy facilities were built, a a new report from the research company shows. The current plan would double carbon emissions in the period, while the renewables alternative would stabilize them after a few years.
Bloomberg 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Armenia
Russia will provide a loan of $270m for the upgrade of the second unit of a nuclear power plant in Metsamor, Armenia, said Armenian Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan.
Energy Business Review 20th Nov 2014 read more »
North Korea
North Korea has threatened to conduct a nuclear test in response to a United Nations move towards a probe into the country’s human rights violations.
BBC 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Telegraph 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Iran
IRAN may be on the brink of a historic deal. The country is entering the final stage of nuclear negotiations with the US and five other countries. In 2002, Iran began escalating its uranium enrichment efforts, a necessary process for operating nuclear power plants, but also a step towards the production of nuclear warheads. Since then, sanctions and talks – between Iran, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – have built to a 24 November deadline set last year for a long-term agreement on what Iran will be able to do. The US wants Iran to agree to a reduced capacity of enriching centrifuges, but Iran doesn’t want to do this, and wants reassurance that it will be able to continue with its plans for nuclear power. Analysts suggest that sanctions against Iran will have to be lifted if a deal is to be struck.
New Scientist 19th Nov 2014 read more »
A nuclear deal with Iran is unlikely to be completed on schedule by next Monday but there may be enough progress to warrant extending the deadline, Britain’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has said.
Guardian 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Japan – reactor restarts
Japan could restart two to three nuclear power units in the first half of next year, the energy, trade and industry ministry (Meti) said today. So far, only the two 890GW units at Sendai have received approvals to restart, but a third could receive the necessary approvals in time to restart within the first six months of 2015, Meti director of oil and gas Ryo Minami said at the CWC LNG World Summit conference.
Argus Media 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
A recent catalogue of clashes between Russian military ships and aircraft and Nato forces has raised tensions to the most dangerous levels since the Ukraine crisis blew up. Even former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachov at the fall of the Berlin Wall celebrations took the opportunity to warn the West about demonising Russia instead of seeking negotiated settlements. The people of Europe are once again sleepwalking into a new cold war that can very easily slip into a hot one by accident or design.
Morning Star 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Test Veterans
Victims of Britain’s nuclear test programme could finally get compensation, David Cameron has signalled. The Prime Minister said he was determined to “seek a resolution” for the nuclear test veterans.
Mirror 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
The Solar Trade Association (STA) have today published new analysis showing that the cost of generating electricity from a typical 10MW solar farm in the UK is set to fall faster than many think over the next 15 years. The report, Cost reduction potential of large-scale solar PV, is based on a survey of the trade association’s member companies and their cost forecasts between now and 2030. It finds that as long as the Government provides stable policy support, it will be cheaper to generate electricity from solar than by burning gas as soon as 2018 – just four years from now.
Scottish Energy News 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Renewables – wave
The vision of a standardised offshore electricity generator for the wave industry reached a significant milestone this week when the WavePOD prototype produced its first power in laboratory tests. The tenth-scale WavePOD was officially switched on by David Waldron, Bosch Rexroth’s UK Business Manager for Machinery Applications and Renewables, to mark the start of the test programme at the world-leading Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Controls (IFAS) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Scottish Energy News 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Aquamarine Power 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Renewables – Scotland
DAVID Cameron pledged in May 2010 that the new coalition would be “the greenest government ever”. Although progress has been made, it is difficult to make a case that his environmental hyperbole has been fulfilled – and it seems unlikely that the phrase will be heard much in the May 2015 general election campaign. Indeed, it has been a challenging time for the renewable energy sector, which is why Scottish Renewables has produced a manifesto for further, faster change ahead of next year’s poll. On the plus side, renewables have made an increasingly significant contribution to electricity generation throughout this UK parliamentary term, up from 7.4 per cent in 2010 to 13.9 per cent in 2013.
Scotsman 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Micro CHP
FLOWGROUP, the Cheshire company which has pioneered a combined heat and power (CHP) boiler for domestic use, has put it into production.The company, based at Capenhurst near Ellesmere Port, raised nearly £18m last year to fund the development of the boiler – a gas-fired domestic unit that generates electricity at the same time as heating a home.Its production partner is the US-based group Jabil Circuit which has started production at a 130,000 sq ft factory in Livingston, Scotland.
Business Desk 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
There’s a disjoint between the emissions cuts countries say they’re going to make and what needs to be done to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to the latest annual update to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap report. To close the gap and limit climate change, the world is going to have to get a lot better at using energy smartly, it says. Each year UNEP takes a different aspect of the world’s energy economy to examine, in order to show how emissions could be curtailed. This year, it’s the turn of energy efficiency. So what’s the calculus on how using energy more intelligently could get us closer to two degrees?
Carbon Brief 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Climate
Britain will face a disaster if it adopts an “isolationist approach” to the environment, the energy secretary, Ed Davey, has warned as he announced the UK is to give £720m to an international fund to help poor countries cope with climate change. In remarks aimed at rightwing Tories and Ukip supporters, as voters go to the polls in the Rochester and Strood byelection, Davey said a “little Englander approach” would be self defeating as climate change does not recognise borders.
Guardian 20th Nov 2014 read more »
