New Nukes
Britain’s nuclear industry is being put at risk by ministers’ dithering over the building of new plants, a senior group of energy experts has warned. Writing in today’s Telegraph, 18 leading nuclear scientists suggest that plans to build five new plants by 2030 could be under threat due to a lack of progress on the first of the projects. Building a “fleet” of new power stations could lower household bills, provide a much-needed source of low-carbon energy and position Britain as a world leader in the global nuclear market, they claim. But the apparent stalling of talks with EDF Energy over its planned Hinkley Point C power station “undermines” this ambition and could scare away the investors who are needed to secure the country’s future energy supply. The group, which includes Prof Sir David King, former chief scientific advisor to the Government, warns that it is “becoming increasingly concerned at the apparent slow progress of negotiations”.
Telegraph 21st April 2013 read more »
Letter: We are becoming increasingly concerned at the apparent slow progress of negotiations between the Government and EDF Energy for Hinkley Point C, and we fear this aspiration could be undermined if a deal on the pioneer project is not resolved satisfactorily.
Telegraph 21st April 2013 read more »
Closing Britain’s coal-fired power stations should continue if the government is to meet carbon cutting targets, according to a cross-party report. It argued that gas power generation could providing enough capacity to avoid an energy crunch in the next decade. The report, by Carbon Connect, an independent cross-party forum co-chaired by Charles Hendry, a former energy minister, and Lady Worthington, Labour’s energy and climate change spokeswoman in the Lords, calls for more incentives to ensure that gas power generation capacity is maintained during the 2020s while coal-fuelled generation is minimised. This is the most environmentally friendly way of bolstering nuclear and sustainable electricity supplies, it said. Lady Worthington warned against a scenario where Britain’s remaining coal power capacity could continue to generate significant carbon emissions until 2030. This could happen unless there is investment in nuclear and renewable power capacity, a drive to reduce power consumption and sufficient encouragement of gas and biomass-fuelled generation. Without this, she said, “there are risks of prolonged high carbon emissions from both coal and gas power stations”.
FT 21st April 2013 read more »
Charles Hendry, former energy minister, is pressing the Government to refocus policy and end inter-departmental infighting. He has jointly headed an energy review with Labour’s Baroness Worthington and sponsored by Carbon Connect, the think-tank founded by Labour leader Ed Miliband when he was Energy Secretary. The report, published today, argues the case for a key role for gas in power generation while maintaining coal plants but converting them to biomass. The report says switching reliance on energy generation to gas and using coal as a back-up represents the most viable route to achieving the aim of decarbonising the power sector by 2030 target date. The review is pessimistic about the contribution from shale gas and says uncertainty about the “size of the prize” and development timescale is unlikely to give the UK cheap gas.
Telegraph 22nd April 2013 read more »
Decommissioning
Salaries in the nuclear industry rose by 10pc last year amid fierce competition for engineers to carry out a £7bn decommissioning programme at 12 sites around Britain. A lack of qualified staff means businesses are offering ever more generous packages, says engineering recruitment agency, Project Resource. Four consortia are competing for the 12-site contract, with the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency expecting to choose the winner in 2014. The clean-up programme will be worth £4bn-£5bn over the first seven years and almost £2bn over the following seven years. Project Resource said basic salaries for qualified nuclear engineers rose 10pc to £45,000 last year, with salaries for senior planners rising to £50,000. By contrast, average UK salaries have risen by only 1.4pc. Companies are also offering more generous bonus schemes and relocation packages worth around £15,000, it said.
Telegraph 21st April 2013 read more »
Energy Prices
Four in five people in the UK think the government needs to take action to curb rising energy bills and prevent even more people falling into fuel poverty. A new Survation poll commissioned by the Mirror newspaper has found that 79% of the public believe that the coalition government needs to step in to ensure that they are not subject to even more price increases that place an additional squeeze on household finances.
U-Switch 18th April 2013 read more »
The Conservatives are developing policies which they hope will increase competition among utilities and contain the rise in household bills as party strategists gear up for a “living standards election” in 2015. Proposals to shake-up the energy, water, banking and broadband markets are among those being worked on with the aim of encouraging more choice and lower prices for consumers.
FT 21st April 2013 read more »
EDF Energy ‘incentivised sales team to push for top price tariff’ As the nation struggles to pay spiralling fuel bills, The Argus can reveal how Sussex-based EDF Energy enticed its sales staff to sign customers onto the most expensive tariffs in exchange for higher rates of commission.
Brighton Argus 21st April 2013 read more »
Am I paying a lot for ‘green’ energy? How much more is so-called green energy adding to my bill?The simple answer is that green energy is not costing you nearly as much as you’ve been led to believe. Yes, energy bills have soared. A new government report analysing the cost of energy and climate-change policies on the cost of energy lays the blame squarely at the feet of global gas prices, followed by network costs. So 47% of your bill (assuming you have an average usage of electricity and gas) is attributable to wholesale gas and electricity costs; around 9% is attributable to the cost of policies, which includes those that decarbonise (or green) the supply. Support for renewables roughly adds up to £20 on the cost of the average bill. From 2004 to 2010 dual-fuel bills rose by £455, of which £382 was due to soaring gas prices. You might argue that sleepless nights should really be caused by the Dash for Gas championed by some areas of UK policy, not least the treasury rather than the expense of renewables.
Observer 21st April 2013 read more »
Confusion over the cost of heating and lighting a home is leaving consumers paying up to £180 more than they need to, a new report published today reveals. The news comes ahead of tomorrow’s deadline set by energy regulator Ofgem for its consultation into tariff complexity.
Independent 22nd April 2013 read more »
Energy tariff reforms are in danger of adding £55m to customer bills and causing fresh confusion in the marketplace by offering more than 1,000 price permutations, it is claimed today.
Telegraph 22nd April 2013 read more »
Hartlepool
A fire at a nuclear power plant triggered a major response by emergency services after smoke was seen billowing into the air. Police and fire crews were called to Hartlepool power station at about 6.30pm on Saturday after a blaze broke out while a turbine was being reactivated. The fire caused smoke to billow from the plant but Cleveland police said it was drifting away from nearby homes. Firefighters extinguished the blaze but remained on site as a precaution. No one was injured. A statement from the force said: “During incidents such as this, there are several procedures that take place including the venting of steam generators. This particular process causes noise, which residents of nearby areas such as Seaton Carew may hear. “There is smoke billowing as a result of the fire, but it is currently heading in a direction that does not cause any implications for members of the public.” EDF Energy, which runs the facility, confirmed a small fire was detected in the turbine hall of unit 2 at Hartlepool power station.
Guardian 21st April 2013 read more »
Repairs are expected to take place at Hartlepool nuclear power station after an oil leak and small fire on lagging around a turbine in one of the reactors. It was being brought back into service. Owners EDF say there was no danger to the public.
ITV 22nd April 2013 read more »
A NUCLEAR reactor has been shut down after a fire broke out in the turbine.
Northern Echo 21st April 2013 read more »
Statement from EDF Energy.
ITV News 21st April 2013 read more »
Japan
Tepco halted the cooling system for a spent fuel pool at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Monday, the third time a cooling system has been offline there in the past five weeks, underlining the challenges the utility faces in trying to shut down the facility.
Reuters 22nd April 2013 read more »
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority has approved draft articles for new standards for the operation of nuclear power stations. They were first presented in January and are to take effect in July this year. The standards cover the construction of seawalls that can withstand large tsunamis as well as secondary control rooms that can manage cooling operations from a remote location. The government will implement the standards by July 18. It will also oblige plant operators hoping to restart reactors to devise stricter measures to guard against damage to cores and containment buildings that could result from natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
Modern Power Systems 21st April 2013 read more »
Iraq
Letter David Lowry: In the months running up to Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait, and with his record of poison gas use publicly known, Thatcher’s government sold Iraq three tons of sodium cyanide and sodium sulphide (used as nerve-gas antidotes), dual-use civilian-military equipment including Matrix Churchill machine tools, and plutonium, the key component explosive for nuclear warheads.
Japan Times 21st April 2013 read more »
Iran
It is just over ten years since Britain and the United States launched the invasion of Iraq, now regarded very widely as a terrible mistake which has done huge damage to our reputation across the Muslim world. Today we are on the verge of an eerily similar error, only this time concerning Iran, write Peter Oborne and David Morrison in an article based on a new book.
Telegraph 21st April 2013 read more »
One of Britain’s biggest companies has made millions of pounds selling goods to Iran, including to a state-owned firm that supplies the regime’s nuclear programme. Glencore, a commodity trading house run by the billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, traded $659m (£430m) of goods, including aluminium oxide, to Iran last year, the Guardian has established.
Guardian 21st April 2013 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
Barack Obama has been accused of reneging on his disarmament pledges after it emerged the administration was planning to spend billions on upgrading nuclear bombs stored in Europe to make the weapons more reliable and accurate.
Guardian 21st April 2013 read more »
Renewables
In the renewable sector, independent developers have played an important role in delivering new capacity and we expect them to continue to make a material contribution to delivering investment and meeting our targets. Independent developers are responsible for over 70% of all capacity in planning in onshore wind, and around 4.5GW of offshore capacity. They also support competition and innovation in the UK energy market. Reflecting this, the Government is undertaking work – as part of its wider reforms of the energy market – to ensure that independent renewable generators will be able to make use of the Contract for Difference – the new support mechanism for future low-carbon investment. This involves identifying factors that make it more difficult for them to attract finance to their projects or that might make it more difficult for them to achieve a reasonable price for the power they generate. This work will help identify what steps Government and industry are able to take to support independent renewable developers. The Government included powers in the Energy Bill to give it the flexibility to act to improve independents’ access to markets if that is necessary.
DECC 19th April 2013 read more »
Shale Gas
George Osborne’s plan to deliver cheap energy by fostering a fracking revolution has been dealt a severe blow after an influential cross-party group of experts said any boom in shale gas production would be “unlikely to give the UK cheap gas” . A nine-month inquiry chaired by former energy minister Charles Hendry, concludes that it is far too early to estimate the volume of shale gas contained in UK rocks and harder still to know how much of that it will be commercially viable to extract.But even if vast quantities of shale gas are eventually produced, the report finds that this would be unlikely to have much impact on household and businesses energy bills – although it would be good for the economy.
Independent 22nd April 2013 read more »
Those who keep talking down shale gas should read the views of Elizabeth Muller. Ms Muller does not run a shale gas company. She is co founder and executive Director of Berkeley Earth, an impeccably green non profit research group in California. In her opinion, environmentalists in the US and elsewhere should be encouraging China to develop its shale gas resources. Those resources are huge – perhaps 50 per cent greater than those of the US, and have yet to be explored in detail. That process is just beginning and includes a number of international companies including Shell. Ms Muller’s argument, which is unanswerable, is that any development of shale gas will offset the use of some coal. Shale gas is not carbon free but it is cleaner than coal which is China’s basic fuel now. And unless things can be changed radically, will be the dominant source of energy for the next several decades. If shale gas could back out some amount of China’s coal consumption, emissions could be materially reduced.
FT 22nd April 2013 read more »
