Hinkley
A nuclear power station being built in France using the same design earmarked for Hinkley Point in Somerset may have to restrict its output or could be abandoned because of the costs of correcting safety flaws, experts have warned. France’s nuclear safety regulator, the ASN, is testing the strength of steel used in the reactor pressure vessel at the plant in Flamanville in Normandy. Last year, it warned of “very serious anomalies”, including weak spots in the steel component which houses the reactor. An investigation is under way and a decision is expected next year. The same design has been proposed for use at Hinkley Point, where EDF plans to build two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) at a cost of £18 billion. Juha Poikola, a manager at TVO, the Finnish company that built the first nuclear reactor using the (EPR) design used at Flamanville, said that he expected French regulators to order EDF to cut the electric output from Flamanville to ensure that it is safe. The reactor could be approved for use running at 1,200 or 1,000 megawatts rather than its official 1,630MW capacity, for example. “That would be very bad for the economics of the plant,” said Stephen Thomas, an expert in nuclear energy at the University of Greenwich. He said that the pressure vessel was “the most safety crucial piece of kit in a nuclear power station”. He added: “There must be no credible possibility that the vessel should break. If it does the contents of the reactor would spill everywhere.” Mr Poikula said that another, less likely outcome for Flamanville, would be for the ASN to order the pressure vessel to be replaced. Such a decision could force EDF to abandon the project because of the huge costs involved, he said. “In theory it is possible, but it’s the same as building a new plant,” Mr Poikula. “When you have the primary vessel installed it’s impossible to replace it. I have never heard of it being replaced. It’s so costly.”
Times 12th Sept 2016 read more »
It sounds like a resuscitation technique so it’s fitting that the EPR programme may soon be in need of CPR itself. The European pressurised reactor is the highly advanced but untested nuclear technology at the heart of the Hinkley debacle. As we reveal today, the wider EPR project — a flag carrier for the French nuclear industry — is in deep trouble. Now that there is no desperation to keep infrastructure spending off the balance sheet we can get on with the job of meeting future energy demand and pepping up a stagnant economy in one fell swoop. Mrs May should back funding a Hinkley-sized wave of wind turbines, gas-fired power stations and interconnectors. Indeed, the Parliamentary Advisory Group on Carbon Capture and Storage argues in a report today that investing in carbon capture and storage hubs could rejuvenate industrial areas such as Grangemouth and Teesside.
Times 12th Sept 2016 read more »
One such project is the Hinkley Point nuclear deal, which was put on hold at the start of the month. But just how much of an effect will the hiatus have on Britain’s economy? “It’s reasonable for a new prime minister to come in and re-examine commitments made by a previous prime minister,” says King. “The issue economically is not Hinkley itself, but rather the idea that the UK needs friends elsewhere in the world if our relationship with the EU is uncertain. We need to create better relationships with the Americans, the Brazilians, the Indians and Chinese – so if Hinkley has temporarily soured relations between the UK and China it’s not encouraging news.”
Times 12th Sept 2016 read more »
The chief executive of one of Britain’s ‘Big Six’ energy providers has told the UK Govt: “We don’t need the proposed new nuclear power plant at Hinkley”. And Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive of Perth-based SSE, said Britain need not worry about the Hinkley Point C decision because there are enough credible alternative projects – offshore wind and new gas-fired power stations – which could be built in time to deliver the balanced energy mix the country needs. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that we need new, cleaner technology to replace the older power stations coming off the system, he added, there are enough credible alternatives out there which can be built in time to deliver the balanced energy mix we need, and a policy framework which can deliver the necessary investment.
Scottish Energy News 12th Sept 2016 read more »
Moorside
A South Korean energy group is closing in on a multibillion investment in a new nuclear power station near Sellafield in the latest sign of Asian interest in Britain’s energy industry. Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) is in talks about joining the NuGen consortium planning a £10bn plant at Moorside on the Cumbrian coast alongside existing ownersToshiba of Japan and Engie of France. The deal, if it goes ahead, would add momentum to Moorside at a time when the rival Hinkley Point nuclear power project in Somerset has been thrown into doubt by concerns about its high cost and the role of Chinese investors in the scheme. Kepco 51 per cent owned by the South Korean government, first entered talks with NuGen three years ago, but no deal was reached. Four people with knowledge of the situation said talks had since resumed and made progress over a potential equity stake in NuGen as well as a possible role in construction.
FT 11th Sept 2016 read more »
Sellafield
Treasury mandarins have launched an investigation into a taxpayer contract for the clean-up of Britain’s biggest nuclear waste dump. Officials are understood to have ordered a review of a multimillion-pound competition run by the state-owned Sellafield site in Cumbria, which will see a team of consultants hired to work on the decontamination project. The review follows a damning High Court judgment in July on the botched procurement of a £7bn deal by Sellafield’s parent, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Concerns over the authority’s procurement processes prompted the Treasury decision to review Sellafield’s efforts to hire a “strategic partner”, sources said. That is likely to delay the award of the new contract, which is thought to have attracted interest from companies such as Amec, CH2M Hill, Bechtel and Fluor. The decommissioning authority said: “This is an important piece of work and therefore it is essential that the process is right, and provides value to the taxpayer.” Sellafield needs to recruit help because Whitehall tore up its previous management model last year after a string of scandals. A 17-year, £22bn turnover contract to decommission the site was scrapped. It was held by a consortium of Amec, Areva and URS. A judge ruled in July that the authority had “manipulated” and “fudged” a separate tender to clean up former Magnox power plants. It could face £200m-plus claims for compensation, and is seeking leave to appeal.
Times 11th Sept 2016 read more »
Energy Policy
The buzz word of the moment in the energy business is “transition”. It provided the theme for the ONS conference and exhibition in Stavanger in Norway two weeks ago as well as the title for several recent consultancy studies. Unsurprisingly, transition is the main concept in many of the corporate strategy reviews now being undertaken by some of the leading energy producers and utilities. The meaning of the word, however, is loose and variable. It is not even clear whether some of the big operators in the market understand the breadth of the transition that is already taking place and the extent to which it could reshape the prospects for their businesses. For some the shift is very uncomfortable. The discomfort is not limited to the hydrocarbon sector or the utilities. The problems of some parts of the nuclear business, for instance, are not just the result of mismanagement or the choice of the wrong technology. Much more fundamental is the difficulty of adjusting from an environment where they were in effect monopoly suppliers to passive users to a very different world in which consumers expect their energy to come at a competitive cost. Parts of the renewable sector, dependent on policy driven subsidies, are also vulnerable when competition from new technology makes heavy support prices unnecessary. Responding to this time of transition, and to all its aspects, is now the big strategic challenge for the sector. There is no single right answer. There are several very different equally credible strategies. The real dividing line is between those who have a strategy and those who don’t. The one answer that is clearly wrong is to do nothing. It will be fascinating now to see who has the nerve to take a lead, and equally fascinating in a morbid way to watch those who are frozen in their indecision.
FT 12th Sept 2016 read more »
Jeremy Leggett: On August 10th, readers of the Conservative party’s newspaper of choice, the Telegraph, will have read the kind of headline more normally associated with Greenpeace magazine: “Holy Grail of energy policy in sight as battery technology smashes the old order.” In the article, international business editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard presented such compelling evidence for the soaring prospects both of storage and renewable power that it must have left more than a few of his readers shaking their heads in wonder that so many of their fellow Conservatives can remain wedded to the receding prospects of new nuclear power and shale gas in the UK. “This country can achieve total self-sufficiency in power at viable cost from our own sun, wind, and waters within a generation,” Evans-Pritchard wrote. “Once we shift to electric vehicles as well, we will no longer need to import much oil either. Rejoice.”
Jeremy Leggett 12th Sept 2016 read more »
North Korea
North Korea is capable of detonating another nuclear device at any time at the country’s main test site, South Korea has said, three days after Pyongyang carried out its fifth atomic bomb explosion. The North’s latest nuclear test, the most powerful to date, sparked worries the country is making headway in its push to develop small and sophisticated warheads to be topped on missiles. Seoul, Washington and their allies subsequently vowed to apply more pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang. South Korea’s Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun refused to say what evidence pointed to another possible North Korea test, but he told reporters that South Korean and US intelligence officials believe North Korea has the ability to detonate another atomic device any time.
Energy Voice 12th Sept 2016 read more »
Guardian 12th Sept 2016 read more »
US
An unfinished nuclear power plant that took the U.S. government 40 years and $5 billion to build in Alabama is going up for sale at a fraction of the cost. The Tennessee Valley Authority has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant. Included in the sale it the 1,600 surrounding acres of waterfront property on the Tennessee River. The buyer gets two unfinished nuclear reactors, transmission lines, office and warehouse buildings, eight miles of roads, a 1,000-space parking lot and more.
Daily Mail 11th Sept 2016 read more »
Renewable Jobs
Around 300 miles from the North Sea oil basin, wind turbines off the Yorkshire coast are quietly powering a revolution in the UK’s engineering workforce. Already over a third of the marine engineers working offshore as part of the UK’s growing renewable energy industry have made the move from oil and gas, and jobs statistics tell the tale of two very different industries. Today, the price of oil is less than half 2014’s level, when North Sea jobs stood 450,000. Last year the number of jobs supported by the UK’s oil and gas industry fell by an estimated 84,000 to around 370,000, and they are forecast to fall a further 40,000 by the end of this year. By contrast the latest government data show that companies in the wind and marine energy sector have a combined turnover of more than £8bn and nearly two in five have struggled to fill vacancies.
Telegraph 11th Sept 2016 read more »
Renewables – Tidal
Less than a decade ago, Timothy Cornelius, the head of the tidal-power venture Atlantis Resources, struggled to get investors and regulators to return his calls. Now, as he formally unveils the world’s largest tidal-stream project under construction, he can hardly fend them off. “The level of interest has been almost unmanageable,” Mr Cornelius complained happily of the requests for visits and meetings. The interest reflects the importance for the nascent tidal sector of Atlantis’s 398MW MeyGen project between the Scottish mainland and Orkney Islands. Success will demonstrate that tidal power has finally become a serious option.
FT 12th Sept 2016 read more »
Scotland will be home to the world’s first ever large-scale tidal stream farm as part of a drive to develop Scotland’s marine renewables industry, creating jobs and investment. This will be the key message today from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon when she visits the MeyGen project, owned by Atlantis Resources, to see the first turbines in the planned tidal stream array on a visit to the Highlands The first phase of the project, developed with £23 million Scottish Government funding, is expected to further develop the marine renewables industry and open up vital skilled job opportunities for those who are moving from the oil and gas sector.
Scottish Energy News 12th Sept 2016 read more »
Scotland’s tidal energy sector needs more clarity from the UK government if it is to maintain its world leading status, according the director of energy and low carbon at Highland and Islands Enterprise. Calum Davidson said that the French and Canadian governments were among those backing the expected growth in electricity from the seas. Last month Nova Innovation became the first company to install a working commercial tidal array which is generating power for the grid with two of its turbines running off the Shetland Islands. This week Atlantis Resources is expected to unveil its first turbines at the Meygen scheme in the Pentland Firth. That is the largest commissioned tidal stream energy project in the world. Mr Davidson believes that the UK is in pole position to capitalise on the growth in marine energy and is well placed to captu re much of the manufacturing and supply chain which will go with it, but he wants the UK government to confirm the prices and subsidies which will be paid to generators of tidal energy.
Times 12th Sept 2016 read more »
Renewable Heat
The Solar Trade Association has responded to the Policy Exchange report published today, saying it highlights “how extensively government needs to act” to meet its carbon targets. The Solar Trade Association (STA) welcomed recommendations in the report including higher building standards for new build homes and refocusing of resources to fuel poor households. However, it disagreed that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) should be technologically neutral – arguing that fossil fuels should not be included.
Utility Week 9th Sept 2016 read more »
Renewables – AD
Water service provider Yorkshire Water has been given the go-ahead to build a £72m state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at its Knostrop works in the centre of Leeds. The facility, which is set to be completed in 2019, will process 131 tonnes of dry sludge every day, generating 55% of the site’s energy requirements and helping to achieve 94% recycling of the region’s sludge by 2020. For Yorkshire Water, the AD plant will contribute to a 15% reduction in carbon emissions across the company and deliver “significant operational cost savings”.
Edie 9th Sept 2016 read more »
Micro-CHP
Flow Energy has launched its Flow Eco RF boiler which could reduce gas bills by up to 15 per cent and carbon emissions by 20 per cent. In 2015 Flow group created an innovative micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) boiler designed to convert heat from combustion into electricity. By generating power at the point-of-use while using the heat, the Flow boiler significantly reduces the carbon intensity of that power.
Utility Week 9th Sept 2016 read more »
CCS
Kickstarting the carbon capture and storage industry with a state-backed company will deliver the clean electricity needed to meet climate targets more cheaply than Hinkley Point C, says government advisory group.
Guardian 12th Sept 2016 read more »
The economic benefits from carbon capture and storage far outweigh the costs of its development, ministers have been told, less than a year after a £1bn scheme to promote the technology was scrapped because of its high price. An independent report ordered by the government concluded that CCS, which involves intercepting emissions before they enter the atmosphere and storing the captured carbon, had an “absolutely central role” to play in tackling climate change. Ministers ordered the review after George Osborne, chancellor at the time, cancelled a competition last November in which two rival CCS projects, led by the energy companiesRoyal Dutch Shell and Drax, were vying for government backing.
FT 12th Sept 2016 read more »
The much-anticipated report – published today – on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the UK by the parliamentary advisory group led by Lord Oxburgh lays out a six-point plan for delivering CCS in the UK.
Scottish Energy News 12th Sept 2016 read more »
