Hinkley
Investing in renewable energy in Britain has become difficult because changes in government policy have created too much uncertainty for investors, the chief executive of insurance firm Legal & General Group said on Monday. Over the past year, the British government has changed many energy policies to rein in costs, including scrapping support for onshore wind farms and reducing subsidies for other renewable energy technologies. However, investors and lawmakers have warned that in the long term, costs will rise because energy projects such as gas-fired power plants, nuclear plants and wind farms can take years to build and have high up-front costs. For example, the cost of EDF’s proposed 18 billion pound Hinkley Point C nuclear power project in southwest England has escalated since it was first announced in 2013 and a final investment decision repeatedly delayed as EDF struggled to find partners and financing. “We think Hinkley Point C is a total waste of money. The noise around Hinkley creates confusion in the marketplace. (The government) should take it off the table and move to more sensible solutions,” Wilson said.
Reuters 11th April 2016 read more »
Moorside
NuGen is due to start its second consultation on plans for a nuclear power station at Moorside, Sellafield. It will run for 11 weeks, starting with an event in Whitehaven on May 14, and involve at least 25 exhibitions across Cumbria. NuGen is due to decide in 2018 whether to proceed with plans to build three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors on the site. Fergus McMorrow, NuGen’s planning lead in Cumbria, said: “The feedback from both stages of consultation will help develop the Moorside project in the best way for Cumbria, and west Cumbria in particular. “The first consultation, which ran for 10 weeks last summer, asked people about their thoughts on the strategic issues surrounding Moorside. “Stage two will present more detail including information about the site layout, plus proposals for improvements to transport infrastructure and worker accommodation.”
Carlisle News & Star 12th April 2016 read more »
Sizewell
Around 1,500 specialist workers – many staying in the area and giving guest houses, restaurants, pubs and shops a huge economic boost ahead of the summer season – have joined the regular 520-strong workforce. Turbine Generator 1 was taken off-line yesterday and Turbine Generator 2 will be brought off-line on Friday at 9am. Refuelling was last carried out in December 2014. A spokeswoman for EDF Energy said: “The station is brought off-line every 18 months for this work to take place.
Ipswich Star 13th April 2016 read more »
SMRs
As Lady Barbara Judge, now the chairwoman of the Institute of Directors has a long history of involvement in nuclear energy governance, it is surprizing she could include so many inaccuracies as she manages in her business comment article “When it comes to nuclear’s future, it’s time to think small.” Her arguments follow the equally misguided position paper (Number 10) on nuclear options currently circulated for comment (responses by 26 April) by the European Commission Joint Research Centres (JRC – Institute for Energy and Transport ) by the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) – Plan Secretariat on 6 April, which asserts: “small modular reactors and co-generation plants may develop on a shorter timescale than 2050, (the target date for advanced generation 4 reactors.)”
Dave Lowry’s Blog 12th April 2016 read more »
Letter Dr Colin Elcoate: Lady Judge’s comment piece (“When it comes to nuclear’s future, it’s time to think small”, Business, Apr 11) rightly highlights the potential of small nuclear reactors (SMRs) and accurately acknowledges the significant contribution that this technology could bring to creating a low-carbon future for the UK. Few outside the industry are aware of the leading technology the UK is developing in this area. The broader point is that the SMR programme will enable the UK to continue to develop skills, capability and capacity to support global growth in the nuclear sector — a sector that will benefit from huge investment and interest particularly in China, where five to six reactors are being constructed every year to 2020.
Times 13th April 2016 read more »
New Reactor Types
The nuclear industry is forever reinventing itself with one brilliant ‘new’ idea after another, Amory Lovins wrote in this classic 2009 essay. But whether it’s touting the wonders of future SMRs, IFRs or LFTRs, the reality never changes: the reactors they are building right now are over time, over budget and beset by serious, entirely unforeseen technical problems. The rest of us shouldn’t be distracted from getting on with the winning investments that make sense, make money, and really do solve the energy, climate, and proliferation problems, led by business for profit.
Ecologist 12th April 2016 read more »
Public Opinion
The UK public does not know enough about nuclear energy to be able to say whether they support an increased use of the technology, according to new research. A survey conducted by Love Energy Savings has found that although nuclear accounts for 48 per cent of the electricity generated from low-carbon sources in the UK, as much as 40 per cent of the public does not know enough about the subject to form an opinion. The survey asked more than 750 people if they agreed with an increasing reliance on nuclear energy in the UK.
Utility Week 12th April 2016 read more »
Nuclear Safety
Wheatley Sovacool & Sornette: We summarize the results of a recent statistical analysis of 216 nuclear energy accidents and incidents (events). The dataset is twice as large as the previous best available. We employ cost in US dollars as a severity measure to facilitate the comparison of different types and sizes of events, a method more complete and consistent that the industry-standard approach. Despite significant reforms following past disasters, we estimate that, with 388 reactors in operation, there is a 50% chance that a Fukushima event (or more costly) occurs every 60–150 years. We also find that the average cost of events per year is around the cost of the construction of a new plant. This dire outlook necessitates post-Fukushima reforms that will truly minimize extreme nuclear power risks. Nuclear power accidents are decreasing in frequency, but increasing in severity.
Energy Research & Social Science May 2016 read more »
Aldermaston
AWE Management Ltd – the company responsible for operating the factories where the UK’s nuclear weapons are built – has narrowly escaped being stripped of the contract for management of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) following a secret internal review by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). MoD has announced that it has agreed an “improved contract” with AWE Management Limited (AWEML) for the management and operation of the AWE sites to ensure “best value for money for the taxpayer” and drive AWEML to improve its performance.
Nuclear Information Service 11th April 2016 read more »
Energy Policy
“Dear Energy Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there is no money”: Climate policy under the consolidation state by Matthew Lockwood.
IGov 12th April 2016 read more »
Energy Policy – Scotland
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) Scotland Forum publishes today a detailed report outlining the scale of UK Government cuts to renewable energy subsidies in the past year, which put at risk the ongoing low carbon revolution in Scotland. The report also highlights the important role Scottish Councils need to play, in cooperation with the Scottish Government, to continue the positive momentum of the past decade, where Scotland has led the way with dramatically increased levels of renewable energy generation year-on-year.
NFLA 12th April 2016 read more »
How will Scottish Renewables fair under the new subsidy regimes?
NFLA 12th April 2016 read more »
Scientific Alliance Scotland and the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders Scotland (IESIS) have submitted written evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in its inquiry into security of electricity supply in Scotland. Copies of the written submission can be found at Scientific Alliance Scotland submission and IESIS submission. The Alliance and IESIS have also been asked to provide further verbal evidence at the Committee session today (13 April) and will be represented by Professor Iain MacLeod. The Alliance report says that intermittent wind-generated power cannot guarantee security of supply and that – in the absence of coal and/or gas-fired generation in Scotland with the closure of Longannet power station new-build nuclear is the only solution to large-scale base-load despatchable power.
Scottish Energy News 13th April 2016 read more »
Critics say that years of upbeat rhetoric about Scotland becoming “the Saudi Arabia of renewables” could soon give way to a downbeat reality, with the lights going out in homes and businesses. The warning has been heard before, but it was reiterated forcefully last month by the The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland (IESIS), supported by Scientific Alliance Scotland. The closure last month of Longannet, Scotland’s last coal-fired power station, is concentrating minds. In the winter just gone, electricity supplies could be topped up from south of the border via the national grid, and from Longannet. This coming winter, should generating capacity in Scotland prove insufficient, homes and businesses will have recourse only to potentially intermittent supplies from England. For this unprecedented state of affairs, blame the “wind rush”. More than 4,300 wind turbines have been built or approved in Scotland and the existing 7GW capacity of wind generation is likely to double when all those in the planning system are finally commissioned. But if the wind does not blow, all that investment is powerless. This year, on a single freezing, calm day in January, total output from nearly 12GW of UK wind turbines was just 0.07GW, an output of only 0.6 per cent of capacity, when demand was at a peak of more than 52GW. These windless, high-pressure conditions are relatively common. The SNP has meanwhile ruled out a new generation of nuclear power in Scotland, further increasing the pressure on other forms of renewables. A closing date for the Torness nuclear power station in East Lothian was extended earlier this year from 2023 to 2030, but that simply kicks the can further down the road. The daunting outlook helps to explain the growing interest among energy economists in fracking – unconventional gas and oil extraction from deep in the ground. Whether or not fracking becomes a key part of Scotland’s energy industry is now one of the most intriguing issues in this Holyrood election.
Times 13th April 2016 read more »
Fukushima
To dump or not to dump a little-discussed substance is the question brewing in Japan as it grapples with the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima five years ago. The substance is tritium. The radioactive material is nearly impossible to remove from the huge quantities of water used to cool melted-down reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which was wrecked by the massive tsunami in northeastern Japan in March 2011. The water is still accumulating since 300 tons are needed every day to keep the reactors chilled. Some is leaking into the ocean. Huge tanks lined up around the plant, at last count 1,000 of them, each hold hundreds of tons of water that have been cleansed of radioactive cesium and strontium but not of tritium. Ridding water of tritium has been carried out in laboratories. But it’s an effort that would be extremely costly at the scale required for the Fukushima plant, which sits on the Pacific coast. Many scientists argue it isn’t worth it and say the risks of dumping the tritium-laced water into the sea are minimal. Their calls to simply release the water into the Pacific Ocean are alarming many in Japan and elsewhere. Children are more susceptible to radiation-linked illness. Tritium goes directly into soft tissues and organs of the human body, potentially increasing the risks of cancer and other sicknesses. “Any exposure to tritium radiation could pose some health risk. This risk increases with prolonged exposure, and health risks include increased occurrence of cancer,” said Robert Daguillard, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
New York Times 12th April 2016 read more »
Daily Mail 12th April 2016 read more »
Express 13th April 2016 read more »
Chernobyl
Living with the fallout of Chernobyl 30 years later: Harrowing photographs show children living 40 miles from site of world’s worst nuclear disaster and ‘still suffering radiation effects’.
Daily Mail 12th April 2016 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
What Secretary of State John Kerry called his “gut wrenching” visit to the Hiroshima war memorial on Monday served several purposes. As the highest-ranking official in an American administration ever to visit the site, he paid respects to the victims of one of the most devastating acts of World War II and reflected on how Japan and the United States have forged a strong alliance over the past 70 years. He also emphasized that “war must never be the first resort” and urged a continued push for a world free from nuclear weapons. For years, top American officials did not visit the memorial because of sensitivities over the nuclear attacks by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed 200,000 people, mostly civilians. Now that Mr. Kerry has paved the way, there should be nothing keeping President Obama from becoming the first American president to stop at Hiroshima when he travels to Japan next month for a meeting of the Group of 7 leaders. But he should be prepared to offer some tangible new initiative to keep alive his flagging vision of a nuclear-free world.
New York Times 12th April 2016 read more »
Trident
SHIPYARD campaigners will today warn Labour Party bosses that their plans to scrap Britain’s nuclear weapons programme would lead to a return to the “dark days of devastation” Barrow suffered in the 1990s. At the Labour Party conference in Blackpool last November, representatives from the Barrow-based, non-political Keep Our Future Afloat Campaign (KOFAC) met with leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is fiercely outspoken about his views on the Barrow-built Trident submarine programme.
NW Evening Mail 12th April 2016 read more »
Renewables – solar
Solar energy panels that can also generate power from raindrops have been been designed, offering a possible solution for UK homeowners looking to invest in renewable energy. The all-weather solar panels that can create electricity from light on sunny days and rain on cloudy days could be the perfect solution for the UK where on average it rains about 42 per cent of the year, equivalent to 33.7 inches of rainfall. Currently solar panels generate the most energy on clear, sunny days, and produce 10 to 25 per cent less electricity on cloudy ones. Designed by researchers in China, the all-weather panels work in both.
Telegraph 11th April 2016 read more »
The Solar Trade Association has launched a new push to raise awareness of how the latest in rooftop solar technology can produce beautiful and aesthetically pleasing installations. A combination of inspired design, building integrated products and mounting systems that sit flush with the existing roof are creating more and more sleek and attractive solar rooftops on both domestic and commercial properties. Paul Barwell, Chief Executive, Solar Trade Association, commented: “First impressions are everything, and that applies to houses just as much as people. Stunning Solar shows that solar can increase the ‘kerb appeal’ of a home, as well as making it cheaper and more eco-friendly to a household or business.” “We want to see solar become a desirable consumer product, a home improvement. There is mounting evidence that homebuyers are willing to pay more for a solar home, and systems with symmetry, architectural integration and sensitive positioning and sizing are more likely to do just that.
Scottish Energy News 13th April 2016 read more »
Renewables – hydro
Aberdeen is set to become home to Scotland’s first urban hydro energy scheme with the launch of The Donside Hydro scheme next month. The renewable energy project is being developed by Aberdeen Community Energy, a community benefit society set up by members of the Donside Community Association (DCA). The project is expected to generate around £30,000 each year for community initiatives and enough electricity to power around 130 homes annually. The hydro scheme, which will be built on the site of the former Donside Papermill, now Donside Village in the Tillydrone area of the city, will draw water from the River Don to create clean, renewable electricity that will be sold to the national grid.
Scottish Energy News 13th April 2016 read more »
Renewables – floating wind
A plan to build the world’s first array of multiple floating offshore wind turbines in Scotland has been submitted by a former Scot-Govt. minister and the brother of another. Former LibDem MSP Nicol Stephen – now a member of the British House of Lords – and Allan MacAskill, whose brother Kenny is a former Justice minister in the SNP-Govt – have combined their respective companies, Renewable Energy Ventures Offshore and MacAskill Associates to form Pilot Offshore Renewables. This new company – Pilot Offshore Renewables – has applied to build an eight-turbine array 10-miles off Nigg Bay on the Aberdeenshire coast, to be called Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Ltd (KOWL).
Scottish Energy News 13th April 2016 read more »
Renewables – wind
Mark Gailey believes we all need to “embrace green energy”, and by keeping the turbines spinning at Whitelee wind farm he feels he is doing just that (Neil Johnston writes). Sitting on top of Eaglesham Moor, Whitelee is the UK’s biggest wind farm. Its 215 turbines can generate enough power for 300,000 homes. Alongside a team of 16 engineers, Mr Gailey is one of the few experts running the country’s wind farms who actually works on site. Most wind farms are controlled remotely, often from hundreds of miles away. He finds the popular misconceptions about wind power disheartening. He constantly hears the accusations that turbines often sit idle; that they are forced to shut down when it is too windy; that they are unable to keep up in severe gales. While he admits this may have been the case in the past, today it is “simply not true”, and when the turbines do stop it is often “only a matter of seconds”. “The reality is very different from the myths that are put about,” he says. “The cliche about storms are wrong. In these conditions turbines do turn themselves off, but only briefly and when individual gusts of wind reach over 70 miles per hour.” He says that turbines can generate power while spinning at only 10mph and are at their “most productive” during a light breeze. Restarting is also easy, since the turbines “monitor themselves”.
Times 13th April 2016 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Three of every five homes in Scotland fall below the preferred energy efficiency standard – increasing the risk of deaths and ill-health associated with cold temperatures, housing campaigners have warned. Almost 1.5 million homes, 62% of the total in Scotland, fall below the energy performance certificate band C recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), the Existing Homes Alliance has found. The Alliance, whose members include WWF Scotland, Changeworks and the National Insulation Association, called for a political commitment to raise all homes to at least band B.
STV 11th April 2016 read more »
THE Scottish Conservatives will set out plans for a £1 billion investment in warm homes when they launch their manifesto today. Ruth Davidson will say the next Scottish Government should make every home energy efficient by 2020.
National 13th April 2016 read more »
Scotsman 13th April 2016 read more »
The EU has voted to close loopholes that allow home appliance manufacturers to make misleading claims about their products’ energy performance, but environmentalists are incandescent that lightbulbs have been excluded from the new rules. Companies will no longer be able to test fridges, TVs and dishwashers using a 10% margin of error between their advertised and actual energy consumptions, under an amendment to Europe’s ecodesign laws approved by national experts in Brussels on Tuesday. But the lighting sector has been let off the hook for now, due to fears that changing the rules could devastate industry. Jack Hunter, a spokesman for the European Environmental Bureau said: “Europe’s governments have given the lighting industry a free pass to continue deceiving consumers for an indefinite time period. The European commission is exempting the industrial sector with the strongest evidence of the most serious problem, using a flimsy promise to correct this in future.”
Guardian 12th April 2016 read more »
Demand Management
Governing for Demand Management Innovations in Germany. ~~Presentation to Ofgem.
IGov 12th April 2016 read more »
Edinburgh-based Flexitricity is seeking businesses to join its network of energy partners to help National Grid balance and secure the national electricity supply system via the Capacity Market mechanism. This was introduced by the UK Government to find new sources of energy to ease pressure on the nation’s supply of energy. In 2014, Flexitricity became the first company of its kind to secure obligations to provide 260MW of capacity to the GB Capacity Market, starting in October 2018. This was repeated the following year with 277MW of Capacity Market obligation secured for the 2019 delivery period.
Scottish Energy News 13th April 2016 read more »
