Hinkley
Vincent de Rivaz, the company’s chief executive, said he would seek a price of less than £140 per megawatt hour (MWh), the current cost of offshore wind farms, for electricity from its proposed plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset. EDF is negotiating with ministers over a guaranteed electricity price in order to proceed with the project. It is likely to receive billions of pounds in subsidies, paid for through levies on all UK electricity consumers, if the market price remains below that level. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr de Rivaz dismissed reports that he had demanded as much as £165 per MWh almost four times the current market price as “utterly rubbish”. He also denied that a headline price would be lowered by offloading the risk of cost overruns, insisting: “We are not asking the Government to take the construction risk.” EDF Energy is seeking new investors from outside the UK to join the project, which Mr de Rivaz insisted was “not because project is at risk – just the opposite”. He said: “We are now opening the search, not to replace Centrica, because we are not assuming they will leave, but other investors interested in this project. I am confident that it will happen.”
Telegraph 12th Aug 2012 more >>
EDF
Not only is the EDF Energy chief attempting to deliver the first new British nuclear plant in more than two decades – but the 58-year-old Frenchman also wants the project to achieve the same bold aims as the London Olympics. The motto of the Games is ‘inspiring a generation, he says, in thick Gallic tones. With nuclear, I have the same ambition. Inspiring a generation of young people who will be attracted by this industry: by the skills, by the engineering, by what it takes to be at the top of a large industrial project of that nature. Theres no doubt EDFs nuclear plans are consuming most of Mr de Rivazs time. They are now nearing a critical juncture: by the end of the year, he must present the EDF board and partner Centrica with a compelling business case to invest more than £10bn in building two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Its Flamanville reactor in France is four years behind schedule, with costs at 6bn (£4.7bn) – almost double its original budget. Clearly there are lessons to be learnt from Flamanville, lessons we are going to take into account, believe me, in our project in Hinkley, Mr de Rivaz says. Flamanville started before it was ready, leading to underestimation of cost, underestimation of timetable. He expects a strike price lower than the current £140/MWh cost of offshore wind. But he declines to say whether it also means matching £100/MWh, the price that offshore wind is supposed to come down to by 2020 – around the time Hinkley Point may actually be completed. He stresses he considers factors such as job creation as relevant to nuclears competitiveness.
Telegraph 12th Aug 2012 more >>
Urenco
A BUSINESS consortium is preparing a multi-billion pound bid to take a controlling stake in Cheshire-based nuclear group, Urenco, according to a national newspaper reports. According to the Financial Times, the consortium is being led by Patrick Upson, a former chief executive of a joint venture between Urenco and Areva. Urenco specialises in enriching uranium to provide fuel for nuclear power utilities at its four sites in Germany, the Netherlands, the US and the UK and is based in Capenhurst near Chester. Just over a year ago, Urenco said it was creating 100 construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs at a new uranium processing facility in Capenhurst The Tails Management Facility (TFM) is scheduled to be completed and operational by 2015. During the uranium enrichment process, depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6), or tails, are created as a by-product. The tails have potential for future re-enrichment and Urenco currently stores UF6, pending future re-enrichment or de-conversion for long-term storage.
Liverpool Daily Post 13th Aug 2012 more >>
EON
E.ON, Germany’s largest utility, said net profit more than tripled in the first half of 2012, benefiting from a gas price settlement with Russia’s Gazprom as well as the absence of charges related to Germany’s nuclear exit.
Reuters 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Iran
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said most threats to his countrys security are dwarfed by the prospect of Iran obtaining nuclear weaponry, which local media reports charged Tehran had stepped up its efforts to achieve.
Scotsman 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Israel declared that international talks with Iran on its nuclear programme had failed as it demanded a deadline of “just a few weeks” be handed down to Tehran to scrap its atomic build-up. It emerged that new intelligence shared with Israel by the West indicated that Iran had moved several steps closer to developing a nuclear warhead that could be fitted on the Shahab-3 missile. According to an unidentified official, new intelligence obtained by Israel, the United States and other Western states shows that Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon is progressing far beyond the scope reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Telegraph 12th Aug 2012 more >>
Iran has stepped up work to develop a nuclear warhead, Israeli newspapers said on Sunday, citing officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and leaked U.S. intelligence.
Trust 12th Aug 2012 more >>
Submarines
A French nuclear submarine has made an unannounced visit to the Clyde, raising fears about the safety of nuclear weapons. The submarine, flying the French flag, was towed by tugs into the Faslane naval base on Gareloch on August 2. It was spotted and photographed from the shore by anti-nuclear campaigners at the Faslane Peace Camp.
Herald 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Renewables
Almost a third of the homes in Wales will be powered by green energy, a company behind a major new wind farm project pledged yesterday. The Siemens offshore substation, which is the latest milestone for the Welsh offshore wind farm, Gwynt y Mor, arrived by sea from Belfast. This month also saw the start of the laying of foundations and subsea cables for the first of the 160 wind turbines, which will make up the 576MW offshore wind farm. When completed, the wind farm will generate green energy for almost a third of the homes in Wales, Siemens said.
Independent 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Scotland’s status as one of the world’s leading renewable energy markets was again underlined last week, after new figures revealed the sector has attracted more than £2.8bn of capital investment since the start of 2009. The figures from industry group Scottish Renewables were released on Friday and confirm a three-year surge of investment across a range of different technologies, including onshore and offshore wind farms, marine energy arrays, solar panels, hydro-electric systems and biofuel and biomass generators.
Business Green 13th Aug 2012 more >>
