Nuclear Subsidy
A number of well-sourced reports over the past two days suggest that, as predicted, we are on the edge of a deal for the construction of new nuclear power stations in the UK. The champagne corks however are not quite popping either in Whitehall or in Paris. On both sides of the Channel there is great nervousness about the details of the deal. A price of about £95 per MWh is high particularly given the reported length of the contract – 35 or 40 years depending on which report you believe. Many questions will be asked about the details behind these headline numbers. How can either side claim that this is not a subsidy and indeed a state aid under European rules. Can the French really manage the Brussels system to the extent that the state aid element of this goes unquestioned?
FT 12th March 2013 read more »
Negotiations to build Hinkley Point C – a £14bn plant that is one of the UK’s most ambitious and contentious infrastructure projects – have now gone critical. Planning permission is expected to be granted next week for EDF Energy’s gargantuan project. However, protracted political wrangling over the “strike price” for the energy it will produce has led its developer to threaten to power down, laying off 150 jobs and freezing recruitment. EDF Energy’s chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said negotiations were “very challenging”. People close to the talks say they are moving in the right direction and “real progress” has been made, but few expect them to conclude by EDF’s deadline of the end of this month.
FT 12th March 2013 read more »
UK is planning to close a 35-year deal with French major energy group EDF which will allow the French energy utility to start building the country’s new generation of nuclear power plants. Energy Secretary Ed Davey will award building permission for EDF’s power plant in Hinkley Point on March 19, a day before the 2013 budget is announced, paving the way for the first nuclear power station to be built in UK since 1995. The parties are negotiating now a price floor for purchasing of electricity, called “strike price”, which will be around £96-£97 per megawatt hour, towards the bottom end of the anticipated £95-£99.50 range. However, in exchange for receiving a relatively low price, EDF demanded the guarantee be in place for 40 years which is double of what was originally envisaged.
Energy Marketplace 12th March 2013 read more »
Stories in the press would have us believe that EDF are about to clinch a deal under which they are paid about £96 per MWh for a 35 year contract for Hinkley C nuclear power station. If so they would be paid more than twice as much in subsidies as onshore windfarms even before EDF’s demands for ‘underwriting’ their costs are taken into account. Onshore wind is set to be paid no more than around £80 over MWh for a 15 year contract under discussions on the ‘strike price’ to be paid for wind power under the ‘contracts for differences’ (CfD) arrangements. So, altogether, the nuclear power plant will receive a lot more than double the subsidy levels received by onshore wind power. The coalition agreement is clear – new nuclear will receive no levy, direct payment or market support for electricity supplied or capacity provided, unless similar support is also made available more widely to other types of generation. This is about creating a level playing field for all forms of generation, not subsidising nuclear
David Toke’s Green Energy Blog 11th March 2013 read more »
A flurry of reports have emerged over the past two days suggesting the government is close to finalising a subsidy deal with EDF that should allow the French energy giant to move forward with plans for a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Business Green 12th March 2013 read more »
Wylfa
A POWER deal to guarantee a minimum price for nuclear energy looks set to be signed – giving a major boost to the multi-billion pound Wylfa B project. Nuclear investors have been locked in talks over Government guarantees on price with the uncertainty threatening to de-rail the entire new generation of plants in the UK. But now sources say that French firm EDF have struck a deal with the Government over a “strike price” over the company’s plans to develop Hinkley Point.
Daily Post 12th March 2013 read more »
Hinkley
COUNCIL bosses are praying the Government’s arm-wrestle with EDF over the price to be paid for Hinkley C’s energy won’t jeopardise a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for the Bridg-water area. The biggest milestone to-date in the Hinkley C project will be reached by next Tuesday – the deadline for Energy Secretary Ed Davey to decide if a third nuclear power station in Somerset can go ahead. While the answer is firmly expected to be ‘yes’, there has been intense media focus over the past week on top-level talks over a Contract for Difference, which would give EDF a guaranteed price for energy produced throughout Hinkley C’s lifetime.
Bridgwater Mercury 12th March 2013 read more »
Europe
The UK positioned itself firmly at the forefront of Europe’s nuclear expansion as it hosted the signing of a joint communique between 12 EU member states with an interest in nuclear energy. The 12 states set out their belief that nuclear energy can play a part of the EU’s future low carbon energy mix and committed to collaboration on safety and creating greater certainty for investors in low carbon infrastructure projects. The signatories also agreed that Member States should continue to be free to determine their own energy mixes, and to press ahead with their decarbonisation objectives through the deployment of the fullest possible range of low carbon technologies. This could include renewables, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and nuclear power.
DECC 12th March 2013 read more »
Member States noted that nuclear power can play a key role in the EU to help ensure security of supply and reduce carbon emissions. Nuclear can also provide economic benefits and supply consumers with cost-effective electricity. The Member States wishing to construct new nuclear power stations signalled that an investment environment must be created taking account of the long term nature of nuclear infrastructure projects in the EU.
DECC 12th March 2013 read more »
The UK has positioned itself firmly at the forefront of Europe’s nuclear expansion as it hosted the signing of a joint communique between 12 EU member states with an interest in nuclear energy.
The Manufacturer 13th March 2013 read more »
SMRs
THE US Department of Energy (DoE) has announced a new funding scheme to help industry design small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) for commercial operation around 2025. Big is not always beautiful when it comes to investing in nuclear, as conventional 1,000 MW reactors have huge upfront capital costs compared to the likes of coal- and gas-fired power plants, and a history of costly construction delays. The DoE is gambling on SMRs to overcome these problems and provide new opportunities for nuclear to generate electricity for smaller electrical markets, industrial parks, and areas with limited supplies of water or space. “The Energy Department is seeking 300 MW or smaller reactor designs that can be made in factories and transported to sites where they would be ready to “plug and play” upon arrival,” the DoE says.
Chemical Engineer 12th March 2013 read more »
US
Should America be depending on luck to protect us from potential future Fukushimas? Not according to Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Lyman told me that after Fukushima, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) set up a task force to identify the lessons the US should learn from the accident. The task force recommended, among other things, that nuclear plants should upgrade their ability to deal with extended power outages, such as occurred at Fukushima, without their reactor cores melting down. But the nuclear industry balked at the proposed new NRC regulations and proposed its own voluntary program dubbed “FLEX” (Diverse and Flexible Coping Strategies) instead. Lyman says that FLEX, which involves purchasing more reliable equipment, and sprucing up emergency backup systems, is a step in the right direction. But he believes that it is not nearly as stringent as it needs to be to prevent future Fukushimas. The nuclear industry is lobbying the NRC to accept the FLEX programs “half measures,” according to Lyman, in lieu of the tough new regulations that its own task force devised.
Guardian 12th March 2013 read more »
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Allison Macfarlane said that American nuclear power plants are safer than ever after the nuclear crisis in Japan. The claims have been disputed by the Union of Concerned Scientists (USC), which released a paper stating that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) remained inconsistent in maintaining nuclear plant safety.
Energy Business Review 11th March 2013 read more »
Japan
World’s most radioactive man: Japanese farmer who refused to leave crippled Fukushima nuclear plant so he can take care of his animals.
Daily Mail 12th March 2013 read more »
Fukushima crisis update.
Greenpeace 12th March 2013 read more »
Uranium’s rally from a three-year low is stalling amid signs Japan, once the world’s third-biggest nuclear power producer, will keep all but a handful of its reactors offline this year.
Bloomberg 13th March 2013 read more »
North Korea
The UK would be within range of the communist nation’s long-range missiles if scientists in the state can develop a warhead small enough to be mounted on one of the weapons.
The Sun 12th March 2013 read more »
North Korea is unlikely to carry out its bellicose threats to unleash a nuclear attack on the US and South Korea unless the Kim dynasty’s control of the communist regime is threatened, the White House intelligence chief said on Tuesday.
Guardian 12th March 2013 read more »
Russia
Russia is considering proposals to establish nuclear explosives in space to combat meteorites. Scientists are assessing the possibility of such a preventative measure, after hundreds were injured in the Chelyabinsk region during a meteor shower last month. Oleg Shubin, director of the state nuclear agency Rosatom, claims such an undertaking could take about a year to implement.
Guardian 12th March 2013 read more »
Telegraph 12th March 2013 read more »
China
China is planning to increase its installed nuclear energy capacity by 20 percent in 2013 as the world’s second-largest economy looks for ways to meet its growing energy needs.
IB Times 12th March 2013 read more »
Taiwan
Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant, the $8.9 billion Longmen Nuclear Power Plant project, is threatened as more than 68,000 protestors took part in marches over the weekend to oppose its completion.
Oil Price 12th March 2013 read more »
Iran
An investigation undertaken by the federal prosecutor’s office in Germany has exposed a total of 941 items with nuclear applications have been transported through Turkey to Iran.
The Commentator 12th March 2013 read more »
Germany
The tiny village of Feldheim is at the leading edge of Germany’s renewable energy transition, proving to thousands of foreign politicians, scientists and activists every year that it is possible to live and be economically viable without fossil fuels. Located 60 kilometres south of Berlin, this community of 145 people uses wind, sun and manure to heat and light its 37 homes.
CBC 8th March 2013 read more »
Renewables
Plans are being drawn up to double the size of a Cumbrian wind farm, making it the largest in the world. The Walney offshore wind farm opened last year with 102 turbines planted in the Irish Sea, 14km from land. The proposed extension by Danish energy giant Dong would double the size of the existing wind farm, and provide power for hundreds of thousands of homes. Currently the London Array wind farm, in the Thames Estuary, is the largest across the globe with 175 turbines generating 630-megawatts. But if the plans for the extension are approved the Cumbrian wind farm will regain the title it held when it was switched on in February 2012.
Telegraph 12th March 2013 read more »
Times 13th March 2013 read more »
First Solar has stepped up its involvement in a trail-blazing project to harness solar energy in North African and Middle Eastern deserts, offering a timely boost to the high-profile initiative. The company announced yesterday that it has become a shareholder in the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii), having previously been a Dii associated partner. The project aims to develop an array of desert-based solar projects in North Africa that will then provide energy for both the host countries and much of southern Europe.
Business Green 12th March 2013 read more »
Imagine a wind turbine so big that it would take Usain Bolt 19.32 seconds to run across the 200m diameter of its blades (before plunging tragically into the sea). This is what wind manufacturer Dong says will help bring the cost of offshore wind down to below that of new gas-fired power stations.
Energy Desk 12th March 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuel web of power.
WDM 12th March 2013 read more »
The UK financial sector is addicted to carbon. While the world teeters on the edge of irreversible climate change, banks, pension funds and other institutional investors risk subjecting billions of people to increased drought, famine and flooding through their investment activities.
Left Foot Forward 12th March 2013 read more »
Fracking
Lord Browne, the former chief of BP and now the most senior business adviser to the coalition government, has vowed to defy environmentalists to invest “whatever it takes” – potentially running to billions of pounds – in the controversial UK “dash for gas”. In a rare interview Browne, chairman of Cuadrilla Resources, the UK’s only shale gas driller, and managing partner at Riverstone Holdings, the venture capital firm that backs it, told the Guardian that despite so far sinking what industry insiders estimate to have been hundreds of millions of pounds in Cuadrilla’s shale operations without a return, much more would follow.
Guardian12th March 2013 read more »
Campaign group preparing to fight shale gas exploration says it has drawn landowners and farmers as well as seasoned activists. The meeting at Wells town hall was typical: scores of people packed tightly, talking passionately about the prospect of fracking in the green hills of Somerset and working out ways of stopping it. But what was most striking was not the level of alarm, though it was high, but the variety of people who had turned out on a rainy weekday evening. Teenagers, parents with babies, pensioners all had their say. Some were veterans of previous environmental battles but many others admitted they had never taken much interest in green issues before. Laura Corfield, a co-founder of the transition group at Keynsham, north-east Somerset, who chaired the meeting, said: “It’s not just people who have been involved in the green movemen t before. We’re seeing farmers, landowners, parents, health workers, church groups expressing interest and concern.
Guardian 12th March 2013 read more »
Methane Hydrates
Japan says it has successfully extracted natural gas from frozen methane hydrate off its central coast, in a world first. Methane hydrates, or clathrates, are a type of frozen “cage” of molecules of methane and water.
BBC 12th March 2013 read more »
FT 12th March 2013 read more »
Telegraph 12th March 2013 read more »
Times 13th March 2013 read more »
