Chinese Deal
Senior military and intelligence figures have warned ministers that plans to give China a big stake in Britain’s nuclear power industry pose a threat to national security, The Times has learnt. George Osborne, the chancellor, hopes to mark President Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain next week by finalising multi¬billion-pound deals for Chinese state-owned companies to help to build two nuclear power plants. If agreed, China could then design and build a reactor using its own technology at Bradwell on the Essex coast. Giving China such influence within national infrastructure is causing alarm in security circles. Senior figures have accused the government of rushing into a nuclear partnership with Beijing without proper consideration of potential threats. “There is a big division between the money men and the security side,” a security source said. “The Treasury is in the lead and it isn’t listening to anyone — they see China as an opportunity, but we see the threat.” A well-placed defence source said that senior military officers were very concerned by the prospect of China building a nuclear power station in Britain. There are fears that “trapdoors or backdoors” could be inserted into computer systems, which might allow the Chinese to bypass British control of a nuclear plant in the event of a diplomatic row and shut it down. Britain’s intelligence agencies still see China as a threat, especially in the area of cyberespionage. MI5, which has been consulted over the projects, says publicly that “the intelligence services of China . . . continue to work against UK interests at home and abroad”.
Times 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Voice 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Daily Mail 16th Oct 2015 read more »
IB Times 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Mirror 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Press & Journal 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Foreign investment in British infrastructure must balance economics and security. In Canada, Australia and the United States, the ownership of critical infrastructure by foreign companies is a controversial matter. In America, it is overseen by the Department of Defense. In Britain, China is about to build our next nuclear power station. As this newspaper reports today, this is a matter of concern to British security services. A deal under which Chinese state-owned companies invest in the building of the new nuclear project at Hinkley Point C has been broadly agreed. A second deal, over a site in Bradwell, Essex, may be finalised during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK next week. The Chinese would be minority investors in both, coming second to the French energy giant EDF, but could lead in terms of development and design at Bradwell. Clearly this has security implications.
Times 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Substantial progress has been made over a deal for two Chinese companies to help finance a British nuclear plant, one of a number of agreements on the table during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain next week, his ambassador said. Several pacts would be announced during the Oct. 19-23 trip, though it was still unclear whether the long-mooted deal for the Hinkley Point nuclear plant would actually be signed then, China’s ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, told reporters.
Reuters 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Bradwell
The decaying hulk of Bradwell nuclear power station looms over the Blackwater Estuary, an ugly industrial blot on this picturesque stretch of the Essex coast. The plant began operating in 1962 but stopped producing electricity for National Grid 40 years later and is now in the long, painstaking process of being decommissioned. Before that has been completed, however, Bradwell is likely to have a new nuclear power plant – to be designed and built by Chinese state-owned companies.
Times 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Hinkley
Britain’s energy secretary Amber Rudd has voiced hopes that a deal with France and China to build the first in a new generation of UK nuclear plants will be reached “very soon”, with negotiators working flat out to agree financing. Senior executives from French energy group EDF are trying to finalise terms for the £24bn Hinkley Point power station with their Chinese nuclear industry partners, just days before premier Xi Jinping makes a state visit to London. Industry insiders said the two sides were aiming to agree a commercial pact in time for next week’s visit, that would lead to a final investment decision on the plant shortly afterwards. China’s nuclear power industry sees its participation in the Hinkley Point reactor as a stepping stone for a Chinese-led and operated project at Bradwell, and for the debut of its Hualong 1 design in the west. However, China General Nuclear Corp, which is leading the talks for Beijing, remains reluctant to take a stake of more than 30 per cent in Hinkley.
FT 15th Oct 2015 read more »
The latest instalment in George Osborne’s personally-authored potboiler, the Hinkley Point F***** (think ‘Fiasco’!) will be published sometime around October 20th to mark the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Anticipate another announcement about UK/Chinese nuclear collaboration; another grandiloquent endorsement of all things nuclear, and lots of big numbers thrown up in the air like so much ephemeral confetti. All amounting to the next tranche of sod-all. On Friday last week, the indefatigable Stop Hinkley campaign organised another impromptu demonstration outside Hinkley Point itself, with everyone wondering exactly when this appalling mega-project is going to be put out of its misery. Unfortunately, there’s no immediate answer to that question.But you do have to admire Osborne’s dogged perseverance. Osborne remains undaunted, despite the growing cost of keeping his nuclear illusions limping along for a little bit longer. In the process, he has blighted the whole of the rest of the energy system; devastated the renewable energy industry, with up to 20,000 jobs now at risk; set back the zero carbon agenda for the built environment by more than a decade; manipulated the planning system to promote fracking and kill renewables; disempowered communities the length and breadth of the land; and turned his back on the future and all the technological dynamism that lies ahead by sticking so obsessively to the technologies of the past. So how can the rest of his Party just sit on its hands and let him get away with it?
Jonathon Porritt 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Molly Scott Cato: LAST week I welcomed the Vice President of the French Assembly, Denis Baupin, to Hinkley Point. His decision to visit the site of the proposed new nuclear power station reflects his concerns that UK energy policy is disappearing up a dangerous dark alley.The nuclear safety watchdog in France has found multiple malfunctioning valves that could cause a meltdown, while the steel reactor vessel housing the plant’s nuclear fuel, was also found to have serious anomalies that increase the risk of cracking. These problems have pushed the projects years behind schedule leading to risks to our energy security and blackouts over the next ten years. Hinkley is supposed to produce 7% of the UK’s energy. But we now know there will be no electricity from the new nuclear plant until at least 2023.The white elephant of Hinkley looks increasingly shaky on its feet. Only the government’s risky ideological crusade against renewables and in favour of nuclear keeps it standing. It’s time for it to fall and for communities in the South West to create in its place a renewable energy revolution. One that could create 122,000 new quality jobs and boost the region’s economy by over £4bn a year. Renewables offer a chance to seize back control of our energy supply from giant corporations and hand it back to the people.
Stroud News & Journal 14th Oct 2015 read more »
Dounreay
The safety of the Dounreay nuclear facility located on the north coast of Scotland has been questioned by nine out of ten trade unionists working on decommissioning the site. Now their concerns are to be raised with Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing who has agreed to meet representatives of the GMB trade union. The union recently surveyed its members among the 800 permanent staff at the 185 acre site near Thurso and 90% of respondents mentioned safety issues which they say raise concerns such as their state of mind and “possibly explains higher levels of sickness, increased instances of stress and continuing breaches of procedures.” Almost 90% of respondents do not agree that safety standards have improved under the current management partnership. More than 78% of respondents did not think they had ad equate opportunities to improve their skills – “this could be another explanation for continuing issues,” said the GMB.
The National 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Nuclear Policy
Stuart Parkinson: The UK government is punishing renewable energy for its success in generating 25% of the country’s electricity, writes Stuart Parkinson. But there’s no austerity when it comes to the bloated military-nuclear industrial sector, no matter how egregious its failures or extreme its cost overruns. Our future prosperity is being sacrificed – and its costing taxpayers billions.The government’s annual budget for military equipment is £16bn. In its latest equipment plan, the Ministry of Defence has laid out programmes of how it intends to spend this budget over the next ten years. The programmes include: £40bn on submarines, the bulk of which is planned to be spent on the four new nuclear-armed vessels planned to replace the current Trident system; £18bn on warships, including completion of the two huge Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers; and £18bn on combat aircraft, including Typhoons, F-35 Lightning II’s, and new military drones.
Ecologist 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Nuclear Waste Transport
A ship, dubbed the “dustbin”, carrying 25 tonnes of reprocessed nuclear waste was steaming to Australia on Friday despite protests from activists about an “environmental disaster waiting to happen”. The BBC Shanghai left the northern French port of Cherbourg after approval from local officials, who carried out an inspection on Wednesday, and was due to arrive by the end of the year in New South Wales state. It was laden with radioactive waste from spent nuclear fuel that Australia sent to France for reprocessing in four shipments in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) said Friday. The reprocessing involves removing uranium, plutonium and other materials, with the remaining substances stabilised in glass and stored in a container.
The Local 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Guardian 16th Oct 2015 read more »
BBC 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Supplies
Everyone seems to agree the UK is facing a power crunch, with the grid forced to turn to other countries in order to secure supply. But the notion that the ‘crisis’ was caused by investment in renewables rather than poor policy and dire fossil fuel economics really doesn’t hold weight. Indeed an analysis by the team here at Energydesk found the cost of building and running new gas power plants has outweighed the benefits of selling gas for much of the last decade — even before the UK’s Renewables Obligation (RO), and even without the introduction of the carbon tax. The power crunch was mostly caused by a combination of poor power plant economics, which pre-date the renewables boom, and poor government policy, namely a capacity market that took too long to design and come into effect and one that doesn’t even do what it was supposed to; encourage investment in new gas.
Energy Desk 15th Oct 2015 read more »
National Grid has said it is more likely to draw on additional sources of power to keep the country’s electricity running after the chance of blackouts rose to its highest in a decade. The operator of pipes and pylons said it had enlisted power stations to provide extra capacity and asked companies to be ready to reduce usage to help it meet peak demand.
Guardian 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Energy companies face tougher penalties if they fail to build promised power plants, under new rules designed to ensure the Government’s scheme to keep the lights on actually works.The new rules for the ‘capacity market’ were unveiled after The Telegraph revealed that the only big new gas plant secured through the scheme so far, the 1.9GW Trafford plant, was delayed and in doubt after struggling to secure financing.Ministers said the changes were designed to “tighten up our assurance that new build projects that receive agreements actually deliver on time”.
Telegraph 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Factories may have to shut down on weekday evenings this winter to keep household lights on as Britain faces the worst power crunch in a decade, National Grid has warned.There is an “increased likelihood” that there will be “insufficient supply available in the market to meet demand”, forcing the UK to rely on “last resort” measures such as paying factories to power down, National Grid warned.
Telegraph 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Q&A National Grid’s winter outlook for electricity supplies.
Carbon Brief 1th Oct 2015 read more »
Families could pay more for energy this winter as power stations invest to minimise the threat of power cuts. The retirement of ageing coal-fired stations and a reliance on intermittent wind energy have left Britain’s system more vulnerable to supply shocks than at any time for at least a decade, National Grid said yesterday. It warned that the margin of spare capacity this winter would be 5.1 per cent, compared with 6.1 per cent a year ago.National Grid set out measures to protect supplies, which may lead to higher bills. They include temporarily cutting power to factories and paying mothballed power stations to be ready at short notice. Without these measures, the margin would be 1.2 per cent.
Times 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Britain has enough gas and electricity to ensure there will be no blackouts through the cold winter months, according to the National Grid. Gas supplies are expected to be “comfortable”, while electricity margins, at 5.1%, are “manageable”, the grid said in its Winter Outlook. This means supply is expected to exceed peak demand by 5.1%. The Grid may have to secure extra supplies to keep this margin, such as paying plants to remain on standby. Without these measures, the margin would be 1.2%. With the additional measures, margins are at their lowest for seven years, and have deteriorated year on year. Over last winter, they were 6.1%.
BBC 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Politics
The House of Commons Energy Committee – chaired by SNP’s Angus MacNei (MP for Stornoway) – is to quiz the UK Energy Minister next week over the government’s renewable energy policies next week. Recent UK government energy statements reducing the subsidies and prices paid for renewable energy have seen the UK dive out of the Global Top 10 league of ‘investor-attractive’ nations. When they meet on Tuesday (20 Oct at 11.15am) MPs are expected to question Andrea Leadsom MP, Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, on recent policy statements, including: Jobs in the renewables sector; Investor confidence, and Investment decisions.
Scottish Energy News 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Downing Street has called a top-level meeting next week to discuss the UK’s growing energy supply crunch, the Financial Times has learnt, as new figures lay bare how close the gap is between supply and demand. David Cameron, the prime minister; George Osborne, the chancellor; Amber Rudd, the energy secretary; and Oliver Letwin, one of the prime minister’s top troubleshooters, will meet next week to discuss the problem. The meeting comes just days before Ms Rudd is due to give her first major policy speech as energy secretary in which she will lay out her vision of how Britain will meet its electricity needs over the next decade. In her first six months in the job, she has spent much of her time scaling back subsidies for renewable energy, leading to concerns the UK will not have enough energy to power its homes and businesses in the future. One official said: “We have spent the first part of this government talking about what we’re not going to do. Now we need to tell people what we are going to do.”
FT 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Policy – Scotland
On Thursday 5th May 2016, Scottish Parliamentary elections will take place. One of the main challenges facing the next Scottish Government will be how to deliver our country’s climate commitments, through to 2020 and beyond. We want all parties to commit to the ambitious actions needed so that Scotland secures the benefits of a low-carbon economy, meets the statutory emissions targets, and addresses climate justice for people in other parts of the world. Our manifesto document, Securing a low carbon Scotland for 2020 and beyond, sets out seven policy priorities which include: Make energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes a National Infrastructure Project and Commit to and deliver a Warm Homes Act.
Stop Climate Chaos 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Electricity Market Reform
Independent evaluations of Electricity Market Reform and FID enabling for renewables and government response.
DECC 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Pakistan
The United States will discuss concerns about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal during a visit to Washington next week by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the White House said on Thursday. The News York Times reported on Thursday that the Obama administration was concerned that Pakistan might be on the verge of deploying a small tactical nuclear weapon that would be harder to protect from falling into hands of militants. The paper said the administration was also seeking to prevent Pakistan deploying missiles that could reach beyond its main foe India, and was thus exploring a possible deal to limit the Pakistani arsenal that could involve relaxing restrictions on access to nuclear technology.
Reuters 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Turkey
A year ago this week, bulldozers from the coal company Kolin, under the cover of the night, invaded an olive grove in a small Turkish village and destroyed 6,000 trees to make space for a new coal fired power plant. Last weekend, concerned residents working with Greenpeace took another major step forward in the story, by completing the installation of solar PV electricity systems in the village’s school, mosque and cemetery. Together, we showed that a village threatened by a dirty coal complex can lead the way on renewable energy for an entire country. Together, we took a step away from fossil fuel and towards life powered for free by the sun. In contrast to the violence and political divides in Turkey, we can see by people’s reactions that this project brings a bit of positive news and a ray of hope.
Greenpeace 14th Oct 2015 read more »
Japan
Today’s restart of the Sendai 2 nuclear reactor shows yet again President Abe’s disregard for public safety as his government clings to outdated and risky nuclear power.Here’s the thing: Neither of the two nuclear reactors recently restarted at Japan’s Sendai nuclear power plant are needed. The country has just enjoyed nearly two years of being nuclear-free. Contrary to the fear-mongering predictions of an energy crisis, it simply didn’t happen. The trains still ran, everyone’s lights turned on, their smartphones stayed charged. Prime Minister Abe’s energy policy has been shown to be an utter failure. Rather than paving the way for renewable energy, his administration has instead erected roadblocks, has maintained an unrealistic commitment to risky nuclear reactors, and has chosen to push forward with dirty fossil fuels.Today’s restart of the Sendai 2 nuclear reactor only serves to put the Japanese people at increased unacceptable and unnecessary risk.
Greenpeace 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Russia
Problems related to the Soviet-era nuclear legacy in Russia are being resolved under a federal programme that has already seen more than 28,000 used fuel assemblies placed in long-term storage or reprocessed, and solutions are being found for the rehabilitation of more than 2.7 million square metres of contaminated land, Oleg Kryukov, director of state nuclear corporation Rosatom’s radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel and decommissioning policy department, said. In an interview with news agency RIA Novosti published in Russian on Rosatom’s website, Mr Kryukov said the progress is the result of a federal programme for nuclear and radiation safety that ran from 2008 until 2015. As part of the programme, 28,500 spent fuel assemblies from different reactor types, both commercial and research, have been placed in long-term storage or reprocessed, Mr Kryukov said. Around 800 spent fuel assemblies from nuclear submarines have been removed and the Far East of Russia is now “completely free” from nuclear submarine spent fuel, he said. Russia still needs to dispose of 83,000 spent fuel assemblies, reprocess 3,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel, and rehabilitate of 4.3 million square metres of land. The plan includes the decommissioning of 82 nuclear and radioactive facilities, including the conservation of seven industrial-scale uranium-graphite reactors.
Nucnet 12th Oct 2015 read more »
Iran
Iran has met a deadline to give the U.N. nuclear watchdog information it needs to assess whether Tehran sought to develop nuclear weapons in the past, the agency said on Thursday, a step towards carrying out a deal between Tehran and world powers.
Reuters 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Guardian 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Footage shows inside of Iranian nuclear missile base (and it looks just like a James Bond villain’s lair).
Independent 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Trident
The post-election debate on replacing the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system is welcome and necessary but so far has not dealt with the underlying political meaning of the UK being a nuclear weapon state (NWS) and what it would mean for it to disarm. A more far-reaching debate took place in the early 1980s, which is the last time a Labour leader proposed unilateral disarmament and questioned the UK’s role in NATO and relationship with the US. Groups in favour of scrapping Trident need to understand the deeper political meaning of the UK’s nuclear status if they are to overcome the obstacles to and seize the opportunities for disarmament in the years ahead.
Oxford Research Group 15th Oct 2015 read more »
THE SNP will seek to expose deep divisions within Labour by calling a Commons debate on Trident before the end of the year, it has emerged. Angus Robertson, the Nationalists’ leader at Westminster, said he hoped to use an Opposition Day Debate to call for Britain’s nuclear deterrent to be scrapped. The move would highlight the damaging split that has opened up within Labour since Mr Corbyn, a staunch opponent of nuclear weapons, was elected leader.
Herald 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables
With costs falling and emerging economies stepping into the game, the International Energy Agency is predicting renewable energy capacity additions to grow 700 GW over the next five years.
Clean Technica 5th Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
Amber Rudd has blamed a mounting crisis in the solar industry on budget overruns by her Liberal Democrat predecessors that had forced her to slash spending. Under fire from all sides after a third solar business collapsed in one week, the Conservative energy and climate change secretary insisted on Thursday she was “always concerned about job losses”, but still thought solar energy had a great future in Britain.“It’s a great British success story and I believe it will continue to be so,” she added. Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow energy and climate secretary, said Rudd was suffering from acute short-sightedness in proposing to cut rooftop subsidies by 87% in one blow when the industry was close to self-sufficiency. However, Rudd said she also had a duty to protect consumers, despite Southern Solar following the Mark Group and Climate Energy in making redundancies as they called in the administrators or were liquidated.
Guardian 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Solar installation businesses are caught in a “perfect storm”, experts have warned, following a slew of government green policy reversals. The warning comes after two firms went into administration within a day of each other last week, resulting in the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.
Construction News 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Another solar company has gone out of business, blaming the government for “killing off” support for the industry. Southern Solar, which has offices in areas including London and south Wales, has gone into administration. The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that the company was set to go into liquidation.
Guardian 15th Oct 2015 read more »
The renewable energy industry’s fears that thousands of people could lose their jobs as a result of deep subsidy cuts intensifed today, after Southern Solar became the third company to enter administration in the past week. Howard Johns, who founded the company in 2002 and is a former chairman of the Solar Trade Association (STA), today blamed the government’s feed-in tariff review for the collapse of the company.
Business Green 15th Oct 2015 read more »
The government is facing growing pressure to ease off on its plans to slash subsidies for renewable energy which have helped hundreds and thousands of people install rooftop solar panels, just days before a consultation on the feed-in tariff review closes. In the past week, past and present Conservative MPs, as well as an ex-England rugby star, have warned of the damaging impact of the proposals to reduce solar feed-in tariffs. The interventions come as reports in the Guardian suggested Southern Solar is to join Mark Group and Climate Energy in administration.
Business Green 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – Biomass
In the days of Thomas Hardy, west country folk used to head to the moors and commons to cut the furze (or gorse) for kindling. More than 100 years on, a project has been launched to harvest another crop to keep the home fires burning. Backed with public money, a company has been formed to harvest bracken to create briquettes that it claims burn longer and more fiercely than oak in fireplaces and stoves. In addition, they argue that they are helping control a fast-growing plant that can choke other flora, thus helping to increase biodiversity.Said to be the first time ever that a biomass fuel has been created out of bracken on a commercial scale, the project has won the support of dairy farmer – and Glastonbury founder – Michael Eavis.
Guardian 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – Tidal
Agreement on the subsidy for the £1bn Swansea tidal lagoon project is “desperately needed”, the Welsh Economy Minister has said. Edwina Hart said without “certainty” on subsidy it was difficult for the project to attract investment. The UK government said it was too early for the strike price to be agreed as it was carrying out checks on the project.
BBC 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Renewable Heat
The UK is on track to miss legally binding targets on low-carbon heat, according to a report released Wednesday by the Policy Connect think-tank. Heat is one of three sectors that make up the UK’s binding commitment to decarbonize the energy industry by 2020. The target is for 12% of the UK’s heat to come from low-carbon or renewable sources. If this is unmet, the other two sectors, transport and electricity must contribute more to meet the overall target. The report, The Policy for Heat – Transforming the System, calls for an extension of the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The RHI budget runs out April 2016, and its future is expected to be announced in the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) on the 25th of November.
Edie 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Storage
One of the limitations associated with renewable energy is variability of supply, which can give rise to problems for operators of transmission and distribution grid networks. The susceptibility of renewables to extended periods of uncertain weather patterns can have drastic effects on the continuity and volume of available electricity within the grid network. There’s general agreement within UK industry that an additional 2GW of electricity storage is needed to help balance and manage the predicted levels of renewable power by circa 2020. And we already have proven technology of appropriate scale which can meet the additional 2GW of electricity storage required – and it’s pumped storage hydro power. Even despite the benefits presented by Pumped Storage Hydropower and the relatively low capacity levels in the UK, there is a lack of substantive government encouragement for Pumped Storage hydro power which is currently not recognised within the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) framework.
Scottish Energy News 16th Oct 2015 read more »
Demand Side Response
The Department for Energy and Climate Change commissioned Frontier Economics and Sustainability First to undertake research into the potential of demand side response in the electricity market up to 2035. The report quantifies the volume of DSR by technology type and sector that could be available in near time and longer term and the volume that could be realistically achieved to help with security of supply.
DECC 15th Oct 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Scots are overwhelmingly opposed to fracking, according to new research for The Times which is published on the day that the SNP conference will debate the controversial technology. The Nationalist government imposed a moratorium on shale gas extraction in January, and last week extended it to include underground coal gasification, a related technique. The party is deeply divided on fracking, with some members known to support it for economic reasons and others, on the left and environmental wings of the organisation, vociferously against it. Ministers have commissioned a range of studies and a final decision will not be made – on onshore developments at least – until after spring 2017.
Times 16th Oct 2015 read more »
THE firm that wants to establish a fracking industry in Scotland has launched a bid to win the backing of the SNP, as environmentalists urged SNP members to ignore it and send a clear message to the party leadership. Ineos, which owns the Grangemouth industrial complex and holds fracking exploration licenses across large swathes of central Scotland, has sought to win over the party grassroots by opening a stall at the conference, which was well attended on the first day of the gathering yesterday.
Herald 16th Oct 2015 read more »
